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Abbotswood Junction

Description based on material supplied by the layout owner

Abbotswood Junction  
Phil & James Bullock OO gauge 4mm scale

Abbotswood Junction is a father and son collaboration between Phil and James Bullock. The prototype is situated just south of Worcester, where the ex LMS Gloucester to Birmingham line is joined by a chord from Norton Junction on the ex GWR Worcester to Oxford line. This is a OO layout featuring DCC Sound and working semaphore signals.

The layout is a trains in the landscape layout and is set in the period 1967 to 1973; end of steam to TOPS period, although we may stray to 1977. Green and blue diesels running on trains representative of the period at this location are featured; and preserved steam could appear!

The premise is that the Stratford to Cheltenham line closed when through services finished in 1965 and so the layout at Abbotswood has had to be expanded to accommodate extra trafnc. An up loop with a direct connection to the Worcester chord (this was only ever a kick back siding) has been laid in and the layout has been resignalled to accommodate this prior to the Gloucester MAS scheme. Unfortunately there has recently been a derailment on the Worcester chord so all services are having to run via Bromsgrove, this is until phase 2 of the layout including Norton Junction is built.

Trains to watch out for are the Cornishman and the Devonian, but perhaps freight is more interesting with the Waterston to Albion tanks booked for a pair of 37s, the St Blazey to Etruria clays booked for a Western and the Malago Vale to Worcester vans booked for a Warship. One joy of this location was that you could never be quite sure what might turn up; so a few surprises might also be in store. Hope you will join us for a while to watch the trains go by...

 






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