Enfield Town Model Railway ClubRetired or Dismantled Layouts Section Studley
Wood - '0' Gauge by Martin Marriott
Studley Wood is a freelance '0' gauge layout based on the Metropolitan Railway's Brill branch just before closure in the early 1930's. When the line was built in 1883 it was proposed that it be later extended to Oxford; in fact it was originally called the "Oxford and Aylesbury Tramway". However the line was never very profitable and the enormous cost of tunnelling through the Chiltern hills put a stop to the proposed extension. Studley Wood was to be one of the stations on the proposed extension and this layout is a representation of that station, albeit in terminus form. So far, the baseboards have been built, the track laid and scenery commenced. The track is mainly Peco streamline although the three way point is constructed from rail and copper clad sleepers. The same box of transformers is used as for "Burnside", but the track plan of Studley Wood allows for only four feeds, the remaining isolation required being accomplished by changing point blades. Control is by a panel mounted Orbit controller, but I have in mind the extra provision of a hand held controller. I have experimented with wooden push rods coupled to DPDT slide switches for point control. This has proved successful as far as it goes, the only problem being that one has to reach under the baseboards to operate the push rods. I may swap the wooden rods for studding which I will be able to route through the baseboard edges and unscrew after each session. I am also thinking of replacing the rodding on the point at each end of the layout farthest from the control panel with slow action point motors.
At the moment I have completed an 'X' class Peckett 0-6-0, this can be seen in the picture above, and I am in the middle of building a Metropolitan 'A' class 0-4-4. I have also got a Manning Wardle 'K' class to complete together with another 'X' class which just needs a bit of detailing and painting. The buildings have all been constructed for me by a fellow club member Richard Broom. His workmanship is excellent and the speed with which he produces these items has to be seen to be believed. He has built all the buildings for the club's '0' gauge layout and very impressive they are too. The buildings on Studley Wood so far comprise the station building and engine shed based on those at Brill. The goods shed is based on the one at Wood Siding. The platform structure has taken a long time to complete. It is built from wood cut to scale sleeper size which is then scored and sand papered to give an approximate representation of old sleepers. I was going to stain it with brown wood stain but the effect should be broadly grey, so I'm still thinking about it. Text & photo © M. Marriott
Alas, Studley Wood is now no more. A house move followed by a broken ankle meant that the baseboards no longer had storage space. The buildings and stock are preserved and occasionally the stock has a running session on Chasebury. Attention has now shifted to the new 'EM' layout, but the buildings still beckon. Perhaps a smaller slice of the Metropolitan Brill branch may be a possibility in the future? Martin
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