Today we had short presentations with photographs from three members on their own layouts and first up was me talking about my layout based on Margate Sands station and set in 1911. This was the first station in Margate and for seventy years the terminus of the short branch off of the SER line to Ramsgate Town. Both stations were closed following grouping and virtually all evidence of them has been swept away. There are very few photographs of Margate Sands but enough survive for me to have a go at it. My layout is thirty-four feet long (two feet of that is Margate sea front) and four feet deep at its widest. From the aerial photograph that I showed you can see that it was quite a busy station with goods shed and yard, a coal yard and extensive sidings on the other side of the LC&DR line to Ramsgate Harbour which crossed over the branch at the end of the platforms. It is an end-to-end layout with a station at one end and a fiddle yard at the other. With trains going to and coming from multiple destinations and with heavy freight traffic the layout provides me with plenty of operational interest.
David G then spoke about his layout based on Burnham-on-Sea on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. Situated in David’s garage he has just managed to squeeze in a 4’6” curve to allow the layout to come back along the opposite wall. This curve is cunningly hidden behind scenery. The downside is that access to anything behind the scenery is difficult. Page 4 of 5 David said that he “doesn’t do scenery” but from looking at the photographs of his layout there are clearly nicely modelled buildings. As we all know David’s principal interest is in the S&DJR but he now seems to be getting interested in the Great North of Scotland Railway and building wagons for that so we wait to hear the rationale for them appearing at Burnham. David Ho then talked to us about his layout. Set in a shed at the end of his garden. It is basically a roundy-roundy with a station and sidings etc on one side and a large fiddle yard on the other. David said that he likes to see trains going round and has even some track going outside the shed to give further running space. Unfortunately, the outside track work has been attacked apparently by badgers! Shades of Reginald Perrin I think “badgers in the signal box at Surbiton”. Although still in its early stages, David has most of the track work down and has built platforms and some buildings. David said that he prefers using laser cut kits for his building and enjoys fitting interiors and lighting even though they will remain mostly unseen. Chris
