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Whilst I mull over possible ways of modelling Holborn Viaduct, let’s move a little down the line to the junction of the Holborn and Charing Cross lines, just outside London Bridge.  Here we find Ewer Street depot, again built on brick viaducts above the mean Southwark streets.  The Kentrail website noted that…..

This was an interesting depot arrangement, situated upon a long thin site positioned immediately adjacent to the incline linking the London Bridge and Blackfriars lines. It formed part of the then newly created SE&CR Joint Managing Committee’s London Bridge area improvements. This had included the widening of the original London & Greenwich viaduct to the east of the terminus, which provided an additional two running lines and saw the abolition of the unique right-hand running on the Greenwich line. Terminating platforms at London Bridge were increased by four, by transferring the continental freight depot from here to a purpose-built facility at Southwark, upon a brick-built platform, level with the top of the viaduct. Situated immediately north of the ascending Blackfriars tracks, Southwark Continental Freight Depot essentially comprised a wide platform surface of two faces, serving eastward-facing terminating tracks. The platform was provided with a pitched roof canopy, and the depot’s entry lines were controlled by a signal box positioned at the eastern end of the platform surface. Incorporated into the depot’s site was a locomotive stabling point, which included a 54-foot 10-inch turntable flanked by a 30-foot long water tank, a coal stage, and a coaling crane. Thus, the facilities on offer here were those typically found at a motive power depot although, of course, there was an absence of any form of shed building. Despite being situated upon what was virtually the same site as the freight depot, the locomotive stabling point was instead referred to as ‘’Ewer Street’’, after the road which ran from north to south alongside the site’s eastern elevation.

The Grand Vitesse Depot received fruit and vegetables from the Continent, and some more valuable goods.  The plan below shows how the goods sidings and locomotive stabling point were shoe-horned into an area next to the London commuter lines.

Ewer Street has featured in the model press as a possible layout before, and an old (I think) Model Railways article described how difficult it was to get a locomotive into the stabling point in the wartime blackout.  This was compounded by the Depot platforms being off limits and patrolled by Railway Policemen and customs officials looking for a driver or fireman looking for free fruit.

The next photograph shows Ewer Street from the air, with the turntable central in the picture.

In this photo the EPB EMU is parked in the old Grand Vitesse depot.

Here’s an interesting photo taken in 1948. Justifies use of an ‘Austerity’ on Southern lines?

Unusual freight train at London Bridge
View eastward of a train on No. 2 Up Eastern line, headed by ex-WD ‘Austerity’ 2-8-0 No. 78597, built late 1944, stored briefly at Longmoor then shipped over the Channel in 12/44: it was returned to England in 4/46 and after overhaul at Ashford was loaned to the SR (at Hither Green) in 5/47, then taken into BR to become eventually No. 90390: it was transferred to the LMR in 9/51 and withdrawn in 9/65. (Note that here it still has the Westinghouse pump fitted for working trains on the Continent. The train is comprised of Continental fruit wagons, the front one being Italian (FS), presumably returning to Dover for the train-ferry to Dunkerque from Ewer Street (Southwark) Depot.

Photo by Ben Brooksbank

When we come to a model of the site it has a lot going for it – locomotive facilities, vans (including ferry vans) and non-passenger stock and EMU’s passing on the main line.  It is also interesting how long the site is.  The figure below shows an 8′ length in ‘N’ marked on the map.  This is far longer than the track between Holborn and Ludgate!

I see this as potential N-mod boards.  One could leave out the branch to Holborn, leaving 4 tracks at the front in best N-mod style, and straightened at the left hand end.  The Herne Hill-Holborn viaduct would still cross the lines, but vertically, forming a natural end to the module. The Grand Vitesse Depot would be turned a little and narrowed to be close to the 4 track main line.  The whole layout would be compressed a little to fit within 8′.  And Ewer Street stabling point could be modelled much as is, depending on the complexity of pointwork that is modelled.  This could form both a good home layout, and an exhibition module.

This is a layout idea that has been bumbling around for a few months.  It all started with a thread on RMweb, describing some possible ideas for the 2mm Association Diamond Jubilee layout challenge.  This involves developing a cameo layout with visible dimensions of 600 x 240mm.  That’s a tiny space, but it’s surprising what one can come up with in the space.  Perhaps not surprisingly, many ideas were urban, where the railways didn’t have much space anyway.

So this is the design that caught my eye, based on the old LCDR Ludgate Hill station, just to the north of the River Thames, and a stones throw from at least three other stations.  It didn’t stay open for long, but the remains of the station lasted until the Thameslink remodelling, completed around 2012.

The layout sketch below shows the station in its early 20th century form, with some wonderful pointwork.  The bottom two lines go to Holborn Viaduct station, just off the plan.  The top two drop down to Snow Hill and then through to Farringdon and to the north London stations.  Early last century, there were services across London, and visiting trains from the Midland and LSWR.  Plus masses of cross-London goods, that continued into the 1970’s.  These lines, greatly modified, now form the route for Thameslink services.

And this is how the layout might look, though this is the post-war look after that nice Mr Hilter from the Ball and Compass (Monty Python reference) thinned out the buildings during the 1941 Blitz.

And here’s a view early in the century, with all buildings intact and a train of private owners wagons – empty coal traffic – heading north.  In our era of gas central heating, it is easy to forget just how much coal traffic there was from the northern and midlands collieries down to London.  Every suburban station would have had a coal yard, now converted to a car park or blocks of flats.

This drawing from ‘The Engineer’ shows the remodelling of the original station, abandoning one platform, still early last century.  The pointwork is marginally simpler!

To model this sort of pointwork, one would have to work in 2mm or one of the larger fine scales.  Otherwise, the clearances in ‘N’ for frogs and wing rails would just not work.  Here we see an attempt to draw that complex pointwork in ‘Templot’.  It does show how accurate many of the large scale Ordnance Survey maps are – the map can be tied in very well to the Templot trackwork.

But it’s when you look at the site in the context of its surroundings that one sees the potential of the area for a model.  Here’s the circa-1900 plan.

And here’s the circa-1950 equivalent.  The trackwork is noticeably less complex, and with a little further simplification would be buildable in ‘N’.  The track centres might need to be slightly increased, from the absolute minimum 6′ way of the prototype (22.5mm or so) to the PECO standard of 27mm, to fit everything in.  Holborn Viaduct station has lost all its loco spurs, and gained longer platforms for 8-car suburban EMU’s.

It’s when one draws some distances on the maps that one realises how small the station is, and how good a model it could make.  The three lines below are 1m, 4′ and 6’6″ long.  All could make a good layout.  The walls of Ludgate Hill station make a natural scenic break to the left.  For the longer layout, the overall roof does the same job to the right.

I like the idea of a hollow ply half-door forming the basis of the layout, strength being added by the raised railway on the viaduct.  Trackwork would have to be hand-laid – code 40 would be ideal.  A lighting ‘proscenium arch’ a la Iain Rice would limit the views left and right.  Perhaps the foreground could be made more interesting by assuming a few buildings survived the bombing, and the whole area hadn’t become waste ground and car parks.

Operation would be interesting.  There was a busy commuter service into Holborn, and I believe that the platforms at the bottom of the plan were used for non-passenger stock and van traffic.  And the two lines to Snow Hill dropping below the station carried a range of cross-London goods traffic, with a range of locomotives from the Southern and other regions.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the design is the fiddle yard.  For home use, I might leave the Snow Hill lines unconnected, and then add a fiddle yard or loops onto the end of Ludgate Hill station.  For exhibition use, a second set of loops could be added to the Snow Hill lines, but this is becoming a large layout.  Perhaps a continuous circuit, with a double ended fiddle yard would be best, allowing you sit and watch trains running through Snow Hill.  The end curves would have to be a reasonable size, not less than 15″ day, to allow for steam engines to run freely.  I’m still thinking about this question.

The other issue is the size of the boards.  With all those points, it’s difficult to find a natural place for the baseboards to join.  A 6’6″ half door is transportable, but may be a stretch for most cars.  And it might be difficult to get it out of the house – I had enough trouble getting the 6′ x 2′ Kuritu into my loft!

Finally, here are a couple of photographs of the area.  The first, taken in 1953 I think, looks towards Holborn Viaduct with the Snow Hill lines dropping under the signal box to the left.  The second shows Holborn’s overall roof earlier in the century, when there was still a small engine shed to the right.

EPSON scanner image

So there it is – (one of) my (many) dream layout(s).  I doubt whether it will ever get built, but there is a delightful model there for someone.