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 exhibition layouts. The track plan is that of a "tail chaser" approx 25 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.

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.

Latest news:-

30th September 2009 Long shot from the north! 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.

15th October 2009 Same view as above but with the plaster coat and stream bed added and the pond given its first coat of paint, next week should see some rails laid.

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!

29th October 2009. 9pm. A shot of George M taken just to prove that Chris is not the only one working on the layout.................. 9 yards of half track have been laid tonight. The other rail will be laid using the gauges provided by Finney and Smith. The curves on the branch bay to main line look tight on this photo but they are 3ft 6ins rad. The cup of tea at the end of the goods yard was most welcome too! The signal box, a resin casting of a signal box from my 14.2 layout "Longridge Junction", will eventually, find its 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!

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

to be continued......................