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Uckfield Model Railway Club

Buckham Hill "0"

The new provisions store at Buckham Hill

The new provisions store at Buckham Hill

The Club's "0" layout portraying an ex L.B. & S.C.R. Branch Line Station


THE FICTION

When the Ouse Valley Line was proposed as a link from the London to Brighton line, across country to Uckfield, one of the local landowners (Sir William Franks) who resided at Buckham Hill House would allow the railway through his land only on the condition that the Railway Company built a station and a siding to accommodate his commercial interests in the local brewery and his farm produce. His good friend, Lord Stephens of Cuckmere Haven owned the Isfield Paper Mill and he foresaw the enormous advantages that a railway could offer for the carriage of heavy loads of paper.

So the Railway Company gave in and what we see today is the result of steady development of the railway in conjunction with increased production and expansion of the brewery aided by the success of the mill.

THE FACTS

The Ouse Valley Line was proposed to run from north of Haywards Heath eastwards to Uckfield and eventually to Hastings. It would have passed through Buckham Hill just west of Uckfield. Some groundwork was completed and it is still visible west of the Uckfield bypass but the project was abandoned before any track was laid.

There was a paper mill at Isfield (not the feed mill that still stands as a private house) but records show that it closed about 15 September 1857 (see the article in The Sussex Advertiser of that date). The mill was sold by auction on 28 September 1857 along with 10 cottages etc. There is now no trace of any of the buildings. In reality, the mill, had it not closed, would probably have used Isfield station when the railway arrived in 1858. There were breweries in Uckfield and, of course, Harveys is still in Lewes. With so many local breweries, we felt we just had to have one.

THE MODEL

With typical modellers’ licence the track plan is far more extensive than we believe would have happened had our fiction been real life but it does allow interesting train movements for public entertainment. The initial phase was as a terminus but the track plan has now developed into a through station. We have had to dig the tunnel through the hill towards Uckfield although, for the moment, we do not have any plans to build as far as the town. But, with railway modellers, you never know.....

The platform & loops

The platform & loops


Plan of the Layout

Plan of Layout - Buckham Hill


More Pictures

ex S.E. & C.R. P Class 1178
Ex S.E. & C.R. P Class 1178
The Romany encampment
The Romany encampment
Construction traffic from the tunnel
Construction traffic from the tunnel
Shunting the small yard
Shunting the small yard
The Signal Box
The Signal Box
At the platform
At the platform
The main Brewery building
The main Brewery building
The Brewery stable block
The Brewery stable block

(Click here to download larger images of the pictures)


List of exhibitions and events attended.

UCKFIELD MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION Uckfield M.R.C., Oct. 2001
COLCHESTER MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION Colchester & District M.R.C., Oct. 2001
SUSSEX MODEL RAIL 2002 Sussex Association of M.R.C., Apr. 2002
READING 2002 LARGER SCALE M.R.E. Assn of Larger Scale R.M., May. 2002
ST ALBANS MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION Chiltern M.R.A., Jan. 2003
LONDON FESTIVAL OF RAILWAY MODELLING Warner Group Publications plc, Mar. 2003
FESTIVAL OF BRITISH RAILWAY MODELLING Warner Group Publications plc, Feb. 2004
   


Last Updated 9th February 2004

Uckfield Model Railway Club's Web Pages are maintained by Adrian M. Colenutt .
Copyright © 2004 by the Uckfield Model Railway Club Ltd. All Rights Reserved.