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GUEST LAYOUT - O GAUGE - BLOWERS GREEN
by Bill Connelly
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Welcome to Blowers Green, a slice of the West Midlands just a stone's throw from Dudley.
Situated on a secondary main line, a wagon repair yard is the main feature of the layout
where a variety of rolling stock can be seen undergoing maintenance. here BRCW type
3 number 6518 (Heljan) keeps BR Swindon built 03382 (DJH kit) company in the reception
road headshunt.
This view captures virtually the whole yard with 08555 on duty. Some of the S & T gang
are awaiting the arrival of the crew buses in preparation for the re-signalling scheme.
The chain link fence separates the repair yard from a siding which can be used for a
variety of purposes, to portray a permanent way scene or even part of a heritage railway.
The yard is based on a former wagon repair depot which was located in Birmingham, set in
the BR blue period covering 1968 to the 1980s and designed to show that a medium sized
7mm finescale layout can be a little more than just a shunting plank. Occupying the repair
roads are a selection of Tippler, Mineral and Open wagons awaiting attention.
This 12 ton standard ply sided van is built from a Parkside Dundas kit, the weathering
copied from prototype photographs. The layout has been developed from an original format
of 2 baseboards with backscenes from a previous project, and extended to incorporate a
tunnel at one end, and a station at the other.
The operation of the layout involves passing suburban and short freight formations, as well
as trip workings with crippled or repaired rolling stock. Not often modelled, are these
concrete stop blocks at the end of repair roads number 1 & 2.
Very much a 'might have been' layout, the wagon repair yard is situated on the now mothballed
line between Stourbridge junction and Wolverhampton, just south of Dudley Tunnel on the site
of the former Blowers Green Station near Netherwood Junction. Showing a view across the yard,
the toilet block and stores building removed to show off the portable cabins and wheelsets.
Captured at rest in the reception road headshunt is 47068, a detailed and weathered Heljan model.
Based on a smaller version of the station building at Tyseley, it's located on the road overbridge
providing a convenient scenic break. The plans for the station building were produced as a CAD
file and sent to York Modelmaking for laser cutting.
Not quite so visible to the public is the interior of the station and booking office.
At the other end of the layout above the tunnel is this car dealership constructed from a Kingsway
Models card kit, which comes with plenty of alternative signs and components to make it your own.
These 4 vanwides were built from Staters kits, each van detailed and weathered differently from
photographs.
In this view 03382 serves as the yard pilot, stabled in the customary position during a lull in
activity, whilst usual resident 08555 is away at Bescot receiving attention.
A pair of Class 20s stand in the departure road waiting for their train of repaired wagons
to be propelled onto them by the yard pilot.
08555 (built from an Oakville kit) shunts the reception road, whilst 20021 stands in the
number 1 repair road headshunt.
Looking down from the road over bridge, 31193 (Heljan) is captured after having delivered more
wagons for attention.
08083 awaits its next shunting duty. This is a detailed and weathered Dapol model.
The Southern brake is a weathered and detailed Dapol RTR model, whilst the 16 ton mineral
was constructed from a Peco kit.
