The Essence of Swindon Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson

I think we all wish we had a time machine just to go back to the times we remember and even further back to before we were born, this especially applies to railway enthusiasts, I think, to the hey days of steam/diesel traction and in my case the iconic diesel hydraulics. As this is not technically possible the only way I can even attempt time travel is to create a model of an historical subject.

When Rodney, the editor, contacted me via a reply to a Facebook post relating to one of my model picture updates to see if I would be willing to write an article on my attempts on my current modelling subject and a background story, I can honestly say that it took me by surprise and I did think twice about replying.

Writing an article is not something I have attempted before so I hope some of you find this interesting as it does lie at the heart of the Great Western Railway.

My Background

I have been modelling railways many years on and off with mostly unsuccessful or unfinished projects with life getting in the now and again. I find as with most modellers I have met that we have many plans and a lot of enthusiasm as we set out on new layouts only to find that the interest wains over time and it just doesn’t turn out as well as it was in our minds. Born in 1970, I grew up about 30yards away from a railway embankment which my bedroom overlooked, unfortunately the trees were quite dense but I could still see the shapes and hear the sounds which started my interest at around seven years old.

My latest project and one which I hope you will like is based on Swindon Works. I am not what they call a rivet counter and definitely no expert. I do not go into the finest of details, for instance making sure the locos liveries exactly match the month portrayed in the photograph or that the head codes displayed on the models are correct.

It’s not that I do not disrespect the knowledge of some enthusiasts as the comments I receive regarding details are usually extremely helpful in gaining knowledge and I do change details that I can from the feedback.

The Essence of Swindon

The diorama is called the “Essence of Swindon” as its just what it says on the tin if you pardon the pun. I wanted to build an instantly recognizable model of the buildings but not an exact replica which is mainly down to time and space constraints.

The Diorama is 5.2ft long x 1.3ft wide (1600mm x 400mm) in OO gauge, it will run on a switchable DC or DCC power supply when complete as its around 85% finished. I started it in November 2020 and hope to have it all done by the end of July 2021.

When it is complete it will represent a very small section of Swindon Works in the final 25years, the early 60s through to the mid-eighties. So sorry steam fans the glory years will at present not be represented but never say never, it’s just the fact that I don’t own any or know enough about the steam years to be able to show this aspect of the Works.

AE Shop

I have attempted to model the exterior of the AE shop, if I have that termination correct. The area was close to the Swindon to Bristol main line As I understand it this was the area where locomotives were rolled out for some final checks, odd jobs that needed finishing, tinkering and possibly fuelling and lubricants. I believe that locos would not be started up and left running in the work shop due to the obvious exhaust fume issues which makes sense.

A diorama like this is ideal if you like collecting model locomotives and you don’t have the space to run full length trains of up to 12 carriages. I also think that, although it’s not a busy scene, it does provide many interesting cameos of the more mundane but very important tasks performed by a workshop.

A little bit on my background that eventually has links to what I model which is slightly surprising as I have lived in the Midlands all my life. The line on the embankment I mentioned earlier outside my bedroom window ran between Birmingham and Leicester. As I grew up, I used on occasional Saturday mornings when pocket money allowed to travel from my local station Nuneaton up to Birmingham New

Street platform 5, book in my carrier bag along with the standard jam sandwiches and bottle of rola cola pop.

Why Swindon?

This still does not explain why I have modelled a GWR Stronghold. Well, while spotting at New Street, the most interesting and exciting trains for me were the services to and from the South West in the hands of the class 47’s and 50’s. While spending a mis-spent youth on those platforms, the older spotters reminisced about stories and passing round pictures of the hydraulics that were displaced by the 50’s.

I was hooked and have been ever since, Westerns, Hymeks, Warships, and all the other smaller groups of hydraulic locomotives. As we know they were very well suited to and designed for the work they were required to do, some more reliable than others. Although I missed out on these magnificent machines I spend as much spare time as I can on preserved lines behind Hydraulic power when I can.

So that’s how we arrive at my time machine diorama and I must admit that I hang my head in shame having never visited the site before closure. I did manage to go to the area in the mid-90’s when it had opened some areas to a retail park with housing developments on the horizon. I still took a great interest in spotting how some of the history on the site had been preserved within the shopping centre, I thought it had been done very well, although some, I imagine may disagree but least even if it’s a conversation point for the generations that visit then its memory will survive.

The Present Day

Fast forward to 2020 and my son who was 21 went there during a shopping trip and sent me back

pictures of details that had been improved since I had last visited. That was enough to spark my modelling urge to build a little bit of history. Could I bring it back to a standard where enthusiasts would recognize it at a glance…?

This led me to an internet shopping spree of books old and new and rail print photograph’s that I pay a small amount for. I have listed some of the books at the end of this article. With the social media side, I also joined the “Swindon Works – End of The Line” face book group just to try and find and details of the inside and outside of the buildings I was modelling.

Keeping my head down just reading articles and very interesting posts as I felt like an intruder. How wrong I was, being one of the best decisions I made during this build. It turned out to be an unexpected and invaluable resource. When I finally plucked up the courage to ask a question, I not only had answers back but unpublished photos with detail that only the men that worked on the site would know. Not only did I get my answers it then sparked extremely and fascinating conversations between ex-employees, it was great for me and them, I think.

Back to the model, to be honest it’s not a very interesting track plan, 3 straight lines out of A shop with another 3 dead end tracks inside that are serviced by an imaginary traverser as I ran out of space, but I may extend the diorama in the future. I will be adding another removable front section soon with a couple of tracks so that I can have locomotives shown against the main building wall where they did seem to loiter.

As with most of my builds - and I would imagine a lot of modellers do the same - we start small then it just grows and gets out of control. The plan was to keep it small with just the outside exterior face

of the AE building so the locomotives could sit just outside the doors. Then I thought well if I take this to exhibitions then I will need the locos to appear emerging from the exit doors and it would be a good area to swap locos without them being seen.

I then studied the internal building behind the doors and my interest grew and grew, I thought well what about a bit of A shop? Then, over Christmas 2020, I thoought what about modelling one of the wonderful 100-ton cranes powered by two Ransoms and Rapier of Ipswich motors. Yes, that’s how I spent Christmas day at the modelling table, with lockdown 2 in place I had nowhere to go anyway, so why not.

One layout board then quickly turned into two and so on… I am actually not that good at making things up when modelling buildings and landscapes. I call myself a modelling cheat as I have to copy reality and only then do they seem to turn out slightly convincing.

Putting My Background to Use!

Working in manufacture myself for the same company over 35 years I have seen with my own eyes the way that a building can evolve over short periods of time, walls are knocked out, buildings are extended, etc. So, with nearly 150years on the Swindon site, I can only imagine the changes that were made. Another benefit I have is seeing the cables the pipes the electrical distribution boards, waste bins, tool chests, notice boards etc, etc, etc on a daily basis so I am honed in on the details, I suppose. Swindon being on a much bigger scale though, one funny comment that is repeated from the ex-employee’s group is that my model floor is far too clean!

Modelling 25 Years of Life in Swindon Works

As mentioned previously, the period modelled is over 25 years so, as well as changing the locomotives with their liveries, external changes also happened. Two large fuel tanks appeared, chimneys disappeared, the timber doors were replaced with roller shutters. All these items need to be modelled so that they are removable and interchangeable, dependent on the period, which adds to the planning and the time it takes. All the buildings have removable section sides, roofs and rear viewing panels, so I can take pictures inside the buildings from many different angles.

On the inside of the A shop building, I needed to give the impression of the vast Cathedral style expanse in a very small space so I had two options.

To call my local Time Lord and borrow his Tardis or use mirrors to the rear and the righthand side, I opted for the mirrors which are 3mm thick plastic so can be cut to shape. The buildings themselves are made from various thicknesses of card covered in printed blue, red and painted white brick paper. Even the weathered roof tiles are printed paper from Scalescenes, other materials used were plastic sections/rods, girders, laser cut MDF windows most materials being cut to shape following photographs and book pictures.

The main building windows were not readily available to the size required so I had to make these from scratch counting the bricks to work out the rough size. The windows above the AE entrance are hinged so I can prop them open as I had noticed that these were open in some pictures.

The model pictures I have taken from the inside of A shop show the number of small details that

have gone into the model. From buckets, paint tins, tools, benches, cupboards, pallets, oil drums, trollies, fire extinguishers, the list is endless. A lot of these were either bought as 3d printed models that needed painting or MDF lasered part kits which, in the last few years ,have become a lot easier to buy. I find a lot of enjoyment scanning over photos to pick out as many details as I can, it is surprising when you look over these initially and take a look again some days later, the items that you can miss.

The Weigh House

The other building on the diorama that the locos can enter or exit is the weigh house, the building that they would use to balance the weight of the loco evenly on to the bogie wheel sets. This obviously helped prevent wear and tear, the locos were weighed to ensure the correct axle loading to a given tolerance across the axle of the bogie and each bogie totalling the correct vehicle weight apparently…like I’m an expert!

The information on the weighing came from members of the Ex-Swindon employees’ site who have helped me throughout this build. The weigh house was just set to be a building externally based on the structure that still stands today repurposed into a restaurant, which I really must pay a visit to now, I think. Its modelled slightly in the wrong position but that was due to the space restraints. Upon modelling it I found a few pictures, one with quite a large subway staircase which seemed to disappear under the structure. From this I assumed it was to gain access to a pit or to a weigh scale maybe but again the Ex-Employees helped me out with some very interesting information and personal photographs.

Some of you may know that the stair case went under the weigh house to a myriad of tunnels, turning right under the front of A shop to Redcliffe Street. Then turning left through a dog leg right to Dean Street with stairs up to a small watchman’s hut then through a gate to the apprentice school.

Other members have mentioned they used it from the apprentice school to the canteen every day. These tunnels carried steam pipes and telephone lines - far easier than digging up paths etc to maintain them. I had many recollections of the tunnel use by lots of members that bought back a lot of memories I can imagine. It just blew me away that people were quite happy to help with the details.

Then we come to the inside. Again, I was not planning to model this but once I saw the photos, I had to try my best to model the weighing equipment and the pits. These included the timber wall and glass structure that separated the engineers from the locos. More information came flooding in allowing me to re-create what once were the six weighing machines, for instance, made by Henry Pooley and Sons 1930. Six, since these matched the wheel arrangement of the GWR steam locomotives. In one instance ,I posted photos to receive some great comments, one being the fact that I had missed the Foreman’s office by the main front window so I set to a make a model of it. Apparently, some workers would lock themselves away on weekday nights on time and a half pay…

Its all the stories and recollections of the works that have turned this model into a time machine. I think, it’s the most enjoyable project I have produced to date because of this.

I initially bought Lima OO gauge warships and Western locomotives from a well-known auction site fairly cheaply, I would then detail these up adding etched numbers and nameplates. A few paper clips made up the air hoses then weathered them using paints and weathering powders. As these are fairly cheap, I have bought a few non-runner items that I cut up removing roof panels and opening up head code boxes so they look like they are under maintenance. At some point, I want to model the 100ton crane lifting a Western body shell. I suppose, in the future, I could make the crane actually operate.

During the current unfortunate situation, I have actually saved money on petrol through not going to watch football games with Leicester City for my sins. With spare cash rattling around I have purchased what I call my “lock down locos”. More expensive but highly detailed locomotives, Bachmann Warships, Dapol Westerns and Heljan Hymeks.

I’m still around a month from completion, I think, I need another section to hold a loco as it passes though the weigh house - this will become my fiddle yard. It needs a fascia pelmet with lighting and a black curtain to the base to give it a more professional look.

I want to model the Hydraulic heyday, then the build and repair programmes but I’m also collecting maintenance of weigh cranes, EMUs and BR blue diesels classes 03s, 08s, 25’s 40’s 45’s as I have pictures in the later years of the work that was performed keeping Britain’s railways running.

A few thank yous to the members of the ExSwindon End of the Line employees too many to mention but particularly Jack Haywood, Martin Evenett, Ken Goodwin, Ron Bateman.

Main Books used:

Swindon Works through Time – Andy Binks and Richard Timms Swindon Rail Scene – Hydraulics to HST’s – Gary Stroud The End of The Line – Ron Bateman The Great Western At Swindon Works – Alan S.Peck Great Western Steam – Brian Morrison