This layout is based on an area of the Exmoor National Park in Somerset known as Porlock Vale. The villages of Porlock and Bossington are situated here, but in reality they were never served by the railway. The GWR service from London via Taunton terminated a few miles away in the town of Minehead. Fortunately, a good part of this line is now preserved as the West Somerset Railway.
The original creator of this layout was Hemel Hempstead resident Bill Faulkner. He was inspired to build it by memories of many happy holidays spent in Porlock Vale. When Bill moved house in 2012 he donated the layout to the club. All we had to do was add a scenic backdrop of hills and sky, and attach a fiddle yard at one end and it was ready to show at exhibitions.
The fiddle yard consists of four tracks mounted on a board that slides to allow each storage track to be aligned with the single entry/exit track.
The operation is reasonably true to GWR and BR Western region practices. The running schedule is designed to be varied and interesting. There is a small freight depot that gives rise to the need for shunting movements. Passenger services are provided by a “Flying Banana” railcar, an autotrain, and the more conventional loco and carriages combination. A novel feature of this layout is the inclined carriage siding which allows the locomotive to change ends when the run-around loop is blocked by freight.
Buildings are a mixture of kit built (e.g. Metcalfe, Ratio & Wills), and scratch built by the original owner.
