The view from the A37 bridge in 1976, just before the cutting containing the halt was filled in.
Whitchurch Halt (opened 1921, closed in 1959) was situated 4m 15c from Bristol Temple Meads on the Bristol & North Somerset line. A map of the site before the halt opened is on the Somerset County Council site here. On this map it is in the bottom south west corner between spot height 284 (on the road) and stop valve. It was located adjacent to the A37 Wells Rd. Click here for a copy of a Hugh Ballantyne picture with standard class 3 tank 82040 on the 10:50 up to Bristol on the last day of operation 31/10/59.
Following closure to passengers of the whole line on October 31 1959, the line remained open for freight until a major landslip blocked the line near Pensford on 14 July 1968. The line between Radstock and Mells Rd (closed 1966) was reinstated so the coal trains from the Somerset Coalfield could resume their now circuitous route to Portishead power station. The line through Whitchurch was then closed and lifted.
Apparently after 1959, the pagoda waiting shelter lost its roof, which remained on the grass nearby for sometime in the 1960’s. Track was removed C1970, but the site remained relatively untouched until it was filled in late 1976. At the time of writing, both bridges remain, the occupation bridge is extremely dilapidated while the A37 bridge is very nearly filled in. The rest of the site has been levelled, the apple trees remain, but the elm tree has of course disappeared.
The Model
Whitchurch Halt was my previous layout, started in September 1984. It was built because at that time there were no continuous runs to my knowledge available locally to test P4 models on. It was inspired by the Ian Futers layouts of the early 70's. Though I set out with the intention of making a test track, it grew and the fiddle yard became more complicated. It has been subject to at least 2 major rebuilds. It was very successful as a test track, and also went to 5 exhibitions. It still exists today. When I first ran locos around it I remember, they made a couple of circuits and failed. The gearbox seized, or the motor overheated. I then had to rebuild them. It made me improve my engineering standards.
What follows is the exhibition hand out dating from 1988.
Ever been dissatisfied with shunting 7 wagons around your branch line terminus? I have. I like long trains. In a quest for the minimum space layout (!) with long trains, here is Whitchurch Halt (W.R.). 'Wot, no station? NO SHUNTING!' (Gasp). Ever tried shunting a train 6-7ft long? I have done it, its great fun, but look at the room it takes up. 'Oh well', you say 'I won't bother to look at it, no shunting - no good'. But wait a minute, isn't that an old ex-ROD clanking through on the 2.05 ex Bristol East Depot with 27 on the back? Or a pannier on a B-set? There may be no station to shunt (mainly because points on a curve this sharp start looking wrong) but I can run trains representing a day's service through the Halt.
Why Whitchurch Halt? (a) it was on the line I have taken a special interest in - the Bristol & North Somerset, (b) I had a lot of information on it, (c) the 2 bridges formed admirable end stops to the scenic section. I worked out I could get a scale length model onto half the diameter of a 4ft 3ins curve, leaving the other half for a fiddle yard.
So what do we end up with? A small wayside halt with all structures and trees in their correct relationship to each other, albeit around a curve much sharper than the prototype. Through this scene, typical trains representing a day's service run. Just think how commonplace such sights were during the 1950s. You will see panniers, prairies and ex LMS class 2s on passenger, and depending on whether its 1955 or 1957 in the timetable either the ROD or the large prairie. You will see the up Channel Islands Express connection to Bristol (pannier with 'A' headlamps and Bset!) followed by the railcar. You may also see some foreign stock operated by other members of the Avon & Somerset Group - so Bulldogs and bogie tanks may also be seen. I hold no responsibility as to their prototype accuracy on the branch!
Constructional details, baseboards are of 4 & 6 mm plywood, arranged in an open box construction, braced with scraps of wood. The boards and legs are simply G clamped together, using Society dowels for alignment. Scenic track is quite conventional, (for the time, it was whitemetal chairs on ply and rivet sleepers) copper clad is used in the fiddle yard, steel rail is used throughout. The platelayers hut is modified Coopercraft, the rest of the structures are scratchbuilt. Most locos run on split frames and are powered by Portescaps. Control is by LM317 voltage regulator, housed in a small tin.
41202 arrives on an up train (Railwells 1987)
4131 on the up 5.00pm freight plods through (Scaleforum 1988)
3032 on the down 2.5pm down freight (Scaleforum 1988)
4636 on a down train arrives at Whitchurch (Railwells 1987)