On the trail of the Titfield Thunderbolt and other stories…

Last Sunday I did not expect to tour the old Camerton branch but Simon turned off the road on our way home from Cranmore on to a narrow, tree lined lane and we were transported away from the hustle and bustle of the main road to the quiet of this magical valley just south of Bath…

Still from the film, Midford viaduct in the background.

The branch had been closed in the 50s and afterwards, Ealing Studios rented it for the filming of ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’. Whether you enjoy the films storyline or not, its depiction of a British countryside being changed forever by the march of buses and cars and genuine personal private rather than public transport is full of rose tinted warmth. 

Today the valley is as quiet and magical as ever… the railway was lifted after filming but a lot of the line was used by Bath council for dumping rubbish in the old cuttings! Despite this plenty of railway infrastructure and alignment can be picked out…

I had already felt a draw back to some steam modelling. Selling Pont Dulas was the right thing to do, but drawing upon that layout and its creation, enjoying the Pannier tank at home on the Llangollen and looking at books on The Forest of Dean branch… all of this was only supercharged by last Sunday. The beauty, relaxed pace, the imagined ‘quiet between trains’…

My life is full of distraction. Even in the shelter if railway midelling I’m surrounded by books, by models of different periods, locations, countries! The thread that connects them all is ‘model railway’, the solace I find when immersed in there alternate reality is a lesson long learnt and regularly practiced. 

The itch to build something branch-line based is strong… 

For now, enjoy the distraction of a few poorly composed photos and superimpose your own memories or current muse or inspiration. I’m sketching coal branches in the Forest of Dean and wondering if it’s time for a second coffee yet?

Midford, the classic view from the Somerset and Dorset station, Camerton branch railway arch dead centre, S&D viaduct to my right.  

Railway over the road, but in this case just a lane. Used in the film with the bus rushing through and having to stop because of a car I think..,

Gates of the station at Titfield, railway ran through the garages, metal barn would have been behind us…

Driving on the old trackbed at Moncton Combe, now part of a sprawling private school site. Road passes over, another railway chasing the bus scene.

Old timetable up at Midford.

Midford station.

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