Published in TCH 139 – June 2013

 

One of the more significant and influential layouts to come out of the immediate post-war period was the Charford Branch of the Southern Railway.  Begun in 1953 in a residential caravan, this layout grew over the years until its swan-song at the fabled Model Railway Journal Exhibition at the Central Hall, London, in November, 1990.  That wasn’t the end, though, as a second Charford Branch of more generous proportions followed, until its closure and dismantling in 2001.  Older readers of TCH might remember my illustrated article in the December, 2001 issue reporting the line’s closure and my reflections on a most remarkable layout and its builder.  Of course, that builder was John Charman and his death in January of this year has prompted me to take a retrospective look at the Charford Branch in both its incarnations.  But, first, a brief note on the background and rationale of the layout and its builder.

Figure 1 – Charford Mk 1 - T9 4-4-0 No 337 arriving at Charford with through coaches from Waterloo – photo John Charman

 

 

John’s first (railway) love was the Southern Railway and, as far as he was concerned, the clock stopped in the summer of 1947, so that the “disaster” of nationalisation of the railways never happened.  He chose to model the immediate post-war period, when confidence returned to Britain, and goods and passengers returned to the rails.  He always maintained that, even in that period of continuing austerity, Southern trains were kept clean and smart, unlike their northern counterparts.  Furthermore, the majority of locomotives were still black at that time, making painting his models less of a chore.  He chose to situate his model in Dorset, postulating a “might-have-been” branch from Chard Junction to the coastal town of Charmouth, which he renamed Charford.  He added a Great Western connection with another imaginary line from Bridport to join the Charford Branch near the village of Whitchurch Canonicorum, but later to be abandoned in favour of a truncated mineral branch.  John plotted the course of this imaginary railway on an Ordnance Survey map and then, being an RAF aircrew officer at the time, surveyed and photographed the route from the air.

Figure 2 - Charford Mk 1 - M7 0-4-4T No 56 at Charford on evening local to the junction.  In the platform behind are the coaches from Waterloo– photo John Charman

 

Figure 3 - Charford Mk 1 - Q 0-6-0 No 530 shunting at the Ashford Timber Co sidings adjacent to Bridport Branch Junction– photo John Charman

 

The first baseboards were built while John and his family were living in a caravan and, as they moved to new residences, additions were made as more space became available.  His discharge from the RAF in the early 1960’s brought a permanent place of residence at last, and the layout grew to its final form.  It is most noteworthy that nothing was discarded or replaced, the original 1953 baseboards still being part of the layout in 1990.  Right from the start the layout was built to 4mm scale and OO gauge, and so it remained to the end.  But John used fine-scale standards, and even in 1953 it was built using chaired bullhead rail.  His objective was to make as realistic a model as he could, and one that not only worked reliably, but worked like a real railway in miniature.  From 1955 to the mid-1970’s John wrote frequent articles for the model railway press, firstly for the Railway Modeller and then later for the Model Railway Constructor.  John was a great man for sharing his knowledge and his ideas and was always happy to help.  His articles included instruction in planning and constructing a realistic timetable for a layout, adding details to wagons, signals and scenery, descriptions of extensions to the layout, some whimsical commentary and, of course, full descriptions of the layout itself.  If the reader has access to these magazines, probably the best illustrated description of the final version of Charford Mk. 1 is found in the January, 1966 Railway Modeller, and also in the March, 1969 Model Railway Constructor.

Figure 4 - Charford Mk 2 - Q1 0-6-0 C6 on down goods passing the Ashford Timber Co sidings on the approach to Marshwood Junction

 

 

After a long hiatus, the Charford Branch again appeared in print in 1998, this time as a description of Charford Mk. 2 in Model Railway Journal No. 100, with the track plan in the following issue, No. 101.  This second layout was completely new and featured not only Charford (in a new and expanded form) but also a stretch of the West of England main line.  The main line originated from a large fiddle yard in an adjacent room and circulated round the layout room before returning to the fiddle yard.  Along the long side of the room was situated Marshwood Junction, where the Charford Branch left the main line, this being designed along the lines of Worgret Junction for the Swanage Branch.  Charford itself was on a peninsula in the centre of the layout where, as John put it, the nine miles of the branch was compressed to three inches under an overbridge.  This new layout allowed John to indulge in some main line running with big locomotives and long trains, as well as the original branch line stock.  Realistic operation remained the key to the layout, and it was operated according to a carefully planned timetable.  Regrettably, this layout had a much shorter life than its long-lived predecessor.  By 2001 John’s eyesight was deteriorating, and operating the layout and all the maintenance and preparation that goes with it became difficult.  The last train ran in July that year and the layout was taken apart.  Fortunately, both the Charford station board and the main line through Marshwood Junction boards were saved and taken to good homes with other modellers.  John kept his favourite locomotives and rolling stock and the rest moved on to new homes.  I am very fortunate to possess his scratchbuilt Q1 0-6-0 “Charlie” which first came to public attention in the December, 1963 Railway Modeller.  While still retaining the same body, John had upgraded the wheels and motor, so it is a lovely performer.  It may not have the detail of the current Hornby model, but it is a truly unique and special model.

Figure 5 - Charford Mk 2 - The locomotive depot at Charford with the dairy building in the background

 

Figure 6 - Charford Mk 2 - Charford station and adjacent goods yard

 

The final word on John Charman and the two Charford model railways is best summed up in the words expressed by Model Railway Journal in their issue No. 100.  This is, in part, what was written:

 

 

 

“It (Charford) was in many ways the most important OO model of the post-war era, brilliantly capturing the Southern’s unique atmosphere and pushing scenic and operational boundaries while never pretending to be state-of-the-art.”

 

 

 

To my mind, that says it all.

 

 

 

The photos by John Charman are of the original Charford, while those by BRMA Member 0004 are of Charford mk2

 

Addendum from Member 0004:

The photographs accredited to John Charman were taken by himself – in fact, they were some of the pictures published in the March 1969 MRC. He very kindly passed them on to me after MRC had finished with them. The colour photos of the second Charford were taken (badly!) by me on my final visit back in 2001. John was a good friend – albeit at a distance – from 1966 until his death, and I always tried to visit him whenever I was visiting UK. His Charford was unashamedly the inspiration for my Abbotsbury Southern layouts in the 1970’s. John very kindly held off the demolition of Charford Mk II until my last visit.

 

The Mark 2 pictures were taken long before digital camera days, so they are scanned copies of colour prints. John closed down the Charford Branch in 2001 after his eyesight had suffered quite a serious failure – at least he was able to continue “modelling” at 12” to 1’ scale for a few more years on the preserved Kent & East Sussex Railway. We were visiting the UK that year, and John purposely held off the demolition of Charford until we had visited. The day of our visit was in reality the last day of service on the branch. Faced with poor room lighting and a small hand-held camera, I did my best with the photos. They may be very poor technically, but they are of great historical value – especially to me.