Builder: Richard Drew

A summer day in the early 1950’s, in a quiet corner of the Kent countryside. Post-war business is picking up for the local wholesale grocer and vintner, with customers across the south-east. However, their private siding sits on a small branch line where passenger services have already been mooted for closure.

The model is a fiction but inspired by local prototypes.

I’m a returnee to the fold having last failed to complete a layout when I was 15 (35 years ago). This challenge has been a great opportunity to practice skills and explore advances in model making. It was coloured sawdust when I last undertook scenic work, and rather than weathering powders, soot was made by burning a piece of sprue whilst trying not to inhale…

This was very much a budget model – the only specific purchases were a sheet of brick plastic sheet and the Parkside wagon kit. The rest of the materials were scrap or bits I’d acquired for the main layout (a massive 3ft x 18”). I’d picked up paints, DAS etc.  from Faversham’s excellent Hobby Shop in the summer. Specific rubbish includes wine corks (landscaping) and foil collars (flashing), plastic from packaging, fire ash, seed-heads, coffee stirrers and various offcuts of wood and foam.

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