D600active
Member
So, as mentioned in the newbie thread, I'm now privileged to be the custodian of Stoke Gabriel, one of the many layouts of the late Ken Gibbons and in the eyes of many, probably his best
The model purports that the Torbay branch, from south of Goodrington, turned inland and followed the west side of the Dart estuary to end up at Dartmouth (as is well known, in reality Dartmouth never saw a train and was just a ferry terminal from Kingswear). The station is closely based on Churston at the up end, incorporating a branch bay, with a fictional parcels bay and disused atmospheric pumping station at the other
I'll add more blethering in a bit but here are three pics that I think will appropriately introduce the concept and where I see it heading
I'll also say at this point that though the layout is essentially complete, much does remain to be done by way of maintenance and sympathetic improvement, and (not least) weathering of the locos and passenger stock. Weathered wagons, oddly enough, are not in short supply
The first is a slice of history; Ken's D1004 was the first loco to run on the layout since his passing, and it will form a significant part of the future roster, being as it was the last 1000 running in green
Second is his Peak 46007, a loco I've derived much pleasure from operating over the years. It still needs regauging back to 16.5 from EM
Thirdly, a new generation Bachmann 25 (a cracking model imho, despite all the hot air about the SLW version) takes advantage of bidirectional running with a Dartmouth to Plymouth local
The model purports that the Torbay branch, from south of Goodrington, turned inland and followed the west side of the Dart estuary to end up at Dartmouth (as is well known, in reality Dartmouth never saw a train and was just a ferry terminal from Kingswear). The station is closely based on Churston at the up end, incorporating a branch bay, with a fictional parcels bay and disused atmospheric pumping station at the other
I'll add more blethering in a bit but here are three pics that I think will appropriately introduce the concept and where I see it heading
I'll also say at this point that though the layout is essentially complete, much does remain to be done by way of maintenance and sympathetic improvement, and (not least) weathering of the locos and passenger stock. Weathered wagons, oddly enough, are not in short supply
The first is a slice of history; Ken's D1004 was the first loco to run on the layout since his passing, and it will form a significant part of the future roster, being as it was the last 1000 running in green
Second is his Peak 46007, a loco I've derived much pleasure from operating over the years. It still needs regauging back to 16.5 from EM
Thirdly, a new generation Bachmann 25 (a cracking model imho, despite all the hot air about the SLW version) takes advantage of bidirectional running with a Dartmouth to Plymouth local
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