Romford (P4)

Railway modelling for many of us is about recreating childhood memories. For me it was the Great Eastern Main Line. Despite the lure of the LMS with their magnificent Pacifics, it wasn't until I moved away from Essex that I realised how much I loved the Great Eastern with its varied EMUs and the resplendent diesels allocated to Stratford depot.

So why Romford? I wanted a location which offered an interesting mix of railway operations and also a busy street scene. Romford offered all of this; an atmospheric coal yard, a branch line to Upminster with its red brick LT&S station building unusually situated in LNER territory and a busy four track suburban and main line.

The first step was the research, which I found as interesting as the modelling itself.  The internet is a great font of knowledge.  I was able to source numerous photographs from websites such as Flickr, to help recreate the virtual scene.  However, nothing beats visiting the site and taking photographs and notes of the real thing.  The key here is to take as many photographs from as many different angles as possible, as you never know when you will be able to go to site again or if indeed whether the subject will still be there when you go back.  While on site, I also took the opportunity to visit the local library and was able to secure an Ordinance Survey map of the area for the era that I wanted to model; the 1970s early 1980s.  Through my work as a railway engineer, I was also fortunate to secure copies of the permanent way layout and original LNER drawings of the station.  I was however lacking information on the now demolished coal yard and goods shed. I will therefore need at some point, to visit Chelmsford library to view the Great Eastern Society's archive drawings.

Eventually, the whole layout will consist of a 30ft by 10ft oval, located in the loft.  But until the loft is converted, at present, the layout only consists of a 4ft by 2ft diorama of the station area.  The initial board has been four years in the making and is now well progressed.  Details of the build elements can be found on RMWeb.


Here are some photos of the completed main station building.