Dream depot
1
Photography: Chris Nevard
What makes this layout great?
"Depots aren’t for everybody, but Rob has done a great job of creating a believable layout that has plenty of space for his models. The use of a turntable is a great way to make extra space, and there are operational possibilities to boot."
2 Bournemouth West is the location for
the area breakdown gang, who operate a 75T
Ransome crane.
I f you were to go up to anybody in the street and ask them to name an event that happened in the 1960s, they’d probably reply ‘the Moon landing’. Ask a railway enthusiast for an event that happened in the 1960s and only one thing will immediately come to their mind, and it’s probably the same thing that’s come to yours before you read on for the answer.
Dr Beeching’s report on the railways spelled the end of thousands of miles of lines across the country, including the Somerset & Dorset which used Branksome Depot (at Bournemouth West). This was until the general election of 1965 resulted in a Labour government. Elected on a promise that MP Barbara Castle would reverse the closure of the line, she subsequently secured a deal and the Western Region of British Railways took over the route from the Southern and Midland operations, saving the line and the depot from Beeching’s axe.