Nettlewell
Gauge: OO 16.5mm Size: 18' x 2' Era: BR Southern Region, early 1960's Control: DC analogue The origins of Nettlewell go back to August 1962 and my first visit to the Isle of Wight. On this trip I went from Ryde to Newport and back hauled by 25 “Godshill.” On later visits I travelled to both Cowes and Ventnor, and as a result of these and other trips I determined one day to build a model of the island’s railways. In 2019 I decided it was time to start building a layout, as several years earlier I had bought a Kernow Models” class 02 but it had always been in “store.” All the termini being already modelled and as I didn’t fancy modelling the cliffs at Ventnor or Ryde Pier Head I decided to build an imaginary station, using Cowes as the basis. From this plan Nettlewell slowly emerged. Originally, the layout was 12 feet by 2 feet, but I soon added two small extensions, one a street scene at the station end, the other being an extension of the fiddle yard. About a year later I constructed another board with a rural scene and a river crossing, making the layout 18 feet long. The main section uses “Peco” code 75 track, with code 100 in the fiddle yard... The point motors are a mixture of “SEEP” and “Peco” types. There are also four “Gaugemaster” electro-mechanical uncouplers. The station has two main platforms, a short bay road, and three sidings, one to a coal yard, and two more on the other side of the station. From one of these sidings a further siding runs along a quayside to a small harbour and a boatyard. The main station building is scratch built using embossed plastic card and “Plastruct” girders for the concourse roof. Most of the other buildings are plastic kits, however the back scene buildings are card using “Metcalfe” kits, “Scalescene” downloads or scratch building. The quayside water and the river are acrylic paint with several coats of gloss varnish, the colour being a mixture of green, brown, blue paint with a dash of red, black and purple. The result is a pretty disgusting colour, but it looks alright. All the locomotives are “Kernow Models” class 02 locomotives in lined B.R. black livery. The coaches are “Ratio” M.R. suburban coaches, slightly modified and with “Bachmann” Bulleid / Maunsell type S.R. bogies. As the island had very little freight traffic there is little variety in the stock. Most of the open / coal wagons are “Bachmann” 5 plank types, with two brake vans and a couple of “Smallbrook Models.” single bolster wagons.“ The regular passenger train services are usually formed of three coaches, with four coaches for “peak summer services.” There is a parcels / newspaper train together with several goods trains, one being a short coal train. Martin White |