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Wells, S&D and GWR, Layout enquiry


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I have long had a fascination with the S&D but never actually modelled it.  A more tangible interest is the GWR for which I do have a P4 layout and some stock. 

 

The two adjacent Wells stations, Tucker St GWR and Priory Rd S&D, have always struck me as an interesting layout project but really needs a good amount of space and three fiddle yards......

 

Has anyone attempted this in any scale?

 

post-7723-0-33147700-1444922488.gif

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Well, the SCR and ESR certainly were connected in BG days, and then the connection became mixed gauge when the SCR was 'narrowed'. From what I can make out from a brief 'history reading', the B&ER-ESR connection was also mixed-gauge for a very short period initially. Try some "modeller's licence" perhaps ? :-)

 

I don't recall ever coming across a layout based on all 3 stations, but certainly I've seen one of Tucker Street and read about at least one based (loosely) on Priory Road.

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there is a scale plan on the SDJR station a Wells in the LMS engine shed books Vol 4.

 

Marc

Wells (Tucker Street) is in the first volume of 'An Historical Survey of Selected Great Western Stations' by R H Clark. The plan shows the station, along with the S&D goods yard, but not the second GWR one (there was another GWR yard on the Yatton side of the station); it's dated 1882. Originally, it seems the station was originally (until 1878) the terminus of a line from Yatton, and was broad gauge until 1875.
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My knowledge and interest in Wells stems from the Oxford Publishing Co. book 'An Historical Survey of the Somerset and Dorset Railway' by C.W.Judge and C.R.Potts. Probably no longer in print. Of course it only shows the S&D layout with the GWR line traversing the site without the Tucker St station or GWR goods yard details. The S&D branch from Glastonbury closed in 1951 but a truncated section was retained to allow WR trains to serve the former S&D yard; I imagine quite a lot of the former S&D track was lifted at the same time. The track plan in the above referenced book is from 1922. Apparently GWR/WR as well as S&D trains stopped at Priory Rd from 1934 until 1951. The layout I included in the OP is somewhat simplified compared to the 1922 version.

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Personally if I was going to model it I would choose 1914 as the period as you could getaway with more liveries on the rolling stock. You would have SDJR locos in both blue and black liveries, SDJR wagons would be in the process of being repainted in to MR and LSWR liveries which would through up some interesting combinations like LSWR wagons in grey. Also form the GWR point of view there would be still some red and grey wagons with the small letters as well as the more well known post 1904 large GW livery.

 

But that's just me

 

 

Marc

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>>>Wells (Tucker Street) is in the first volume of 'An Historical Survey of Selected Great Western Stations' by R H Clark. The plan shows the station, along with the S&D goods yard, but not the second GWR one (there was another GWR yard on the Yatton side of...

 

I don't understand that remark, as the yard for Tucker Street at theYatton end is clearly shown on the plan in Clarke's book? Did you perhaps mean the ex-East Somerset yard at the Whitham end of Wells?

 

As regard the Judge&Potts book on the S&D, it was good for its time, but you need to be cautious with it - for many of the locations the plans, photos and signal diagrams are all for different periods. You do need to decide on what period you want to model. The yard layout was originally more complex at Priory Road than is depicted in the J&P plan (IIRC it was altered circa-1920) , whilst the signalling depicted is only valid for the later years. And the lever-frame in the diagram is the one that was installed at the back of the box in 1948 or 49 (don't have my notes to hand at the moment), replacing the older one which was at the front, and only lasted until 1951 when the box was replaced by a ground-frame!

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>>>Wells (Tucker Street) is in the first volume of 'An Historical Survey of Selected Great Western Stations' by R H Clark. The plan shows the station, along with the S&D goods yard, but not the second GWR one (there was another GWR yard on the Yatton side of...

 

I don't understand that remark, as the yard for Tucker Street at theYatton end is clearly shown on the plan in Clarke's book? Did you perhaps mean the ex-East Somerset yard at the Whitham end of Wells?

 

As regard the Judge&Potts book on the S&D, it was good for its time, but you need to be cautious with it - for many of the locations the plans, photos and signal diagrams are all for different periods. You do need to decide on what period you want to model. The yard layout was originally more complex at Priory Road than is depicted in the J&P plan (IIRC it was altered circa-1920) , whilst the signalling depicted is only valid for the later years. And the lever-frame in the diagram is the one that was installed at the back of the box in 1948 or 49 (don't have my notes to hand at the moment), replacing the older one which was at the front, and only lasted until 1951 when the box was replaced by a ground-frame!

What I meant to say was that the GWR yard at the WITHAM end, beyond the S&DJR station, isn't shown on the drawing in Clark. Apologies for any lack of clarity.
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There are plans and some photographs of Priory Road Station in the excellent book by Richard Harman "The East Somerset and Cheddar Valley Railways" One plan shows the broad guage and mixed gauge proposals for joining the Bristol and Exeter Railway to the East Somerset Railway.  The other plans are redrawn from the 1930 Ordinance survey map of Tucker Street and Priory Road Stations and the site of the East Somerset Station.  Most of the infrastructure was swept away by the Wells Relief Road but the sites of the old stations are marked by plaques courtesy of the Wells Railway Fraternity.  A Lidl Supermarket and Travis Perkins Builders Merchants now occupy the Priory Road station and goods yard site, I am not sure if even the famous Walnut Tree survives. Being brought up in Wells, I cannot ever recall having seen a model based on the City, I am sure I would have remembered it. 

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A little OT but I was visiting a friend in Southover Street (up from the Gas Works on that fantastic map) last week and there is absolutely no trace of any railway there at all today!

 

It would, of course, make a fantastic model however you choose to do it (with or without using your licence).

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