mdh1950 Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 (edited) Having found layout topics to be most interesting and inspiring, I thought that I would add my own. I am embarking on a OO-gauge layout based on Cockfield, Suffolk. Cockfield was a through station on the Great Eastern Railway branch line from Long Melford to Bury St Edmunds. It opened in 1865 and was renamed Cockfield Suffolk in 1927 to avoid confusion with Cockfield Fell in County Durham. The branch was single line throughout although the infrastructure, in particular bridges, appear to have been built with doubling in mind. The station was closed to passenger traffic in 1961 and to goods traffic in 1965. With the permission of the owner I have crawled all over it taking measurements and have plenty of copies of old photographs. As I have poor carpentry skills, the baseboard has been made for me by White Rose Modelworks in Bedale. I am very pleased with the result which now resides in my loft. I would not hesitate to recommend White Rose. Restricted loft space means that I am having to take one or two liberties with the layout. Most importantly I am having to truncate the line so that Cockfield becomes a terminus but without, hopefully, changing the character of the place which was what drew me to it. The photographs show how it looked in the 1950s and how it looks now. Edited November 30, 2017 by mdh1950 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERS Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Lovely little station, it defined all the rural aspects of branch lines across the country, those in GER territory in particular. Will look forward to seeng this as it develops. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie75 Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 I look forward to watching this develop, as this is a station I have looked at a number of times with a view to modelling at some point in the future. I also live about 4 miles away from this station, and regularly walk my dog along other parts of the this old railway line. Good luck with your layout project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NXEA! Posted December 2, 2017 Share Posted December 2, 2017 Will be following this with interest, anything East Anglian gets my vote. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ianLMS Posted December 20, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 20, 2017 Very much looking forward to seeing this develop. I was born close to Bury St Edmunds and enjoy seeing layouts I can relate to. Often looked at modelling something like Clare, Lavenham etc (overhead pic attached). Maybe one day I will get around to it. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdh1950 Posted December 21, 2017 Author Share Posted December 21, 2017 A great shot that I have not seen before. The two railway bridges still exist but the station site is now a small housing estate. I will update with some of my planning details soon. A very happy Christmas to everyone. Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted December 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2017 Having found layout topics to be most interesting and inspiring, I thought that I would add my own. I am embarking on a OO-gauge layout based on Cockfield, Suffolk. Cockfield was a through station on the Great Eastern Railway branch line from Long Melford to Bury St Edmunds. It opened in 1865 and was renamed Cockfield Suffolk in 1927 to avoid confusion with Cockfield Fell in County Durham. The branch was single line throughout although the infrastructure, in particular bridges, appear to have been built with doubling in mind. The station was closed to passenger traffic in 1961 and to goods traffic in 1965. With the permission of the owner I have crawled all over it taking measurements and have plenty of copies of old photographs. As I have poor carpentry skills, the baseboard has been made for me by White Rose Modelworks in Bedale. I am very pleased with the result which now resides in my loft. I would not hesitate to recommend White Rose. Restricted loft space means that I am having to take one or two liberties with the layout. Most importantly I am having to truncate the line so that Cockfield becomes a terminus but without, hopefully, changing the character of the place which was what drew me to it. The photographs show how it looked in the 1950s and how it looks now. Shame that they appear not to be making use of the station building. Would make a lovely holiday cottage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted December 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2017 Very much looking forward to seeing this develop. I was born close to Bury St Edmunds and enjoy seeing layouts I can relate to. Often looked at modelling something like Clare, Lavenham etc (overhead pic attached). Maybe one day I will get around to it. Love that aerial photo of Lavenham. Could not be better for the space-starved railway modeller. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ianLMS Posted December 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2017 Love that aerial photo of Lavenham. Could not be better for the space-starved railway modeller. My thoughts exactly, the bridges frame it perfectly and the unusual diagonal sidings configuration look very interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 (edited) The North East Essex Area Group of the Scalefour Society have embarked on building a model of Lavenham, between the two bridges and set in the last days of steam. Unfortunately it isn't as well documented as we had hoped, being a small country station of little interest to the rail enthusiast of the day. We have accumulated as many photos as possible, OS maps, etc. and several members have made a site visit, although there is little of help still extant. The sidings were possibly shunted by horse as far as we can work out, as the headshunts feeding the line alongside the buildings to the right are very short and wouldn't accommodate a standard GER, LNER or BR loco and a wagon. Who used the sheds and for what is also not yet clear. Edited December 22, 2017 by Jol Wilkinson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted December 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2017 The North East Area Group of the Scalefour Society have embarked on building a model of Lavenham, between the two bridges and set in the last days of steam. Unfortunately it isn't as well documented as we had hoped, being a small country station of little interest to the rail enthusiast of the day. We have accumulated as many photos as possible, OS maps, etc. and several members have made a site visit, although there is little of help still extant. The sidings were possibly shunted by horse as far as we can work out, as the headshunts feeding the line alongside the buildings to the right are very short and wouldn't accommodate a standard GER, LNER or BR loco and a wagon. Who used the sheds and for what is also not yet clear. Trust that your working 4mm scale horse will be to the right gauge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 Trust that your working 4mm scale horse will be to the right gauge. Depends on your definition of "right gauge". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdh1950 Posted December 22, 2017 Author Share Posted December 22, 2017 Interesting - now if The North East Area Group of the Scalefour Society could be persuaded to model in OO gauge (!) we might be able to join the layouts together at some time. Cockfield was the next station to the north of Lavenham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted December 22, 2017 Share Posted December 22, 2017 (edited) Interesting - now if The North East Area Group of the Scalefour Society could be persuaded to model in OO gauge (!) we might be able to join the layouts together at some time. Cockfield was the next station to the north of Lavenham. The track plan is drawn and the double slip built, so no turning back. We've been held up a bit waiting on some new laser cut point timbering, but things should be progressing again soon. As members of a S4 Area Group we wouldn't see the point in building to OO standards (even if we decided which version to use) as we are comfortable working in P4. If you would like to join us and build Cockfield to 18.83 gauge we would be happy to welcome you. We meet in Colchester once a month, although several members get together more frequently and some do "homework" on items for Lavenham. Edited December 22, 2017 by Jol Wilkinson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdh1950 Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) The trackplan at Cockfield varied quite a bit over its 100 years of existence. The earliest plan that I have been able to locate is from a 1885 OS map. The siding to the west was primarily installed to service a stud farm and, in particular, a granary. There is reference to this siding also being used for the importation of cattle from Wales and sugar beet pulp from Bury St Edmunds. This is an extract from the 1904 OS map. By this time Cockfield Hall had been demolished. However, a loop had been installed perhaps indicating an increase in trade and the station itself appears to have been developed to include a signal box. The above plan is from Ian Allen GER Trackplans volume 1 and is believed to represent the state of affairs in the 1920s (north is left). I am not sure how accurate this plan is but it does appear to indicate that the northern headshunt had been extended to under the bridge although the bridge itself is shown too close to the station. The siding to the west was removed during WW2 so that a tank trap could be installed along the western side of the line. This tank trap was supplemented by pill boxes manned by the Home Guard, one of these pill boxes still exists to the north of the bridge on the west side. Photographs indicate that sometime after the siding had been removed, a short siding was installed from the southern headshunt. This is just about visible in the first photograph of my initial post. Opposite the station platform there was, in fact still is, a goods platform that, at one time was equipped with a crane and loading gauge. I have sufficient space to model the full station complex in scale with a fiddle yard (transverser) to the south but not a lot else. My intention is introduce a scenario which changes Cockfield to a terminus. This scenario involves the destruction of the bridges between Cockfield and Bury St Edmunds to the north during WW2. After the war it was decided that it would not be an economic proposition to rebuild the bridges but that Cockfield station should survive to service the immediate area. Thus I plan that the “main line” will terminate to the north of the station bridge. This will enable me to recreate the “main line” should I have the space sometime in the future. I have not resolved how to approach the additional siding issue. Should I assume that the tank traps were never built or install a siding facing south? Track will be the new Peco Bullhead, including points. HAPPY CHRISTMAS! Michael Edited December 24, 2017 by mdh1950 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted December 24, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 24, 2017 Cockfield - then and now http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=52.1554&lon=0.7831&layers=168&right=BingHyb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted December 24, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 24, 2017 The North East Essex Area Group of the Scalefour Society have embarked on building a model of Lavenham, between the two bridges and set in the last days of steam. Unfortunately it isn't as well documented as we had hoped, being a small country station of little interest to the rail enthusiast of the day. We have accumulated as many photos as possible, OS maps, etc. and several members have made a site visit, although there is little of help still extant. The sidings were possibly shunted by horse as far as we can work out, as the headshunts feeding the line alongside the buildings to the right are very short and wouldn't accommodate a standard GER, LNER or BR loco and a wagon. Who used the sheds and for what is also not yet clear. Lavenham - then and now http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=52.1135&lon=0.7982&layers=168&right=BingHyb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdh1950 Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 Thank you beast! The 'now' for Lavenham is, in fact, a few years ago - the station site is now a housing estate. Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT47581 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Hi guys read your posts with interest heres a few photos( one at Cockfield) rest at Lavenham just before the views were filed by.housing,the foundations were already in,hope they are of interest Cheers Geoff Link here https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffsangliaphotos/albums/72157643660594914 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) Beautiful part of the world and thanks for sharing the plans on Cockfield and Lavenham. We lived in Hadleigh for eight years or so back in the 70's, so have fond memories of the whole area. Nothing to do with railways, but I played for the Hadleigh Falcon on Sunday mornings in the Hadleigh Quoits League. Summer Sunday mornings were a real hoot with loads of real ale and beautiful village pubs. http://www.suffolkcamra.co.uk/quoits/index.htm I shall watch out for progress on both layouts. Edited December 31, 2017 by gordon s 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdh1950 Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Another member is considering modelling Cockfield station building. This is my response: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/131762-station-building-query/?p=3069199 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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