Back on Church Lane...

I mentioned all the way back at the start of July that I'd finally gotten the urge to work on Church Lane again...

The backscene finally appeared, along with the facsia boards. All cut from 5mm mdf, nothing special here. At this point though the outer edges of the baseboard frame are three layers thick at the ends and seemingly rock solid. Hopefully that should stand up to an exhibition outing if the chance arose!

As an aside, the Glyn Valley Tram is a really useful gauge measuring loco. The chimneystack funnel makes it the tallest (Along with the bell detail on the cab) And the boxy nature of the tramway requirements also makes it the widest. Certainly a good call for anybody reading this who's thinking of going into 009. If this can get through any tunnel or low bridge, generally anything can.

And after smoothing the corner out with some filler, this was the result after a quick paint job. All over with a can of white primer (Probably not needed but I figured it might save some time later on) and a couple of light coats of "Summer Tide" from an old Wilkos tester pot. Heaven knows where I'm going to turn when those things finally run out!

Next job: Taking a look at the fiddle yard layout. A bit of rejigging might be in order!

The Chapel Railway

Something a little different this time round. At the back end of July I attended the temporary "Alton Towers Exhibition":

"But Rob!" I can hear regular readers cry "You're in a chapel, in a ruined stately home, in the middle of what is now a theme park. This is too much! How is THIS model railway related?!"

As strange as it may seem, there is a connection.

All the way back in 1957, what was reportedly Britain's largest model railway opened in the old chapel. The layout was an eye watering 51ft (Yes! Fifty One!) by 16ft and contained five independent circuits, the highest two running continental stock whilst the baseboard level lines were home to the UK stock.

Interestingly, right up until the end of the layout at least one of the lower circuits was using the Hornby Dublo three rail system. Apparently it was the most liked by the staff as the extra rail meant there was less track cleaning involved compared to the two rail systems!

I'd known about this layout for years (But sadly was born too late to ever see it) one thing I didn't realise was that if you ever find yourself in the Towers chapel today look at the floor. The big concrete foundations the layout sat on are still visible! Take a moment to compare the above photo with the one of the layout. They're both taken looking in the same direction and the arches of the chapel entrance are just visible in the background. You'll also notice the layout was effectively built under a tent, tragically hiding the Pugin designed 'Gothic Revival' ceiling from visitors.

So what became of the model railway?

With all the thrill rides of the modern theme park springing up just outside the Towers building, it might surprise some to learn that the layout lasted all the way till the end of the 1992 season! To borrow a quote from Stephen, who currently provides the House & Garden Tours, "The story goes a little something like this...":

One evening the head groundskeeper was walking past the Towers ruins when a loud crash was heard. Having obtained the keys and a few willing hands an inspection was made revealing a large beam had fallen from inside the chapel roof and crashed to the floor. Further inspection showed the cause to be a leak after the original lead had been stripped from the building in 1951.

What isn't recorded is what, if any, damage there was to the model railway.

The result of this though was a much overdue restoration of the chapel ceiling. As the above advertisement shows, the model railway was sold at auction and packed away. Interesting to note that the layout was still operational for viewing on the date of the sale! One last chance to 'play trains'?

Despite this, if you know what you're looking at, one rather large relic from the model railway still remains...

The original ticket booth, no less!

Back when it was first opened the railway was an 'upcharge' attraction, hence the need for one. Paint it blood & custard livery and it wouldn't look out of place in any railway station. Look even closer, and you'l see another relic...

A somewhat battle scarred Lilliput sticker!

For anyone interested in further reading, the July 1957 Railway Modeller has a good (If brief) overview of the layout complete with track plan, and the old guide books and postcard sets come up online occasionally. One of the best views though I just stumbled upon whilst writing this post! Silent footage from a Midlands News report, probably used to report on the opening of the layout, it shows it under construction and eventually as a finished layout. Enjoy!

Tractor

I seem to be on a bit of a rolling stock spree at the moment...

Readers may remember that back in early June I stumbled upon a W&T models kit of a '1920s Style Tractor' in a rummage bin at Bakewell Model Railway Show. After replacing the missing steering wheel the kit went together quite nicely Trying and failing to find the exact prototype it was simply put into an all over grey livery, some will say this screams Ferguson but research showed many manufacturers sent their machines out in grey for the customer to choose the final colour.

And now it sits quite proudly on the Chris Ford style flatbed built all the way back in 2024. The wagon itself has no weight in it and very limited room to add any in the body so this was the perfect alternative. Nothing groundbreaking here: The chocks are matchsticks given a wash of black and earth brown paint whilst the ropes are cotton thread fixed to the underside and looped up and around the wheels.

The result is a fun alternative to the endless parade of open wagons!

Rusty

A silly project from my shutdown week back in May. Ever since I first saw the toy train prop of Rusty the steam engine for the 2024 revival of Starlight Express, very clearly based on a Jinty, I immediately made a note that it would be a fun, simple and quick project.

He's made from one of the older Farish N gauge 3F models (The one with the big metal body), stripped down to its component pieces, painted into as close as stage accurate colours as I could find, re-motored with a Tramfabriek kit, put back together again, lettered and finally varnished and weathered.

He looks (and is) simple but there were a few interesting challenges on the way. Firstly, I didn't have (And have apparently never had any need for!) yellow paint - Thank you Railmatch! Secondly, it seems I've run out of 'R's on my decal sheets. The above ones were created using the old school technique of butchering parts of letters - In this case it's a letter 'P' with and additional leg taken from a 'K'. The result looks better than I ever hoped for!

Whoever said there's no need for these older techniques in the modern day hobby?

D3

This project actually reached completion in late May, sometimes there's just too many topics to cover with the fortnightly posting!

Introducing 'D3', simply numbered because it's the third diesel locomotive completed for the 009 fleet. It's a Narrow Planet kit comprising a 3D printed body with etched detailing parts, running on a Bachmann Plymouth N gauge chassis. 

I've also finally decided on a livery for the diesel stock that I really like (What will become D1 & D2 will no doubt get a repaint to match at some point in the future) It's simple, but it works really nicely, especially when weathered. I'm thinking of doing a similar livery for the steam stock, but with green replacing the grey.

I just need to find the right shade of green...