Swanage-July Group Meeting-2015

Swanage now has its own storage facility!

It has now been decided to use Peco Hom track as there is too much work to do on the original- shame but rebuilding exiting points will take too long and we really want to get this rolling.

Swanage- track assembly begins.

 A New Year and a new start!
The January meeting of the Dorset Group saw the track we purchased at West Byfleet finally assembled.
The basic track plan has been drawn onto the new baseboards and plans made to accomodate the road bridge and Engine Shed/ Turntable.
These were on the missing board, so an educated guess has been made to get this part onto the board which is also 4x2.
Next meeting will see progress made so if anyone would like to join in- look into the group page for meeting dates.

Swanage Coaling Stage and Water Tower.

 Working from some original photos and plans from Terry Jenkins 4mm model, Colin has come up trumps with  this excellent model.
This is a new build because the original had been destroyed.
It will sit adjacent to the Engine Shed and Turntable.
Still the road bridge, Engine Shed and Turntable to do.

Swanage Signal Box

 Colin has done a brilliant job of reconstructing the signal box.
Slightly damaged when lifting from the original board, the steps have been completely re-built.
Looking good.

Swanage Air Raid Shelter.

 Bit of a landmark today- this is the 700th post!
The Air Raid Shelter stood at Swanage until the track was removed after closure,
This small building has appeared in numerous photos and I had almost forgotten it until we started renovating Swanage.
Again, Colin has turned a mundane little structure into an excellent rendition of the prototype.
More is still to come I warn you!

Swanage- more photos.

 No excuse but a couple more pictures of our new (to us) layout.
It really has the group enthused and raring to go to get the track and buildings transferred to the new boards.
This we hope to begin at our next meeting so watch this space.
A very good November meet was had but we could do with a few more regular members.
Any offers?

A Turntable for Swanage.

This PECO 'N' Gauge turntable was found at the recent CMRC Exhibition in Bournemouth.
Scaleing at 50ft it is the perfect size for the one needed for the Group's Swanage layout.
New boards are to be built to transfer the trackwork onto.
Recently Pete Nicklen, the original builder, passed a photo album to me via the group guys that attended Westfest 2013 which will help greatly in the refurbishment of the layout, plus recreate the missing bits!

Turntable Detail

This shows the base and support for the 50ft turntable at Swanage-

Swanage Water Tower.

This structure is one that I have a long affection for. Let me explain- Terry Jenkins has been a friend of mine for more years than I care to remember. I first met him when he ran a club in Havilland Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth. This structure was one of the models and was featured in one of the Michael Andress modelling books. It also contained plans if I remember rightly so hopefully the building of the water tower shouldn't be too problimatical.

Swanage Turntable.

The turntable was 50ft in length- perfect to use the Peco 'N' gauge product as this is 151mm in length.
It is handy that the Peco offering is of the well type so only modification of the track bed will reqire modification.
Looking at these pictures, I am wondering wether the chain fence was in situ during the fifties/early sixties or if it is a requirement for modern day Health & Safety.

Swanage Road Bridge.

Just one big picture today- to show detail of the bridge which will have to be made for Swanage

Swanage Engine Shed.

Swanage Engine Shed seen here in August 2013.
This shows the shed as it was 'modified' ,in the late fifties I think, bu an overshooting loco whilst using the turntable.
The example that will be used on the groups layout will be as built.

Swanage details.

With the refurbishing of Swanage about to take place, the opportunity to take some shots to aid this was taken on a recent trip with the Grandchildren.
Fortuitously there is a picnic area opposite the engine shed where lots of pictures were taken, and lunch eaten, with the added bonus of steam working that day.
So over the next many days there will be many of the pictures which I hope will be of interest to someone.
First up is an open wagon used to coal the engines- I will try and find more info about this in due course.

Swanage-an update.

 After checking that the electrics were sound, our attention was drawn to the lining up of the two boards.
Here we were stopped in our tracks! the track at baseboard edge was showing signs of a switchback ride so further checks were made.
The edge of the level didnt touch all the way along the track- the Sundela has sagged.
Lengthy discussion ensued about what to do. Checking the possibility of removing the buildings intact made us decide that we have no option but to replace the baseboards. We had previously decided that maybe the frame needed some work but this has caused a major re-think. There is nothing worse that uneven track especially on an exhibition layout. So reluctantly we have drawn up some plans to remove the track and relay on a fresh base.
This will not be a quick job-or one we really wanted- but realism must be the deciding factor and a switchback ride is not one we want- This will take time but we are in no hurry!

More pictures, taken by John O'Dell are today published on Teignfords site . Click on link to the left.

Swanage-an update.

As a result of showing the groups newly aquired layout on the blog, I have had some more information.
I was contacted by Geoff Gay who told me that the layout had been built by  Gerry Nicklin.
I then recieved a call from Gerry who is pleased that the layout is to be refurbished. He recalled the reason that the layout was donated to the Swanage Railway together with appropriate stock.
It is very satisfying to have recieved this information and now we can give the credit to the originator.
I hope that the group can refurbish to the excellent standards of the original.

Back in Time.

A prototypical scene from days gone by. A LSWR T9 4-4-0 with a single carriage waits for the off at Swanage.

We have a problem!

The track is all hand built with copper clad sleepers.
Somehow parts of the track have expanded and distorted. Luckily most of this has occured where track joiners (fishplates) are used.
It may be that the rails can be desoldered, straigtened with gauges and re set.
We shall see but I hope you agree that the project is worthwhile and an interesting one to continue with.
Comments are welcome.
There are more pictures of Swanage on the Teignford site- click on link .

More about Swanage.

 Some more shots of our adopted layout.
The overall canopy is placed in position as it needs some work due to some distortion to deal with.
The track layout is not as wide as it should be but this compromise means we will be able to transport and exhibit without having to resort to van hire.
The ravages of time have taken it's toll but it is early days yet so a full assesment will be made at our next meeting.
The opportunity will be taken to check out the wiring and attached transformers. One is a cased Gaugemaster so that should be OK.