Our world in miniature, hobbies

Hi Philip, nice addition That will allow for a visiting Class 33; perhaps substituting on an inter-regional freight? Back in the early 70's we used to visit Saltley depot (travelling out from B'ham New Street) on Saturday mornings to see how many 33's had "invaded".

Hi Philip - just read your post on Cheltenham Spa St James railway station. According to Wikipedia and Jowett's Railway Atlas it belonged to the Great Western not Southern Railway.

Hello Belushi, thank you for your post. M&SWJ Railway. You're correct, the station was absorbed into the Western Region, but was originally a Southern/Midland joint railway. The old GWR were so frightened of the rival competition that they bombarded parliament in 1923 to let them have it. The government agreed, but most of the services were still operated by the Southern Region right up to its closure 1961ish. The Southern's trump card was that they had sole access to the ports of Southampton as well as Portsmouth.

Hi 3Spires, thank you. We have a class 33, that makes appearances now & again. We will include a picture asap.

Hi Philip. Pre-1923 railway history is full of joint railways and companies having running powers over other companies' tracks. I believe the Midland Railway had running powers into LNWR Coventry, and had its own loco shed next to the junction with the line to Nuneaton.

Hi again Belushi, A sad side of commercialism is shutting down competition. A multinational business bought out Macintosh confectionery in the UK, simply to shut down the competition. Railway companies were similarly motivated sometimes. The GWR had many battles with rival companies, often behaving like a crocodile with a smile. The Southern Railway often fell victim to the GWRs smile. The Somerset & Dorset was a Southern Railway inroad into the Midlands, which the GWR acquired, but then shut it. The same with the Southern Railway's inroad into Devon & Cornwall, known as the Withered Arm, they acquired that, then shut it. I dare not mention railways in Wales, for fear of getting leeks thrown at me. Best wishes to you & again, thank you for your posts.

Hi Philip. I'm confused when you say that the Somerset and Dorset Railway was bought by the GWR which then shut it. The S&DJR was never owned by the GWR, and it survived until the Beeching Axe of the 1960s. Similarly with the Withered Arm in the West Country. I think you may be confusing the Western Region of British Railways with the GWR. And blame Beeching and not British Railways (Western Region)! Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. As I said, railway history can be confusing!

Hi Belushi, No I didn't say that the Somerset & Dorset was bought, but in boundary changes, became part of the Western Region, where it was then run down & shut. Similarly with the Withered Arm, that became part of the Western Region in the same boundary changes. The Southern both as company, then as BR region, had always been a thorn in the side of both the GWR & the Western Region. I believe the rivalry goes back possibly to the days of the transatlantic boat traffic, where passengers could disembark from ships at Plymouth, then be raced by train by the Southern into London, saving nearly a day of their passage time. I think that the Salisbury train disaster was one of the victims of the so called race to London. I agree, it is confusing, rivalry often is. Gosh, what a conversation emanating from my model of Southern Region electrics in Coventry. In all my years of Coventry trainspotting, I only ever saw Southern Region locos in Coventry, twice, both of those were football specials, although summer Saturdays often brought the odd Southern green livery coaching stock into view. Again, thank you for your posts. I'm learning all the time.

Hi Philip - a very interesting conversation. After the 1948 nationalisation of the railways the LMS, GWR and SR kept their regional identities (and rivalries) in England and Wales. Only infrequently did one region's locomotives travel on another's lines. The closest SR locos got to Coventry was normally either Oxford or Banbury, if I remember correctly from my trainspotting days in the early 1960s.

I always enjoyed Banbury. The huge marshalling yard, as well as being a junction. Occasionally, an Eastern Region loco would wander in off the direct line from Northampton. Watching the Banbury to Bescot daily freight train being assembled was fascinating for me. Lockdown or not, I'm enjoying my memory meandering just now. I got stuck at Banbury one Saturday late evening, whereupon my dad had to drive to fetch me. That was 1960. I had been to Fleet, but misread a timetable & missed my connection at Reading. Frightened as I was at the time, it all seems so innocent now.

Blue livery stock stored.

Hi all, I've never been without a model railway or a toy train set in my entire life. I had a clockwork Hornby long before my first electric train set, Hornby Dublo. My current Hall Brooks is so reliable, me having learnt from the mistakes of the past. My dad built my Hornby Dublo up which in its day was lovely. Coming forward now to our current railway, I'm thinking back over twenty years of its construction & existence. So many happy times, with family & friends, often a Friday & or Saturday evening with supper, where our home almost became a model club room. Tinged with sadness as my grandchildren are no longer little & so many of my associated railway friends are no longer alive. I'm getting old, like so many. So rambling on a bit. Lockdown or not, thank you Rob for creating our online club room, for us all to share whatever links us with Coventry.

Hi all, A bit more wet than I had hoped for, & with my vision up to it, I've added stanchion supports to the ornamental overbridge. Bearing in mind it's a part of a historically dismantled railway viaduct.

Hi all, With the easing of lockdown, Hounds Hill bridge & abbey ruins are now open to the paying public to visit. Very expensive, but all forum members receive free access.

Excellent as usual I hope the people on the bench are a family bubble? So for a visit, do we need to pre book timed tickets?