The Next Station is ‘West Brompton’
(0 scale, 7mm:ft, 32mm gauge)
West Brompton is the next station south on the West London Extension Railway. With the club’s ambitious O gauge layout Kensington Addison Road largely complete, a new group project was required to attract new interest and help develop new skills.
A small layout capable of easy erection was proposed which could be available to club members for running every week. Whilst Kensington Addison Road is still attracting invitations to exhibitions and is erected for regular monthly operating sessions, it is too large too be erected more frequently.
The Prototype
Addison Road had demonstrated the advantages of modelling a real location. The next station, West Brompton, comprised of two separate stations, offering interesting and different challenges. One of these is the opportunity to model the underground station with its compact train shed, a grade II listed building, it is considered to be the best preserved example of an original station on the District Line.
The West London Line station, seen in the photo above, was never reopened after WW2 and gradually disappeared until the line was rejuvenated and a new station opened in 1999.
West London Line Trains
As befits a joint line, trains on the West London route have always shown great variety . Most of the BR period stock members have built or acquired will no doubt appear – it is a club layout!
District Line Trains
The District Line requires appropriate stock and constructing this is a new challenge for us.
We have started to build a Q stock train, largely because of their variety and longevity. Starting in 1938 Q stock trains were formed to include a mixture of rebuilt cars dating from 1923 to 1935. They were converted from hand-operated doors to air-operated doors but retained the American influence of their original design with flat sides and clerestory roofs.
Initialy mixed with later ‘art deco’ cars with flared sides, the Q stock had a long and complicated history, running on the District Line until the early 1970s. Trains were of mixed formation with shorter four-car units running off-peak.
One of the Q38 cars is on display at the LT Museum in Covent Garden. At Acton depot a team of volunteers are working to restore three of the surviving Q stock cars to running order and club members have been able to arrange access to check details for our models.
Planning the Next Station
Whilst the next station is completely separate from Addison Road, the two new baseboards have been designed to fit between the existing train turntables. Good progress is being made and the simple (pointless!) track layout is being wired to enable DC or DCC operation to be selected.
The period for the model has caused much discussion; construction is commencing with the District Line station c1960 (it has been relatively unchanged since it was built in 1869), but if research reveals sufficient information we may be able to turn the clock back towards the 1930’s and build the West London station alongside it instead of modelling weeds.
West Brompton
District Railway
&
West London Extension Railway
First Public Outing!!
We will be taking the layout to the 0 Gauge Guild Summer Show at Kempton Park on 31st May.
Whilst the layout will be a static exhibit, the main purpose of displaying it is to promote the Club and to welcome potential new O gauge members.
Come and help us build this new project!