Dent
‘00’ – BRISTOL EAST
Dent Station on the Midland Railway ‘Settle to Carlisle’ line must be one of the most modelled stations on the British Railway network. The station itself is one of the smaller ones on the line but it still captures the true Midland style, with a sturdy station building and up platform waiting room, limited goods facilities, and a shelter from the inhospitable weather for track gangers. The surrounding scenery is typical of the line, being bleak and desolate. The station stands alone in this landscape some three miles from the village of Dent.
The work of David Jenkinson was the inspiration for the layout. His articles for the Railway Modeller with a picture of Dent on the cover was just the sort of ‘real life’ layout that I really wanted back in the sixties. David Jenkinson’s book on the Settle and Carlisle was purchased and this added to my liking of the line with its tales of construction hardships, and operating difficulties.
Eventually space and time was available for my own version of Dent. Its then you realise that a small station in ‘real life‘ terms is still quit big as a model.
The layout was built as David Jenkinson’s, as an oval mainly to allow running at home. The idea being to set a train going and the sit back with a cup of tea and watch it.