hamworthy old poole - mrol model railways on-line hamworthy old poole david lord describes his 00...
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MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE
HAMWORTHY OLD POOLE
Described by David Lord
Photographed by Paul Plowman
2 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE
Hamworthy Old Poole
David Lord describes his 00 gauge Southern Railway branch line layout
Photographs by Paul Plowman
Hamworthy Old Poole is a 4mm OO
gauge model using code 70 rail and hand-
built track throughout. Modelled on the
likely (or unlikely) layout of the original
Hamworthy terminus of the Somerset &
Dorset Joint Railway. Hamworthy
represents what the S&DJR Southern
terminus might have been if it had not been
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replacement before/or as they self destruct.
The age of the layout has never been a
problem with operating because the original
track layout conceived by Phil and
subsequently modified and extended by me,
has always provided a myriad of operational
possibilities. I have always been able to
immerse myself into operating Hamworthy
because of the challenges that present
themselves whenever adlib operating is
carried out as against timetabled operations.
Operation has to resemble basic full size
practice because of the need to turn
locomotives, run around and deal with either
an empty station (easy) or a full station (can
be really difficult) when things get busy. An
example is, who forgot to move the pilot
locomotive from platform 1 buffer stops
before the express arrived.
Top: SR 02 Class 0-4-4T No.182 passes the loco servicing depot with a 2-coach push-pull set for Hamworthy Old Poole. Left: Schools Class 4-4-0 No.928 ‘Stowe’ passes the goods shed with a
train for Waterloo.
transferred to Bournemouth in 1896.
Originally constructed by Phil Knife in 1977
as Abbotsbury Southern Mk 111, and acquired
by me around 1985 the layout is now becoming
rather old, however, the techniques used by Phil
and I over the years have stood the test of time
with the exception of some plastic items such as
fencing and signals that will require
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FEBRUARY 2005 3
The model is an out and back Branch
Line to fiddle yard measuring 11 feet by 6
feet.
Starting from the Hamworthy terminus
station to the 4-road fiddle yard, the railway
runs through varied countryside including a
viaduct and small branch station and goods
sidings called Lychet Minster. The fiddle
yard originally constructed by Ken Gray is
provided with a hand crank using Meccano
gears to move the tray back and forth and
accurately line up the tracks. The removable
tray holds a total of four full-length trains or
three full and two smaller trains such as a
local passenger and a slow pickup goods
using one of the fiddle yard roads.
Trackwork The original track laid by Phil Knife
consists of code 70 flat-bottom rail hand
spiked to balsa wood sleepers. This
seemingly quite unsafe fixing of the rails to
the sleepers has stood the test of time and
track remains in gauge and has not required
maintenance over the years. Extensions and
point work built by me use PC board
sleepers and code 70 rails.
All points are hand made with the
exception of the (I think it is a Formaway)
code 100 double slip that has provided
excellent service and despite being of a
larger rail size than the main rails, does not
look like code 100, due to a little bit of
weathering and painting of the rails.
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A lesson here I think.
Period The period is roughly pre WW2, but as I
have a lot of different stock, there is ample
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scope for having a preserved line aspect
where anything from a Duchess to a model
of the LNWR “Cornwall” coupled to
Webb’s Directors Saloon will make an
appearance. In addition, my son Chris has a
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SR Schools Class ‘Stowe’ departs from Hamworthy Old Poole with a train for London.
Former SE&CR D Class 4-4-0 No.1577 drifts across the viaduct.
4 MODEL RAILWAYS ON-LINE
Above: D Class 4-4-0 No.1577 shunts utility vans past the goods shed.
Above: A parcels train arrives at Hamworthy Old Poole.
FEBRUARY 2005 5
Above: Former SE&CR D Class 4-4-0 No.1577 approaches the buffer stops with a train of utility vans. The push-pull train formed of LSWR ‘Gate’ stock waits in the bay platform.
number of Southern EMU’s that despite the
lack of a third rail manage an appearance
when no one is looking. I might add that
turning a Duchess on the turntable is not
really on, although the Lord Nelson’s can
just about be turned with very careful
positioning of the loco and tender wheels on
the turntable extremities.
Rolling stock Train stock is a veritable mixture of
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form of a Metro Tank and Clestory Auto
train that visits from time to time.
Operation Operated by up to three people at a time
working as 1, Driver Hamworthy, 2, Shunter
Hamworthy, 3, Driver/Shunter Lychet
Minster/Fiddle yard, the model is totally
portable and breaks down into two boxes
measuring 3x3x2feet high for the
viaduct/loco depot section and 4x2x3.5 feet
high for the rest, plus stock boxes and
trestles, which seem to take up more room
than anything else.
Exhibited many times during the 80’s and
90’s, using audio cassette tapes to provide
background commentary and locomotive
sounds to the running trains, (developed in
conjunction with Peter Betts and also used
on his model of Lulworth Cove) the like of
which have not been seen since these two
layouts stopped exhibiting, means the model
these days, resides at home for personal
enjoyment. I have a number of times
considered selling the model, but the
enjoyment factor has ensured that I have had
second thoughts over and over again. ■
scratch built vans and flats (many from Phil
Knife) to the very well detailed models from
current manufacturers. Coaches are PC models,
while the attractive gated auto train is scratch
built from balsa wood by Phil Knife.
Locomotives are again a variety, mostly of
white metal (Wills) and even plastikard. The
RTR models of today are also making an
appearance, and they run better than most as
well. Did the Q1 ever reach the S&DJR? There
is even the odd interloper from the GWR in the
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Layout Diagram Each square represents 1 foot