Another Month - Another 2 Miles! Wycombe Railway Progress Continues. . . . . . . . . .

 Another 2 miles. "Is that all!?" you may say. However, as you'll see, these 2 miles are packed with sidings, and masses of detail and a major destination/starting point - Oxford!

Above, a Castle is seen passing Kennington Junction, heading north to Oxford. The Wycombe Railway branches off here, and crosses the Thames.

Left: Looking south from the end of Hinksey Up Yard, towards Red Bridge. Two extra lines were laid during the War. The signal box was built to Air Raid Precautions specifications with 14 inch walls and an eleven inch thick concrete

roof [The Heart of the Great Western/A.Vaughan]

 

Thanks to Mr John Yelland for allowing the use of his signals. The current signal placement will be subject to some revision.

 Right: Hinksey Up Yard. It was built by Italian PoWs in 1942 in preparation for the D Day invasion. 

 Below are a series of shots featuring Hinksey Yard, both Up and Down. The lakes on either side were formed after gravel was excavated during the construction of the original line. 

The Devil’s Backbone is the name given to a footpath which crosses the site of the Up and Down yards on long bridges.

 Below: We are approaching Oxford Gasworks. In the 1950’s the Gasworks operated 2 Bagnall 0-4-0's and a Peckett 0-4-0. [Rail Centres: Oxford/ L.Waters]

Below is the gasworks bridge over the Thames. The bridge survives, however it stands alone. The area is now a grassy park.

Below: We return to the mainline, cross the Thames and approach South End Yard

Various views of South End Yard:

Now we arrive at Oxford. The original Oxford station wasn't on the present site. In 1844, a terminus station opened in what is now Western Road, at Grandpont. When the Oxford and Rugby Railway began building their line to Banbury(the line onto Rugby was later abandoned), they built a through station on Park End Street in 1852. Operational difficulties dictated the closure of the Grandpont station and the ORR station became the main Oxford station. When the London and North Western Railway opened a station in Rewley Road, the GWR station was renamed Oxford General. 

  

 Oxford General was a busy place! There were fast services calling there, goods traffic and branch trains serving the Wycombe Railway, the Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway and the Blenheim and Woodstock Branch. As well as that, Southern Railway through trains, to and from the north, would call at Oxford General. Here, a locomotive change would take place. Trains heading would more-often-than-not change to Great Western Power, while trains heading south would often have a loco change to a Southern loco. 

Oxford Rewley Road closed in 1951, and Oxford General became simply Oxford once again.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Right: A Castle-hauled train  passes under the Osney Lane  footbridge and past Beckett  Street Yard. with the Oxford Skyline in clear view. The Manor is acting as station pilot. In the Picture above, a Southern Railway 'King Arthur' class is waiting to take over an inter-regional train.

That concludes our update of things with the Wycombe Railway version 2. As you can see, Peter is making wonderful progress! Enjoy the following images to conclude:

Above, a Great Western Hall arrives at Oxford with an inter-regional service, heading south. The King Arthur is ready to take over.

Above: A Collett 0-4-4T is ready to leave Oxford with a stopper along the Wycombe Railway.

In the above two images, a Stanier 8F is handling a mineral train passing Beckett Yard and passes under the Devil's Backbone bridge.

More Soon. . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Two New Loco Packs Coming Soon

Double Chimney Standard 4 4-6-0

  WE ARE absolutely delighted to announce that very soon we will be releasing the Double-Chimney Standard 4 4-6-0 for Train Simulator! 

  A class of engine introduced in 1951 for secondary routes, the 4MT's were a really successful design. Some were fitted with a double-chimney to improve steaming and power. It is thought by some, that a double-chimney class 4 is almost the equal of a BR Standard 5! The BR2 and BR2A tenders were intended for use with these locomotives. However, the last 15 were built and allocated to the Southern Region. These loco's were given the larger BR1B tenders, due to needing a higher water capacity on the Southern routes. This is because there being no water troughs on the Southern Region. 

  All locos will come with an extensive set of particles and authentic sounds. The full set of features are still being finalized.  

  We're working on the final touches now(no timescale known for this). So, hopefully it wont be too long before you can enjoy the sight and sound of a double-chimney BR Standard 4MT on your computer!!

Single-Chimney Standard 4 4-6-0

  It's also with great pleasure that we announce that the single-chimney version of the 4-6-0 will be available soon as well. These locos were previously available from Digital Traction. However, they have been extensively updated with improved textures, steam effects and SSS sounds.

 Both the BR2 and BR1B tenders will be made available in the pack. As with the double-chimney pack, the final features have not been finalized. We'll announce news on these additional features soon.

More Soon. . . . . . . . . . .  

Wycombe Railway and Joint Railway Extends Towards Oxford

Peter Brings us up to date with progress being made with version 2 of the route:  

In our last report we told you about reaching Morris Cowley on the High Wycombe to Oxford line. Well, now the line has reached Kennington Junction, where it joins the Didcot to Oxford line. Here are some pictures:

Approaching Littlemore Station on the southern outskirts of Oxford. It was built in the shadow of the Oxfordshire County Lunatic Asylum.

Coal trucks for the Asylum were positioned on a wagon turntable over which locos were forbidden to go.

The original station of Littlemore burned down and the GWR replacement was in the style of the Joint Line.

The track on the left was a very long siding. There was no passing loop here.

The view from the road bridge. My attempt at the asylum was built from WH sheds and AP stations.

Here is an old postcard of the scene

Beyond the bridge the line descends through a cutting which has been quarried.

A spur off the main siding served a National Benzole oil terminal.

The long siding ended at a source of sand where trucks were occasionally positioned so the station staff could fill them.

They were possibly then taken to Oxford loco shed.

Descending to the Thames valley

Crossing the Thames at Kennington

Joining the Didcot to Oxford line at Kennington Junction for the marshalling yard at Hinksey just south of Oxford

Looking north towards Hinksey yard which was built in 1943 to handle wartime traffic.

On the horizon are the dreaming towers of Oxford gas works.

Southern Region train heading for the north via the Great Central

Heading for Thame and Princes Risborough Crossing the River Thames

Looking back towards Kennington Junction and the bridge over the Thames

More Soon. . . . . . . . . . 

Project Progress Reports

Rebuilt Royal Scot

This project is back in progress having stalled for a while. The reason for the hold up was to do with problems getting the animated valve gear exported to TS. Now though, thanks to some help from various people, most recently Pete from Victory Works, progress is being made once again.

GWR 2800/2884

It appears that 'hold up' is the flavor of the month! The 28xx cab stalled due to lacking certain pieces of detail. Give the guys at DT credit. They weren't prepared to make it up. They wanted to get it just right! After a small plea on their facebook page for extra source images and info, some have come through with offers to help. This is very much appreciated by DT and ourselves. Once the cab is complete, then we'll be on the home straight!

Stainmore, Eden Valley and Shap Railway

As can be guessed in the new name, the Stainmore Route has been expanded to include the famous section of WCML over Shap, from Tebay to Penrith. This was a natural choice because the Stainmore line runs east from Barnard Castle to to Tebay, via Kirkby Stephen East, and the Eden Valey line runs north west from Kirkby Stephen to Penrith. This will now be an exciting network of lines. Below is a route map, as things stand:

Severn Valley Railway

Progress is being made on platform 2 at Arley station. Please see below 2 very much WIP images:

Please note that these images were taken in an old version of the route, so the surrounding scenery does not necessarily reflect the current look of things.

And just in case you haven't see yet, here a closer look at platform 1:

LMS Jubilee Sound Pack

A new sound pack is in the final stages of development. The Jubilee has been transformed by news sounds, CJB script and particles, new scripted lamps and the Settle to Carlisle Jubilee, Leander has also been updated and includes the addition of the high-intensity lamp and a selection of headboards for modern mainline use. Once we have sourced a sound for the higher speed exhaust sounds, then it'll be ready

GWR King Enhancement Pack

Slowly getting there, the GWR Kings are having brand new liveries applied by Stephen Gurney. The 1927 Great Western livery is pretty much done. Stephen is now finishing off the showcase livery - the stunning BR Blue King Edward II.

There's a lot more going on behind the scenes and we'll endeavor to bring you updates very soon.