Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

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Paul_A_C
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Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Paul_A_C » Sun Sep 23, 2018 6:00 pm

This rather imposing title is for my proposed line, to be built after we have moved house. It seems to be a fact of railways history, the longer the title of a railway, the more insignificant it is! In this case, it was an actual proposal for a railway to link Hartland and Clovelly with the national network. For me, it provides a good backstory. Research at the local studies section at Barnstaple library came up with a collection of papers relating to railways to Clovelly and Hartland.

The first was a light railway application in 1898 for a 3' gauge line from Bideford to Clovelly, with a provision to "increase the gauge from three feet to any gauge not exceeding four feet eight and a half inches. This appears to have died away, to be followed by a further scheme in 1906 for a Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway. This was to be standard gauge and was to make junction with the LSWR just south of Landcross Viaduct, which still stands today as the line is now a public foot and cycle way ' The Tarka Trail'. It too failed as they could not raise the finance. Many landowners resisted taking shares in exchange for land and wanted cash instead! Well, I my alternative universe, it is a 2' gauge line. I've just got to find a route from Landcross into East-of-the-Water, Bideford.
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The map of the 1906 proposal shows the route and proposed stations. All useful stuff for a proposed railway. I envisage it to be a common carrier line, very much in the nature of the Welshpool and Llanfair line. Built cheaply, following the contours of the land as far as possible, in contrast to what actually happened further east with the Lynton and Barnstaple.
Next I will post photos of the stock I have so far.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Soar Valley Light » Sun Sep 23, 2018 8:44 pm

Hi Paul,

What a great history for your line. Few of us can claim genuine historical records for our railways! I look forward very much to seeing your line develop.

All the best,

Andrew
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"'cause I can't manage on three gaffer!"

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by IanC » Sun Sep 23, 2018 9:21 pm

Brilliant. I must pop into my local library to see if there's anything like that for my area.
Ian

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by FWLR » Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:42 am

Hi Paul, great follow up. It’s great to hear about past lines and their history. Lets have some photos soon.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by FWLR » Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:44 am

IanC wrote: ↑Sun Sep 23, 2018 9:21 pm Brilliant. I must pop into my local library to see if there's anything like that for my area.
You will find loads of history on lines in your area. It all depends on what you to do with your own line when you get around to building it Ian.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Paul_A_C » Tue Oct 02, 2018 2:36 pm

I do not have a garden railway as yet, but I thought I would post photos of the stock I own.
My first loco was a Roundhouse 'Bertie'. I thought long and hard before I bought this because at the time it was stretching the budget. It has served me well over the last 15 years. All I have had to do is replace the safety valve and pressure gauge this year and clean out the gas jet this year (twice!).
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I have fitted a top up system, whistle and copper capped chimney. Later I added the bucket.
The first item of rolling stock from a Swanswood Garden Railway kit.
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Whilst the livery is fictional, Bideford Black is a real mineral and was mined at East-of-the-Water, Bideford:http://bidefordblack.blogspot.com/p/history.html. The geological map is interesting: http://bidefordblack.blogspot.com/p/geology.html as it shows that the associated seam runs westward out towards Hartland. So the B.C.&.H.L.R. has an additional traffic for its back story.
This kit build was then followed by two scratchbuild wagons, this time with full drop sides.
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I then built the tank wagon from a Swanswood kit.
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Finally this year, I was able to buy second had from a group member two further open wagons. I change the Accucraft chopper couplings out for the link type that I use and repainted the wagons' interiors to look like weathered wood. One of my pet hates is wagon interiors painted in the livery colour.
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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by ge_rik » Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:58 am

Great history so far. I do like a good back story. That lettering looks spot on! Looks too regular for Letraset - bespoke transfers?

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Andrew » Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:29 am

ge_rik wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:58 am That lettering looks spot on! Looks too regular for Letraset - bespoke transfers?
I thought that too, looks great. Lovely detail on the scratchbuilt wagons too...

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Paul_A_C » Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:37 am

ge_rik wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:58 am Great history so far. I do like a good back story. That lettering looks spot on! Looks too regular for Letraset - bespoke transfers?

Rik
Yes Rik, you are correct. Mr Swanswood (the late Felton Fowler) could provide rub down dry transfers if required.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Paul_A_C » Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:43 am

Andrew wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:29 am
ge_rik wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:58 am That lettering looks spot on! Looks too regular for Letraset - bespoke transfers?
I thought that too, looks great. Lovely detail on the scratchbuilt wagons too...

Cheers,

Andrew.
The whitemetal castings were from the P&J(?) range, who were down in the Torbay area. Another useful range that has disappeared. They produced some nice figures as well, real life as opposed to the caricature type that seem to be popular these days.
Letraset appears to be consigned to history. Does anyone know if dry rub down lettering is available these days? Come to that, I’m struggling to find basic wagon numbers and letters in 16mm scale, even if they are water slide.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by philipy » Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:04 am

Plentyof Lettraset here, depending on what size and typeface you want?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_saca ... ers&_frs=1
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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by FWLR » Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:27 am

philipy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:04 am Plentyof Lettraset here, depending on what size and typeface you want?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_saca ... ers&_frs=1
What size does one use for wagons and coaches please Phil.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Paul_A_C » Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:40 am

I require 8mm / 36pt(?) white. Not sure of the font type; I’d have to research that. Similar to that on my wagons would be good.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by philipy » Wed Oct 03, 2018 1:07 pm

FWLR wrote: ↑Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:27 am
What size does one use for wagons and coaches please Phil.
Depends. If you are modelling a particular protoype company then it is whatever they used. Otherwise it's what ever you think looks good on your model.
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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by FWLR » Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:54 am

Thanks Phil….. :thumbright:

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Paul_A_C » Sat Oct 06, 2018 11:40 am

Two more wagons from the fleet. Both are scratchbuilt.
The box van is completely freelance.
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The brake van is loosely on a Ballymena and Larne prototype. It is shorter and does not have the outside framing on the ends of the full size van. The tail lamp works and there is also an internal light. The later is quite dim, like an oil lamp and can only be seen in the dark. There is also a representation of the stove, but you can't really see it unless you peer in closely.
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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by FWLR » Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:31 am

Wonderfull builds Paul, I love them :thumbright: :thumbright: :thumbright: :thumbright:

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by ge_rik » Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:05 pm

Nicely done. :thumbright:

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Paul_A_C » Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:22 pm

FWLR wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:31 am Wonderfull builds Paul, I love them :thumbright: :thumbright: :thumbright: :thumbright:
Thanks Rod, much appreciated.

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Re: Bideford, Clovelly and Hartland Light Railway

Post by Paul_A_C » Mon Oct 22, 2018 11:55 am

Kit built bogie van. The body is close to the WDLR Tool Vans, one of which was included in the 6 vehicle Workshop Trains. The bogies came supplied with the kit. I added the truss rods etc to add extra detail. The doors were designed to open, which I achieved, adding the internal detail which was a guesstimate. 10 years later, Roy Link published the excellent WDLR Album, which shows reality.
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