Layout: Lynton and Lynbridge The story of a layout which has stood the test of time – and the elements.
As the custodian of Henry Holdsworth’s ‘Lynbridge’, Chris Walker has cherished and expanded the layout with sympathy and passion.
This is a story that goes rather further back into history than most of the articles that appear in Model Rail. As a child, I had the interest in railways that most children of my generation had, but no particular knowledge. I was aware of narrow gauge railways but knew absolutely nothing about them.
That was until I met John Prideaux at school. He was a volunteer on the recently reopened Ffestiniog Railway and had a particular interest in the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. He’d go on to write several books about the L&B, not to mention becoming chairman of BR Intercity!
As a result of his friendship, I started volunteering on the FR and also joined a small London group that called itself the Merioneth Railway Company. The members concentrated on building 16mm scale electrically powered models of narrow gauge trains. I built a model of Corris Railway 0-4-2ST No. 4 and, in 1967, began one of the FR’S 0-4-0STT Little Giant. Shortly after that my interests shot off at a tangent and
I began to concentrate on 7mm:1ft scale standard gauge modelling, mainly of the Midland & South Western Junction Railway. As a result, it was 2009 before Little Giant was completed, which must be something of a record in slow production.
One morning in 1983, I stopped to buy a paper. While waiting in the queue at the newsagent, I glanced at the magazines on the shelves and noticed the June Railway Modeller had a distinctly L&B look to it. The ‘Railway of the Month’ was about Henry
Holdsworth’s ‘Lynbridge’ which was the first fully scenic 16mm layout I had ever seen. That issue is still a prized possession!
A MODEL FRIEND
Over the years, I got to know Henry very well. He was a good friend, unstinting in his help and advice as well as generous in material ways. His first narrow gauge layout had been in ‘O-16.5’ (7mm scale trains on 16.5mm gauge track) and an article had appeared on it in the Railway Modeller in 1958. However, a few years later Henry and a group of friends bought an Aveling & Porter steam roller and model making took
a back seat for a while. He enjoyed working with live steam but not the responsibilities of full-size steam and decided to build a 5in gauge locomotive called Mena, which now sits in my garage.
Henry didn’t start ‘Lynbridge’ until the mid-1970s. It was not meant to be a completely accurate scale model of Lynton station because it was intended to be used to display a wide variety of models of 2ft gauge locomotives and rolling stock that Henry intended to build. These eventually included a South African Railways Beyer-garratt and a number of British, French and German military locomotives from the First World War. It did, however, have a strong L&B
flavour, particularly as the station is clearly Lynton. In order to get started, Henry had bought two ready-built L&B locomotives – Manning Wardle 2-6-2T Exe and Baldwin 2-4-2T Lyn. He went on to build Manning Wardle Lew before starting on plans for another 20 locomotives.
Henry lived in a beautiful but isolated spot on the moors between Ilkley and Harrogate. By the turn of the century he was talking of moving to somewhere more accessible. ‘Lynbridge’ was never designed to be moved and at that time he was working on a portable layout based on the First World War military railways which he would be able to take with him. Would I be able to make use of ‘Lynbridge’, he asked? Oh yes!
Unfortunately, Henry had a fall, was admitted to hospital and died following surgery. The family
asked Ron Redman, then chairman of the Narrow Gauge Railway Society, to dispose of the railway collection on their behalf.
Ron was aware of our agreement but the family wanted to keep the locomotives that Henry had built. This is, of course, perfectly understandable but it is a little disappointing that the whole collection could not be kept together. Nonetheless I was more than happy that the two L&B locomotives that Henry had bought, the buildings and most of the rolling stock would come to me.
THE BREAK-UP
Plans were made to dismantle, or perhaps to put it more accurately, ‘wreck’, the layout on a single Saturday in June 2007. The day spent dismantling 30 years of Henry’s work was deeply depressing but
eventually the van was loaded, the slow return trip completed and everything piled up in the conservatory at home… but even worse was to come.
Three days later, we returned home in heavy rain to find a foot of water flowing through the house and all Henry’s models floating round the conservatory. It was almost year before the house was habitable again but the models were virtually undamaged – testament to the quality of the materials, mainly plywood and Henry’s workmanship.
The plan had always been to build a new layout in my garage which, by one of life’s strange coincidences, is 32ft 6in long, exactly the same length as Henry’s railway room. However, it took almost another year to complete, with plastered walls, a ceiling and central heating.
The intention was to reinforce the L&B aspects of ‘Lynbridge’ so that it could justifiably be called ‘Lynton and Lynbridge’. New baseboards were built conventionally using 2in by 1in redwood topped with plywood and wood fibre insulation board. These boards sit on continuous ‘L’ girders made from 6in by 1in and 2in by 1in timber which ensures a flat foundation.
The biggest difference from Henry’s layout is that, although it is not intended to be portable, it is designed to be moved. The maximum size of the baseboards is 8ft by 4ft and all the wiring between boards is connected with plugs and sockets. Hopefully, when I am no longer around, someone will find a new home for it.
CHANGING TRACK
The original intention was that all the track would be handmade, but at that time it was not possible to find rail of exactly the size required. However, the rail in
“The maximum size of the baseboards is 8ft by 4ft and all the wiring between boards is connected with plugs and sockets”
“The scenic work is conventional using a combination of wooden formers, chicken wire, expanding polystyrene foam and Polyfilla”
Peco’s ‘SM32’ range is pretty close and, for the first time in my life, I decided to use flexible track, albeit with hand-made pointwork.
The scenic work is also entirely conventional, using a combination of wooden formers, chicken wire, expanding polystyrene foam and Polyfilla.
Henry’s two L&B locomotives, Exe and Lyn, were not in good condition and needed considerable work. I’d always wanted a 16mm L&B Manning Wardle 2-6-2T but had never got round to it. I’d made a start on one about the turn of the century and, almost by coincidence, I had an almost complete locomotive to run on the new baseboards. This became Yeo.
Work then started to rebuild Exe and, by the time it was finished, probably less than 25% of the original model was left. I’ve since started on the overhaul of Lyn and when it is completed, three L&B locomotives will probably be sufficient to operate the layout.
So what about the future? There is still some scenic work to be done around the viaduct leading in to the station and it should then be just about as complete as any model railway ever is. I do, however have most of the First World War locomotives, rolling stock and buildings that Henry built for his portable layout. It would be rather pleasing to see them running again in appropriate surroundings. Then there’s Mena to get running again round the 5in track in the garden…