BLOWERS GREEN WAGON REPAIR YARD
I suppose I am representative of the majority of railway modellers in that I have lots of unfinished projects. My kit cupboard remains stubbornly full of unbuilt kits, I have several part-finished locomotive kits and neither of the two large layouts I have started has been finished. Although, I must say in my defence that ‘Vauxhall Wharf’, my home layout, is nearing completion.
It had been intended that ‘Vauxhall Wharf’ would be an exhibition layout and indeed it has been exhibited twice at local shows, but the sheer size of the layout, the weight of the baseboards and the size of the transport needed to move it made me realise that I was being too ambitious.
While completing the scenic work on two of the rear-most boards on ‘Vauxhall Wharf’, a modelling friend suggested I use them as the basis for a smaller, more portable exhibition layout. ‘Blowers Green Wagon Repair Yard’ is the result and its creation has provided me with a great deal of pleasure, if for no other reason than I have designed, built and - that magic bit - got it ‘exhibition ready’ in the timeframe I set myself.
The layout started on the exhibition circuit as ‘Rose Grove Wagon Repair Yard’, named after my granddaughter, but so many people came up to me to say they expected it to be associated with the north western shed of the same name that I decided to rename it after the location upon which it is based.
Layout history
‘Blowers Green Wagon Repair Yard’ sits at the south end of Dudley Tunnel, approximately on the site of the former Netherton Station. The station was renamed twice, becoming Dudley South Side and then Blowers Green. Blowers Green Station was closed in 1962 and almost all trace has disappeared. This rather conveniently gave me a location for the fictitious ‘Blowers Green Wagon Repair Yard’.
My history goes like this: The old station remained derelict for a few years before it was realised that the location would make it a useful place for wagon repair. The platforms were removed, the New Road overbridge realigned and rebuilt to provide good access to a new road layout designed to serve a modern industrial
