Coleford by John Wilkes

Additional photos can be found here

Coleford is based on a real railway in the Forest of Dean, with history having been warped a little to suit 

coleford13-250

a "narrow" (gauge) mind. The railway from Coleford to Monmouth had its origins as a 3' 6"gauge plateway, the Monmouth Tramway carrying coal, clay and lime to the river Wye at Monmouth. But it's been reinvented as a 2' gauge railway serving a quarry, gold processing and a chocolate factory. You'll have to ask for the history!

I wanted to design something that was portable and not large. At the same time, I wanted something that was interesting to operate. I have always been a fan of unusual trackwork. On Coleford, there are two different types of track; stone based chairs, and longitudinal sleepers. I used and abused commercially available track to construct these.

 

Coleford14-250The locos and stock are a mixture of bought, kit built and scratchbuilt, including some very unusual locos. Some of the stock is quite unusual too - look out for the chocolate waggons.

The scene shows the railway is a fairly run down state in the depths of winter. So there are lots of bare trees and all the people look miserable!.

The layout featured in the May 2013 edition of the Railway Modeller and the Decembber 2018 of Model Rail.





Davidlloyd

The layout won the David Lloyd Memorial Trophy at ExpoNG in 2018 (photo by Andrew Burnham).

John has also written a book on his experiences building his layout and you find find details here.

A video of Coleford can be viewed on the 009 Society YouTube channel

Exhibitions already attended

In original small format

  1. Narrow Gauge South 2010
  2. Kenavon Railway Society, Reading, 2011
  3. Beds and Bucks Open Day, 2012
  4. Oxfordshire Narrow Gauge Modellers, 2012
  5. Didcot Rail, 2013
  6. OO9 Society Convention (Sunday), 2013
  7. Expo Narrow Gauge, Swanley, 2013
  8. Oxfordshire Narrow Gauge Modellers, 2014
  9. Leighton Buzzards NG Railway, 2014
  10. The Chatham Show, 2015
  11. Beaconsfield, 2015
  12. Weston-Super-Mare, 2015
  13. Calne, 2016
  14. Leamington Spa, 2016
  15. Newbury, 2016

In new extended format

  1. Abrail, 2016
  2. Beacon-Rail, 2016
  3. Wallingford, 2016
  4. Pontypridd, 2016
  5. Faversham, 2016
  6. Cotswold Model Railway Show, 2016
  7. Whitewebbs, Enfield, 2016
  8. Wycrail, High Wycombe, 2016
  9. Letchworth, 2016
  10. Astolat MRC, Guildford, 2017
  11. Milton Keynes, 2017
  12. Narrow Gauge South West 2017
  13. Modrail, Swindon, 2017
  14. SWING, Bognor Regis, 2017
  15. Basildon, 2017
  16. Lydney, 2017
  17. Narrow Gauge Tewkesbury, 2017
  18. Oxford, 2017
  19. Royston, 2017
  20. Maidenhead, 2018
  21. Kenavon, 2018
  22. NG North, 2018
  23. Beds & Bucks Open Day, May 2018
  24. Amberley Museum, Jul 2018
  25. Walton-on-Thames, Sep 2018
  26. Wing, Oct 2018
  27. Oxford, Oct 2018
  28. Swanley, Oct 2018 - ExpoNG won "David Lloyd Memorial Trophy"
  29. Bognor Regis, Jan 2019
  30. Lancing, Feb 2019
  31. Norfolk 009 Group, Mar 2019
  32. East Grinstead, Mar 2019
  33. Welwyn, Apr 2019
  34. Romford, Apr 2019
  35. Stow on the Wold, May 2019
  36. Chelmesford, Oct 2019
  37. Erith, Jan 2020
  38. Yate, Feb 2020
  39. Oxford (virtual), Oct 2020
  40. Farnham, Aug 2021
  41. Oxford (virtual), Oct 2021
  42. Narrow Gauige North, Mar 2022
  43. Statfold Barn, Apr 2022
  44. Newbury, Oct 2022
  45. AbRail, Mar 2023 - Won "Best in Show"
  46. York, Apr 2023
  47. South West Herts, Apr 2023
  48. Railex Buxton, Jul 2023
  49. Statfold Barn, Sep 2023

Abrail 2023 Best in Show