A long-gone sleepy byway in Essex is the subject of ALAN PUMFREY’s ‘OO’ gauge exhibition layout. He recalls his inspiration and reveals how he recreated it in model form.PHOTOGRAPHY, MIKE BISSET
I come from a railway family. My maternal grandfather was a goods guard in Suffolk while my mum was a porter at Gidea Park station during the Blitz and my dad progressed from Box Lad at Ipswich Junction signalbox to Chief Signalling Inspector, Eastern Region out of Liverpool Street until his retirement in 1974. I was born in the station house at Hatfield Peverel in Essex in late 1945 and so grew up with the love of steam trains: the smell and sounds are truly in the blood.
My very first recollection of steam was at the age of four, standing in the signalbox at Hatfield Peverel while my dad was on duty. A Down express roared past and under the road bridge, exuding smoke and steam. From that early memory, I was convinced it was a ‘Merchant Navy’ 4-6-2 on loan to the Eastern Region and I was pleased to eventually confirm through the Great Eastern Railway Society magazine that it was indeed 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair.
Above: Worsdell ‘J15’ 0-6-0 65456 trundles along the branch line bound for Wickham Bishops station, at the head of a …
