Yeoman's Wharf, an OO9 Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Quayside Micro

[2996 Victor]

Welcome to my Lynton & Barnstaple micro layout build thread.

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway was a narrow gauge railway built between those two North Devon towns. It opened in 1897 and ran as an independent company until the Grouping in 1923, when it came under the control of the Southern Railway. It was closed in 1935, but a 1-mile section of track has been re-opened by the new Lynton & Barnstaple Railway as a heritage steam railway. The new company fully intend to rebuild the whole line and is making great strides with that purpose. Have a look at their website here if you're interested in this amazing project.

This layout is/will be a micro/cameo layout portraying a small fictitious quay scene ostensibly in a Barnstaple backwater. Track will be Code 55 flat bottom rail, a combination of paved (i.e. inset) PECO N track and hand-built track. Hopefully, the latter will look a bit more like the real thing than the usual Toytown narrow gauge track available commercially, and will avoid the "RSJ rail" look!

The layout is set in 1905 when the line was relatively new. This will allow me to run a Manning Wardle 2-6-2T in early cab condition and in the pale green livery. Locomotives and rolling stock will be mostly RTR PECO and Bachmann with a few 3D-printed and kit-built wagons thrown in courtesy of Custom OO9 and Dundas respectively; A/M chopper couplings that look a bit more like the real thing are planned.

Overall sizes: the scenic board is 1m long x 0.5m wide, fiddle yard boards will be 0.5m x 0.5m.

Thanks for looking in!

There'll be some pics soon, but cheers for now,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

The baseboards are laser-cut kits from Grainge & Hodder, who have a range of modular sizes but who will also design to your specifications. Initially, this board was intended for a different project, and started out at 1m long x 0.3m wide. When I started out on this, I soon realised it wasn't really wide enough so ordered an extension board to go at the back. This arrived toward the end of last week and was assembled, and was then fitted to the "main" board yesterday by drilling, gluing and bolting together. I still need to order the fiddle yard boards, but there's no immediate hurry for those.

This project has been underway since early last December, and rather than being "designed" is evolving in a slightly Darwin-esque way  If you really want to be bothered, you can see all the previous drivel on my NGRM Online thread here but to be honest, apart from the inset track at the front of the layout, I'm virtually starting again.

This is the current state of play. Almost bare boards with all previous cork track bed scraped off (what a blooming job!). The inset track at the front is PECO N Code 55, and is fixed and wired:

Having fixed the timber baulk "buffers" to the quay wall yesterday, today I wasn't very happy with them - they're too skinny - so they've been unceremoniously ripped off again they'll be replaced with something heftier. The 25mm square pine strip at front will be the edge of the river, probably just 'orrible mud.

And here is the current iteration of the track layout with the buildings I've got underway:

There'll be a couple of wagon turntables in front of the archway warehouse at the left back. The tracks hanging off the nearest end will mate with a sector plate, of course. Lots more buildings to add!

Thanks for looking in  cheers for now,

Mark

[Georgeconna]

Oh Fab!! Have 2 Mannings myself but yet to get the wood sorted out.

 

[2996 Victor]

54 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

Oh Fab!! Have 2 Mannings myself but yet to get the wood sorted out.

Hi George,

What sort of layout are you planning? I did have a Manning but sold it a couple of years ago as I need the cash at the time! I need to "invest" in another one  To backdate the cab, I'd like to get hold of the Backwoods kit as that has the early cab in etched brass; failing that I'll make one myself and modify the body moulding. But I expect Lyn will be the first loco to make an appearance!#

I'm still tinkering with the point-work and the siding layout, but I've ordered a couple of wagon turntables to go in front of the archway warehouse. They won't be operational, though!

Cheers,
Mark

[Georgeconna]

A simple  roundy with hills and Scenery,  with a station and loop, Siding  for the ol fella, Have the Woody Bat Station and Some Tunnel Mouths I had bought some time back. As I have the boat finished I might knock some board up when the good weather comes.

Yours looks very interesting TBH.

 

 

[2996 Victor]

1 hour ago, Georgeconna said:

A simple  roundy with hills and Scenery,  with a station and loop, Siding  for the ol fella, Have the Woody Bat Station and Some Tunnel Mouths I had bought some time back. As I have the boat finished I might knock some board up when the good weather comes.

Yours looks very interesting TBH.

Sounds great, George! I'll look forward to seeing it progress  have you been to Woody Bay? We're having a weekend away over Easter, staying in Lynton, and a visit to the L&B is a definite!

Cheers,

Mark

 

[2996 Victor]

There's been a sneaky little bit of progress on the pub, aka The Prospect Inn, which sits at the back of the scene toward the right-hand end, next to the row of houses.

I'm finishing it as a Starkey, Knight & Ford house, as they were a brewery local to where I grew up. My great-grandfather was landlord of the pub in the village I lived in as a child, taking it on in 1936, the family relinquishing it in 1968. It was a Starkey, Knight & Ford house, and their house colours were white with black trim. A large number of their pubs seem to have been rough-cast rendered as was "ours" so I was looking for a way to replicate that in a not-too-obvious way.

Initially, I thought of sandpaper, and did go so far as to cover the building in some 180 grade but the window and door openings were a bit of a problem. Then I thought of that sandtex masonry paint, which led me by a roundabout route to some dark and cobwebbed recess of my mind where I'd filed away textured spray paint. A quick trawl through eBay and up popped Rust-oleum textured paint and a can was duly ordered.

So here we are. The pub building has been given three or four coats according to the instructions and that was the end of that can! However, it's exactly what I wanted:

And once that was touch dry (impatient as always) it was given a deliberately slightly patchy coat of Tamiya white acrylic:

which I hope you will agree looks like the real thing  ish!

Onward and upward!

Cheers,
Mark

[Georgeconna]

On 12/4/2022 at 11:32 AM, 2996 Victor said:

Sounds great, George! I'll look forward to seeing it progress  have you been to Woody Bay? We're having a weekend away over Easter, staying in Lynton, and a visit to the L&B is a definite!

Cheers,

Mark

 

Only been to Devon in the 80's, We were around Torquay camoing. Only Recollection is watching 2 Buccanners passing below us whilst on Dartmoor.!

My Dad is from Barnstaple so that's the connection. Maybe one day I'll get over again and visit the railway but me Dad wont be able too.

 

[2996 Victor]

Jane and I had a lovely trip on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway at Woody Bay today. The weather was perfect: sunny, just a light breeze. "Lyn" was in fine fettle with her beautiful 3-coach set.

It was just a bit of a shame that there weren't more visitors: hopefully tomorrow will be better as they're doing Easter-related things for the younger ones.

And I came away with the long-desired Heljan model of "Lyn" in her pre-1906 livery  The box has been carefully opened and the prize within uncovered. But not handled, just looked at 

I'll post some photos once we're home again.

Cheers,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

So here are a few pictures taken at the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway on Saturday:

And finally, one of my little version:

Cheers for now!

Mark

[Mike 84C]

Well Mark, you had some lovely weather, the L&B has potential to be a fantastic railway and not so much competition in that corner of Devon. I rather like Lynn, for me its a much more attractive loco than the Manning Wardles. They look like a lot of loco with not much boiler but they have their admirers.

 Mic

[2996 Victor]

12 minutes ago, Mike 84C said:

Well Mark, you had some lovely weather, the L&B has potential to be a fantastic railway and not so much competition in that corner of Devon. I rather like Lynn, for me its a much more attractive loco than the Manning Wardles. They look like a lot of loco with not much boiler but they have their admirers.

 Mic

Hi Mic,

Yes, we were extremely lucky with the weather, to the point of ending up slightly sunburned!

Lyn was certainly the most versatile and capable of the locos: the Mannings were a bit underpowered, I believe.

I think the Mannings were far more attractive in their early form:

but the arrangement of the cab side sheets and spectacle plate apparently trapped exhaust steam and caused visibility problems for the crew! The rebuilt cabs look a bit "laid back" to my eyes! 

Cheers,

Mark

[Galteemore]

Captain Howey, millionaire owner of the Romney line, was at the auction of the line (think he bought the turntable IIRC). He could easily have bought the outfit as a whole but refused to do so. He dismissed the MWs as ‘dreadful old things with long funnels’! 

[2996 Victor]

3 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

He dismissed the MWs as ‘dreadful old things with long funnels’!

By that time they were pretty much worn out - only Lew found a buyer and supposedly went the South America. What an excellent descriptive phrase, though!

Cheers,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

The garden walls for the back of Prospect Row have been re-done, and even have natty little capping stones  The gaps scale at 3' to allow for gateposts and 2'-6" wide gates. The walls will get a bedding-in in due course and the gardens/yards will be most probably flagged; the gap between the dividing wall and the sculleries will need to be addressed!

And there I have to leave things for a while: I'm going into hospital for a hernia repair, so I'll be taking it easy for a few days!

Thanks for looking in.

Cheers,
Mark

[Georgeconna]

Nice work, Are the Walls in Card? Looks Very Convincing!

[Galteemore]

Best wishes for the recovery Mark. Looks good on the building front. How did you get the brickwork looking so good? 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Galteemore

[2996 Victor]

2 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

Nice work, Are the Walls in Card? Looks Very Convincing!

Hi George,

The walls are laser cut MDF from Fair Price Models on eBay - a bit of a cheat but the capping stones are a useful touch.

I'm making lots of use of Fair Price's laser-cut kits: they're cheap as chips and go together really well. They make a great basis for detailing.

Cheers,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Best wishes for the recovery Mark. Looks good on the building front. How did you get the brickwork looking so good? 

Many thanks! I've had the surgery and I'm in recovery. Seems very odd not having a tennis ball-sized thing where my navel should have been

Cheers,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

2 hours ago, 2996 Victor said:

Many thanks! I've had the surgery and I'm in recovery. Seems very odd not having a tennis ball-sized thing where my navel should have been

Cheers,

Mark

And home again!  

Cheers,

Mark

[Georgeconna]

Oh had that Myself a year ago, Never forget the pain, Told Keyhole and ended up with 19 Staples!! Take it easy bud!!

 

[2996 Victor]

42 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

Oh had that Myself a year ago, Never forget the pain, Told Keyhole and ended up with 19 Staples!! Take it easy bud!!

 

Ouch! Hope it's all sorted now?

So far, so good for me, although I reckon I'll know all about it tomorrow when the bruising starts to come out.....

Cheers,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

As you may imagine, there's not been much in the way of progress over the last week-and-a-bit! Daisy and Arthur have continued their nursing duties with their customary aplomb.....

Daisy:

Arthur:

Seriously, though, I'm well on the way to being mended, but of course it always takes longer than expected (or wished for!).

What I have managed to do over the last few days is commandeer the kitchen table, to which has been stuck a length of wallpaper lining paper measuring the same size as the scenic area of the layout. On this has been drawn the positions of the buildings in progress and the quayside track.

My purpose is to finalise the whole track layout so that I can organise the points I need. I'm going to outsource these to a professional builder so I know that they at least will work  The points themselves I'm designing on Templot so I know they'll fit.

Hopefully, there'll be a few pics of progress soon.....

Cheers and thanks for looking in!

Mark

[2996 Victor]

Here are a couple of shots of the evolving plan, as scrawled on wallpaper lining paper and stuck down to the kitchen table.....

Apologies for the slightly dingy phone camera pictures.

With the exception of the front-most black line which is the edge of the baseboard, the other black lines indicate track centres with Templot point templates in place.

In the middle is a point template which has a few pencil lines emanating: I'm not sure yet how to tackle that area, but it's all very and hoc anyway

I'm thinking of adding a boiler house and chimney to the building complex at left-back, aka Habberfield's Flour Mill, which would go on the end nearest the Prospect Inn.

The scabby first-generation houses at front-left are there to give an idea of where another building will go to disguise the holes in the sky!

Onward and upward!

Mark

[Andy Cundick]

Nice to see someone else doing early L&B one of my current projects is Lynton in 1898 to scale(it works out at 12'x18"),currently got one  Manning finished and 6 coaches with enough little green boxes to do the other 2 and Lyn, Fortunately Worsley does etches for all 17 coaches in their original condition so i'm plodding my through them,its the livery that takes the time.still its a bit of challenge,Andy.

[2996 Victor]

3 minutes ago, Andy Cundick said:

Nice to see someone else doing early L&B one of my current projects is Lynton in 1898 to scale(it works out at 12'x18"),currently got one  Manning finished and 6 coaches with enough little green boxes to do the other 2 and Lyn, Fortunately Worsley does etches for all 17 coaches in their original condition so i'm plodding my through them,its the livery that takes the time.still its a bit of challenge,Andy.

Hi Andy,

Sounds like you're being a whole lot more exacting than I am an exact-scale Lynton will be a gorgeous project! I'm not sure I've got the patience to model an actual location.

I have to say that I find the very early livery much more attractive than the holly green. Presumably, your Manning has the early cab arrangement - is it a Backwoods kit, by any chance?

I'd love to see some photos of your progress if there are any.

Best regards,

Mark

[Andy Cundick]

Hi Mark Yes The locos are all Backwoods in the early cab form,the coaches are all Worsley as Alan has done them in the original form,sadly the Peco and Langley ones are both in the Southern condition,still at least i can use the  PECO brakevans the first bit of ready to run i've bought in years.To be honest doing an actual location is easy someone has already done the planning for you and if its an interesting prototype it should come through in the model plus i find knowing what is needed in advance stock and that can be built first along with buildings etc and only then do you put saw to wood and by that stage what you have is kit of parts for the whole layout.The downside to this approach is the vast number of appealing prototypes which leads to multiple layouts,in my case 8 up and running and another 4 in the planning construction phase,Andy.

[2996 Victor]

1 hour ago, Andy Cundick said:

Hi Mark Yes The locos are all Backwoods in the early cab form,the coaches are all Worsley as Alan has done them in the original form,sadly the Peco and Langley ones are both in the Southern condition,still at least i can use the  PECO brakevans the first bit of ready to run i've bought in years.To be honest doing an actual location is easy someone has already done the planning for you and if its an interesting prototype it should come through in the model plus i find knowing what is needed in advance stock and that can be built first along with buildings etc and only then do you put saw to wood and by that stage what you have is kit of parts for the whole layout.The downside to this approach is the vast number of appealing prototypes which leads to multiple layouts,in my case 8 up and running and another 4 in the planning construction phase,Andy.

Hi Andy,

I'd like to have got my hands on a Backwoods Manning kit, but as usual arrived to late! I have hopes of finding the cab parts as left-overs from someone else's build, but failing that I'll have to butcher a Heljan model: at least the early cab details are all available in "Measured and Drawn".

Not needing passenger stock for this little layout, I hadn't looked into the PECO coaches in close detail, so hadn't realised they were in later condition. However, I have a notion to build a fictional Simonsbath branch, so its good to know that Worsley Works' etches are correct. The PECO 4-wheeled open is also in later condition with its cupboard-style doors but of course Dundas do the early top-hung version so I'll be needing a few of those in due course!

I must admit that I'd never considered your approach to modelling an actual location: put like that it certainly has an appeal! I'll look forward to seeing your progress when the time comes.

Kind regards,
Mark

[Andy Cundick]

The thing to note regarding coaches is that the Southern filled in the door toplights which is how PECO depicted them, The thing that slows me up is the early livery which is to put it politely fiddly.Though saying that i've just finished three North British locos in pre great war livery ready for Expo EM in a week now that is over the top.As to the modelling an actual location lets just say it works for me.Andy. 

[Galteemore]

The lovely -and frustrating - thing about modelling a location is that it gives you a discipline to follow. Throws up all sorts of challenges as you work out how to replicate a particular chimney or lamp bracket…. Just be careful in your choice of prototype or you will end up replicating the short comings of the real thing…Newtownards, Manorhamilton etc etc…..;) 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Galteemore

[Andy Cundick]

Thats part of the challenge i'd never built trackwork until i did Valencia and as there was no way i was going down the 00 route i just got on with it(a fairly steep learning curve admittedly)and now building track is no problem (famous last words).Though i admit a broad gauge (7'0") threeway point is causing a certain amount of a challenge.Andy.

[2996 Victor]

2 hours ago, Andy Cundick said:

Though i admit a broad gauge (7'0") threeway point is causing a certain amount of a challenge.

I'd like to see that! I presume it's baulk road? Sheer trackwork elegance

Building my own track is something I want to do, but just not yet! Although having said that, I really mean "pointwork" as I'll be building plain track for Yeoman's Wharf.

Cheers,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

The lovely -and frustrating - thing about modelling a location is that it gives you a discipline to follow. Throws up all sorts of challenges as you work out how to replicate a particular chimney or lamp bracket…. Just be careful in your choice of prototype or you will end up replicating the short comings of the real thing…Newtownards, Manorhamilton etc etc…..;) 

It also helps inasmuch as you don't have the problem of deciding what your infrastructure should look like.

That's one aspect of creating a fictional location that I'm having difficulty with for my MGWR Mount Bellew project: the architectural style of the railway infrastructure. The L&B had very distinctive station buildings but, being a quayside layout, Yeoman's Wharf won't have anything like them to say where it's located.

Cheers,

Mark

3 hours ago, Andy Cundick said:

The thing to note regarding coaches is that the Southern filled in the door toplights which is how PECO depicted them, The thing that slows me up is the early livery which is to put it politely fiddly.Though saying that i've just finished three North British locos in pre great war livery ready for Expo EM in a week now that is over the top.As to the modelling an actual location lets just say it works for me.Andy. 

Ah - interesting! Can't say I fancy fretting out the toplights on the PECO coaches so if I ever get around to Simonsbath I'll going the Worsley Works route!

I'd be interested to see those NBR locos!

Cheers,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

The hernia surgery is healing up nicely, which has allowed me to make a little progress with the warehouses at the back of the layout, with the back halves added from 2mm mounting board to the end wing, and small extensions added to the back wing to bring the ridge tiles away from the backscene. I've done the same for Nos.4 and 5 Steampacket Terrace at last.

Hopefully more soon!

Cheers,
Mark

[2996 Victor]

Well now, what's been happening? Not a lot, if truth be told, mainly centred around other ideas and projects. However, with the healing after the surgery well on the way, I've been doing a few things with the buildings and getting back to the quay wall and inset track.

Firstly I needed to replace the two end sections of Wills stone wall, and having done that the next task was to attempt to correct the colour of the stonework from the overall grey to a warmer grey-brown with purplish tints more appropriate for the Baggy Sandstones prevalent in the Barnstaple area. I think I've managed that quite well, picking out individual stones with a variety of different shades. It all just needs a thin wash to blend it together. I've fixed the new timber baulks as well, and given these a wash with several coats of Citadel Nuln Oil, which I think works quite well. Photos:

The next jobs are to finish creating a projection of the quay wall at the far end of the second photo, which will have a small warehouse perched on top. I've also had to have a bit of a hack at the setts of the inset track as the flangeway clearances were too skimpy. Seems okay now I just need to touch in the paint (again!). Then I can create the 'orrible sludgy mud at the base of the wall, and tint the wall to represent the green gunk that builds up at the high tide mark.

The necessary points have been ordered and should be under construction shortly, after which I can get the track down properly  

Thanks for looking in!

Cheers,
Mark