History

Dawlish Warren opened as Warren Halt in 1905 as two short platforms on the mainline, served by a railmotor service between Exeter and Teignmouth. The demand from day trippers was soon such that additional loops for stopping trains were added with much longer platforms. These loops were also useful for other slower trains such as freight trains to get out of the way of the faster express services.

Design concept

The design is based upon the layout as it would have been in the 1930s and 1940s, with additional goods loops added in front of the platforms. It also contains the sidings for the camping carriages which are still there (albeit now cut off from the railway).

As shown the platforms will accommodate 4-coach trains, although longer trains could be accomodated once the overall loop length is considered.

The fiddleyard has 6 main loops on both the down and up side, with the longest sidings able to accomodate 6-coach trains. Additional capacity could be added by increasing the number of ‘dead-end’ sidings; alternatively you could use these as loco cradles for turning locos or replace them with turntables. There are also two through lines for simply watching trains go by.

There are crossovers added to permit trains from either fiddleyard to leave in either direction on the correct (up or down) line. You could therefore start with 6 trains facing in each direction and then run them back the other way.

Seated in the middle, you would want to add views of the Exe estuary towards Exmouth and the open sea as your back scenes.

To see something similar in n gauge, click here to view Chris Morris’s excellent layout.

Trains you might want to run – 1930s

My own Dawlish in OO model railway is set in the 1930s so I have a fair idea on the types of trains you could fill the fiddleyard with to give an interesting sequence. I suggest:

Down:

• Sleeper train comprising mix of 3 carriages and 3 siphons
• Cornish Riviera with 6 centenary coaches
• Generic express from Paddington comprising 6 collet coaches – this could be run multiple times with different locos
• Local passsenger perhaps using 4 clerestory coaches – stopping at Dawlish Warren
• Pick up freight – held in loop at Dawlish Warren
• Milk empties comprising milk tankers and a siphon

 Up:

• Generic express to Paddington comprising 5 coaches plus a siphon – this could be run multiple times with different locos
• Torbay express
• Local passenger
• Train for Bradford comprising LMS coaching stock
• Parcels train with mix of siphons and parcels vans from other companies
• Fitted freight

Additional short trains such as engineering traing could be stored in the dead-end sidings plus a mix of other coaches and locos to add variety

This schedule would permit a minimum of 24 trains if each train is run in both directions; more if the London trains are run 2-3 times each way and with the odd extra train from the dead-end sidings.

I wish I’d built this railway – a lot simpler than the one I am building and it sounds like plenty of fun if you just want to watch trains go by!