coline33

Lovely work of the boards, Pete, I appreciate what you said about space, but the opportunity and potential is there for the future. Glad to see us Old Walcountians appearing! My years were 1950 to 1957 and in 1951 we shared with the girls school a special EMU both ways between Wallington and Waterloo East for the Festival of Britain day out. Thank you, Nick, for recalling seeing the H16 4-6-2T. My reaction is yes on a coal train from Norwood Down Yard between rostered inter-section/region workings to/from Norwood. I understand that both in steam and diesel days, if Norwood Shed or the subsequent Loco Sidings did not have a suitable loco available any 'foreigner' would be used for the trip working if there was sufficient lay-over time. That is how I came to include a Fowler 2-6-4T in my fleet. Nick, if you remember the upstairs 4mm. layout from your open day visits to C&SMRC, then if before 1969, I was always operating the tram services from Manor Park station. Even when I lived at Benfleet, 1963 to 1966, I would come over for those weekends. So any more memories of loco classes, special workings, etc. on the WC-W or better still photographed but never published before, will be greatly appreciated by all. Kind regards, Colin

Pete, I forgot to mention the N 2-6-0 and the London Midland Region diesels in my RTR list. You mentioned space (try doing it on a table-top!!!). With you doing the Halt and east of Purley Way bridge and Ernie doing west of Purley Way bridge and both of you living in the same county, why not aim for a joint exhibition presentation. You do the Purley Way bridge on your section and the eastern fiddle yard and Ernie do the Croydon 'B' section and western fiddle yard. For operation at home, you would have your plain 'west end' fiddle yard and Ernie would have his 'east end' fiddle yard with his Purley Way bridge on it. Just agreement on the connection method for board and tracks and the board width required. For exhibitions there would be two of you to operate and pass trains between you both through the bridge. Ever thought of your layout being L-shaped so your 'east end' fiddle yard is at right-angles to produce the Wandle Park curve with its foot bridge as the entrance arch? Remember, some freights used the Passenger Line and some rail tours the Goods Line. Oh, the potential - you could even be on show in Croydon. Currently, I provide the Standard 2-6-4T, 22 wagons and a brake that appear as the '1030 coal empties from Waddon Marsh' when John Clarke's "West Croydon" layout appears in public. Alas the railway is static as is his 2-NOL or my 2-EPB in the bay platform, but at least a full working service of first and second generation trams is provided. Kind regards, Colin.

Yes, fortunately one of the W&C transfers was photographed passing through Mitcham Junction hauled by a Class 74. EMUs were also transferred between Wimbledon and Selhurst depots this way for the same reason.

Pete, being an Old Walcountian helped me to know Wallington, even though I was brought up on the Mitcham Common side of Thornton Heath. My first journeys to school started with the 16/18 tram or 115 bus. The Feltham was a far superior vehicle to the D type that crossed your Purley Way bridge!!! I joined C&SMRC when it was at the Scout Hall behind the Town Hall, so that dates me!!! It had just moved there from being over the butcher's shop in Carshalton. That would have been about 1960. The coming of LB Sutton scotched the previous council's roundabout scheme in Manor Road. A lovely detached house had been CPOed for it and left unattended for some years. My friend's father who had become Associate Town Clerk for Sutton arranged for the club to take it over and do it up as a model railway club in the area was then considered a necessity for young and old. After many years Sutton decided it required it to build more houses on the land. The whole of upstairs was devoted to 4mm. rail and tram (the tunnel run through the back of the'Separate WC' - over the cistern!) while in a downstairs room was 7mm. tram and trolleybus, another for 7mm. railway while the garden was for large scale live steam. Catering facilities were superb! There is plenty of RTR for you to use for 1959/60 with its half-hourly passenger service of 2-EPB and soon to arrive 2-HAL. There were 24 timed freight/light engine movements in and out per day M-F of which 6 were through so you have RTR steamers with Fairburn, Fowler, Stanier, and Standard 2-6-4T, E2 0-6-0T and C class 0-6-0. Note - shunting movements within control of WM box not included. I forgot to mention before the Carter Paterson/BRS van trains. For 1966 the passenger was just 2-EPB. The freight/light engine was down to 17 timed movements M-F with 4 as through, so you have Classes 04, 08, 09, 31, 33 and 73 all RTR. For the diesel era 1965 was probably the busiest year for WM. For both periods there are ample RTR wagons and vans available. So you can build up a fleet quickly! Now that will give you a lot to dream about tonight!!! Colin.

Pete, were you ever a member of the Carshalton and Sutton MRC when it had the house in Manor Road? If so, I might have known you! Because of your interest in the WC-W line I have joined the forum. I have been sharing with Ernie my researches done for my table-top "Beddington Lane Halt and Sidings" layout. My father used the line from 1938 to 1971 and my meeting him off the train at BL every Saturday from 1948 to about 1952, being allowed in the SB each to watch his train's progress and exchange the tokens, gave me a love of the WC-W and the 2-WIMs from my journeying on them. In the period my father used the line he reported travelling on 3-SUB, 4-SUB, 4-COR, 2-HAP plus when a 2-NOL and a 2-HAL deputised for the 2-EPBs in 1958/9 before the Tyneside ones arrived. Later there were the 2-SAPs. The best period to model is 1950 to 1971 when 2-WIMs, 2-SLs and 2-EPBs (both types) were used. 1971 saw the last of the sand trains to Blue Circlesidings pass through WM. Coal in and empties out normally went via Norwood but in diesel days a train of empties went to Totton via Wimbledon. The Fawley oil train always worked in and out from Wimbledon from the mid-1960s. WM was a busy place in this period especially with the non-stopping through trains - freights, EMU transfers, rail tours, ECSs for football specials. So to really benefit from the most WM can offer, a fiddle yard at either end is essential. You might like to consider bring the Wandle Park foot bridge nearer as the break with the fiddle at that end. Then you could add the Croydon 'A' siding - even having an electric steeple cab loco using overhead wires tramway style. Certainly to achieve the fullest potential of fiddle-to-fiddle with the traffic on offer, I think DCC could score especially when you can run passenger and goods trains at different speeds on parallel tracks. Look forward to seeing photos as the layout develops. All the best, Colin.