Dark Lane (Hatton) - PECO Rail200

[Joe1980]

After a bit of “will I, won’t I” about the Peco Rail200 challenge, I thought I’d give it a go. I was so impressed with Will’s Fordwich Arms idea, then seeing Rob throw his hat into the ring as well, I realised I should just do something anyway.

So, I give you Dark Lane (Hatton). It’s small halt on the Stratford-upon-Avon, Charlecote and Wellesbourne Railway’s (completely unnecessary) line from Clifford Sidings (nr Stratford) to Hatton.

It’s 100% fictional, reasonably implausible, but all part of the imaginarium that I’ve built around a line that would have eventually terminated in a place called Hampton Lucy and make use of GWR and some Midland Railway/LMS stock.

I don’t do CAD/or computer sketches, so this is what I have so far (obviously not to any kind of scale):

The vibe is very similar to that of Cutlers Green (which I know another member has been working on), although the platform won’t be as low! There may be hints of Bidford on Avon’s station building and Kineton’s cattle dock to create the south Warwickshire vibe.

It’s all quite modest, but I have to be realistic with my ambitions (with a full time job and a full time baby in the house)!

 

[Allen M]

Joe
I assume 00, am I correct?
Regards
Allen

 

[Joe1980]

Joe
I assume 00, am I correct?
Regards
Allen

Hi Allen, that’s correct. Making use of a few bits and bobs I have around the place already, if I can.

 

[Willl]

Interesting plan Joe, and pleased to hear i've provided some encouragement to give the competition a go. The halt reminds me a bit of Cutlers Green. Look forward to seeing this progress!

Will

 

[Joe1980]

Interesting plan Joe, and pleased to hear i've provided some encouragement to give the competition a go. The halt reminds me a bit of Cutlers Green. Look forward to seeing this progress!

Will

Cheers Will. It’s heavily influenced by it. In that manner (typical of railway modellers), I’d sort of had a plan for doing a model based on it for a while. My original plans had always been around it being a wintry scene, but instead I’m going early autumn.

 

[Joe1980]

Not layout progress as such, but the station sign/running in board arrived today. The small croft cottage from Petite Properties also arrived, so I’m gathering the bits and bobs ahead of getting on with construction.

 

[Joe1980]

Had a go at ‘painting’ one of the signs this evening using acrylic paint pens. They work well, but require a few coats. This effort is a bit rough and ready, but useful practice.

 

[Joe1980]

So, I’m chronically bad at updating threads etc. I also try and do five jobs at once with my modelling. I’ll be replacing the chimney on a Manor class whilst building a Superquick kit. It’s a problem, but I’ll have to just live with it.

What have I done with Dark Lane then? The first stage was to add some plywood strips around the edge to allow me to build up the land forms etc.



Following on from that, I needed to place (the world’s most boring) track plan onto the board. I’ve used Peco Bullhead track to match it up with my other layout, The Idler of Tangier. I also built/adapted a Ratio grounded coach body (modelled on something I saw on Albion Yard’s blog). I’ve made use of a free Metcalfe cottage kit that my dad passed my way for the corner of the layout.





Following on from that, it was time to get the jigsaw out and create some undulations and build up the land. Just because the space is small, I am keen to create a sense of elevation change. My other layout is quite flat and I wanted to avoid this.




I also adapted a Ratio cattle dock kit to fit in the corner. It still needs finishing off, but, like I said, I always seem to spin a few plates at once. Finally, the last key bits of progress have been around creating a platform. This started by creating the rustic platform edging. The height of the platform is deliberately too low, but not as low as Cutlers Green (where a good deal of inspiration was drawn from).



And, having seen it on Horsehay Modeller’s YouTube channel, I decided to have a go at creating a wheat field to fill a space in the foreground, set slightly lower than the platform. I’ve a lot more work to do on that, and I’m not sure whether I’ve spaced the lines of wheat too far apart, but we’ll see.

Anyway, if you’re still reading, thanks. You’ll be the first to get invited onto the buffet car.

 

[Flaxfield]

Hi Joe,

Boringly simple, yes. However, lovely to see this taking shape and coming on very nicely.

Can you elaborate on how you went about creating the platform, materials etc ?

Rob

 

[Joe1980]

Hi Joe,

Boringly simple, yes. However, lovely to see this taking shape and coming on very nicely.

Can you elaborate on how you went about creating the platform, materials etc ?

Rob

Sure thing. It’s a method I’ve used before and the look is based on Hailes Abbey Halt on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire railway. Key materials are: 3mm foam board, wooden coffee stirrers, das clay and fine sand.

Annoyingly, I didn’t photograph the stages this time, but here’s a previous version on a layout made for my dad.

Start by stacking your foamboard to your desired height. On my dad’s layout I used 5mm foamboard to build up a 15mm height above the baseboard, on this diorama it was 3mm foamboard to a height of 12mm.

Along the side of the platform, I glue the coffee stirrers with PVA (normal superglue can melt the foam). I sort of cut these lateral pieces to random lengths around 80mm long, but I try to make it a little random.

I then cut a load of coffee stirrers to the height of the platform and about 5mm wide. Last time I doubled them up to look thicker. This time I didn’t.

I then lay stirrers as platform edges and space the upright supports at roughly 20mm intervals.



The platform ramps are a bit ‘trial and error’ but I’m sure if you actually measure the angle (rather than bodge, like I do) you could make something neater. This time around, I used Halford Brown Camouflage spray paint to give the wood some initial colour (a lesson learned from last time).

After this I lay a bit of Das clay. Unnecessay, probably, but I like to bring the rest of the platform up to the height of the platform edge wood. You can probably just about see it behind the jinty.



Finally, using the traditional ballasting method (lay it dry and flood with diluted PVA), I put a layer of sand and bed in with the surrounding landscaping.



I’ve still got a bit of a way to go with the Dark Lane platform, but I hope this makes sense.

 

[Flaxfield]

Hi, Joe.

That's great. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

Rob

 

[AdeMoore]

Just subbed on your thread here Joe. Simple idea excellently executed.

 

[Joe1980]

So, my competition entry ultimately faltered and failed to meet the deadline due to a combination of factors: starting late due to general “Dad Duties”, covering for people at work (three people off at once) and a delay in getting the trees I wanted from Poland. The trees actually arrived this week and they are things of beauty… expensive things of beauty, but beautiful nonetheless.

I’ll still finish it anyway (by Christmas I hope) and hopefully extend it at some point, especially if they continue to make the baseboards available.

I’m a notoriously slow modeller anyway, so maybe deadlines aren’t for me!