British Rail  Western Region
early 1980's
in EM gauge
Website last updated 21 Feb. 2010.  
(new pictures & exhibition details)
  visitors since July 2005.


Oldshaw is a small EM gauge model railway built by Andrew Bartlett from Stroud, near Gloucester. The layout depicts a small station and nearby factory and sidings on a Western Region branch line in the late 1970's or early 1980's. Blue diesels and vacuum fitted/ unfitted freight trains are operated. The passenger service is usually provided by a diesel multiple unit.

The scenic section of the layout is eight feet long by eighteen inches in width. There is currently just one fiddle yard which brings the overall length to twelve feet. The layout was built as a 'through' station and therefore it is possible to add a second fiddle yard at the other end but, so far, this hasn't happened.

Left: This class 101 unit is seen arriving at Oldshaw. The fiddle yard is just the other side of the overbridge.

This picture shows the bridge which carries the railway over the canal at Oldshaw. Today, 50 014 is visiting with an engineers inspection saloon. The station building can be seen in the background. All the buildings and structures on the layout are built from plasticard.

Right: 37 215 is seen passing Oldshaw signal box with a train of clayhood wagons. A private siding runs behind the signal box on a slightly lower level and into a small factory. The siding is usually shunted by a very rusty looking Sentinal shunter.

Below: A heavily workstained class 08 trundles past the factory with a brakevan in tow.

below: A class 31 hauled cement train is seen passing a coal train. The signal gantry is typical of several which survived in the West Country until the mid 1980's. Like the other signals on the layout it is soldered together using components supplied by Model Signal Engineering.

Above left: Oldshaw station building. This is based on the building at Arley on the Severn Valley Railway.

Above right: 03 121 sits in the headshunt next to the railway cottages.

Goods wagons are a mixture of kit-built and modified ready-to-run stock. The layout features a strong emphasis on weathering. Most of the rolling stock on the layout is fitted with Sprat and Winkle remote delay auto coupling. Despite their appearance they do allow completely hands free shunting and operating to take place as wagons can be uncoupled and then pushed and left anywhere on the layout.

EXHIBITIONS
Oldshaw will be at the following forthcoming exhibitions:

Trainwest Melksham, 10th & 11th April 2010.
Crawley, 17th & 18th April 2010.

     There are more pictures of the layout on the next page                                             Andrew Bartlett.  Email here.

My other website
REALLY GOOD TRAINS
features some of my BR slides from 1985 to 1996

Recommended link:
www.emgauge70s.co.uk
Kier Hardy's excellent website featuring several EM gauge diesel layouts including Wibdenshaw, Easington Lane and Canada Road.

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