NINE ELMS SHED
One of the most complex tasks in layout planning and design is to take a prototype and condense it onto a baseboard of manageable size, and to ensure that it retains some semblance of the prototype. Even if you’re able to arrange the track into the available space, you’ll probably sacrifice unique architectural or landscape features. The sprawling pair of running sheds at Nine Elms, which occupied a vast space, between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction stations, is an ideal subject for those modellers who have a keen interest in Southern Region steam. It was originally the London & South Western Railway’s main works (before it developed Eastleigh) and, in its post-war heyday, provided locomotives for some of Britain’s most famous trains, such as the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’, ‘Royal Wessex’, ‘Bournemouth Belle’ and ‘Devon Belle’. By 1967, it had become home to a motley collection of grubby steam locomotives, as fitters battled to keep the run-down fleet of Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ and Standard 4‑6‑0s and 2‑6‑0s going on express
I use the same formula for designing any prototype-inspired, minimum-space sectional track geometry plan: Assess potential baseboard size, giving width and length equal consideration. Identify and include prominent structures which make a clear indication of the location. Remember that most locomotive sheds are very alike in purpose, but seldom in appearance. Identify the modelling cut-off point to include those structures most appropriate for view blocking. Reduce the track plan to an absolute minimum, but not so much that it affects the scope of operation. Then add tracks back in if space permits.
The final result is ideally suited to a 6ft by 4ft baseboard, and while the number of running shed tracks are dramatically reduced, much of the prototype is encapsulated in the design.
and secondary passenger duties, as well as the Ivatt and Riddles-designed tank locomotives employed on the near-constant flow of empty coaching stock into and out of Waterloo. An initial assessment suggests there are design advantages arising from the fact that Nine Elms was on a stub, at right angles to the main line, with a triangular connection at one end only. Most of the site had a surrounding perimeter, ideal for view blocking, which comprised both domestic and industrial buildings, as well as a lengthy wall on one long side. There are a number of resin model buildings to replicate the area around Thessaly Road (in front of the wall but beyond the modelled area), Brooklands Street and the turntable end of the site, but the main sheds and coaling tower are a different matter as they were unlike any models currently available off-the-shelf.