Hold on to your socks - this is going to be a lengthy one! (In fact it's so long, I've now split it into 2 separate posts - the next will be up soon...)
I think it's fair to say that you are all long overdue an update on Coastguard Creek. Due to other commitments, no real progress has been made since the last post way back in March 2021; almost 15 months ago! If anything, things went backwards for quite a while, as I kept finding more and more inspiring locations that I really wanted to model, and I couldn't stop myself from sketching ideas!
I've probably gone through hundreds of sketches and ideas since this layouts' inception. The vast majority of which I was so focused on what I wanted each scene to look like, that I stopped thinking about the practicalities in terms of turning them into a manageable layout. Being sketches, it of course also means that they are far too optimistic in terms of fitting everything in in the space available. Nethertheless, rather than them never be seen, I'm posting the sketches that are most complete; in order to help show the sort of layout I'm looking to build, and also in the hope that perhaps someone might have a sensible suggestion or two! What follows are just some (yes, really!) of the sketches I've drawn...
Note: I have retrospectively numbered the sketches so that you (and I) can use these numbers for reference when talking about them from now on.
One such early 'what-if' scenario is seen below:
Above: (CC0) A sketch of what I imagine Lepe might've looked like with a rudimentary station built from local buff Exbury brick and wood. Note the (relocated) D-Day embarkation hard in the right foreground. In reality, the planned station would've been further to the right, and at 90 degrees or so to that shown above; actually terminating on a 470 yard south-easterly pier into the Solent!
Above: (CC1) The first redesign came soon after my second blog entry about the layout, when someone reminded me about Eling Tide Mill. I just had to fit this on the original layout plan, so at first it was sqeezed into the position shown here. Note that it is drawn far too small on the plan on the left, so it would actually need more room; which brings us onto the next sketch...
Above: (CC2) As it felt a little too 'squeezed', I then shifted things around a fair bit. The result is a rather strange trackplan, with two sidings ending on the beach that have no real use! I do like the new position of the tide mill and pub, though!
I then tried, rather than creating a fictional location, to 'imagineer' a line to Lepe, using the once-planned route of going via the Dark Water Valley; modifying the original plans and history, and adding in locations from other areas of the New Forest and beyond. This made for an interesting exercise, but the topography meant that in model form it would be difficult to produce, as the creek section (where all the shunting would take place in my world) would not only be behind the 'main' running line, but also beyond the creek itself. This would result in both an incredibly wide board, and also be hard to see - not least because of the escarpment on the nearside edge. It would've been a cool concept looking up the Dark Water Valley (it reminds me of the 'Stealth Bomber' layout, Crumley & Little Wickhill), but it would also take up too much space:
Above: (CC3) Starting with the right-hand image, annotating a Google Maps screenshot shows one possible route that the real railway might've taken (I should've coloured the line to make it obvious, but it runs from the hashed line (demolished pier) at the bottom, and curves left, then back to the right and around to the top middle). To fit in a much-desired bridge across Dark Water, I changed things around until I came up with the sketch on the left. Note that it was planned to make the shipyard board able to be removed from this large layout, and have the traverser fiddle yard split into two to service each end for exhibitions. This would, however, mean a different backscene would be required for exhibitions.
Note that the hill on the right (where it says 'The Dark Water Valley') would severely limit viewing not only of the boatyard, but also the mill, the adjacent halt, and also the wharf with the dual sidings on board 2. Looking back, the only way it would work (at least in terms of being able to see everything) would be to widen the estuary and bridge area, and narrow the scene towards the fiddle yard. That would, however, create a much sharper curve for the 'main' line.
Above: (CC5) I then reverted back to CC2, albeit now on two (more manageable) boards. However, the creek and the coastline are at too similar an angle. I also feel like operation-wise it wouldn't be that fun, and it doesn't really look very prototypical; I don't like the way the boat yard sidings come straight off the loop..
Above: (CC8) A further variation. Operation is still hampered by any potential passenger services, and the tide mill at the top is not in a very suitable spot; it's a bit crammed-in. Again, we seem to have a double creek going on, with the nearest one being far too close to the coast to be so muddy!
Above: (CC9) A bit of shifting around leaves the tide mill in a much better spot, but we still have a double creek going on; again with the bottom one not really quite right. It might've been OK if the beach was more 'vertical' as we look at the plan, and if we couldn't see the end of the breakwater. A loco shed has also randomly appeared at the back again. The mill wharf siding is at least accessed via its own headshunt, but that only leaves two sidings to shunt.
Above: (CC11) I then became, for some considerable time, obsessed with producing a roundy-roundy. These are still some of my favourite designs (the only real difference between the two here is an extra siding in the boat yard), but I just feel it would take up too much space. That said, I liked the idea so much that I even built it in Train Simulator, and I think the idea certainly has a lot of appeal:
Above: The initial version of this plan required that any loco running around its train at the platform would use the sharply curved line on the swing bridge. I later swapped things around, and turned the siding on the front left into a loco release headshunt (you'll see a glimpse of this later).
Above: The Peckett runs around its train. Note the wooden crossing linking the end of the platform with the coaling area (barely visible on the left). A path would also go up the hill towards the phone box. Oh, and don't judge my signalling - I have no real clue if it's right or wrong!
Above: My favourite scene of all is the road crossing adjacent to the tide mill, with it's little ground frame, and the road climbing up behind to the coastguard cottages. The road being framed by the two tall trees works well, too.
Above: Building a virtual version allowed me to operate the layout. As a result, the model evolved as I found that certain things were either missing, or didn't quite work. The line in the foreground was added as somewhere to park the brake van prior to shunting.
Above: The shipyard also evolved slightly, but all versions featured tight curves, as would be expected. The crossing above does seem a incredibly condensed - in reality, there would need to be more separation from the points to the crossing itself. It may well be that I would have to scratchbuild not just the crossing, but the points themselves; that would be a new challenge! P.S. the 16t mineral wagons were the only suitable rolling stock I could find.
Above: A higher view showing the ridiculously condensed points of the crossing! Another problem I had with this plan is that I highly doubt that the railway would build a swing bridge just so that a boat can access 2 slipways - but I'd love to be proved wrong! Note the line at the top left curving sharply around the pub - that's the roundy-roundy aspect. For non lazy running, this would be used as a headshunt for the rightmost siding. The line going into the boatshed on the left also meets up with the fiddle yard. Those with beady eyes may note that the passing loop (top right) has had it's points swapped so that a 'main' line loco no longer has to run onto the tightly curved section on the swing bridge. Something that I think is missing is a lean-to engine shed for the yard shunter.
Above: (CC12) I then realised the previous plans were all far too big, certainly if they were to be transported in my car, so I set about making a series of modules of the inland (creek) sections. I didn't feel that the coastal area would offer enough operating interest, nor fit in such a small footprint, although I did leave the Pitt's Mill Wharf module with an additional scenic exit, just in case. Anyway, these modules were all given tentative names based on local industries and placenames. As self-contained scenes, I think they could all look quite nice, but operating them together would prove challenging at exhibitions.
On a personal level I'm not quite sure how I'd feel about seeing modules, which are technically individual scenes, running together as one layout. I really admire cameo layouts that form a standalone scene, but I couldn't imagine putting two together and it being particularly effective. I suppose the shorter the gap between them, the more effective it might be, whereas having large non-scenic gaps would ruin the effect somewhat. I've seen a few modular layouts online set up in the latter format with large (often black) bridges/fascias separating them. Without wishing to sound too critical, I don't think it really works unless the modules are vastly different in style/subject. My plan above was to soften/hide the gaps between modules by always having trees of similar style and colouring on every join; on both sides of the track. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this sort of set-up, purely out of curiousity! Personally, I'm not 100% convinced, but perhaps a '3D' sketch or model might persuade me otherwise...
Above: (CC13) I then felt like I should give the coastal section another chance; coming up with this three board (but single backscene) design, with a fiddle yard wedged behind the middle board. To provide intrique, I moved the platform on the coastal board into the centre of the loop, with a walkway across the nearside track leading to a separate small station building/cafe set into the cliffside. I think this is quite a nice idea for a layout, but the fiddle yard looks pretty small, and the 'Leape' board would probably have to be split into two boards. I'm not quite sure about the station layout - I would think it would make far more sense to have the point that goes into the loop in the cutting (i.e. reverse the hand), rather than as shown; where the loco would need to swing sharply around to the coast, and thus the short branch line to the boatyard, rather than simply going straight back onto the 'main' branch.
Above: (CC14) Taking the previous design, removing Leape, and adding a loop to the wharf board gives us a more compact design, although operation is more limited. It does however give room for a much larger fiddle yard (ignore the fact it says 'traverser' - it clearly isn't one; I forgot to remove the text when I copied it across!).
Above: (CC15) My two favourite scenes are the shipyard and tidal mill, so I began to focus more heavily on these two areas; especially allowing the latter more room. I also wanted to add typical New Forest features like a ford (top right). I must admit, I really like this design, although the glaring problem is the lack of run-around loop. It would also likely have to be split into two boards. It's basically an inglenook (if you treat the rear loco shed headshunt as a third siding), so not hugely exciting to operate, but it could be worse.
Above: (CC16) This is a rather simple alternative, this time mixing the mill with a halt and the brickworks. It's a cute scene, but operation is severely limited; with just one siding to shunt! I think I intended to add another module on the right (presumably the shipyard); that would certainly create a more interesting layout to operate, albeit one that is very long. It certainly gives off the rural branch line feel, and I like the snaking form of the trackwork.
Above: (CC17) This wide triangular design was one of my favourites (hence why it received annotations and a title card), but it is far too big to be just one board as shown! I really like the flow and sight lines created by the tidal mill causeway and its pond; causing the line from the 'main' line to sweep around the latter. As this corner would otherwise be too sharp, note how a two further reversals are needed into the fiddle yard (lower track) in order to shunt two of the sidings! I suppose this is wildly unprototypical, and the stream is too narrow as depicted for it to make much sense (surely they would just have a point and a small bridge slightly further up the line that would directly lead to these sidings).
Regardless, the shipyard is therefore a sort of inglenook; albeit with extra shunting required. Note that, rather wierdly, there are two run-around loops right next to one another at the top of the plan! The leftmost is there to serve the shipyard and jetty (i.e. freight), the right one solely serves the station. This is another design that I ended up recreating on Train Simulator, and then further developed:
Above: After a few revisions, I came up with this simplified version. The main difference is that there's now only one passing loop. Having two didn't really look right, and worse still, the leftmost was disected by a road. That would cause traffic chaos whenever a local freight arrived! Another modification was to move one of the boatyard sidings (to provide more room for the headshunt, and also to avoid having too many sidings perpendicular to the baseboard edge. You'll note that there's now a random 'fork' (in yellow) surrounding the brickworks - that would be a (probably disused) narrow gauge line. One thing this plan is missing is a place to easily park the brake van - the siding by the mill could be used as such, but it would involve considerable shunting. Note that a promenade, a pier, and some beach huts have appeared! In reality, whilst I dislike half-relief buildings, there's no way I'd model the entire boat shed, as shown here.
Above: If the ticket office looks familiar, it's because it's a copy of the one found on the I.O.W steam railway at Havenstreet (if you look closely, you'll also note that the running-in board says Havenstreet - I'm using assets from the IOW line expansion on Train Simulator). Names aside, whilst I was thinking more along the lines of a concrete precast platform (Stourpaine & Durweston style), I do love that ticket office design, and I'm also now thinking about the set-up at Havenstreet with the island platform as an interesting alternative. Anyway, note the (unpainted) beach huts on the right - I had to use garden sheds as I couldn't find the right asset/3D model! Up on the cliff (if you can call it that), as well as the coastguard cottages, we have a phone box and a bus shelter. You may just be able to tell that, because I'm shunting with a tiny 0-4-0, I can leave the brake van in the loco release - that's certainly one possibility, providing the siding in the foreground doesn't then become un-shuntable due to the smaller headshunt!
Above: The slipway on the left is actually an embarkation hard leftover from the D-Day landing preparations some 10 years earlier. At strategic points along the New Forest coast and also in So'ton, many concrete slipways were built; including one at the real Lepe. Stone Point, to the east, also featured a colossal worksite; where huge floating concrete caissons were built and launched, 'fitted' in So'ton, and then towed across the Channel to provide a floating harbour for the invading forces. Along the roads in the area today, you can still see concrete laybys used to park up the military vehicles under the cover of trees, and away from spying enemies!
Above: The lack of much in the way of passenger facilities can be explained mostly by the fact that in my (semi-)fictional history (which I will post at some point), the railway used to continue onto the pier on the right. One fateful night, as has often happened elsewhere, a vessel struck the pier in thick fog, causing irreperable damage. As the pier had been in decline for a number of years beforehand (due to competition from So'ton and Lymington and their ferry services), it was not deemed appropriate to rebuild the gap; so the rest of the pier was demolished. Equally, as there was no longer any possibility of running a ferry service, it was therefore not deemed that Leape would require anything more than a small halt and minimal facilities. Another deciding factor was the limited space available on the shorefront on which to locate the new station.
Above: Below the chimney, we can see the ground frame (another I.O.W asset). I've assumed that this would only control the passing loop, crossing gates, and signal(s), and that all other points would be worked by hand. Note the brickworks peeking out behind the trees; this will be a copy of Bailey's Hard Brickworks, which still exists today (albeit as a holiday home, I believe).
Above: The brickworks would be an imposing building, especially with its tall chimney; but by screening it with significant foliage, its dominance in the scene has been lessened and it starts to blend into the background. It helps that this, after all, is the New Forest - so one would expect there to be copious amounts of trees. That is certainly the case along the creeks (where the prototype sits), but it is actually the comparatively barren heathland that makes up the majority of the National Park. Still, luckily for me, that's something I don't need to worry about; as although the Dark Water valley is so-named because of the nutrient-rich run-off from the heath, the heath itself is some distance away - which means I don't have to worry about a lack of trees in the background.
Above: Swinging to the left of the mill, and looking up the creek, we see the pub on the right, and the boat yard branch in front. The creek at this point on the layout is narrow (although I'd prefer it to be quite a lot wider), and the line crosses it via a small fixed girder bridge. The large boat shed can be seen in the background, with a lean-to loco shed in the middle distance for the resident shunter - note the locomotive hoist.
Above: This view shows a bit more of the boat yard. I really liked this angle looking up one of the sidings and the approach road, and seeing the glimpse of the pub in the distance. The winch shed (minus winch as, unsurprisingly, there isn't a suitable asset for that in-game) is to the left of the siding, with the office on the right. At the far left, we can see a brick stores building. Note the lamp post in front of it, and the use of corrugated metal for fencing elsewhere. There will also be a boat being worked on (perhaps in place of the brick store building), but again, there wasn't a suitable 3D model (and to be honest, I'm struggling to find a suitable 1:76 kit!).
Above: Another neat view would be looking up the creek branch from the far left of the layout. Here we see a Peckett back up some wagons onto the coal wharf. Wait? What coal wharf you ask?...
Above: ... this one! It's inspired by Dibles Wharf, So'ton - which a B4 tank named 'Corrall Queen' used to shunt. I would imagine the thing with the white railings would be a coal tipper, albeit a single, not a double one like at Dibles Wharf. This scene arose from not just looking at inspiring locations, but also wanting to add more variety to the freight.
Above: Another interesting view is looking up the access road (that serves the shipyard and coal wharf) up to the mill and its causeway. I'm all about those sight lines!
Above: A final screenshot shows an overview of the layout; hopefully showing how it all fits together. I must admit this is probably one of my favourite designs, but I believe it will be too big, and I worry about not being able to reach across.
All the above might make it sound like I'm planning to build this plan, but in reality there are a lot of things to iron out! I still like the general concept, but the logistical issue of a plan this big means there is a lot to think about.
Just to finish off this long entry, here's what this plan originally started as on Train Simulator before I went back and added the creek line at the back of the mill pond:
...the next blog entry will deal with further development, and also look at things from a more... practical standpoint! Stay tuned...
Thanks for reading; please do post any comments or questions down below! I post fairly frequently on my Twitter page @StudioJamming which often includes sneak peaks of my modelmaking projects for BRM and any photographs I take. It's the best way to find out what I'm up to, as well as seeing some of my modelmaking tips and what goes on behind-the-scenes!
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