Nick Rogers
Western Thunderer
St. Breward Junction
Subject – British Rail Southern Region, Cornwall, circa 1960
St. Breward Junction is a small rural junction built by the Bodmin & Wadebridge and Delabole Railway, finically backed by the L&SWR and completed in the 1880s. However, due to financial circumstances, the line did not reach its proposed terminus at Delabole and the town’s rich mines, indeed the line only advanced a further 2 & 1/3 miles upstream from Wenford Bridge, reaching the small village of Row. Parts of the existing line between Dunmere Junction and Wenford Bridge where improved, tight curves were removed courtesy of a few sticks of dynamite, enabling a passenger service to operate on the branch.
The Junction at St. Breward is located a country mile, or so, North of Wenford Bridge Goods Yard, with rather simple facilities. There is no station or halt, an LSWR Type 4 signal box, gated level crossing, ground frame to control the goods loop and siding, a short siding (formally acting as a wharf) and the two branch-lines diverging away from each other complete the scene. One line heads to Bodmin Moor to serve a small pan china clay works located near Temple and the other continuing to meander its way further up the Camel Valley towards the village of Row. It is a sleepy line, the railway shadows the Camel River and twist its way through the trees, fields and hedges of the Cornish countryside.
Most days, the signalman has plenty of time to attend his small allotment located near the box, his weeding only interrupted by the sound of O2 tanks, with their P-Sets, trundling leisurely back and forth between Row and Wadebridge, conveying a handful of established passengers, with the odd hiker here and there. Occasionally, one of Mr Maunsell’s magnificent Moguls barks its way up the line, at the head of a Bullied composite brake coach, but this is indeed a sporadic site and sound!
O2 heads towards Row.
Level crossing - I need to cut a hole here!
Wadebridge shed’s stalwarts, the elegant Beattie Well Tanks, head short goods and clay workings up and down the branch, their short wheel base being ideal for the tight curves of the Temple branch – both the B&W&DR and the L&SWR deemed it an unnecessary waste of resources to use further valuable dynamite on the tight curves of the line. The resulting affect is that the Beattie Well Tanks continue to work the branch, despite entering their eighth decade of service.
However, their monopoly may soon be under treat. Rumors abound that a new trio of Swindon dock tanks will usurp their 70-year reign. The Wadebridge men, however, pay little heed to these whispers!
Scale – 4mm to the foot
Standards (Infrastructure) – Finescale 00 trackwork (SF-Standards around the Vee), built using Exactoscale chairs, sleepers and Hi-Nickle silver rail. Turnouts and traps operated by slow motion motors and linked to a simple control panel.
The signals will be built from Model Signal Engineering etched parts, operated by Smart Switch motors and linked to the control panel.
Level crossing, MSE LSWR kit, controlled by simple motors remotely.
DCC operation for locomotives, the system being Gaugemaster Prodigy.
Standards (Stock) – Detailed and titivated RTR locomotives and rolling stock, complimented with kit built items such as a Comet Bullied brake composite coach and an assortment of freight vehicles.
Core fleet comprised of a brace of O2 Tanks, pair of Well Tanks and a N-Class Mogul. Swindon interlopers and infiltrators in the form of pannier tanks 1368 and 4666 will also supplement the core fleet. Mumbling at Wadebridge station also suggests a possible Class 22 North British Diesel locomotive heading southwards.
Passenger stock – P-Set using suitable Hornby Maunsell stock and a signal Bullied brake composite.
Screw and 3-link couplings will be fitted to the stock.
Size – 6ft by 1ft, with two 3ft by 1ft fiddle yards.
Basic track plan for St. Breward Junction.
O2 tank arrives at St. Breward Junction from Row.
Design Ideas – Cameo format, using a set of adapted Tim Horn laser cut boards with a curved front (sadly I don’t have the best woodworking skills or set up to build overall complicated boards!). Simple wooden trestles to support the layout, approximately 24 inches in height, designed to sit on a pair of tables. Drapes to conceal the leg support system.
This shows 9ft, but my plan is to remove the middle board and compress the scene, which should give it a more compact feel.
Internal lighting rig, fitted with daylight photography bulbs (possibly suitable LEDs) to portray a sunny late August, early September afternoon.
Cassette operation in the fiddle yard, to enable reasonable hands free operation.
Anyway, that's about all for now.
Kind regards,
Nick.