By Terry Tracey
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I started work on Allhallows in late 2006. It was designed to be an exhibition layout 25ft long by 2ft wide. It came into being when I was showing some members of my model railway club (Leyland) pictures of the station and the beautiful 4 arm signal gantry that stood outside. Tony Bates, one of the members, told me that he would build the signal gantry if I would build the layout. I already had a permanent layout, half built at home, so Allhallows was planned to fit in the back of my car. After 2 exhibitions in 2008 my circumstances changed dramatically and I moved to Surrey. Allhallows came with me, but not Sittingbourne, which being my permanent layout proved impracticable to move. Allhallows now exists in its final 20ft x 10ft form in my railway room. It is no longer a portable layout for exhibitions as, after 18 years of exhibiting, I have decided to quit. It is now my permanent layout.
It is in a U shape. I have about finished the terminus and have brought the line round the curve of the U into the next station on the branch, which is Stoke Junction Halt. From here the line continues into a fiddle yard. It is about 43 foot long in total. Allhallows and Stoke Junction points and signals are controlled by fully mechanically interlocked lever frames, built as a copies of the real ones. I used the kits available from Modratec in Australia which are quite involved with all the tappets and slide bars, but very good.
I run the line to a timetable based on the 1954 stock and loco workings. The layout itself is as near to the prototype as possible within the space constraints. The biggest concession is the platform. The original was 685ft and could take a ten coach train. Mine takes a four coach train and, being in model form, looks about right.
In the real world there were 12 passenger trains each day plus a daily freight, of which I have been totally unable to find out what, if any, traffic was conveyed. The goods shed was demolished in 1951 having never been used.