Would you ever model your local station?

[Me.]

Where I live, I have a choice of about 12 stations in a 2 or 3 mile radius, but none really inspires me. I think there is a lot to be said for things far away seeming mmore romantic than things close to home that you see every day. Perhaps that is why there seem to be so many Cornish and Highland Scottish layouts about?

[mvrnut]

When I was a nipper we lived close to Wickham in Hampshire. So, yes, I am currently in the process of modelling Wickham railway station, though I had to compress the length of the platforms due to space constraints.

I had an uncle that lived in Eastleigh and was an Engine Driver with the SR for many years. I too had thought about doing Eastleigh but would have needed a village hall to fit it all in.

 

Cheers,

Chris

[ess1uk]

as i was born in and grew up in Kettering and then moved to Peterborough it would have to be either of these.

don't think i could do either justice though, Peterborough especially.

[Black Sheep]

I'm tempted by Maidenhead, I think the town would make a nice model, but to do it properly I'd be wanting to include Brunell's 'sounding arch'

 

it is however completely the wrong region / company.

[cheesysmith]

Working backwards from my nearest station now, we have sheffield midland (living near the city centre of sheffield).

Before that, deepcar (lived at stocksbridge(or royston vasey if you prefer).

Before that dore station, with it`s triangular juction/tunnels(lived at greenhill in sheffield).

Before that, tinsley yard (lived at brinsworth, can just remember the bobo`s and hump shunters).

 

So, how big a model would tinsley make in oo?

[Torn-on-the-platform]

Sheffield - Incredibly unlikely

Orpington - One for the future... maybe. To fit the carriage sidings in as well I would need a very long room. A good amount of operational potential, especially, though little variety of stock, none of which is currently available R-T-R. I don't know much about the operations back in steam days but I can't imagine there was a daily train to Bedford via St Pancras!

[MarkSG]

My current local station is Evesham, which I've mentioned before as having a lot of potential if modelled prior to the closing of the former LMS line. It has all the ingredients for an attractive model, including two companies working in parallel (if modelled in the Big 4 era) or some interesting through movements between the two stations (if modelled in the transition era), a lot of local freight traffic (fruit and veg, mostly) two rail-over-river bridges and a rail-over-rail bridge. You'd need a fair amount of space to do it justice, and you'd have to be good at modelling trees as the surrounding orchards would be one of the keys to getting the right sense of place. So it would also need a lot of work, and more time than I can devote to it, which means I'm not actually planning to do it. Maybe in the future, when I've got a house with a suitable spare room (or shed) and more time on my hands.

 

As far as former local stations are concerned, Ely has similar potential having a three-way junction at one end and a two-way junction at the other. You'd need a lot of space (or a lot of compression) to actually model the junctions, but just the station itself would give a lot of scope for a very varied set of traffic movements. And, again, you've got plenty of visual cues that could be modelled, such as at least one of the several bridges and, given enough space, some typically flat Fenland countryside and waterside industry.

[bike2steam]

 

As far as former local stations are concerned, Ely has similar potential having a three-way junction at one end and a two-way junction at the other. You'd need a lot of space (or a lot of compression) to actually model the junctions, but just the station itself would give a lot of scope for a very varied set of traffic movements. And, again, you've got plenty of visual cues that could be modelled, such as at least one of the several bridges and, given enough space, some typically flat Fenland countryside and waterside industry.

 

The west - north/east loop at the north end makes for interesting working, but the space needed is somewhat large.

[MarkSG]

The west - north/east loop at the north end makes for interesting working, but the space needed is somewhat large.

 

You could probably do it in N without too much compression - you'd still need a fair bit, at least if you're intending to include the station itself as well, but it would be within the realms of modeller's licence. The curve on the loop is really tight, so it wouldn't be hard to make it look acceptable on a model even if, in reality, you're tightening it even further.

[Guest bri.s]

ive grew up and lived in barnsley all my life. theres loads of different places i would like to model barnsley courthouse station,quarry junction or the project iam hopefully going to start in the near future newoaks junction and stairfoot sidings

[cary hill]

My local station is Narborough, Leicestershire.

 

I don't think a modern day version of it would be that interesting, sitting as it does on the Leicester-Birmingham line, with short modern units providing the interval service and some stone traffic from Croft Quarry.

 

An historical model might be more interesting but would have to be in 2mm in due to the excessive length which would be needed to model the goods yard, Empire stone works, the exchange sidings and the branch line to Enderby Warren Quarry.

 

It's a pity that the extensive quarry railway network, which was formerly in the centre of our village didn't have a passenger facility, as it might have qualified as an interesting modelling subject on this thread, with trackwork and short tunnels within 50 yards of the Parish Church at one time. My user name is taken from the quarry which was directly in front of the Church and my "photo" is of the crushing plant, maintenance works and sidings just down the road from the Church.

 

One day perhaps.......

 

Edit for omission

[ChrisN]

My local station is Brentwood which at the moment is rather a shadow of its former self with many doors and windows bricked up. It may be more interesting at the end of the 19th Century which is my era but would have trouble making stock for it. It has two fast and two slow lines and still has a fair amount of freight going to the docks so it would have had much more a century ago. The problem is that you would need two fiddle yards as it is a through station.

 

The other I have thought about for a club layout because it is fairly large is Barking Station. It has C2C, previously the London Tilbury and Southend Railway, London Underground, London Overground, previously the North London Railway, plus lots of freight workings to Fords and goodness knows where else. As an exhibition layout it would not have to be limited to one era and could operate an almost real time, well speeded up real time, timetable with visitors trying to guess what type of stock would appear next.

[johndon]

Closest to me is Chester-le-Street which consists of 2 platforms and a station building on the ECML although it does have a large viaduct at one end which would be interesting.

 

If I had the money and space I'd love to do Newcstle Central in P4 as it was in 1980 with the bridges over the Tyne and Gateshead TMD opposite.

 

John

[Geoff Endacott]

I used to live in London. My local station at the time would have made a challenging model. It was Euston!

 

Geoff Endacott

[arff999]

HI

Yes i`m modeling my local station

LINCOLN CENTRAL

its on here go have a look see what you think.

Thanks

 

JOHN

[Tim H]

Reading West? Probably doable, at least in N; the double junction at one end adds a bit of operational interest. Procession of 59-hauled aggregate trains from the Mendips, and 66-hauled intermodals from Southampton, along with HSTs, Voyagers and 165/166s, and the two 3-car 150s which now are unique to this line!

 

Back when I lived in Cheshire I thought Cheadle Hulme would make an interesting model; I'd have set it pre-2002 when the XC and WC services were all loco-hauled (which was actually just before I moved there)

[Guest Phil]

My local station is Landywood - a 1990s "new station" which means it is now starting to rot. It is has two platforms, staggered, with a bus shelter on each, on a strictly up and down railway. hourly service of either 2 car 170+153 or 3 car 170, or an odd service with a single 153 in the evening. Freight is dominated by FLHH 66s and 70s on coal trains.

 

Sorry but boring, however.........

 

Just down the road was Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay station which closed in the Beeching cuts. This station was more interesting and included a branch down to Hawkins colliery and brickworks, which was restricted to class 2 locomotives, meaning one Bescot's remaining ex Midland Railway 2Fs would be active - replaced by the Ivatt 2MT towards the end. The diet on the mainline was endless streams of coal trains hauled by anything Bescot and Ryecroft had - generally 5MTs, 7Fs and 8Fs.These were replaced by 1160hp Sulzers and EE type 4s, then 1250hp Sulzers and Brush 2750hp type 4s.

 

Probably more interesting than many sites, but Sedgeley Junction is still my choice.

[bike2steam]

On a similar vain, the Hollybank complex of lines have always fascinated me, serving collieries at Essington,Short Heath, and Hilton Main (where various male members of the family had worked in the past) all converging on sidings which entrance was served by the very unique , and very modelable Bursnip Road signalbox/crossing keepers cottage, the sidings were the site of the exchange to BR which joined the main line just a little further south of Wyrley & Cheslyn Hay.

[jamie92208]

My current local station is Morley which could make a good layout with the tuinnel mouth as one scenic break. If I modelled the GN then the closed station in my village (Gildersome would have looked rather nice with a tunnel at one end an a factory that made narrow gauge and mining railway equipment at the other however before I ot married I lived in Woodlesford and made a serious attempt to model it. I still have the 2 chain plan and the station building is somewhere in the loft. Howev er the layout got installed in the loft when we moved here and the temperature variation put paid to any decent running tough I had completed the trackwork and some scenery in the station. 2 things happenned the first a young fmily whose bedrooms were underneath the layout space and who couldn't be disturbed and then secondly i saw the light and moved from 4mm to 7mm and went into O Gauge.

 

Jamie

[simonhaynes72]

Yep indeed, Falmouth Docks, though really a Truro lad.

GWR end of the line in late BR steam period, with Broad Gauge structures, meets dockyard industrial and mixed traffic.

Me and my mate Andy, despite tussles about what is authentic are building separate bits in 7mm. One day it will come together.

I'm doing the track and I'm strict, he wants to create something like Helford Valley and is never strict.

Shame penmouth taken , Falryn next option !

Cheers

Simon

[RogerE]

My local station is Great Missenden, and that's what I started modelling.- an early 1920s Met/GC "tail chaser" in P4.

 

However a change of circumstances has meant that it has changed from that to an end to end using, basically, the same track layout and buildings. I took some inspiration from Alan Jackson's book and decided the branch from Missenden to Wycombe was built - did a bit of research and found out the proposed route.It is now High Wycombe (Temple End).

[pushpull33]

My local would have been Bournemouth West. Far to large for me to do, or perhaps Broadstone where i use to live. I have a soft spot for the Lyme Regis branch but operationally wise far to limited in types of engine used. Adams Radial and thats it basically

[Moritz K]

I wouldn't model my local station - Heidelberg, in Germany - it would be both much too big and not very interesting, as it features 10 platforms, but almost nothing else and traffic is almost completeley done with class 425 EMUs and class 101 electric locos on Intercity services. Great bit of 1950s architecture anyway.

[JeremyC]

My local station probably would be best on a 'watching the trains go by' layout, though it would be quite a spectacular layout if you could find room for the scenic feature just to the north.

 

 

Jeremy

 

[The station is Dalmeny]

[tractionman]

My local station is a few minutes' walk away from my house, but it's a couple of platforms one stop away from a terminus on a line that sees a monotonous diet of 3k and 4k CAF DMUs... bar the odd steam excursion train, so no, not for me!

 

 

 

It might look scenic enough under some rare Irish snow, but instead I prefer to model what I remember from train-spotting in the 1970s and 1980s back in England in my younger years, particularly places with a MIdlands flavour.

 

 

Perhaps one day, in thirty years time, I'll look back to the 2010s and want to model NIR CAF units on a suburban branch, but somehow I doubt it...

 

 

cheers,

 

Keith