I guess its about time I stopped lurking and actually posted something, plus @paulhb said I should after a chat at Uckfield last year. This thread will be about my current 1950's Industrial/Southern Region "Tarring Neville" and the construction of my new 1930's Col Stephens inspired light railway "Littledene" 4mm OO gauge exhibition layouts. Both are set in Sussex but on fictitious railways, as was my previous layout "Herstmonceux".
Tarring Neville came about through my slight addiction to collecting industrial loco kits and needing somewhere to run them. It needed to be small and I wanted to use it as a platform to test a few ideas out. The real Tarring Neville is a small village down the Ouse Valley between Lewes and Newhaven in Sussex. There was a cement works nearby at South Heighton till the early 1920's which had a tramway off of the Seaford branch. By twisting history a little (a lot!), the cement works stayed open until the 60's and Tarring Neville was part of this with a quay on the River Ouse. Buildings are all based on ones locally although only one of them is at the real Tarring Neville. Being Sussex it needed to have flint walls which took some time to work out a way of doing in 4mm! A foamboard shell was made and any brick and woodwork added. Then air dry clay was put on with a thin layer of PVA to help it stick. Whilst still wet I used a roughed up bit of brass tube to imprint the flints.
It was never intended to be an exhibition layout but Mr Colenutt twisted my arm about taking it to Uckfield show as a demo and then when it was finished. I now have plans to extend Tarring Neville and build the cement works and narrow gauge chalk pit feeder line as the industrial loco fleet keeps expanding.
So to Littledene. This is actually a small hamlet between near the Glynde and Firle estates near Lewes. I'd always wanted to do something Col Stephens/KESR based and had started to collect various items for this. I'd read about plans to extend the KESR from Robertsbridge down to Pevensey bay near Eastbourne and started to plot the idea on a map but then thought about the idea of a small light railway that eventually extend towards the KESR. The Ouse Valley Light Railway was born. This joined estates, cement works, chalk pits and brickworks giving the line a good source of income. Although Littledene is a terminus the line goes off in two directions, one down the Ouse Valley towards...Tarring Neville, the other towards Ripe, Thunders Hill, Three Cups Corner and on to Robertsbridge.
The station building is based on Biddenden and the Sussex long barn is actually based on a painting of one in West Sussex by Veronica Burleigh.
Tarring Neville came about through my slight addiction to collecting industrial loco kits and needing somewhere to run them. It needed to be small and I wanted to use it as a platform to test a few ideas out. The real Tarring Neville is a small village down the Ouse Valley between Lewes and Newhaven in Sussex. There was a cement works nearby at South Heighton till the early 1920's which had a tramway off of the Seaford branch. By twisting history a little (a lot!), the cement works stayed open until the 60's and Tarring Neville was part of this with a quay on the River Ouse. Buildings are all based on ones locally although only one of them is at the real Tarring Neville. Being Sussex it needed to have flint walls which took some time to work out a way of doing in 4mm! A foamboard shell was made and any brick and woodwork added. Then air dry clay was put on with a thin layer of PVA to help it stick. Whilst still wet I used a roughed up bit of brass tube to imprint the flints.
It was never intended to be an exhibition layout but Mr Colenutt twisted my arm about taking it to Uckfield show as a demo and then when it was finished. I now have plans to extend Tarring Neville and build the cement works and narrow gauge chalk pit feeder line as the industrial loco fleet keeps expanding.
So to Littledene. This is actually a small hamlet between near the Glynde and Firle estates near Lewes. I'd always wanted to do something Col Stephens/KESR based and had started to collect various items for this. I'd read about plans to extend the KESR from Robertsbridge down to Pevensey bay near Eastbourne and started to plot the idea on a map but then thought about the idea of a small light railway that eventually extend towards the KESR. The Ouse Valley Light Railway was born. This joined estates, cement works, chalk pits and brickworks giving the line a good source of income. Although Littledene is a terminus the line goes off in two directions, one down the Ouse Valley towards...Tarring Neville, the other towards Ripe, Thunders Hill, Three Cups Corner and on to Robertsbridge.
The station building is based on Biddenden and the Sussex long barn is actually based on a painting of one in West Sussex by Veronica Burleigh.
