Aldbridge Street Goods Station

The Build a Better Railway  

Project

Aldbridge Street can be found in South East London. It is the street where I was born and spent the first two years of my existence. I cannot remember anything from the place and I do not believe it has any connection with the railway at all.

My imagination has moved it to somewhere in south west Birmingham, an area where I spent my formative years. At the time I had no particular interest in the railways. They were old, they were worn out and they belonged to yesterday!

Over the years interests change and nostalgia begins to loom ever larger in one’s outlook, and the railways of a bygone age became something I was aware that I had missed. So a model railway is to be born.

The Aldbridge Street Goods station that I imagine is inspired by a layout design by Iain Rice, but whereas he put it in London’s dockland and named it Shadwell Basin . I have moved it further north.  The layout is also inspired by Birmingham’s Central Goods Station, that lay nestled in the centre of Birmingham, near New Street Station. Whereas Shadwell Basin is reached by viaducts above the streets of London, trains emerged into Central Goods from a tunnel under Birmingham’s streets

The era modelled is to be the post-war years, until the 1960’s when steam was in terminal decline and diesels had became more common. The eventual aim is to have sufficient appropriate stock to run the layout, but until then it will be hosting a collection of obscure prototypes.

It is hoped to model to P4 standards.

 

Introduction