Bethesda Sidings

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Though I would have been inclined to have a pile of weed strewn sleepers rather than half a buffer stop at the end of the headshunt.
Just to say that the 'half' buffer stop is prototypical for the GWR. The model is a Dave Franks kit and seemed ideal for 'minimum space'.

Thanks for all the interesting info on the forestry, too.
 
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Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
Jesting aside, this is looking really nice CK. A leaf out of Sheepbloke's less is more book. Going to be a cracking little layout.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
While out shopping for nuts and bolts this morning, I remembered your tip of using tile grout for making cobbled paving and bought a tube of ready coloured ready mixed grout. I am looking forward to experimenting on the fan-shaped cobblestones that appear in some photos of the prototype.

Moor Street Station: A mixture of Great Western Railway open and van wagons on the siding roads at Moor Street Station in May 1915

The fan-shaped design is there somewhere! There is also evidence of drainage channels using straight rows of setts between and parallel to the sidings.

Again, thanks for the tip! Paul
 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
I've been doing a bit of landscaping, building up the bank in front of the overbridge.

Utterly traditional methods have been used, card formers, covered with a combination of PVA and plaster-soaked cotton and also old newspaper.

A final PVA and Polyfilla mix was coloured with some burnt umber water colour and applied to the shell.








 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
I've also been working out how to cut out a single-piece roadway, to go on top of the bridge and embankment. It needs to be a close fit around the bridge pilasters.

This is what I needed to cover with a single piece of mounting card:







I started off by building a paper template up. I cut out lots of small oblongs and taped them all together, easier than trying to measure between the pilasters:







This is the finished template, so hi-tech, ain't it?



I then traced around the template and cut a piece of mount boards out to the shape required:


A little bit of fettling was needed, but it did eventually fit:





I've now painted the road surface (it's going to be a farm track with grass growing up in parts of it).
 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
This afternoon, by virtue of a combination of some sunshine and the heater being switched on in the shed, I managed to spray a few things for the layout, namely the loading gauge, the weighbridge, the cosmetic point levers and a couple of warning signs.

The way is now clearing for the weighbridge and associated office to be bedded into the layout and the ground surface applied around it. After that, I hope to start going green.
 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Further scenic work has been taking place. One of the things that I need to do is install hedges or walls along some of the rear and side edges of the layout, where the scenic section would otherwise come up directly to the backscene.

One of the curved corners at the rear features what I call a 'low relief hedge'.

A card former is first glued to the curved corner:



This is then given a quick wash of green *acrylic) paint:



Foliage is then added (Hekiflor):



A bit more foliage, some grass and a couple of moribund cable drums:


More work still to do here, but it's progressing.
 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Further scenic work has been done in this area since I took the photo, but this was the entrance to the yard recently:

20191121_172017.jpg
 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
I have re-fitted the backscene again this afternoon.

It seems that the renowned railway photographer Dick Wolsley was in the area and visited to take some snaps.


1458 arrives with a short goods working, which will terminate at Bethesda Sidings and return, once some connecting traffic has been worked in from the Vale of Radnor Light Railway:


That may be Dick's Landrover up on the farm track:


Dick took a general view of the yard, once 1458 had positioned some of it's wagons:



I think he might have picked up the odd tip from Ben Ashworth here, as he seems to have climbed into a tree to get this view:



Now waiting for the incoming goods service from the light railway to arrive:



Which duly arrives behind the light railway's 'Planet' 0-4-0 diesel 'Dorothy':



 

Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Some additional photos to those shown above.

There is still some scenic work to be done, including some post and wire fences along the back of the grassy bank and some trees behind and around the road over bridge.
















A couple of years after Dick Wolsley visited and took the photos showing 1458, Hugh Valentine was passing through the area and observed a D63XX in the yard on the then twice-weekly goods working, no doubt waiting for traffic off the light railway:



 
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