LAYOUT | O | BAKEWELL STREET
FACTFILE
NAME: Bakewell Street
SCALE/GAUGE: 7mm:1ft/32.5mm/O
SIZE: 10ft 6in × 1ft 6in
ERA/REGION: BR LMR/WR
LAYOUT TYPE: Inglenook shunting layout
Some years ago, I was at the (now gone and much-missed) Bristol O Gauge Show and S fell into conversation with Richard Webster of Lionheart Models. The outcome was the purchase of a 7mm Lionheart 74xx Pannier with DCC Sound, which was fortunately funded by sales of surplus US HO equipment. I already had a wide range of other railway and modelling interests, and when I decided to build a 7mm layout so I could run my new purchase, I had limited space at home, and I also wanted to be able to take it to shows using just an estate car, so this rather determined the footprint.
I decided that within the 8ft scenic section, I could just about manage a shunting twig “test track”. Firstly, I decided that it was best to see if I could build up a small fleet of goods wagons to go with my new loco. I also felt that passenger stock would have been much too big for sensible operation on such a small layout.
A new gauge
One reason I was attracted to 0 gauge was because I could build a lot of what I needed. Some Parkside wagon kits were bought, and building these revealed how little I knew about how the full-size wagons were constructed and even how the brakes work. This was not really an issue for me in 4mm, but was something I felt I needed to address in 7mm. A bit of research and fieldwork ensued, and the wagons were duly built. I was also grateful to neighbour and fine EM modeller Gerry Beale, who had a comprehensive set of photos of a GWR Toad brake van, having been involved in the development of the Parkside kit.
A trip to the Avon Valley Railway a few miles from home also gave me an opportunity to photograph in detail (with permission) the underframe of one of their Palvans. This certainly made kit construction a bit more straightforward. I do think some instructions assume a degree of knowledge of the prototype many modellers do not possess. However, plastic kits were something I was comfortable with, so progress was made.
Rolling stock
Although the
