Chasebury

Enfield Town Model Railway Club

Club Activities

"Chasebury" - Our Club '0' Gauge Layout

This is the '0' gauge layout belonging to the Enfield Town MRC. It was donated to the club, having started life as a round and round American layout. The members' first reaction was that it was not right for our needs; a further look suggested modifying it to become a line serving an industrial estate in England. In the club context the layout has been useful in providing members who have done little modelling before (and rather apprehensive about starting) with something to work on. Progress has been slow but steady. A little done on a regular basis has proved more useful to us than longer periods of hectic activity. Any club layout suffers from the fact that meetings are for a couple of hours a week, and there's all the chat and coffee-drinking to fit in as well. The photo below shows the boards on their sides whilst the wiring was carried out.

Stock in use is a variety of members' stock. We assume that some of it belongs to the industrial company, but there are either running rights from a mainline company or it is on lease. The buildings have deliberately been 'designed' to be a varied mixture, as if the estate grew bit by bit. In that respect it has 'grown like Topsy' as a real estate would have done. None of this "all designed and built at one time" nonsense. Buildings have been modified for new uses; a smallish piece of land can be built on as required leading to some rather cramped areas. Some parts took ages to work out what they were used for until someone came up with the obvious answer that no-one else had thought of. The layout was officially opened on May 1st 2003 by one of our members, Jim Cooper and has continued to develop and be enjoyed since then.

Above left--- The "Workers' train" arrives. Above right--- It's anybody's guess what's made in this factory. The platform is for the workers; there's a special service from the local BR station.

Above left--- Short & Winterton's builders' yard. It got its name from a local builders' merchant called Long & Somerville. Roger Elkin produces the Club's magazine behind those closed doors. Above right--- Lorry at Saxton's brewery. Good real ale - other breweries buy their products and market them under their own label.

Above left--- The car park by the cafe. 'P' class waits for its next shunting duty. The picture shows some of the varied building styles on the estate. Martin Marriott had a big input into the layout. His son is Simon, hence "S & M". Above right--- A view of Jim's cafe. We haven't decided on a date for the layout, but according to the menu fish & chips were half a crown. Dates us for remembering! The factory behind is Broom's locomotive works. Richard Broom made most of the buildings. Why a locomotive works? Well, a broom's a small Brush, isn't it.

Above left--- A better view of the builders's yard. The tight curve means we have to be careful which wagons are used in the siding. Note the preserved loco. Long & Somerville have a large engine in their yard at Southbury (near us), as does Enfield Timber Company. That means we're going to have a preserved loco to keep up with local businesses. This picture also shows the whole of the layout. Photo above right--- Another view of Saxton's brewery.