It's all about detail.

I like to consider that being able to create the model I want is going to be about some of the small details. For some people its about running there favourite locomotives and stock for others its scenery. For others its being exact to scale that's important. I was brought up reading the Railway Modeller and must admit a couple of railways stand out for me. The first was the late Peter Denny's Buckingham Branch. This in my mind is a very believable model of what could have been the GCR branch to Buckingham. I do have the Peco book written by the late Reverend. The other was David Jenkinson's Garsdale road sometimes know as the Little Long Drag. There are many other models that stand out for me as well. Once recent model that I managed to see early this year at Bristol is Gordon Gravetts Pempoul based on the Reséau Breton. This last example I consider to be a fascinating study of how a model can be based on the style of a particular company/line.

So what are my thoughts in respect of Rowfant. I look at building this model in stages so once baseboards are completed then first stage is trackwork. I am hoping to use C&L Finescale products for all the scenic sections and Peco track for fiddle yard etc. The electrics will be installed to match DCC operation. At this stage I am looking at installing the signalling. Then the first of the structures. Firstly will be the platforms followed by the main station and platform buildings.

Then comes what I call the detail. I have for a few years been studying as many photographs of Rowfant as possible and each time it seams that I can see details that I can add. There are two relay boxes one by the Signal Box the other on the back of the platform close to the main station building. Platform furniture is also important so a couple of platform seats and several gas lamps. Then comes the barrow crossing but also a planked covering of the signal rodding as it exits the signal box. Platform fencing will also be important as well as the level crossing gates.

In the early days of my investigations the design of oil siding equipment eluded me. This was until I discovered The beginners Guide to Model railway Good services web site: 

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gansg/7-fops/fo-petrol.htm

Here before my eyes was an outline of the unloading gantry scaled for N gauge but at least a basis that can be used to model the instillation.

So what next to discover. Part of the goods yard also served as a sawmill. Several of the sawmill buildings still exists. One item that has gone is the Scotch Derrick so another item to investigate.  

Check, check and then check again!

I printed out the scaled drawings for both the main station building and the platform building. These I mounted on to card. I had raided my recycling bin for a couple of Rice Krispie packets. Away I went cutting out and building in the best Blue Peter fashion(no sticky back plastic). Each building slowly formed and individually they looked ok. I had also copied the Grange Road signal box and built this as well. But, when the buildings where put together something did not look right. It was either the platform building was too large or was the main station building too small. Ok out with the ruler and start checking. I went back to the drawings for the platform building. I honed in on one particular measurement when scaled out it appeared that the platform building was too large. But just to double check I looked for another dimension to check. This was from a plan of building and showed the width of the main waiting room. Oh dear this scaled out correctly so a double check on a couple of other measurements showed that the scale I had was correct. So I had initially picked on the one figure that was probably wrong but not a problem as the drawings I had created where reasonably accurate.
So back to the main building. I again checked against a couple of dimension. Yes I was out by a few millimetres so a quick re-scale and out with the glue and scissors again. Hopefully now I can get back onto the planning.
Moral to all of this is the check check and double check again and again! 

What am I planning

So I am going to build a model of Rowfant Station in Sussex located on the Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells branch. How am I proposing to achieve this. It will be modelled in 4mm OO gauge. What am I going to use. For track work on the scenic section I will be using C&L finecast track(C&L just happen to be down the road) and Peco streamline in fiddle yards etc. I hope to have DCC control with possibly some sound. I would like to have working signals, there are both rail built and Southern lattice signals to add to the interest. The period will be a little bit flexible from the early 1950's to 1967 when the station closed. This covers the transition from steam and the beginnings of the rail blue era.

So what types of trains would I like. Well surprisingly there is quite a variety. A 3D a DC kits model is already on the work bench may be joined by a Kernow 2H(especially if they do the centre coach). An M7 and pull push set. Several 33's both the normal width and a slim jim. I have a three car rake of Bullied coaches and will also add some Maunsells and BR Mk1s. For the regular oil trains Class A type tankers marked Shell Mex for power a class 37. There is also rumour's that a class 31 was seen on the tanks. I will also using modellers licence to include a class 47 a class 08 and an Electro Diesel. Other trains include a mixed goods including Banana vans from Lingfield. There was a regular operation from Lingfield via East Grinstead yard on a Saturday morning. A steam era PW train and a pick up goods. The majority of the above will be proprietary models from the likes of Hornby, Bachmann and Dapol. 

I have a wish list for the mainstream manufactures please can I have the following: An "H" a "C2X" and an I3.    

Just a quick photo from Rowfant. In the beginning of July I managed a quick drive down Wallage lane. I needed to get some measurements to try and scale a drawing I already have of the main station building. Whilst there I did a quick photo shoot. Below is a shot of the porch that was built for Lamson's coachman.

So why did I have to measure? I have some drawings but without scale and only a few dimensions what I needed was one linear dimension. So driving back from Southampton via Sussex(don't ask). I managed to get a rough measurement of the north side of the building. This equated to 52ft 6ins. So I scaled this out to 209mm in OO scale. I used this on the jpeg I have of the drawing. I cropped the drawing down so that the size of side equalled the 209mm. Now I have a reasonable 4mm scale drawing. I was able to check some of the dimensions that where on the drawing and these scaled out as well. I now could use the first drawing to scale the other sides of the building. So I have now got what appears to be scale drawings not only for the main building but also the platform waiting room. 

Where do I start

Where do I start. Well what's in a name is a good point. I am a member of the SEmG The Southern E-mail group(http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/SEmG/). When ever I ask questions about Rowfant or Grange Road I normally say Rowfant again hence the name of this blog.

But why Rowfant?  Its a combination of things that have occurred over many years. I was brought up in Surrey and lived next to the Brighton Line through the late 50's and then through the swinging 60's right up to the late 70's. As a family we would go out in the car on weekend drives these would crisscross both Surrey and Sussex. As my late father was also into railways there would be the odd excursion just to cross a railway or two! So during the 60's I would have been taken down Wallage lane on at least a couple of occasions. Then in 1975 my sister and her husband bought there first house in Crawley Down(Grange Road). Now there where regular trips to see my sister firstly with my parents and then on my own once I was mobile first on a moped and then in a car. Although slightly out of the way a trip down Wallage lane seamed to happen frequently!

My interest stayed in the back of my mind until two things occurred. Firstly I bought the Vic Mitchell/Keith Smith's book "Branch Lines to East Grinstead" and I then discovered the Disused Stations web-site(http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/sites.shtml). This web-site is a fabulous mine of information and just happened to have a whole section on railways serving Tunbridge Wells West including covering the branch from Three Bridges to East Grinstead.