Amble Junction 3mm/ft  13.5 mm gauge.

The Location and period.

 Amble junction was constructed by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway in 1847 and incorporated into the N.E.R. in 1854. It was primarily built to export coals from the northern end of the Northumberland coalfield out of the small harbour at Amble. It did have a passenger service which ceased operation in 1930 and the branch  was closed to all traffic in 1964. Branch line trains joined the east coast main line one mile north of Chevington Station, about 10 miles north of Morpeth.

The station at Chevington was rather a plain affair compared with the more elaborate structures of the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. There was also a signal box and a level crossing and a bay platform line for the Amble branch trains. Amble Junction was contolled by an N.E.R pattern signal box that straddled the main line. The period being modelled is the late 1950's.

The layout

A lot of design effort has gone into the planning of the layout and it incorporates a lot of experience gained from constructing and operating several exhibition layouts. The track plan is that of a "tail chaser" approx 30 ft long and 8 ft wide. Scenic curves are at 4 ft radius and return curves to the fiddle yards are 2ft 6". The scale is 3mm to the foot and the gauge is 13.5mm which is the equivelent of EM in 4mm. 38 turnouts are required and all have to be hand built using code 60 bull head rail as there is no ready made track available in 13.5 gauge. As well as the turnouts there are two diamond crossings and over 70 yards of plain track. An accurate track plan has been done on CAD and the track work is being built to this.

The layout, looking at it going north, begins with Chevington Station bay platform which is the starting point for the Amble branch trains. From the bay the trains head north up the down independant line then cross the down and up main lines as well as the up independant to get onto the single line Amble branch.

Stock

A layout the size and comlexity of this one needs a lot of stock and locomotives and all of it either has to be scratch built or built from kits, there is no ready to run stock available in 3mm scale. A programme of loco and stock building has been on going for several years.

This is the current batch of locomotives under construction, a D49 "Cumberland", a Peppercorn A1 "Silurian", an A3 "The Tetrarch" and an A7. The first and last kits are from Worsley Works and the centre two are Proscale Kits.

Just a small selection of hoppers, wooden and steel, brake vans and other rolling stock being built and painted by Chris Shaw. All are available kits from the 3mm Society.

Construction updates:-

Work on the layout began in September 2009 and here is a long shot from the north after about two weeks into the project.  Main line in the foreground with the junction diverging away to the left. To the right of the photo are two burns or streams running into  a pond. Scenery is being constructed from foam board built in layers then finally shaped with plaster.

22nd October 2009. Happy at your work? I think Chris is! The first double crossover and turnout into the goods yard laid. The signal box not in it's correct position!

5th November 2009. Secnd rail laid and the Q7 and a rake of hoppers makes the first run on the layout. The first run is always a memorable event on a new layout. The pond hasn't existed 3 weeks and already there is rubbish in it! An old oildrum, old pair of step ladders, rusty bucket, an old pallet and an empty barrel, the old pram and car tyre will be there next week!

All track testing is being done using the Q7.

5th November 2009. Vince, the other member of the gang is working on the pond.

Winter 2009/10 and all the bad weather took its toll on modelling time never the less progress is being made.

4th March. The first reeds have appeared in the pond which has had at least 12 coats of varnish.

Summer of 2010 and work continued on laying the track, construction of the centre base board and wiring up the layout as track work progressed. By the time of the layout's first birthday three boards out of 5 boards so far constructed now have track laid. Considering that the layout is only worked on for 3 hours per week and all the track work is hand built this has been good progress.

28th October 2010. This is the north end of Chevington Station looking south, with the main lines to the left of the platform and the Amble branch bay platform to the right. Track laying is compete, wired up and painted ready for ballasting.

A view looking north from just above the signal box, the junction is just out of shot at the top of the picture.

After 3 months of inactivity work has comenced again. The sleepers have been laid at the junction and rails are being attached

To be continued.....................