Sounds dramatic but it is not really. After many years of sterling service it was decided to retire Woburn Sands. A decision was made that rather than prolong the agony of what to do with it, or just stick it in the corner in bits and let it gather dust and woodworm, anything salvageable was removed and the remains consigned to a ceremonial cremation. So, from the ashes rose it's successor - NEWTON UNDERWOOD.
One of the reasons I have not included this layout in the visiting section is that it too has joined those other layouts in the great exhibition hall in the sky.
Newton Underwood was based on Olney in Buckinghamshire - a station on the old Midland Railway Bedford to Northampton branch which a certain Doctor of Destruction decided was not required in the 1960's. The name was chosen as an amalgamation of two villages in the area. This way nobody could criticise any variation from the prototype. I remember that at one show with Woburn Sands a gentleman spent a great deal of time just watching us operate and then remarked that because of the stock we were running we had got the station telephone box in the wrong position !!! We didn't enlighten him to the fact that some of the rolling stock never actually ran on that line. Warning - beware of sticking to a prototype - somebody will always point out an error however much research you have done.
Newton Underwood measured 20ft x 6ft and construction was the normal chipboard surface with a 2in x 1in framing. In place of curtains for the front we devised a framework of plywood and battens hinged to the front in such a way that it folded up and over the layout to form a box for storage and transport. These "coffins" as we called them were quite heavy but gave plenty of protection against damage in transit and were still able to be carried by two people. The rear storage boards were bolted back to back as is common on portable layouts.
As with Woburn Sands it was set in the 1960's to accommodate the rolling stock of the various members. It served us well until for various reasons, it too was consigned to the great exhibition hall in the sky. Just a couple of scenic items still remain, and who knows they may still find their way onto a display of some sort in the future.
Unfortunately I have very few photos of this layout and those I have are pretty poor quality but I have included some of them so you can see how the layout looked in it's heyday back in the 1980's.
Click on the pictures to show a larger version.
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