Risborough & District Area Group
The Risborough Area Group are a few members of the Risborough and District Model Railway Club who model in P4 or EM. We meet on Friday nights at the Carrington Room at the Community Centre, Princes Risborough as well as on a Saturday on a monthly basis.
Aylesbury Station and Shed
Aylesbury Town station with the adjacent engine shed is currently being constructed in 4mm Scale to P4 standards in the period 1946-1966, the model has been built without compression but will be cut short at the south end through the platforms and at the north end just after the public footbridge. The model is only ten foot in scenic length by two and a half feet wide, with cassette fiddle yards at either end, although there maybe the facility to convert this to a continuous run format at a later date.
Those unfamiliar with Aylesbury the station and engine shed had quite a varied development. The station and shed opened at first in 1863 although the station itself was rebuilt in 1925 to the form exists today. The engine shed was built originally as a GWR single road broad gauge structure but following extensions and rebuilding ended up as a saw tooth roof two road shed by the 1890s the shed was finally demolished in 1967.
The ownership of both the engine shed and the station from 1894 was by two joint committees the Great Central & Great Western Joint committee and the Great Central and Metropolitan Joint Committee. by the late 1950s the Midland region of BR took over the Eastern region responsibility and therefore the range of locomotives and regions we can run in our chosen period is very extensive, with locomotives as diverse as GWR 14XX and Parrie tanks to LNER A3s, V2, plus LMS Royal Scots, Jubilee, and B.R. standard locos. Unfortunately BR diesels and multiple units are a little less varied.
To date all the trackwork is laid, wired and ballasted with the trackwork is constructed using wooden sleepers with functional chairs from Exactoscale and nickel silver rail the turnouts are operated with tortoise turnout motors under the baseboards.
We are lucky that we possess some original structure drawing plus many photographs and with many hours of research we hope to model everything exactly. Although in our modelled 1946-66 period there were a number of changes to signals, the extension of one of the engine shed roads, a change in the water tank and footbridge and a change to flat bottom rail on the main lines, therefore we have tried to ensure that everything we have modelled is contemporary with each other.
The emphasis now is on creating the various structures, The majority of these have now been drawn up using CAD software, using these drawings the various component parts have been laser cut in Romark with the correct English bond brickwork complete with quarter closer bricks around window doors and corners. The platform canopies and footbridges will need to be constructed in etched brass.
Rolling stock is either converted RTR or etched kits. The locomotives are to actual locomotives that were seen at Aylesbury in the period being modelled.
We still have a lot of work to do to finish the model but with Aylesbury being local to our club we hope that what we have modelled will be of interest to the general public as well as railway modellers if you have information or photographs we would be pleased to hear from you.
Anyone who wishes to become involved in the new project please come along. We tend to work from 8pm till 10pm and then head for a drink at a local pub, although this option is not compulsory!
Contact David Lane by email at risboro at scalefour.org further details on the Blue Sheet.
Blue Sheet
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