The first time I set eyes on the embryo Kingswear, was seeing it advertised in MRJ magazine, in around 2013 or thereabouts. It was in the home of the late Mike Casey, where it had formed part of a much larger model railway, including a depiction of ‘Bodmin’, which had already been dismantled and removed by that time. The Kingswear section depicted the well known South Devon terminus station in P4 scale.
At first sight, removal without causing undue damage was a daunting prospect, but the opportunity was too good to miss, and the decision duly made. It was a close run thing though as, by the time everything was agreed and arrangements made to physically remove it from its home in Witney, it was literally a day or so away from consignment to the tip!
Norman Solomon had laid the superb trackwork, and a start had been made on some basic scenic elements, together with a number of small railway huts, an excellent model of the former Vickers wartime torpedo servicing building, and a part built station. And, the two exquisite electric cranes for the harbour side, modelled by Gordon Gravett.
Inevitably, the layout having been designed as a permanent installation in what was Mike’s former indoor pool, the move involved major surgery in order to dismantle it in the most sympathetic way possible, and get it into manageable
sections for transfer, in several trips in a hired van over one weekend, to its new home.
There followed probably two or three years of irregular working sessions re-building and stabilising the structure, and adapting it to the constraints of the room available, largely using the original Dexion material. This proved, in the end, to provide a very strong and solid base, though it's probably not recommended for exhibition layouts!
Part of the adaptation process involved constructing a new section, to create a ‘horseshoe’ shape, linking the station area to the scenic line alongside the river bank. This new section conveniently incorporated Hoodown Sidings, albeit curved slightly more than in reality.
We thus ended up with an overall length of some 36 feet, or just over a scale half mile of fully scenic railway, leaving room for an eventual traverser fiddle yard, of which more later.
All stations and their approaches have a distinctive character, and this well known and photographed location is no exception, so thoughts began to turn to the wider depiction of the scene, and it quickly became apparent that, in order really to do this layout justice, some serious help was going to be required, specifically in the landscaping and
general scenic departments.
Paul Bambrick’s name had been familiar to me from articles I had read in the model railway press, and I happened to come across him at an ‘O’ Gauge event. A brief conversation ensued, with an enquiry as to whether he might be available to paint a backscene for Kingswear. I recall that his immediate response was to ask if it was to be a 3D backscene, to which I somewhat naively replied in the affirmative, not realising exactly what I was letting myself in for!
Thus began Paul’s epic project to depict the highly detailed townscape of Kingswear, and surrounding countryside, and he subsequently introduced me to Neil Podbery, a well known and respected artist and scenic modeller in his own right, who was quickly enlisted to join the team. The result of this happy collaboration is what you see today.
The first ‘For Sale’ ad for the Kingswear layout appeared in Model Railway Journal's Christmas 2012 issue, and the three black & white photos appear here along with the copy. We didn’t get round to visiting to view the layout in Witney until around July 2013, and eventually transported it to it's new home probably a month or so later.
The Ad originally read:
This impressive P4 layout is based on Kingswear with an additional branch line entry along the rear of the scene. An authentic portrayal of Kingswear itself may be possible by removal of the extra line and platform. Trackwork, Fulgurex point motors, wiring, scenery, buildings, water tower and turntable have all been beautifully executed by renowned track and layout expert Norman Solomon, making this an attractive proposition for anyone seeking an interesting project. |
Just a few of the many of the photos I took from a visit to the Swindon Archives, and it was this trip that enabled us to pin down some more detail such as structures and signalling positions.
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Collett's signature of approval for the 1929 Kingswear improvement work to be carried at at a total cost of £1850
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First pic of the sign, in position on the GWR end panel, with the sliding storage yard below.
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The traverser, is undoubtedly large – over ten feet long and four feet wide, incorporating nine tracks, and very heavy with its new Dexion frame. It had originally been part of hidden sidings on Mike Casey’s layout, but has been adapted and stabilised for our purposes, and extended a little to include a loco turntable. The sliding system consists of three solid steel transverse rods, of about 1 inch in diameter, located beneath the two ends and the centre of the board, with two roller bearing housings running on each, screwed to the underside. I believe it is a system used more commonly in the CNC machining industry.
In any event, it can be moved with the lightest of touches. Manual operation for the moment, but we are investigating the possibility of some kind of stepper motor control and indexing, with a view to the precise lining up of each of the tracks with the exit line. |