The Club's 'P4' layout portraying the Sheppey Light Railway Terminus

Of the standard-gauge light railways of Kent, one of the most successful was the Sheppey Light Railway, conceived by the islanders in the 1890s and engineered by the well-known Holman F. Stephens. After being absorbed into the South Eastern and Chatham Railway the line was improved, enlarged and partly standardized.

The "C" with Articulated Set 514 and van

Leysdown, the terminus, was the largest station on the line and served the embryonic seaside resort offering limited facilities including cattle pens along with a horse and carriage dock. For the Club's 'P4' Group's first project, we required a station to model which had a fairly simple track plan with only a few structures. A further consideration was the very limited space in our old clubrooms where the layout would have to be accommodated.

Having looked at Brian Hart's book of the line, Leysdown was an ideal choice enabling us to build a full scale model in only 12ft excluding the fiddle yard. Also, apart from the station building, a typical Colonel Stephens item, there was only one other structure namely the S.E. & C.R. water tower of which plans were available.

The layout comprises four 4ft x 2ft plywood baseboards with integral legs. Trackwork has been built using ply and rivet construction to P4 standards on foam underlay. Turnouts are operated by slow action Tortoise motors. A simple sector plate is used in the fiddle yard.

The buildings are scratchbuilt using a variety of materials, principally card & plasticard. Use has been made of carpet underlay for the undergrowth with additional products from the 'Woodland Scenics' range much to the fore.

Rolling stock is varied at the present time and may not be truly typical of that which ran on the light railway. However we do feature "B1" Class locomotive No 1021 and ex. S.E. & C.R. articulated coach set No 514, both of which were photographed on the line in the mid 1930s.

Much thought has been put into the presentation of the layout with proscenium arch, lighting, and a continuous full height backscene. The layout can be operated from the front or rear depending on the operators or exhibition manager's preferences.

The Uckfield Model Railway Club is the home of the Scalefour Society's Wealden Area Group.

More Pictures

The ex SECR B1 Class 4-4-0 hauling Articulated Set No 514

The SECR "R" Class shunts	The ex SECR "H" Class with the Trio C Set
The siding and loading gauge	Terrier on shunting duty
Articulated Set 514 in the platform	ex SECR "C" Class No 1252 departs
The station building and cattle dock	The ground frame at the station throat
Layout from the front..	..and the rear!