LAYOUT: Cheriton Bishop
A member’s departure forced East Bedfordshire Model Railway Society to make big changes to their club layout. The result is this beautiful Devonshire branch line terminus. Club chairman ALAN COOPER explains how the team managed to remodel the entire layou
A departure forced East Bedfordshire MRS to make big changes to their club layout. This is the result.
The 30-year-old ‘Cheriton Bishop’ started life as a South Wales branch line terminus called ‘Ambleddwyn’. But when club member Peter Relf moved away, his collection of GWR stock went with him. The club was faced with a difficult decision: amass a new collection of motive power and rolling stock, or amend the layout to suit members’ existing BR(WR) collections. They chose the latter… Shoehorning a new layout into an existing framework isn’t an easy task, but the club members used the layout’s South Wales roots to their advantage. The notably undulating topography is a remnant of the original layout, but entirely suited to the new fictional Devonshire terminus setting. Club chairman Alan Cooper explains the process: “The members we had at the time pored over maps of the Exeter area in search of a location that matched the existing topography. “You’ve got to have an awareness of the area you’re dealing with. Rolling green fields and chocolate box cottages might be a cliché, but they are authentic - much of Devonshire really is like that!”
MADE TO FIT
With the location and topography decided, the club turned their attention to remodelling the layout, so there would be no doubt as to the region and locale that it represented. “If you’ve got the correct
ROLLING FIELDS AND CHOCOLATE BOX COTTAGES MIGHT BE A CLICHÉ, BUT THEY ARE AUTHENTIC - MUCH OF DEVONSHIRE REALLY IS LIKE THAT!