Olney Model Railway Club_Olney Station Project

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Olney Model Railway Club - Olney Station Project

Background

The idea to build the Olney railway station and yard had been voiced for some years, but was raised again at the club AGM in January 2011. A special general meeting of the club to discuss the possibility of a project was convened in March 2011.

Items discussed were :
Digital Command Control (DCC).
The scale decided on was OO gauge.
We would need to keep something moving to stimulate exhibition interest, implying a loop round layout.
In the Olney context we would need three operators on at a time, needing up to six people travelling to exhibitions.
It was agreed to carry on with the American N gauge project, to run at the same time as the Olney station project.
A detailed study of the cost of new modelling equipment, materials, tools, boards, points, track, rolling stock and scenery, was required.
The meeting agreed, after some discussion, to adopt the Olney project in OO gauge. Some people thought the project too big to undertake. That meeting also agreed that small workshops could be held in the basic techniques of baseboards, electrics and scenery.

Throughout the summer research was carried out on the Northampton to Bedford line and stations, before and after closure to passengers in 1962. Photographs and maps were borrowed and copied. There was an invitation to visit Piddington railway station (now a private residence), which many members attended and enjoyed. We saw some of the owner's photograph collection and had a look at the buildings on and around the old platform. We were also able to walk along the old track bed and to take photographs, all of which gave us a feel of what the Olney station would have been like.

History

Editor's Note :-
Below is a potted history of the Station at Olney. Barry has researched the subject extensively and has written an excellent article bringing together all the available information. I recommend that everyone read it.
Follow the link Olney Station History

Olney station was opened by the Bedford & Northampton Railway on 10 June 1872 as part of its Bedford to Northampton Line. This company was absorbed by the Midland Railway on 16 June 1885. An imposing station building was constructed at Olney, together with an engine shed equipped with a water tank supplied with water from the nearby River Great Ouse.

By an agreement concluded on 18 April 1889 with the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR), the Midland Railway (MR) granted the SMJR running rights over its line from Ravenstone Wood Junction to Olney, including the right to use Olney station and its facilities. A joint committee was subsequently set up to allow the MR and SMJR to run their respective lines as one single line, creating a 55.5 miles (89.3 km) route connecting St Pancras to Bristol. The first joint service, a goods train, ran on 13 April 1891. Olney became important as the terminus of SMJR freight operations from Broom and the west. Extra sidings were laid to accommodate the traffic generated, as the SMJR only had running powers over the MR as far as Olney. SMJR locomotives had to be turned at Olney by a turntable.

Following the grouping of 1923, the SMJR and MR became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway which, in 1927, re-introduced passenger services between Olney and Towcester in the form of excursion trains on Towcester race days.

Post nationalisation, the various routes from Olney began to close, beginning with Banbury to Towcester on 30 June 1951 and Blisworth to Stratford on 7 April 1952. The line between Towcester and Ravenstone Wood junction, still heavily used by steel and ironstone traffic from South Wales and north-east England, closed in June 1958, because of the construction of the M1 motorway. Olney station lasted six more years, passenger services being withdrawn in 1962 and the goods yard closing two years later.

Map showing routes West of Olney pre the grouping of 1923. Click for a larger view.

For a much more detailed History of the Olney line,
follow the link Olney Station History

The Start

Ken has volunteered to lead the project and based on a drawing to outline proposals, has set out a number of points for consideration by club members', as follows:-

1. Following the success - and lessons learnt - from the construction of the "Bridge End" layout, the new layout should be in OO gauge fine scale format and aimed to be of exhibition standard.

2. Space
The drawing suggests a continuous double track circuit layout, each track [up and down]capable of being operated independently [two separate layouts] with fiddleyards. The resulting overall dimensions are 20 ft x 9 ft. This has clear implications on the space available within the club room, but the layout could be built in stages of a minimum two boards at a time. Eg boards 1&2, 2&3, 3&4 and so on, ensuring that connections [track and electrics] are functioning between boards.

3. Construction
Substance with simplicity is the key. Baseboards as already undertaken in previous layouts, but with an underframing such as B&Q trestles should be considered.

4. Programme
The time required to construct such a layout should not be underestimated. With the relatively modest manpower on hand and the limited level of hours per week, we are looking at two years or more. A target date [eg an exhibition] should be considered and a programme of works prepared - although this will doubtless be adjusted as time goes by.

5. Cost
Hopefully the Club funds will meet this, the most expensive elements being baseboards, trackwork and electrics. This can be spread over the construction period - related to the programme and progress.

6. Resources
This will require a commitment on the part of club members', but continuing reporting of progress in the local Press may prove fruitful.

7. Operation
On the basis of two separate layouts, two operators would be required to work in the fiddle yard plus others active on "front of stage". The opportunity to take control at the front eg shunting movements, should also be considered.

This is a significant challenge to the Club and success could bring enhancement of reputation in the modelling world. At the same time, such success would bring a commitment if invitations to exhibit elsewhere materialise.

In practical terms, the question of dismantling / re-erection and transporting to "where ever" needs consideration.

Latest Progress

The WIN RAIL computer design programme was used to start the detailed layout of the track and tables. With the help of maps, photographs and local knowledge, the piecing together of the the station and goods yard is underway.

Here are some of the photographs used to design the layout.

Click on the photographs for a larger view.

Looking towards Bedford from the Eastern end of the platform

Looking towards Northampton

Turntable and water tank

MODEL WORLD

3 London Road

Newport Pagnell

Bucks

MK16 0HA

Tel: 01908 612983

Only 1 mile from jnct 14 of the M1

Stockist of Hornby, Bachmann, Peco etc.

mickoxley@aol.com.

Northampton and District

Model Railway Club

Exhibition

Saturday 21 July 2012

Weston Favell School

Booth Lane South

Northampton

NN3 3EZ

British, Continental and American layouts in all gauges and types.

click here for more details.