| Home | CHELTENHAM GWR MODELLERS GROUP
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THE NEXT EXHIBITION WILL BE HELD ON |
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Click here for Introduction and future exhibition information |
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| Click on picture for review of April 2010 | |||
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LAYOUT AND ATTRACTION REVIEW |
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| This particular exhibition focussed on British railway practice and had a strong Somerset theme as well as introducing the first two fully scenic DCC sound diesel layouts - Abbotswood Junction and Folly Lane - ever to grace St Margaret's Hall | |||
NOTTINGHAM GOODS by Dave Barrett 18.83mm P4 Gauge 4mm Scale |
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The layout was an attempt to portray a corner of the Midland Railway Goods
Station in Nottingham around 1923 although a few adjustments were
deemed necessary. The original tall square warehouse with a canal
entrance as well as the usual road and rail ones was omitted as at over
half a metre high it was impractical to model. Burton-on-Trent's
Cheese and Corn Warehouse Number 2 ( pictured ) was substituted which made a
nonsense of the canal to some exent but was not completely out of
place. The main warehouse was left open on two sides in an attempt to show how goods had to be manually transferred from road to rail vehicles and sometimes stored in the building. Most period photographs show these yards as being crammed with wagons and horse drawn road vehicles. |
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WESTON SUPER MARE (WC&P) by Andrew Ullyott EM Gauge 4mm Scale |
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| An elderly lady visiting Clevedon
asked a policeman the best way to Weston. He replied she should go on the
WC&P, following which it is said that she hit him with her
umbrella. The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway opened from Weston to Clevedon as a tramway in 1897, converted to a "Light Railway" in 1899 and extended to Portishead in 1907. It allowed residents to travel between towns without the need for lengthy inland detours via the Great Western Railway. it imported coal for merchants and gas works and exported a considerable amount of limestone from quarries in the Gordano Valley. In financial difficulties from the beginning, "Colonel" Holman F. Stephens was appointed General Manager in 1911 but despite returning occasional profits, the fortunes of the WC&PR steadily declines and the last train ran on 18 May 1940. The WC&PR's rolling stock was typically run down, second hand equipment, bought cheaply from other railways, some of which were also run by Colonel Stephens. Weston Super Mare ( WC & P ) was a virtually dead scale representation of the Ashcombe Road terminus in Weston-Super-Mare as it was the mid 1930s before the south side of the line was developed. With the exception of the station, all buildings remain today and the trackbed is a footpath. Rolling stock was a mixture of kit and scratch built items and the layout has been featured in Model Railway Journal 162 and Railway Modeller of February 2007. As well as employing traditional steam locomotives like Manning Wardle 0--0ST "Weston" - seen above hauling a mixed train into Ashcombe Road - the Weston, Cleveland and Portishead Railway was also a pioneering user of internal combusion motive power. The Drewry petrol mechanical four wheeled railcar seen below was built in 1928 for the Southern Railway with a 50 bhp engine replaced by a more powerful 64 bhp prime mover in 1930. It had a large luggage compartment and could seat 22 passengers and when purchased by the WC&P in 1934 both the Southern livery and running number - 5 - was retained. Used by the WC&P mainly in the Weston area, it was removed to Swindon in August 1940 and the body eventually found use as a pavillion at a Swindon girl's school. For more information visit the WC&P Railway Group website at www.wcandpr.org.uk |
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ABBOTSWOOD JUNCTION by Phil and James Bullock 00 Gauge 4mm Scale |
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| Abbotswood
Junction was a father and son collaboration representing the site just
south of Worcester where the ex LMS Gloucester to Birmingham line is
joined by a chord from Norton Junction on the ex GWR Worcester to
Oxford line. The layout featured DDC Sound and working semaphore
signals appropriate for the 1967 - 1973 end of steam to start of TOPS
period. The further premise was that the Stratford to Cheltenham line closed when through services closed in 1965 and so the layout at Abbotswood had to be expanded to accommodate extra traffic. An up loop with a direct connection to the Worcester chord ( only ever a kickback siding in reality ) was laid and suitably signalled before the advent of multiple aspect signalling controlled from Gloucester Horton Road power box. Unfortunately there had also recently been a derailment on the Worcester chord so all services were having to run via Bromsgrove - until phase two of the layout is built anyway! Among the more interesting passenger trains were the Cornishman and Devonian passenger expresses alongside such freight workings as the Waterston to Albion tanks booked for a pair of Class 37s, the St Blazey to Etruria clays booked for a Class 52 Western and the Bristol Malago Vale to Worcester vans booked for a Warship. |
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BLEAKHOUSE ROAD by Tim Maddocks 00 Gauge 4mm Scale |
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Bleakhouse Road was a model of the main intermediate station on the erstwhile Glastonbury and South Somerset Railway. The line was built at the turn of the century and ran in a south westerly direction from Glastonbury via the villages of Walton and Pedwell across the peat moor to a junction with the West of England main line at Athelney. The line was single throughout, with one crossing place at Bleakhouse Road. Faced with financial difficulties whilst the line was still incomplete, the G&SSR was jointly sold to the Great Western Railway and Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. In 1911 the South Polden Light Railway was built from Bleakhouse Road across the Levels to a number of peat works near Westonzoyland and Burrowbridge. At the height of production during the 1920s it in turn was fed by several narrow gauge tramways. In 1937 the Government established an Army stores depot at Burrowbridge, which contined to be rail served until its closure in 1964. The Army maintained its own motive power at the depot, which occasionally ventured down the Light Railway as far as Bleakhouse Road on transfer trips. The section south from Bleakhouse Road to Athelney was closed to passengers in 1951 and freight in 1952. This section was dismantled shortly after final closure and the remaining northern section transferred to the Southern Region. The surviving part of the "main" line remained open to passenger and freight traffic until the final closure of the S&D in March 1966. The main reason for its survival was the transfer of peat traffic from the light railway to the "main line" at Bleakhouse Road, occasional Army traffic from Burrowbridge and sundry wagonload traffic for the surrounding agricultural district. Peat was generally transported in box vans. The Light Railway closed at the same time as the S&D, although the narrow gauge tramway feeding the Bleak Moor works survived until the early 1970s when the peat works itself closed. The
model was set in the period between 1959 and 1964 and featured the
end-on junction with the Light Railway and the nearby level crossing at
Ham Lane. The peat works of the Bleak Moor Peat Sedge
Company also featured. Locomotives from Templecombe and Highbridge sheds typically shared the passenger and freight workngs on the branch to Bleakhouse Road. These included "typical" S&D motive power, together with more recent WR interlopers such as 22xx Collett Goods and Pannier tanks. A variety of former main line and industrial tank locomotives - such as Peckett 0-6-0ST "Plantagenet" seen below near the peat works - worked the Light Railway. For more information on Tim Maddock's Bleak House Road and other modelling projects visit http://enginewood.co.uk/ |
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FOLLY LANE by Jason Hannant 00 Gauge 4mm Scale |
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| Folly
Lane was a modern image layout using stock - including 66 022 above - that could be seen in the
period from 1996 to the present day. Rolling stock was from Bachmann,
Heljan, Hornby and other manufacturers. The layout was fully wired out to DCC standards and controlled by a Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance system which also provides sound. All trackwork and points were Peco and all point operation was electrical with working signals. The baseboards were constructed from pressure treated 6mm plywood to ensure rigidity and lightness to enable the layout to be transported easily. As well as brilliantly capturing the spirit of today's Network Rail, Folly Lane also featured some impressive domestic scenery. The brazier in the garden behind the Seat hoarding even glowed! |
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OXFORD VICTORIA by Ron Alcock 00 Gauge 4mm Scale |
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| This
layout, which is a direct crib from the famous Timesaver type layouts
which are very popular in North America, was built in response to a
Chairman's Challenge made to Oxford MRC members for a working model
railway in 8 square feet. Oxford Victoria depicted a small suburban station somewhere in the outskirts of Oxford, supposing that the Metropolitan Railway did actually build its proposed line from Quainton Road to Oxford. Motive power included LNER tank engines such as "Austerity" 0-6-0ST 8019 pictured above. The station entrance was loosely based on a similar structure at Quorn on the Great Central London Exension. |
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| Although the Great Central never did
build a line to Oxford Victoria, the sight of a 10 ton open coal wagon
bearing the legend George Green, Brill, brought back memories of one of
Britain's most remarkable small standard gauge railways. The Wotton Tramway was constructed in 1871 to convey staff, goods and passengers between Quainton Road station - on the joint Great Central and Metropolitan Railway from London to Verney Junction - and the Wotton Estate of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. Passing west through Waddesdon and Westcott before undergoing the Great Central Railway at Wotton, the Wotton Tramway then reached Church Siding before the bridge under the Great Western Railway's Ashendon Junction to Bicester line, Wood Siding and the terminus at Brill. | |||
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Two
single cylinder Aveling and Porter chain drive locomotives replaced horse
traction on the Wotton Tramway in 1872 but were themselves sold in 1895 to a
Northamptonshire brickworks,four years before the Metropolitan Railway assumed
control of the line. 807 survived until the brickworks closed in 1940
but lay derelict for a decade before it was rescued by the Industrial Locomotive
Society and reconstructed at Neasden using parts salvaged from its sister
engine. | |||
| THOMAS by Cheltenham GWR Modellers 00 Gauge 4mm Scale | |||
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WESTONMOUTH CENTRAL by Adrian Full 00 Gauge 4mm Scale |
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| Westonmouth
Central was the third layout that Adrian Full has set in the fictional
city of Westonmouth. Situated on the Bristol Channel coast,
Westonmouth has a large modern dock complex to the north and a popular
holiday beach to the south.
The loco stabling point for the area, Westonmouth Hillside, was the
first layout in the sequence and is now confined to home use. Mortimore's Yard was a small set of exchange sidings serving what remains
of the City's historic dock industies, whilst Westonmouth Central
represents a small part of the City's main passenger station. The layout was set in the mid 1970s when the distinctive Western Region hydraulics wre in decline and the newer Class 50s were making the depot fitter's lives a nightmare! Mark 1 carriages dominated the passenger rakes, whilst parcels trains still featured some pre-Nationalisation vehicles. Plain blue suburban style DMUs plyed their trade on local services and the occasional Southern Region visitor such as Class 33 6572 ( pictured above ) were not unknown. In the mid 1970s Britain's railways still had a distinct regional atmosphere, in this case the Great Western but with diesels. The station buildings reflected that continuity despite the rude intrusion of a new Power Box being constructed in the background.. Westonmouth Central was initially built as an entry for the 2007 Diesel & Electric Modeller's United competition marking the 50th anniversary of Cyril Freezer's classic "Minories" track plan. The rules of the competition - specifically the need for "three platform faces" - were interpreted to allow the representation of 3 platforms of a larger station rather than a whole station yet less than the permitted maximum space was actually used. The long platform at the front of the layout was in fact a bay platform with the viewer effectively standing where the main platforms would lie. The shorter middle "dock" platform would comes into its own during the evening loading of mail and parcels traffic but during the day it would more likely be occupied by a large mainline locomotive waiting to take over an inter-Regional train, the station pilot - such as 08 528 below - or a failed carriage or locomotive. As well as meeting the rules of the competition one aim of the layut was to act as a photographic background where stock projects can be recorded in a natural setting. The opportunity was also taken to move to finer scale C&L track and a first attempt at building a turnout. The Digital Command Control for Westonmouth Central was a Lenz Set 90 with Silver decoders. Following the death of Cyril Freezer earlier in 2009 Westonmouth Central is presented as a tribute to his original Minories plan and indeed his work for railway modelling as a whole. |
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WEST HARPTREE by Mike Corp TT Gauge 3mm Scale |
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West
Harptree , which is an actual village in North Somerset, was the
terminus of a fictional GWR branch line with its junction at
Hallatrow on the Bristol and North Somerset Railway. It was set between
the World Wars of the Twentieth Century when day excursionists from
Bristol and surrounds liked to take the waters of Chew Valley and
Blagdon Lakes. In fact these bodies of water did not exist then and
neither have they ever really been big enough to take small pleasure
steamers. West Harptree was the main village for the lakes having a small pier ( not modelled ) gift shops and tearooms as well as a dairy, Farmer's Association stores, builders and coal merchant. Hallatrow was the junction for the actual Camerton banch ( of Titfield Thunderbolt and Ghost Train fame ) which had been retained but also had a fictional link added to the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway at Midford with a south facing junction, at the southern end of the viaduct, which enabled through running from the S&D to West Harptree, thus keeping the station busy with both passenger and freight trains. The layout was built with Peco Code 80 rail in 3mm Society Ratio sleeper units and the hand built points were purchased from 3mm specialist shop 3SMR. Most of the locomotives - such as Great Western 0-6-0PT 5744 seen below and the 2-4-0T pictured above - were kit bodies ( often modified) on 3SMR chassis with Branchlines gearboxes and motors. The coaching stock was mainly scratchbuilt with most of the freight stock originating from the 3mm Society or one of the other 3mm specialist suppliers of which both operators are proprieters of Finney and Smith Kits. The scenery was based on concepts taken
from Landscape Modelling by Barry Norman published by Wild Swan and
West Harptree featured in British Railway Modelling in January 2000.
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HEDGES HILL CUTTING by Stuart Conlon ( Bentley Model Railway Group ) N Gauge 2mm Scale |
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Having last been seen at St Margaret's Hall in October 2005, Hedges
Hill Cutting made a welcome return under the new ownership of Bentley
MRG. Still a representation of South London in the modern era it
features a gasworks ( pictured above) ATM, Gatso road safety cameras,
wheely bins, LT tube
station and even location-specific football graffiti on the scratch
built card buildings. Pictured below is 73 136 hauling a slam-door EMU
in matching Network South East colours.
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| TERMINAL 1 by Alan Drewett N Gauge 2mm Scale | |||
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At Terminal 1 of Britain's newest airport,
located at the end of a "cut and cover" branch line, rail passengers and their luggage arrived at
and departed from the four platform terminus in modern diesel multiple unit or
push-pull trains while extensive long term parking was also available. Buses and lorries took the road over the
buffer stops and ticket barriers and under the airside apron to reach the coach
station and air freight terminal. The airport, which also owns the branch line, had a
liberal attitude towards vintage steam and diesel hauled excursions and also
allowed fly-ins of historic aircraft as well as the workaday Boeings and
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| AWAY WITH THE FAIREYS by Alan Drewett 00 Gauge 4mm Scale | |||
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| The
Fairey Aviation Company Limited was based at Hayes in Middlesex and
Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Manchester. It had a strong
presence in the supply of naval aircraft - including the Fulmar (
pictured above ) Firefly and Gannet ( seen below) and also built bombers such as the Battle for the RAF. After the Second World War the company built the record breaking FD2 jet and diversified into rotary winged aircraft, mechanical engineering and boat building. The aircraft manufacturing arm was taken over by Westland in 1960. Backing the propeller monoplanes on the popular airfield
embankment diorama were two freight trains that demonstrated the changing face of
railways during the Fairey years. Hauling a short rake of private owner coal wagons, GWR
half cab 0-6-0PT 2743 was built as
Swindon Works number 1705 in 1899 and first allocated to Cardiff. It was only
withdrawn by British Railways at Worcester Shed in October 1950. At the head of some Presflo and Prestwin cement wagons, a "Weltrol"
and a classic British Railways "16
ton mineral" meanwhile was Drewry Diesel Mechanical Class 04 0-6-0 D2277. Built by Robert Stephenson
Hawthorn and introduced to Ashford Depot in September 1959, it was to have a
career of just less than a decade and after withdrawal from Colchester was cut up
by H. Brahams of Bury St Edmunds. | |||
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| MODEL BUS FEDERATION represented by Paul Mellor 4mm Scale | |||
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| Blue and white Dennis Dart "North Star" - with Plaxton Pointer bodywork on the reciprocal X3 working with Swindon's
Thamesdown Transport - stood out among the red of the North West Road Car
(Gloucester) buses at Brocklecote Bus Station. |
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NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF ROAD TRANSPORT MODELLERS represented by David Mellor 4mm Scale |
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| Great pleasure was given to the patrons of the Cheltenham GWR Modeller's Exhibition
by the appearance on the Mellor Brother's Layby Diorama of this Volvo
FH16 6x2 - converted and super detailed from the Lledo model - in
the orange, white and green markings of machinery transport experts
Charles Russell. Even more delightful was the extendable boom low
loader trailer - converted from the Langley kit with brass scratch
building - carrying a Blackburn Buccaneer, just as Charles Russell
transported the real Jet Age Museum twin jet naval bomber away from Staverton in 2000. In
fact moving one of four Jet Age aircraft was the last job that the
Volvo tractor did for Charles Russell before it was sold on for
further service. Also catching the eye was the Seddon 13:4 4x2 tractor unit - with matching flat bed trailer - pictured below in the yellow and red first vehicle livery of Gloucester based C.M. Downton: a company nowadays famous for its maroon and cream markings. Its presence, complete with packing case load, reminded me of a letter -purportedly from one Rory Laurel - published in a contemporary issue of Viz magazine. It read: The other day my son was eating a red lolly when he was run over by a yellow lorry. I have a Jonathan Ross style speech impediment and the coroner was Chinese. What a carry on that was! |
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| TRAVEL 2000 LTD by Andy Peckham 4mm Scale ( Sunday only ) | |||
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| Representing
two extremities of PSV operation within the Travel 2000 fleet were N314
BYA - a Volvo B10M coach with Black and White markings on its Van Hool
body - seen above and covered in dead insects after a long cross
country journey, and the two yellow school buses pictured below. On the left is a monocoque built Optare Excel while to the right is a short wheelbase Dennis Dart chassis bearing a Ballymena built Wright Handybus body, once a common sight around London. |
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| MODELLING DISPLAYS by Mark Begley, Steve Harrod, Rob Owst, Andi Dell and Trevor Hale. | |||
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| Rob
Owst lined up his Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company built
Western Region diesel parcels railcar next to a split headcode Peak in
matching blue while a weathered 16 ton coal wagon - also of a type built
at Bristol Road, Gloucester, was represented in 0 Gauge along with the grass and weeds between the rails it stood on. |
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Also in attendance were Cheltenham
Model Centre (Saturday) Castle Trains (Sunday), Stewart
Blencowe (Railway books, timetables and photographs), Iron Horse Videos and DVDs, Clive Reid
(RCSW Models) and Rural Railways DVDs of the Cheltenham GWR Modellers Exhibitions from 2006 onward are now available from Richard Pretious of Iron Horse Video Productions based at 77 Tilney Close, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 2BG. |
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