Lapford Road (II!) Scale: 4mm / ft.    E.M. Gauge By Ken Gibbons

Size: 14’by 5’6” (including operator space). Operators: Two. Transport: One Car

Lapford Road is an ‘interpretation’ of the real Lapford station, which is situated in
North Devon. The line it’s on runs from Exeter to Barnstaple, and is modelled during the days when the line was part of British Rail’s Western region, specifically, the 70’s and 80’s, firmly in B.R.’s much maligned ( though not by me) ‘Blue’ period.  The layout is my second attempt at depicting the station, This time round the layout is slimmer, making it more manageable, and the pointwork is laid to far more generous radii, thus solving the second of the two big problems on Mk1. However, I did salvage the best bits from the latter, ie the buildings!.

The scenic section is based on the half of the station which is to the west of the characteristic North Devon Railway stone bridge. At the point in time depicted, Lapford handled Passenger and goods traffics. The bulk of it’s cargo being fertilizers from UKF, at Ince in Cheshire.

Passenger services were from Exmouth and Exeter to Barnstaple, though not all were booked to stop.   Many workings included one or two parcels vans, even DMU’s didn’t escape this task. As well as the cargoes bound for Lapford, the Line was still carrying  a reasonable amount of freight to and from Barnstaple & Meeth.  Traffics included Steel, glue, Ball clay and cement, as well as fertilizer from ICI . The carriage of these involved many varied types of wagon, and one aim of the layout is to depict the types in use on the line.  

The biggest liberty taken with real life is the retention of the signalbox, in reality, demolished in 1970. The signalling arrangements are to be frank, unusual, but in this case we have copied real life exactly.

Stock is drawn from the usual sources, with good use being made of the higher quality of RTR stock these days, allowing more time to be spent on ‘filling the gaps’ with kitbuilt items.

Control is DCC, though using only basic controllers. By using basic Back EMF type decoders, the ensemble seems to deliver smooth control, and is very affordable.

Basic Layout diagram

                                                Viewing side

                                                  14ft

Ref

This layout can be seen at the following Model Railway Shows:

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