26th October 2020

Ryedown Lane.

A bit of background and a look round the terminus.

 

Development of Ryedown Lane started around 2010. The original plan was to build a small self- contained layout in a space of 4ft by 1ft. I wanted to create something that invoked the atmosphere of a light railway, particularly those associated with Colonel Holman F Stephens, in 009 (4mm scale, 9mm gauge). As it turned out, the layout has gradually morphed into something larger and is currently 11ft long, incorporating the original Ryedown Lane terminus, a through station at Winterbourne Road and a 3ft fiddle yard.

The layout in its current form. Seen in the rather lavish setting of Stowerail back in 2017.

There were a number of prototype influences but in particular two lines from the Stephens empire provided inspiration, the 3ft gauge Rye & Camber Tramway and the standard gauge Hundred of Manhood & Selsey Tramways which I hope may be seen in the finished layout. There is also some influence from the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway which, while not a Stephens railway, has so many of the features that I associate with this type of line built in the early years of the 20^th century, including simple corrugated buildings and multiple ungated level crossings. The W&LLR influence is particularly noticeable at Winterbourne Road, which will be covered in a future blog).

The setting for the layout is somewhere in ‘Wessex’ in the early to mid-1930s, a time when most independent light railways, standard and narrow gauge, were in terminal decline as they fell victim to increasing competition from road vehicles. In true ‘light railway’ fashion, we imagine that the station at Ryedown lane is located some distance away from the rural community that it claims to serve. The line was originally intended to go much further but a lack of finances resulted in construction being halted and the creation of a terminus in a cramped location next to the road leading to the village.

The main features at Ryedown Lane are the station building (based on the one at Selsey on the above mentioned Selsey Tramway in its later years), a small engine shed and associated workshop (originally based on the small loco shed at Rye on the Rye & Camber but now somewhat enlarged). The small ground frame hut is inspired by a photo of the one that once existed at Tenterden Town on the Kent & East Sussex railway, and thus maintains the Stephens link. The water tower is based on those on the Welsh Highland Railway at Porthmadog New and Beddgelert.

We’ll take a look at the other parts of the layout, and the locomotives and rolling stock, in a future blog.