Sunday Variety - Three Aces (1)

Axminster Customer Experrience

Axminster Station was very bust yesterday at 12 noon, unusually so for a Saturday; but not everybody was getting on to the 1207 to Exeter. It is two years plus since fbb visited his local station, excursions being impeded by Covid and Mrs fbb's severe hip problem. 

Whilst waiting on the platform yesterday, fbb took a quick look round. 

He espied tables and chairs at the Exeter end of the station building, but outside the platform area.

These are for a new catering outlet ...

... La "micro" pub.

Seating is upstarts.

Sadly, the outside seating had no customers on a wet and windy Saturday. Two disabled parking spaces have moved elsewhere.

At the "town" end of the station the former "greasy spoon" caff is under new local management and has been smartened up a lot, outside ...

... and in!

Nice fireplace!

fbb intends to sample its wares as soon as possible - but the cakes looked scrummy!

Sadly, the one area that was lacking in quality was the bus interchange.

Here is what was waiting for their eager passengers,

The bus at front is, obviously ...

... a service X51 Jurassic Coaster and should look like this ...

... whilst the bus at the rear ...

... is, obviously, operated by Buses of Somerset and should look like this:-

Excel is a Bristol brand.

The next Jurassic Coaster to appear (X53) looked like this (not pictured at Axminster but the bus was spotted by fbb as he set off to his next destination).

And so, a question.

What is the point of branding if you don'tb keep up the standards; you might as well go back to Barbie as here on the 30 from Taunton ...

... or here on the X51/X53 route at Weymouth.

Amazing Colyton Event

After a thrilling hour or so in Axminster, fbb at the station and Mrs fbb purchasing comestibles at the Co-op, the gruesome twosome decided to partake of luncheon at the "Tramstop" cafe at the Colyton terminus. The precipitation abated long enough to allow an outdoor seat and thus view the trams as they arrived and departed.

Strongly recommended is the cream tea ...

... although the pottle plus posy is not guaranteed! But yesterday it was lunch and, again an fbb top tip is the Tram Driver's breakfast!

The fbbs settled for the lighter (?) sausage, egg and chips, with Mrs fbb omitting the sausage!

But they didn't see many trams trundling by as there was a static queue of vehicles all lined up and ready to go ...

... which stretched from one end of the platform to the other.

Confused.com?

Then fbb espied a notice.

It was Tramathon day!

Once upon a time trams ran for 24 hours, but more recently the enhanced service only continues until 2200. The aim is to have as much of the whole fleet in operation as is possible - hence the stack at Colyton to take their turn for the run back to Seaton.

The star of the above, which rarely peeps out of its depot, is the boat tram.

Its rarity, fbb gathers, is that its capacity for passengers is small. But on Tramathon days it is the star of the show and, indeed, it peeped into view at Colyton as the fbbs chomped on their chips.

It was all an unexpected surprise as the ill-informed couple did not know it was happening.

The third Ace ...

... will appear in tomorrow's blog.

PLEASE NOTE

Monday and Tuesday blogs may need to be abbreviated to make way for the fbb's duplicate Fellowship meetings at 3pm on Sunday and Monday. Weariness can often impede the blogging muse.

Of the nine Greek muses, that best inspiration for a Public Transport blog might well be Clio ...

... although, considering the way the industry is at the moment, ...

... either Thalia or Melpomena (or both!) seem ideal candidates!

 Next Variety blog : Monday 4th july 

Missing Miniature Mystery (2)

 Birchley House and Railway

The rather splendid Birchley House, near Biddenden in Kent, used to come with its own delightfully miniature railway which ran right past the fine and historic pile.

An on-line article, prompted by the offer of house and railway for sale, gives some background. the article has been expurgated by fbb.

In 1968, Jennifer Randall and businessman husband Drummond (photograped in 2013!) ...

... and their two toddlers, Edward and Catherine, moved into Birchley House, a run-down 17th Century mansion outside Biddenden, Kent, and started renovation.

Two years later, Drummond moved on to a quite different project.

He decided to build the biggest, most show-stopping, fantasy scale miniature railway in their home’s five-and-a-half acres of grounds.

His idea was to turn into a lifelong obsession and even intended digging a 202ft tunnel to allow his steam engines to pass under the property’s drive.e concentrated on the railway in the grounds. He put down another 200ft of track, and, in 1980, set about his biggest engineering feat – the tunnel under the drive.

He then looped the track around the front gardens, making a run of a quarter of a mile, before creating an extension into the rear groun ds to make a half-mile circuit in all.

All the while Drummond was also expanding his stock of engines. He now has four – all steam locomotives – in his sidings. He also built a signal box – a perfect replica of the type found on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway.

The work inside the house, overseen by Jennifer, was equally substantial.

Birchley is an impressive Grade II mansion, but when the couple bought it for £11,800 it was in dire need of care and attention. During their first winter, the snow would blow in through the holes in the roof. The interior was dark and miserable and the grounds were overgrown.

But now the Randalls are selling Birchley because their children have all flown the nest and the six-bedroom house, with its beautifully landscaped grounds, including a covered swimming pool, is too big for them.

Birchley’s new owner can either buy some engines and keep the line working – or Drummond will be quite happy to dismantle the whole track and take it away.

The article is dated 2013 which ties in with one of the Sunday 4th dates of the "final" open day.

But it seems that the "dismantle and take away" option was what happened.

The line is, indeed, no more; hence the firmly closed front gates.

Fortunately, thanks to Google Earth, we can see some of the locations, now bereft of track and trains, that we spotted on yesterday's video. The quality is not great, neither is Google Earth, but you will be able to follow the circuit.

We start at the station ...

... and set off past the signal box (now removed) ...

... the past turntable and engine shed.

The remnants are clearly visible on Google Earth. The train then passes through a foliage archway ...

... and then runs along the boundary fence.

The little train crosses the spectacular girder bridge ..

... and into the famous tunnel. These features are not visible from above due to trees - the bridge may have been removed, - but here it is under construction.

We can, however, spot the exit from the tunnel ...

... just to the left of the drive; after which the line curves gracefully round ...

... to chuff happily past the front of the house.

A sharp left hand bend takes us though another hedge ...

... and we are back in the station.

Here is an overview of the site and you should be able to plot the sausage shaped line.

Drummond Randall did not stop there, however, and he built a bit more. There was a junction just after the tunnel, which led to an extra section through the woods (and therefore invisible to Google Earth).

It ran to a terminus near to those firmly-closed main gates and required proper signalling (hence the signal box) ...

... and proper single line token operation. 

Here we go:- veer right and into the woods ...

... alongside the road from Biddenden ...

... token dropped for the next train back ...

... past another signal box and in to the terminus.

These last four pictures are stills from a video taken on the very last day of operation, August 4th 2013.

The line has been "gone" for over ten years and it's passing was a sadness for many.

The blogs all started with a label in a Seaton antique shop.

Weird isn't the word!

PLEASE NOTE

More Matford model railway snippets will now follow as part of the Sunday Variety blog.

Talking Of Tail-Chasing Model Railways

fbb has, at last, assembled a simple circular test track which will enable him to do "stuff" more effectively on the dining table - especially in inclement weather.

Seen here is fbb's extension of his tank wagon collection, progressing into the complex world of cylindrical tanks for the transport of cement and other powder products.

Six so far! More to come.

 Nexct Variety blog : Sunday 3rd July 

Missing Miniature Mystery (1)

Where Is Wadhurst? and Why

The mapping web site "Where's The Path" - fbb's fave - doesn't think it exists; but Streetmap does!

And there it is, on the wiggly railway line between London and Hastings. As you would expect, the station is some distance from the settlement from which the station takes its name. Both are in East Sussex.

The next problem was caused by an item for sale in one of Seaton's Antique shops, a sign which fbb spotted as he went for coffee with "the girls" (all aged!) last Saturday.

Clearly it was a windscreen label for a bus route, one which ran to or from Wadhurst.

Traveline offered nothing helpful with all its 784s being nowhere near Wadhurst; indeed nowhere near East Sussex. But then a second challenge to the old man's brain arose. Where, when and what is "The Birchley Railway".

fbb's encycloaedic but rapidly decaying leeedle Poirotesq brain cells could not dredge up a Birchley Railway.

YouTube offered a few videos, this from 1989. We first get a trackside view, then take a ride round as a passenger.

It is worth the five minutes plus to appreciate this delightful layout.

But where is it? One source suggested Biddenden in Kent ...

... which seems a long way from Wadhurst. Ashford looks nearer and has a better train service! But there it is, Birchley House - near Biddenden.

Google Streetview offers no mention of a railway thereat, just a finger post to a farm ...

... and a pair of decidedly uninviting gates, possibly to the "big house".

For the record, Google Maps seems confused. It shows "house" against some farm buildings and "farm" against the big house.

But there was no sign of the sunshine jollity shown in the 1989 video. And not one yard of miniature railway track.

Further on-line searches brought a clue.

Birchley Railway Open Day 4 August

Birchley railway is up for sale and our estate agent is trying his best to find a buyer – see our website   www.birchleyrailway.com

In consequence Sunday’s Open Day may well be the last under the present management.  Depending on whether the future owner wishes to keep the railway running is an unknown factor and all the equipment may be removed sometime soon.

Our Final Day will be supporting Action Duchenne again.  Duchenne’s disease is a form of Muscular Dystrophy which affects only young boys who rarely reach 20 years of age.

Please come and help us support this really worthwhile Charity.

There will be a barbecue and refreshments including Jennifer’s home made cakes (Eat your heart out Mary Berry).

Free parking and unlimited train rides

Admission  Adults £5;  Children £2.50;  Family 2+2 £12.50

Other interesting stands arranged by Action Duchenne themselves.

See you Sunday,

Drummond.

August 4th fell on a Sunday in 2013 and 2019. Is that a clue?

More tomorrow!

Matford Models 2

Of course, end-to-end layouts are fascinating, but often with less happening. One example at the Exeter show was a substantial model in "P4".

Protofour or P4 is a set of standards for model railways allowing construction of models to a scale of 4 mm to 1 foot (1:76.2), the predominant scale of model railways of the British prototype. 

The P4 standards specify a scale model track gauge of 18.83 mm for standard gauge railways. The standards were published in Model Railway News by the Model Railway Study Group in August 1966.

Just as in the prototype railway, on a model the wheel-rail interface is the fundamental aspect of reliable operation. So as well as a track gauge, P4 also specifies the wheel profile and track parameters to use, which are largely a scaled-down version of real-life standards with some allowances for practical manufacturing tolerances.

The accurate track gauge and scale sleeper spacing does look much better than conventional OO gauge (16.5mm). Contrast and compare P4 ...

... with OO.

As well as striving for accuracy, you would need to fit P4 wheel sets to all rolling stock and locos. 

The layout has used a neat touch to save too much trackwork, namely a double track line that has been "singled", the reduction to one track including a bridge ...

... and a station.

The one platform halt is surprisingly busy!

Models of real locations are rare, largely because real locations are large. This is an N gauge (9mm track) representation of a location not too far from the Marford exhibition centre.

Below is the full-sized view back from near the top left of the above picture, showing the parked "holiday" carriages.

It is, of course, Dawlish Warren.

And fbb Nearly Forgot ...

The seagulls are already planning their invasion of the new Exeter Bus Station. Advance Party "Hissing Sid" was casing the joint last Saturday. Sadly he found no chips!

Tomorrow -  more on both topics.

Auntie Frances to the Rescue

The withdrawal of Stagecoach 9A between Seaton and Lyme Regis is a big cut, removing an hourly service ...

... but local reports suggest that Axe Valley Travel (based in Seaton) will operate a replacement service, although no timetable has yet been published. The boss, Frances Searle, has always been keen to support the local community, but, fbb suggests, her offering will not be hourly!

 Next Miniature Mystery & Modelling blog : Sat 2nd July