Nettlebridge Vale
00 Scale, 36 @ 4.5 foot
Video
Green Lane
Elford
|
Pre nationalisation |
British Railways |
Blue |
Southern Railway |
Southern Region |
Brown |
Great Western Railway |
Western Region |
Black |
Somerset & Dorset |
Both the above |
History The Mellis Valley known as the
Nettlebridge Vale
at its western end, Wadbury Vale in its centre, and
Vellis Vale at its eastern end has a long
industrial and transport history.
Coal mining in the Mellis Valley
started in Roman times and continued until the closure of Mendip Colliery in
1969. Limestone continues to be quarried in the Vale. Mining and quarrying lead
to two serious efforts to improve transport in 1796 the Dorset and Somerset
canal was authorised but incomplete it went bankrupt in 1802 and the Nettlebridge Valley Railway was authorised in 1874 but abandoned in 1878.
Industry had to make do with inadequate industrial tramways linking to the
Somerset & Dorset [S&D] and Great Western [GWR] Railways.
I have changed history with the canal being bought to
completion and an expansionist London South Western Railway [LSWR] driving a
branch east from the S&D [jointly owned by the London South Western &
Midland Railways] at Binegar and the GWR buying the Bilboa Tramway and
converting it to a light railway. Then sanity breaks out the ‘mainline’ along
the Vale becomes jointly owned by the GWR and S&D. In 1923 the London South
Western Railway is merged
into the Southern Railway and Midland Railway is merged into the London
Midland & Scottish Railway. In 1948 the line becomes part of British Railways.
The Circle has three layouts based in the Mellis Valley
Nettlebridge Vale,
Wadbury Vale, and
Vellis Vale. The attraction is having the
S&D
(Southern and London Midland Scottish Railways) at the west end of the valley
and the GWR at the east end of the Valley. As several circles members model the
Great Western, Southern, and London Midland & Scottish Railways and their
successors this is a convenient mix.
An off shoot of the Pines Express uses the ‘mainline’ to link Manchester and
Southampton but other services on the ‘mainline’ are more pedestrian local
passenger and goods trains. The light railway provides a passenger service and
moves coal and limestone to an interchange with the ‘mainline’ and to the canal.
Both the mainline and light railway serve the industries attracted by good
transport, coal and limestone.