Way back in February 2010 I posted an entry in this blog describing my thoughts on building several layouts. One of those layouts was based on Camerton in the Cam valley, North Somerset. It is area that I know well from my younger days and I've long been fascinated by the contrasts between its collieries and otherwise rural landscape. Since returning to modelling a little over four years ago, I've made several unsuccessful starts on a Camerton layout, each failing to satisfy because I was simply trying to compress too much railway into an insufficient space. This past weekend, however, has seen a major breakthrough with a solution to my previous problems.

Prototype Background

First though, for those not familiar with Camerton, a little background. Following a long gestation, the branch from Hallatrow on the Bristol and North Somerset line to Camerton was finally opened in 1882. For most of its length, the branch line ran parallel to, and was to be the undoing of, the Somersetshire Coal Canal. The valley had a number of collieries, of which Timsbury (Upper and Lower Conygre Pits) and Camerton (Old and New Pits) were initially most important to the railway. A simple run-around loop and siding were provided at the Camerton terminus, together with an extension beyond the station to New Pit. Most of the early traffic was coal trains serving the pits, but passengers were also catered for from the start by mixed trains including a single four wheel coach, probably a T49 or similar.

Later, the branch was extended to reach Lympley Stoke where it joined the Bath to Bradford on Avon line. The new section was completed in 1910 although it was possible for coal trains to run from Dunkerton Pit from 1907. Camerton station was extended at this time by the addition of a couple of sidings, one facing each direction. With the line fully open, coal could be taken out in either direction. Autocoaches hauled by 517s and steam railmotors provided the main passenger services over the full length of the branch. Passenger services ceased in 1915 although they were briefly re-instated between 1923 and 1925. The original section between Hallatrow and Camerton was closed 1925, so Camerton again became a terminus, but this time at the west end of the branch. Freight traffic was hauled mostly by 0-6-0STs and Dean Goods in the early days and later by various pannier tanks. The line finally closed to freight in 1951, although it was made famous in 1952 when it was used in the making of the Titfield Thunderbolt film.

Despite its short life as a passenger station, Camerton is an attractive prototype for a model. It sits in a curved amphitheatre of part natural and part man-made origin. It has road bridges at either end and the steep sided, partially tree-covered, Old Pit batch (tip) forming a backdrop on the north side behind the station building. Beyond the station to the east, the track curves gently to the left, and the branch to the New Pit curves away to the north-east on a tighter radius from a double slip at the end of the platform. The station building was an example of the smaller variety of William Clarke's standard design, as also used on the Bristol and North Somerset line.

Making a Plan

So what was the problem in converting this little station into a model? As is the case for many of us, it was simply a question of space. My only indoor space suitable for layouts is just 2.66m long, although a temporary cassette of no more than 0.85m could be added across a doorway at the left end. Unfortunately, a scale length model of the section between the bridges would be at least 3.5m long, so some compression is required.

All of my previous plans assumed that I would need a similar length cassette area at the right hand end, so that trains could run on and off the layout. This would leave only about 1.8m between the bridges or, roughly, 50% compression. Now, over the last few years, I have designed, partly built and ripped up several versions of this constrained plan. That was until this last weekend when a series of realisations revealed a solution:

• Baseboards made with insulation foam can be incredibly light.
  
• Lightweight baseboards are easily portable.
  
• The Camerton track plan between the bridges is in itself a workable shunting layout.
  
• Given the above, simple fiddle yards could be constructed for each end, and the layout could be taken out to the garage in the summer and run as an end-to-end layout without the space constraints of my study/workshop/layout room.
  

With these in mind, I've been able to create a plan which I think captures the essence of Camerton without excessive compression. In practice, this means that the station end has been compressed to about 75% of scale size which will still allow reasonable length trains. The eastern end has been compressed to about 65% and this will still leave a credible length for the eastern storage siding. Using the development version of Templot, I've been able to create a plan which maintains the characteristic curve of the line and the irregular double slip that provides one end of the loop and the branch to New Pit -- thanks, Martin

So, here is the plan:

Other than the compression, the only distortion needed to get the plan to fit on 0.5m wide baseboards has been to curve the lines to New Pit (top right) back to the right to stay within the boards. This, in turn, means that the road over the right hand bridge curves more tightly to the right than the original. Hopefully, most of this distortion can be hidden by landscape and trees.

A brief bibliography:

Colin Maggs & Gerry Beale, The Camerton Branch, Wild Swan.

Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Frome to Bristol, Middleton Press.

Mike Vincent, Through Countryside and Coalfield, OPC.

Chris Turner & Gerry Beale, Station Master at Camerton, GWRJ 60.