EXPERT MODELLERS SHOW YOU HOW
BUILDING CULMSTOCK
PART ONE
Having already built a delightful rendition of Hemyock, Chris Nevard embarks on a journey to recreate another station on the former Culm Valley line.
PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRIS NEVARD
Culmstock railway station was on the Culm Valley Light Railway, which ran from Tiverton Junction to Hemyock in Devon. It opened in 1876 along with the rest of the line and served the village of Culmstock and surrounding areas. The station had basic facilities, including a platform, a small station building, a cattle dock and a couple of sidings.
Like many rural railway stations, there was a decline in passenger traffic at Culmstock following the Second World War, finally closing to passengers in 1963 as part of the Beeching cuts. Freight services continued for a few more years before the line was closed altogether in 1975 with the closure of the creamery at Hemyock.
Today, little remains of the station except for the station pub which is now called the Culm Valley Inn, and the former railway trackbed, which now forms the Culm Valley Trail footpath and cycleway.
CHRIS’ WHY I USE FOAMBOARD TOP TIP
The long-standing convention of using cork underlay beneath our track is usually cited as a means of reducing noise from passing trains. In my experience, however, the sound ‐absorbing qualities are lost as soon as the track is ballasted.
That said, having a softer layer of material atop the wooden baseboard does make it easier to add telegraph poles and other trackside paraphernalia without having to drill through the baseboard.
It’s also helpful to raise the track above the baseboard, as this allows a realistic ‘shoulder’ of ballast to be created.
In the case of a light railway, such as the Culm Valley route, the track wouldn’t be raised to the same degree as a busier line (a deeper layer of ballast aids drainage). And there’s little need to raise the track in a goods yard.
I’ve been using 5mm thick foamboard as a track underlay for 15 years now and see no reason to revert to cork sheet. It’s available in various sizes and there’s often a significant cost saving when buying multiple sheets.