Operation
Prototypical operation of Swanage would largely consist of pushpulls moving back and forth up the branch with, at most, two goods trains a day, trains to Eastleigh and Salisbury and the odd excursion.
I plan to add more variety by creating a sequence which moves on in period as well as time. So, for instance, the first branch train of the day might use the Beattie Well Tank, the next a Radial and so on. This plan needs some careful development to try to keep the stock in Swanage station matching a particular period at any given time. This is my excuse for collecting such a wide variety of flat kits!
The periods represented will need to take into account:
- availability of kits
- livery changes
- changes in stock used on the branch
At the moment I am thinking in terms of the following:
Early 1885 - Beattie Well Tank
Later LSWR - Adams Radial
Early Southern - T1
Mid-Southern 1932-38 - M7
Later Southern 1939 - M7
Goods - T1
Early BR - 1949-57 liveries
M7 (lion & wheel)
LSWR pushpull - BR red?
Ironclad pushpull conversions (1949-62) - livery?
Goods - M7, 700, T9
Later BR (steam) 1960-May 64
M7 post 1957 livery
Maunsell pushpull conversions (1960, BR green)
Goods - Q, BR Std 4 2-6-0
Later BR (various)
Ivatt 2-6-2T
BR Std 3 2-6-2T
BR Std 4 2-6-4T
Hampshire DEMU
Clearly that plan needs much more work on stock and liveries. I also need to work on the scheduled passenger trains to Eastleigh and Salisbury. Then there are through coaches to Waterloo with complete trains on Saturdays and I plan to
produce at least one excursion for each period.