This is my station area under construction - a fictional S&DR terminus at Weston Super Mare built on the site of the 1866 Terminus, which was superseded in 1884 by the opening of the Weston super Mare loop line. In reality it became a goods depot, and remained intact until the 1950s when it lost its overall roof, but then survived into the 60s. Now there is a supermarket on the site.

So in my fictional scenario of the S&D building the B&E (Bristol & Exeter) proposed line from Wells to Bleadon junction (the opposite of what actually happened, the B&E building the S&D proposed line to Yatton), this is the S&DJR northern terminus, much better placed than the Bath extension if a lot less scenic and much less hard to work! The B&E had also offered the S&D running powers to Bristol during the various disputes over who would build the Cheddar Valley line. Just imagine if this had actually happened! No need for S&DJR 2-8-0s for example, or the Bath extension could have remained a single track and reserved for local traffic and freight serving the North Somerset coalfield. In fact, even if the B&E had offered running powers, the way Victorian railway politics worked could have meant that the GWR which owned the B&E made the charges so high that the Bath extension got built anyway - look what happened in the disputes between the LNWR & MR over the 'little North Western' which resulted in the Settle & Carlisle. The MR could have got the running powers back during the disputes in the early 1900s over the Bristol & Gloucester line. Goes to show that anything could have happened!!

If the Cheddar Valley line became joint between the S&DJR and the GWR, construction of a curve at Shepton Mallet and a North to West connection at Bruton would give the GWR a much quicker route to Weymouth from Bristol. S&DJR trains would need a North to South curve at Wells to avoid reversal.

To allow for the extra traffic, the original two platform terminus has been expanded to three long platforms and a bay. An overall roof looking very much like that at Bath Green Park is planned, built against the stone walls of the original terminus.

Photo 1 shows the platform area in a BR 1960s period in the steam to diesel transition. Prototype Hymek D7000 (just lacking its numbers) is about to take a short express to Weymouth. In the bay an ex GWR railcar is waiting to follow on a local for Wells. Further left Jinty 47465 had been pressed into working a Glastonbury to Weston local. Pannier 3650 is shunting ecs.

Photo 2 is a view over the station throat under construction. left to right the lines are ecs, down main, up main. It is designed so arrivals can use all three main platforms, but departures from the island on the left have to run wrong line for some distance before a crossover to take them back to the 'up' line. The central sidings can only be access by reversal ...