Northern Belle-issima

I have recently managed to make up a model version of the Northern Belle luxury Pullman train formed of a Bachmann Class 57, a Bachmann Full Brake, three Hornby Northern Belle Pullman Cars and a Hornby Northern Belle Sleeping Car.

First up is, of course, the locomotive, which is a Bachmann Class 57/3, 57312 'Solway Princess', Catalogue Nº 32-764A. 

She has not yet been fitted with a sound decoder but this should happen in the next week or so.

Immediately behind the loco is this Bachmann BR Mk1 BG Full Brake. 

This is only available via the Bachmann Collector's Club website but it is a really handsome coach and it complements the loco very well.

The Running Nº is 92904 and the Catalogue Nº is 39-175K.

Next up is the first of two Hornby First Open Mk2D FO Dining Cars. 

This one is named 'Glamis.'.

She is followed by 'Warwick'.

These two coaches, I believe, were originally part of a 3-coach pack, which also included a Mk2E FO Dining Car, named 'Harlech'.

Then there is this Mk2D BFK, Service Car Nº 17167.

This, I believe, was part of the R3134 Northern Belle Train Pack and has since been named 'Mow Cop', after Mow Cop Castle in Cheshire.

Bringing up the rear we have this Mk3A SLE Staff Sleeping Car.

This is by Hornby and is Car Nº 10729 'Crewe', Catalogue Nº R4285. 

This particular coach was only available for a couple of years (2006 - 2007) and is extremely difficult to find nowadays.

High time, then, for either Hornby or Bachmann to produce a newer version, since the full size Northern Belle always has two of these cars at the rear.

The real train also has some Mk1 Kitchen Cars/Baggage Cars but these seem never to have been produced in model form.

The S&D at Bason Bridge & Edington

After visiting Burnham on Sea to discover what remnants there were of the S&D there, we retraced the course of the branch line; first to Highbridge, which became the terminus of the line following the closure of the Burnham extension. 

However, there was no sign of the former station here, which boasted five platform faces. The entire site was covered in a new housing estate with the only nod to its railway past being the naming of two roads: Somerset Way and Dorset Close.

The site of the former Highbridge Works is now a large industrial complex thus obliterating any signs of the railway at this location.

Moving on to Basin Bridge - and suspecting that, here too, nothing would remain - we were pleasantly surprised to see that the single platform still survives.

As you can see from the above photos, the platform is somewhat dilapidated and covered in vegetation and could not be accessed without getting pricked, sticked or stung.

Unsurprisingly, there was no sign of the former station buildings although the Station Master's House is still there with current work on extending it subject to a Stop Order, if the notices on the fencing were anything to go by.

On the other side of the road, behind the photographer in the photo above, we have the site of the former United Dairies milk factory.

Following closure of the branch in 1966, the factory continued to be served by rail, via a spur from the GWR main line at Highbridge. This, however, stopped in October 1972 when progress in the construction of the M5 motorway closed the spur.

The factory itself closed in 1987 but is still in use today for industrial purposes.

In the two photos above, the branch line was squeezed between the River Brue and the factory with sidings serving the former milk depot.

The next station on the line, heading towards Evercreech Junction, was Edington. This station had three different names over the years. 

It began life as Edington Road, a nod to the fact that the village of Edington, which it supposedly served, was about a mile away!

Its name changed in 1890 to Edington Junction, when the 7-mile branch line to Bridgwater was opened.

It changed its name for the third and final time to Edington Burtle in June 1953 following the closure of the Bridgwater branch, which closed to passengers in December 1952 and to goods in October 1954. Burtle being the name of the tiny village in which the station was actually located.

Curiously, a signpost in Edington, which originally pointed to Edington Station and to Burtle, still exists,, although the word Station has been painted over in white!

Clearly they must be proud of their railway heritage here because, in Burtle, there is still a sign, albeit a bit wonky, proclaiming Station Road.

Sadly, though,the new owners of the adjacent pub, which was previously known as 'The Tom Mogg Inn' in honour of the former station master, have refurbished it and renamed it 'The Duck'. 

Having sampled a pint here, I can affirm that it is a very nice pub, too, however I much prefer its previous name. "Let's go to the Duck for a pint" just does not have the same ring to it somehow.

As for the station itself, the site of which was but a few yards from the pub, again very little seems to remain except for the former Station House, which is in private ownership now and which has been extended and modernized.

The old line would have crossed from left to right here, in front of the fence, and over the road to the right, via a level crossing, towards Shapwick, following the course of the old Glastonbury Canal, now known as the South Drain.

The S&D at Burnham on Sea

Earlier this week we took a trip to Burnham on Sea to discover what remains of what was once the terminus of the Somerset & Dorset branch line from Evercreech Junction.

Well, the short answer to that is very little.

The trackbed of the route from Highbridge to the little terminus station is now a road although, in fairness to the town, they have made great efforts to commemorate their railway heritage, without which it probably would not have grown to become the place it is today.

The representative junction signal,, shown below, stands where the original signal stood that controlled access to the, much longer, excursion platform. 

The base of the original signal is shown in the second photo.

The next two photographs show the road that was built over the old railway trackbed. This leads down to the sea front, which can just be seen in the distance in the second photo.

In the photos below we have replica station nameboard and signal box, the latter being, roughly, in the same position as the original. There is also an Information Board, one of several that have been erected, charting the history of the railway.

This buffer stop is, more or less, where the original one stood, at the end of the head shunt, and was erected in 2015 following six years of negotiations.

Of course, the line originally continued beyond the station to a short pier, although it is believed that no passenger trains ever traversed this short section. The rails were used, however, to launch the life boat, which was housed at the end of a short private siding adjacent to the west end of the station.

The photo below shows the pier as it is today. The rails have long gone, indeed, as has the sea! This, sadly, is so often the case in Burnham (not very often) on Sea.

The Somerset & Dorset pub is still there, of course, and is still so named:

Actually, it was not the only pub to be given a railway-themed name as there is this one quite close by.

I will end, our trip to Burnham, with two more information boards located in the area, which show the layout of the station and give a potted history of the line, respectively, plus a Company Rule notice, which looks to be original and which is on the side of what was once the parcels office.

Hornby's Terrific Terrier

This is a Hornby Collector's Club exclusive model of BR 'Terrier' 0-6-0T, Nº 32635 'Brighton Works', Catalogue Nº: R3849.

I recently acquired this delightful version of the ever-popular Hornby 'Terrier' range of locos, simply because I loved it and liked the colour too!

She is tiny and will probably not see a great deal of use on the railway but she will be fitted with a non-sound decoder and will definitely see the occasional action.

Of course, these locos were famous for their use on the Havant to Hayling Island branch line that, sadly, closed on 2nd September 1963.

These locos were used because the Hayling Bridge, which carried the line across Langstone Harbour (see below), was not strong enough to accept anything heavier.

Hornby 66731 'Capt. Tom Moore'

The latest locomotive to join our fleet is this Hornby celebrity Class 66 - 66731 'Capt. Tom Moore', Catalogue Nº 30069.

When Hornby first launched this model at the end of April, as a way to thank, not only Captain Tom Moore (now a Sir and an honorary Colonel) and the NHS but also GB Railfreight, they initially planned to produce just 500 models.

Well, within a day, it was obvious that demand was such that the number became 1000 and, then, 1500.

By the next day it was clear that this would still not be enough so the number went up to 2000.

Hornby eventually confirmed that the total number of models would be 3500 and even these quickly sold out.

My model arrived earlier this week and, sad to say, many have already appeared on eBay at around twice the original price of £80. Many people, wholly predictably, buying these models in order to make a fast and vast profit - shame on you all!

Such a fate will not befall my loco, however, and she has already been fitted with a Hornby TTS sound decoder and I have just uploaded a video onto YouTube of her in action.

Clearly, at the price Hornby were charging, compromises have had to be made and she has nowhere near the amount of detailing found on other Class 66 models, notably by Bachmann and Hattons.

She has no working lights and lacks a decent amount of weight so that her pulling power suffers as a consequence.

Fitting the TTS decoder was simplicity itself as the body just clips to the chassis and is very easy to remove.

There is also lots of space inside the body for a decent sized speaker and, maybe, the addition of extra weights to improve haulage capacity, if desired.

She is certainly the most modern loco that we have on the railway, which actually began life in the BR Blue era but which has slowly morphed to entertain a much more eclectic mix of motive power.

Our 66 will predominantly be handling freight, such as the ballast hoppers shown here, but not exclusively so. Indeed, she was working a passenger train at the weekend and seemed to handle that with great aplomb!

Finally, Hornby were able to donate a whopping £140,000 to the NHS through sales of this model.

So, a very big thank you to Captain Tom Moore, the NHS, GB Railfreight and, of course, Hornby!

Anchwood Improvements

Just to show that there has been work done on the railway, here are some photos of the improvements that have been made to Anchwood, the little terminus at the end of the branch line from Gunnmere Junction.

A back scene has been added here, which is an immediate improvement to the blue wall that was the previous background.

Some trees, hedging and bushes have also been added to make it appear a bit more rural.

In these photos, a Class 108 DMU waits to depart from the station's only platform. This being the usual motive power for the branch line.

Indeed so rural, now, is this station that the gents toilet is one without a roof. 

That is fine on a day like today, when the sun is shining but, when it rains!

The ladies toilet, meanwhile, is attached to the Ticket Office / Waiting Room.

Now, why is that man holding the door open?

Ah, I see - there, emerging from within, is a BR Class 4MT, about to haul a special, no doubt.

Meanwhile, at Gunnmere Junction, we see a Class 37 departing with a rake of GUVs.