Blog- orford's Blog - 1. Introduction To Orford - Rural Suffolk in 'OO' Gauge

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Thought I might as well start a blog about the layout, as I seem to be posting all over RM web and it seemed a good idea to put most of it together in one place.

 

'Orford' lies on the Suffolk coast and is perhaps best known to the general public for 'Orford Ness' - the long shingle spit which begins just to the south of Aldeburgh and which was formerly home to much military activity, primarily between the wars and during WWII and which then, during the 1960's became an important centre for the testing of nuclear detonators. Two large concrete 'pagoda's' stand to this day as testimony to Orford's contribution to the nuclear age, although the site has now largely returned to nature. The Ness was also at one stage important in the development od radar.

 

Orford never had an actual railway connection, nor, so far as I aware, was one ever contemplated. It lies however, conveniently situated not far from the former GER Aldeburgh branch and the GER Snape branch.

 

The former still very much exists, albeit no longer as far as Aldeburgh, having been truncated in 1966 back to just east of Leiston, the remaining line serving the Sizewell nuclear power stations on an occasional basis, as needed.

 

The latter line to Snape was a freight only branch serving the Snape Maltings complex but has sadly long since disappeared into the undergrowth.

 

My layout 'Orford', represents an imaginary extension of the old Aldeburgh branch to Orford....a 'never-was' but 'might-have-been' railway, on the assumption that traffic on the Aldeburgh branch grew as originally hoped by the Great Eastern - which in fact, it never really did.

 

From time to time I will show and describe some of my efforts to create this line in 4mm scale, OO Gauge, in a 12 foot by 9 foot spare bedroom.

 

Don Mason

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