Respite
Member
Thought I would add the progress reports for phase 3 of the route on here as well. It's coming on now but still a lot to do.
This a place called Thatcherton, again this is fictional. After Thatcherton & owens bank the line becomes based directly on the Mainline to Newport through Abergavenny, Little Mill, PontyPool, Cwmbran & then Newport.
So I have spent the last few days building a right mess, Thatcherton it's called, although any modern town UK would do really. The place suffered in the 1980's from closure of it's steel mill, the NCB Colliery was closed later on as well.This took away a lot of other supporting industry's in the town. Eventually it's station was closed as well. Today a Bypass circles the east side of the town taking the congestion away from the town centre. Retail parks have killed off most of the local shops in the centre & industrial units have popped up all over the place built over former green belt land. Unemployment, minor crime & vandalisim are common place as most places like this are these days once the locals can be bothered to get off there sofa's & away from Big Brother & Jeremy Kyle TV shows. :-?
A lot of the inspiration for it was driving trains through places in Birmingham & some places the midlands & from a brief trip up the Valley lines in south wales. I was surprised how a town located in such a lovely enviroment could be such a hole.
Anyway a few (load of) pics.
1V56 Approaches Thatcherton from Hereton heading south on a Vermin cross country service to Cardiff.
47822 "Pride of Shrewsbury" in charge, kind of ironic that Virgin cut the service to shrewsbury out in real life. Two Pway blokes rest on a pile of sleepers under the safety of a bridge (Safest place in real life to avoid thrown items).
The loop to the left has been plain railed & is now waiting to be lifted. The white X indicates the signal is out of use, actually the mainline aspect has already been removed.
Passing the park where the police are investigating a couple of stolen cars. Joyriders have managed to crash one in the pond.
The driver of 1V56 keeps low in his seat ready for debris to be thrown at the windows through what is known by railwaymen as "Bomb alley".
Evidence of earlier "Missiles" litter the trackbed, 1V56 passes. Today there are no shopping trolleys, bins, bricks etc bouncing off the cab windscreen & all the coaches get through without loosing any outer skins of glass.
Thatcherton station or at least the remains of. A sorry state from it's former life. Now just a place for druggies & vandals to hang around. The closed steelworks stands dormant in the background. No doulbt soon to be demolished to make way for overpriced housing or fast food chains.
The only surviving signalbox at Thatcherton, actually it's only a shunt frame now & opens as required to allow trains into the P-Way siding next to the old station. It's not often anything is left in there these days due to vandalisim.
Looking North, Steel works & P-Way siding to the right & on the left is the remains of the NCB sidings here. Only a short bit of track remains as a new housing estate has been built over the former right of way.
EWS Class 66 heads north with 6T47. An empty coal train to the docks up north to fetch imported coal to bring back down to the South wales power stations..Past all the closed south wales colliery's ...... You couldnt make this stuff up could you! :roll:
Past some industrial estate.
The former NCB lead in the foreground.
A view across the old steel works, driver of 6T47 now prepares to run "bomb alley".
Access gate for Network Rail by the old station.
Thatcherton station.
Bomb alley
The park.
The other Joyriders car has taken a tree down when they crashed it on purpose....
Over the AHB crossing & the old loop.
Driver of 6T47 survived the run through Thatcherton as well today.
I promise not to make all the other places as depressingly realistic as this one..
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Well Just a bit more done the last few days. I find the scenery just takes up the time, sometimes I will delete a whole section because I don't like how it has come out.
Anyway here are some new scenery area's for south of Abergavenny to Little Mill.
It's nice & rural south of Abergavenny, except for the new road to the left of the line.
Wedding party at the lineside cottage.
Finally got around to detailing the bridge that I showed a photo of in bare state earlier.
View towards the mainline, abandoned narrow gauge in foreground.
On the down main.
Alongside the water course through the cutting. I can never get cuttings to look right in sims.
Passing another closed station (Actually have forgotten the name at the minute). It's between Abergavenny & Little Mill anyway.
Almost at Little Mill.
Little Mill Signal Box. Left is the down line to Newport.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
At Little Mill in real life is a very mothballed branchline, when I was driving past there the trackbed was under heavy tree growth & Network Rail have actualy fitted a stop block over the line. Looking at Google Earth the line can be made out easy & looks complete (Look at Little Mill, just north north east of Pontypool, follow the line & you can see the reception sidings there still). So I decided as in real life there looks like an industrial estate of sorts there that I would have assets that fitted in with the rest of the route. So we have a quarry & an oil refining place. Trains from here will have to run all the way down to East Usk Yard or Newport to run round before heading north, so hopefully will be useful for activity making.
Anyway just got to do the scenery on the line through Pontypool & Cwmbran & down to Maindee now, then will be heading off to Cardiff with the addition off East Usk yard & a bit beyond to complete phase 3.
A few photo's of the almost complete branch.
Heading off the up main & onto the branch.
A bit overgrown up here.
Rural area.
View across the up & down main towards the branch.
The little used line suffers from overgrowth.
Heading towards enterprise park & the end of the branch.
Shell Oils & Yeoman are the companys that use this railhead.
The Yeoman sidings & wagon sidings.
View from the Yeoman sidings towards the shell yard.
The lead to the Shell sidings.
This a place called Thatcherton, again this is fictional. After Thatcherton & owens bank the line becomes based directly on the Mainline to Newport through Abergavenny, Little Mill, PontyPool, Cwmbran & then Newport.
So I have spent the last few days building a right mess, Thatcherton it's called, although any modern town UK would do really. The place suffered in the 1980's from closure of it's steel mill, the NCB Colliery was closed later on as well.This took away a lot of other supporting industry's in the town. Eventually it's station was closed as well. Today a Bypass circles the east side of the town taking the congestion away from the town centre. Retail parks have killed off most of the local shops in the centre & industrial units have popped up all over the place built over former green belt land. Unemployment, minor crime & vandalisim are common place as most places like this are these days once the locals can be bothered to get off there sofa's & away from Big Brother & Jeremy Kyle TV shows. :-?
A lot of the inspiration for it was driving trains through places in Birmingham & some places the midlands & from a brief trip up the Valley lines in south wales. I was surprised how a town located in such a lovely enviroment could be such a hole.
Anyway a few (load of) pics.
1V56 Approaches Thatcherton from Hereton heading south on a Vermin cross country service to Cardiff.
47822 "Pride of Shrewsbury" in charge, kind of ironic that Virgin cut the service to shrewsbury out in real life. Two Pway blokes rest on a pile of sleepers under the safety of a bridge (Safest place in real life to avoid thrown items).
The loop to the left has been plain railed & is now waiting to be lifted. The white X indicates the signal is out of use, actually the mainline aspect has already been removed.
Passing the park where the police are investigating a couple of stolen cars. Joyriders have managed to crash one in the pond.
The driver of 1V56 keeps low in his seat ready for debris to be thrown at the windows through what is known by railwaymen as "Bomb alley".
Evidence of earlier "Missiles" litter the trackbed, 1V56 passes. Today there are no shopping trolleys, bins, bricks etc bouncing off the cab windscreen & all the coaches get through without loosing any outer skins of glass.
Thatcherton station or at least the remains of. A sorry state from it's former life. Now just a place for druggies & vandals to hang around. The closed steelworks stands dormant in the background. No doulbt soon to be demolished to make way for overpriced housing or fast food chains.
The only surviving signalbox at Thatcherton, actually it's only a shunt frame now & opens as required to allow trains into the P-Way siding next to the old station. It's not often anything is left in there these days due to vandalisim.
Looking North, Steel works & P-Way siding to the right & on the left is the remains of the NCB sidings here. Only a short bit of track remains as a new housing estate has been built over the former right of way.
EWS Class 66 heads north with 6T47. An empty coal train to the docks up north to fetch imported coal to bring back down to the South wales power stations..Past all the closed south wales colliery's ...... You couldnt make this stuff up could you! :roll:
Past some industrial estate.
The former NCB lead in the foreground.
A view across the old steel works, driver of 6T47 now prepares to run "bomb alley".
Access gate for Network Rail by the old station.
Thatcherton station.
Bomb alley
The park.
The other Joyriders car has taken a tree down when they crashed it on purpose....
Over the AHB crossing & the old loop.
Driver of 6T47 survived the run through Thatcherton as well today.
I promise not to make all the other places as depressingly realistic as this one..
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Well Just a bit more done the last few days. I find the scenery just takes up the time, sometimes I will delete a whole section because I don't like how it has come out.
Anyway here are some new scenery area's for south of Abergavenny to Little Mill.
It's nice & rural south of Abergavenny, except for the new road to the left of the line.
Wedding party at the lineside cottage.
Finally got around to detailing the bridge that I showed a photo of in bare state earlier.
View towards the mainline, abandoned narrow gauge in foreground.
On the down main.
Alongside the water course through the cutting. I can never get cuttings to look right in sims.
Passing another closed station (Actually have forgotten the name at the minute). It's between Abergavenny & Little Mill anyway.
Almost at Little Mill.
Little Mill Signal Box. Left is the down line to Newport.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
At Little Mill in real life is a very mothballed branchline, when I was driving past there the trackbed was under heavy tree growth & Network Rail have actualy fitted a stop block over the line. Looking at Google Earth the line can be made out easy & looks complete (Look at Little Mill, just north north east of Pontypool, follow the line & you can see the reception sidings there still). So I decided as in real life there looks like an industrial estate of sorts there that I would have assets that fitted in with the rest of the route. So we have a quarry & an oil refining place. Trains from here will have to run all the way down to East Usk Yard or Newport to run round before heading north, so hopefully will be useful for activity making.
Anyway just got to do the scenery on the line through Pontypool & Cwmbran & down to Maindee now, then will be heading off to Cardiff with the addition off East Usk yard & a bit beyond to complete phase 3.
A few photo's of the almost complete branch.
Heading off the up main & onto the branch.
A bit overgrown up here.
Rural area.
View across the up & down main towards the branch.
The little used line suffers from overgrowth.
Heading towards enterprise park & the end of the branch.
Shell Oils & Yeoman are the companys that use this railhead.
The Yeoman sidings & wagon sidings.
View from the Yeoman sidings towards the shell yard.
The lead to the Shell sidings.
hock:
