WIMBORNE

Back in 1966, a film called A Man for all Seasons, focusing on Sir Thomas More, was released. We like to think ‘Wimborne’ is the layout for all reasons. It is a scale model of a real place and has continuous running, shunting, lots of action, and only has a footprint of 20ft x 12ft.

For 40 years, between 1847 with the opening of the line and the opening of the Sway cut-off in 1888, Wimborne was the busiest station in Dorset. Between 1863 and 1920, Somerset and Dorset trains reversed at Wimborne. Freight traffic off the S&D continued until 1932. From 1866, the Salisbury and Dorset Junction Railway provided further traffic from where it joined the ‘main’ line at West Moors. In 1847, Christchurch was a small town eventually accessed either by horse-drawn coach from Homsley Station, or by a branch line originating at Ringwood. At that time, Bournemouth consisted of a few fishermen’s huts. Poole existed but was not considered important enough for ‘Castleman’s Corkscrew’ to visit directly. Originally a branch from Hamworthy Junction was considered adequate.

Bournemouth mushroomed in size and became a popular destination for holidays. From the time that the cut-off was completed, the line through Wimborne was known as the ‘old road’, useful as a diversionary route for trains needing to avoid the congestion of Bournemouth. A long slow decline followed, which lasted until 1974, when the line east of Ringwood was lifted. Part of the line from Poole lasted until 1978 to serve the military oil depot at West Moors. This is but a brief history. For a definitive account please read B.L. Jackson’s excellent history of the line, Castlemans Corkscrew Vol 1 and 2 published by Oakwood Press.

In 1976, Wimborne Railway Society was formed and one of its early objectives was to try to create a tangible record of an important aspect of Wimborne’s development. Today, few traces of the line through Wimborne remain. Both Leigh Road Bridge and the bridge over the River Stour have been removed. Only a fragment of the embankment for the River Stour bridge remains. The embankment, upon which the station and yards were built, was taken away to make way for a housing estate and market. The market has closed and the area is being redeveloped into a retirement village.

This layout is the third incarnation of ‘Wimborne’ but with some elements of the second version re-used, such as the four corner boards and part of the wiring loom. It is the only one to have been completed to ‘exhibition standards’. The model represents the line through Wimborne as it was in the late 1950s, from just east of