Winterbourne Road - a small rural station

As mentioned on an earlier Blog post, originally Ryedown Lane was intended to be a self-contained micro layout with scenic section and fiddle yard all contained in its four-foot length. I soon realised that this would be pushing it if I wanted to operate two coach trains of bogie stock and goods trains of more than just two or three wagons. Therefore, early on in the layout’s development, a two-foot long fiddle yard was added. This improved operating potential greatly and still meant the layout could be set up quite quickly at home or at an exhibition and would fit on a six-foot table if required. That’s how Ryedown Lane appeared for its first few exhibition appearances.

I’d always had it in the back of my mind that another board could be added eventually. The baseboard for Ryedown Lane was one of a pair of 4ft x 1ft boards that I’d originally made back in the late 1980s with the intention of using them for either a small diesel depot or branch line terminus. That project never developed and the baseboards remained in storage for over twenty years. The second baseboard was pressed into service as a lid for Ryedown Lane, offering some protection when transporting the layout in the car or in storage at home. After lugging it to several exhibitions and then having to store it somewhere out of the way for the duration, it occurred to me that I might as well just get on and use it for the extension. Thus Winterbourne Road was came into existence.

A small wayside station with a loop and a single siding had always been in my mind for the next section. The atmosphere I was after was something like Castle Caerinion on the Welshpool & Llanfair, although I wanted it to combine the essence of that location with a Colonel Stephens theme. I leave it to others to decide if the combination works or if, indeed, I’ve captured the atmosphere I was after but I will say that two people, who’s opinion I hold in high regard, have commented at various times about the similarity between Wintebourne Road and Castle Caerinion which I take as a great compliment.

Simplicity was the order of the day with this part of the layout. Only one structure was required. I already had a suitable building to hand. The is based on the three identical structures that once existed on the Selsey Tramway at Hunston, Chalder and Siddlesham. It was the first building that I scratch built and had been in the drawer for several years waiting for the right opportunity to be used. Other than that, the only scenic features on this board are the chalk cuttings, fencing, trees and another of my favourite minor railway features; an ungated level crossing.

Winterbourne Road came into use in 2014 and the layout has been exhibited in this extended format ever since. The two-foot fiddle yard proved a bit restrictive so this was extended by twelve inches in 2016. My original plan for a compact micro had somehow morphed into an 11 foot-long layout.