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The Burford Branch
Tell us about your layout, where you put it, how you built it, how you operate it.
martin goodall
Postby martin goodall » Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:37 pm
Following the appearance of a short feature on my layout in S4 News No.176, I have been threatening to upload more photos here. I don't propose to start a layout blog as such, but will simply post some pictures of the layout with extended captions. Articles on the layout have appeared in MRJ No.71, 196, 208 and 210 and more articles on specific aspects of the layout are in the pipeline (with photos by Philip Hall). So I don't propose to go into any great detail here.
I am starting with the three shots which appeared in the 'Snooze'. This was only a partially successful experiment when this item was first posted, but these images have now been re-edited and should now display at a signifcantly higher resolution, as well as being larger. With due respect to the printers, they came out rather dark in the printed page, and should now show up rather better here.
IMG_0153 © Karl Crowther.jpg (62.08 KiB) Viewed 15864 times
The view into the passenger station, looking towards the buffer stops. The goods shed wall is leaning because it has simply been propped in place. The building is still awaiting final assembly.
The up end of the station building. I confess that the bay window has ended up slightly out of true ("subsidence due to sandy soil" - well, it is a timber building, and timber does move). There is no way that the bay window can be corrected without ripping the model apart, and I certainly have no intention of doing that. I try to convince myself (and usually succeed) in thinking that the slight lean of the bay is not all that noticeable and is not beyond the bounds of prototype possibility.
Finally, we have a view of the station building and train shed seen across the nearby building site. The current absence of any platform fencing is particularly noticeable from this angle, as is the absence of details inside the train shed. I came up with the idea of the cleared building site as a means of providing a scenic feature in the foreground which would not obscure the station building and train shed behind it. I had previously rejected the idea of a walled garden and also a sheep or cattle market, before hitting on a cleared building site as the solution to this particular design problem.
Last edited by martin goodall on Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:58 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Re: The Burford Branch
Thanks for the edit, Keith. I was just attempting to re-edit it myself, but you got there first. I will try to get the next batch the right size. (!)
grovenor-2685
Postby grovenor-2685 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:48 pm
[I can only guess whether the captions are in the right places. Apologies to everyone if this turns out to be a complete Horlicks. If this works, I'll post some more pictures shortly.]
Its just a matter of knowing what to do! After uploading your images, place the cursor in the text where you want the image to appear and click on the "Place inline" button. This will put the attachment where you want it. Once the attachment is safely in the text you can move it around by cut and paste if you get it wrong. And if you are putting the caption in the text as you did don't repeat the caption in the attachment box or it will be there twice, just leave the captions blank.
Grovenor Sidings
Tim V
Postby Tim V » Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:00 pm
Also use the preview button before you post - that way you check that it comes out like you expect. If it's wrong, you can still edit it easily.
Burford is looking good, but I can't see an EM flange anywhere....
HowardGWR
Postby HowardGWR » Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:11 pm
Tim V wrote: Burford is looking good, but I can't see an EM flange anywhere....
I think layouts look better without stock anyway, especially if they move. It destroys the fantasy. Martin is very good with pastel for background - he is very sound on the avoidance of 'technicolor'. I think the next Scalefour challenge is to insert wagons with EM flanges onto various layouts and see who spots them without being told to look for them.
Mark Tatlow
Postby Mark Tatlow » Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:15 pm
Now it is fair to say Martin that it has come on since I last saw it. Mind you, that was when it was still in Godalming!!
I also note that MRJ look to be a decade behind with your articles?
Martin's articles on GW wagons in MRJ were for me inspirational and informative. Those issues lie in a separate pile of MRJs on my shelf (oh! for online access like we have with the newsletter) and are often referred to. Burford does look a bit like Ashburton in the supplied photos but, when seen from afar (6 ft), it has a more urban feel.
Postby martin goodall » Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:23 pm
HowardGWR wrote: Martin is very good with pastel for background - he is very sound on the avoidance of 'technicolor'. I think the next Scalefour challenge is to insert wagons with EM flanges onto various layouts and see who spots them without being told to look for them.
I confess to having something of a 'thing' about colour on layouts. I believe that colours should be kept light, and reasonably subtle. I suppose this could be cricicised as looking 'wishy-washy' (and it does tend to look a bit washed out in photos, although less so 'in the flesh') but I prefer this to the 'technicolor' approach.
Another hobby of mine is painting and drawing (no moving parts to worry about!), and I was taught a long time ago to restrict my palette to just a few colours. When painting the Burford backscene, I used basically only three colours for most of the buildings and trees (raw sienna, cobalt blue and white), substituting cerulean hue for the sky. A tiny amount of cadmium yellow was added to foreground trees. But white was by far the most used colour, being an important component of almost every mix.
A two-part article on painting the backscene should appear in MRJ towards the end of the year.
HowardGWR wrote: Burford does look a bit like Ashburton in the supplied photos but, when seen from afar (6 ft), it has a more urban feel.
I freely admit that Ashburton was the inspiration for this layout, and the views into the station were quite deliberately intended to have the same 'look' as Ashburton. But to avoid the layout looking too much like a clone of Ashburton, I chose buildings which were not exact copies of those at Ashburton - hence the glazed gables to the train shed, etc. and a different selection of background buildings (as explained in MRJ 208 and 210).
One reason for not modelling Ashburton itself is that it has been done so well by other people, notably in EM gauge by Chris Lamacraft and in N gauge by John Burkett-Smith. I am a huge admirer of both those layouts.
Mark Tatlow wrote: Now it is fair to say Martin that it has come on since I last saw it. Mind you, that was when it was still in Godalming!!
The layout left Godalming all of 22 years ago! At that time, it consisted of bare baseboards with most of the track laid, but nothing else other than a completely white backscene.
The layout really ought to have been completed well within those last 22 years, but as I observed in one of my articles, Life (with a capital 'L') rather got in the way.
In fairness to MRJ, they are up-to-date with my layout articles at the moment. The backscene article is waiting on extra illustrations from me and, as mentioned a few moments ago, should appear in MRJ around the end of the year. Admittedly there are some other articles of mine gently mouldering away in the MRJ archives, including a 5-part series on some GWR Brown Vehicles and an article about my own design of 'Burford' auto-couplings, but MRJ's guest editor system has produced a considerable body of new writing for the magazine, so much so that the editorial office is now overflowing with material.
Postby martin goodall » Thu Feb 02, 2012 2:03 pm
Here is a second tranche of photos of the layout. Again, these were all taken by Karl Crowther and are reproduced here with his kind permission. I have now re-edited all four of these photos, which are now larger and sharper than they were when first posted.
Above is a general view of the train shed. As I mentioned earlier, extensive use was made of Evergreen strip and their 'siding' sheets (providing various patterns of planking). The structure is closely based on the train shed at Thame, shortened to eight bays and with the supporting posts and roof trusses set at 10-foot centres, so that the overall dimensions of the train shed are the same as those at Moretonhampstead and at Ashburton. The model is still unfinished, and awaits the addition of various details.
This shot provides a closer view of the station building and train shed. The entire scene is very much 'work in progress', with all sorts of details still awaiting attention, including chairing and ballasting the track, surfacing the main platform with ash, adding platform fencing, and numerous other small details in and around the station. An article describing the construction of the station building and train shed is in course of preparation.
IMG_0123-© Karl Crowther.jpg (71.07 KiB) Viewed 15956 times
A view inside the train shed. This model has taken an awfully long time to build, and it still isn't finished, but I have certainly enjoyed the process, and the model has turned out quite well. The prototype for the station building itself is Bitser ( - "bitser this, bitser that" from various similar buildings of the period). Platform furniture, signs, notices and adverts remain to be added.
The view through the station from the front door of the Great Western Hotel (which was removed from the layout to enable this shot to be taken). The platform fencing is conspicuous by its absence. The component parts of the Goods Shed have been temporarily propped in position, hence the obvious lean in one wall. There has been some discussion recently about digital manipulation of photographs, but Karl has only minimally edited this image on the computer. A rather obvious join in the backscene has been erased above the mill chimney - disguising the actual join is on a lengthening list of 'things to do' on the layout, and the sky has been very slightly extended to fill the top left-hand corner of the frame. Apart from this, the scene is exactly as you would see it on the layout, including the sky and cloud effects; these are actually painted on the backscene, which is almost 2 feet high. I believe in tall backscenes.
The view up Station Road. This was not a view that was ever intended to be seen; hence the very rough footway on the right and the bare back of the low wall behind the platform, and the perspective on the backscene simply doesn't work from this angle. If photographers are going to be tempted to poke their cameras into such spaces, I am now going to have to finish the backs of various buildings and structures – lest my chronic laziness be revealed for all the world to see! The platform fencing is still missing. If photographs are going to be taken from this viewpoint in future I think we are going to have to resort to photo-shoppery to hide the backscene. In reality, you wouldn't see anything other than sky from this angle.
I will try to post a few more shots shortly.
Last edited by martin goodall on Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Postby Tim V » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:39 pm
If you hadn't pointed out the backscene, I wouldn't have noticed Martin - a sign of a good backscene.
Paul Townsend
Postby Paul Townsend » Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:55 am
Martin wrote
If photographers are going to be tempted to poke their cameras into such spaces, I am now going to have to finish the backs of various buildings and structures – lest my chronic laziness be revealed for all the world to see!
I recommend censorship, life is too short to model the invisible to humans bit....I am reminded that while in a holiday cottage in France years ago I built a group of shops for Highbridge, complete with window display etc. They are the best modelled non-railway buildings I have ( must be the superior Med light in the garden there and/or the evocative experience of living temporarily in an ex-level crossing keepers cottage) but only one side can be seen on the layout and that at an obstructed distance!
Meanwhile other much more prominent foreground non-railway buildings are still in crude cardboard mockup form....tempus fugit!
jim s-w
Postby jim s-w » Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:50 pm
I model the backs of stuff with photography in mind. People will see the front at shows but views from the back offer viewers something different.
It's a mark of the way my modelling attention has shifted but I find myself drawn to Martins none railway pictures the most. I wonder if it's because we are exposed a lot to railway images but the peripherals are often ignored or not done with the same care and attention to detail? Not the case here excepting the points Martin has already identified
Jim Smith-Wright
http://www.p4newstreet.com
Postby martin goodall » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:32 pm
I am still trying to get the hang of the finer points of editing and uploading pictures. Just by way of experiment, and in response to Jim's request, here is a 'non-railway' shot, again with thanks to Karl Crowther. [Re-edited copy posted on 2 August 2012.]
This is a general view of the area usually referred to as 'Station Square' beyond the station buffer stops. The front of the Great Western Hotel has not yet been fixed to the rest of the building, hence the gap at the corner, which will be eliminated when it is finally fixed in place. Some of the chimney pots got swept off by my elbow and have been dumped by the buffer stops to await re-fixing. The buildings in this shot comprise the actual shells of the models, awaiting further detailing and eventual painting, plus installation of windows and doors, etc., but the grey card roofs are all mock-ups.
Last edited by martin goodall on Thu Aug 02, 2012 10:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
Postby martin goodall » Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:15 pm
I have re-edited the five photos which I posted here the other day. They can now be found on the relevant page of this thread.
They are larger and much sharper than the images I originally posted, and now do justice to Karl Crowther's photography. (With apologies to Karl and everyone for my original incompetence as a photographic editor!)
I will re-do the first group of photos shortly.
Postby martin goodall » Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:04 pm
I have now re-edited the three shots originally printed in S4 News, which were reproduced in the first post on this thread. So now the reproduction of all the photos posted here should be up to an acceptable standard.
Here are four more photos from Karl Crowther, again with thanks to Karl for his kind permission to reproduce them.
The first two show the view from 'Station Square' down Station Road. The card roofs on the building shells are only mock-ups, and the double-sided tape holding them in position has obviously given up the unequal struggle. As it may be some time before these particular buildings are completed, I really ought to stick the roofs down again.
IMG_0149 © Karl Crowther.jpg (75.4 KiB) Viewed 15885 times
Next, we have two shots of the backscene. The first shows Burford Church, which was in fact an after-thought, which I only added to the backscene more than two years after the rest of the townscape was painted. Bearing in mind that it was not part of my original design it seems to fit in remarkably well.
The object was to try to get the 3D building models to blend seamlessly into the backscene. The light grey card mock-ups for the roofs help here, and when 'proper' roofs are eventually substituted I shall have to make sure that they have the same tonal value.
nberrington
Postby nberrington » Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:00 pm
Martin - that is truly amazing - you are quite the artist sir - I love the blending into the village scene.
Thank you for sharing the pictures with us - they are really inspiring.
In the eyes of the entire Manitoban contingent of P4 modelers, you are now officially forgiven for your wheel transgressions.
Neil B
Postby Paul Townsend » Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:17 am
nberrington wrote: I love the blending into the village scene.
, you are now officially forgiven for your wheel transgressions.
Hey steady on there!
Martin's other hobby of painting has clearly carried over to Burford, this is a skill we all need to acquire!
I also like the feel of the weather, it works for hazy July heat or smoggy November.
Your building mockups may well be disintegrating a bit but at least the roofs overhang the walls in gutter location....some of my "temporary" ones don't and it is astonishing how much poorer they look for that simple omission.
Trouble is Martin your pictures are forcing me to devote a year or so soon to replacing the Highbridge town scene mockups with the final version instead of building more locos or the dock scene or more coaches....
Mike Garwood
Postby Mike Garwood » Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:16 am
One word...CLASS!
Postby Tim V » Wed Feb 08, 2012 5:01 pm
nberrington wrote: In the eyes of the entire Manitoban contingent of P4 modelers, you are now officially forgiven for your wheel transgressions.
One backscene, however good, does not go far enough for me......
Postby martin goodall » Wed Feb 08, 2012 5:24 pm
Thanks to everyone for the kind remarks.
The last in this series of photos of the layout by Karl Crowther is a panoramic view of the right-hand end of the layout. You may have to scroll right or left to view the whole picture (as is the case with most of those published previously). This represents about half the layout, the other half being rather less developed at present. The panel of red push-buttons controls the uncoupling magnets. Two small brass drawer knobs can also be seen. These control the points. There is no proper lever frame as such.
The part of the layout not seen so far includes a road overbridge, engine shed and turntable and carriage siding, and also the intended site of the town gas works, past which the main line curves on its way to the fiddle yard. I intend to defer work on that part of the layout until the area shown here is a bit more advanced. Meanwhile there is also a fleet of rolling stock which is gradually being built up, currently for the BR period (c.1958-62) and later for the 1930s and 1920s. Most of this stock has so far escaped the camera, so Tim V may have to wait a bit to see any EM wheels.
Postby martin goodall » Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:22 pm
I have been meaning to post some further shots of the layout for some time, but have not had the opportunity to do so until now.
Philip Hall took a large number of shots of the layout for articles I have written for Model Railway Journal, and I am very grateful to Paul Karau for kindly agreeing to the reproduction here of those shots which have already appeared in the magazine, plus some 'spare' shots not seen in the magazine.
We had some trouble with the colour balance of those shots previously reproduced in MRJ. (This was not the fault of WSP or the printers; it was 'just one of those things'.) Philip has re-edited these, so that the rendering of the colour here should be an improvement on what appeared on the printed page.
The first shot is a colour version of the view inside the Train Shed which appeared on page 3 of MRJ 196, and this is followed by two previously unpublished shots of the same subject, plus the interior shot that appeared on page 5. I hope that by the time this model next appears in print it will have acquired its proper complement of fixtures and fittings, plus signs, notices and advertisements.
Photo - Philip Hall. © WSP Ltd.
The shot below, illustrating the interior of the Booking Hall, shows that the left-hand door has been hung out of true, and will have to be corrected. (The camera is a merciless critic, but a very useful tool for spotting details like this that somehow escape the human eye.)
Last edited by martin goodall on Sun Nov 25, 2018 12:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Postby martin goodall » Thu May 24, 2012 7:54 pm
More than two months have gone by since I last posted pictures of the Burford Branch on this page. Lack of time keeps preventing me from posting further photos, but I have managed to grab a few minutes to put up some more views of the layout.
With renewed thanks to Philip Hall, who kindly took these photos, and to Paul Karau for agreeing to their reproduction on this forum, here are some further re-edited copies of some of the pictures that appeared in MRJ 196, starting with a general view looking towards the station. (This appeared on page 4, although slightly differently cropped).
Photo: © Philip Hall (by courtesy of WSP Ltd)
The following shot across the cattle dock (adapted from the Ratio kit) towards the Goods Shed appeared on the same page in MRJ as the previous picture. The building is constructed from Wills scenic sheets (English bond brickwork), which has been painted white to kill the bright red colour of the plastic. The bricks will be painted to represent yellow London stocks. The roof is purely a temporary card mock-up.
Another (unpublished) shot shows the end of this as yet unfinished model. All the wagons in this picture have been described in past issues of MRJ.
Paul generally doesn't like shots taken by trained pigeons, but we managed to smuggle this one into MRJ 196. Whatever you think of aerial shots, it does at least give an overall impression of this end of the layout.
Another shot from a similar angle (previously unpublished) also shows the back of the Great Western Hotel – a pretentious name for a rather seedy backstreet pub with a few rooms to let.
And here's one looking in the opposite direction
The next shot also appeared on page 5 of MRJ 196
The same train can be seen in this previously unpublished view. The coaches are adapted from the old Tri-ang clerestories.
I will post the various townscape views from MRJ 208 and 210 on a future occasion.
Last edited by martin goodall on Tue May 29, 2012 11:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Postby HowardGWR » Thu May 24, 2012 8:52 pm
Martin's train shed caused me to have another look at my pump house front end fenestration. I realise that one cannot get away with thin cardboard (it warps) but using a stronger medium has its dangers in being too hefty. Martin has clearly found the right materials (whatever they are) and even, as the saying goes, 'cruelly blown up', has achieved the realism that one seeks.
I suppose the passing of the years could challenge his choices, but the answer then is just to replace that which did not stand the passage of time.
Next time you are at Pendon, ask to see Guy Williams original Brunel viaduct pieces. They are just under the layout and you crawl underneath the layout to find them. I don't know if they have been thrown away now. I hope not, What a modeller!
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