WESTCLIFF - EM Gauge
Sun, Sea and Shingle, Dorset’s Riviera.
By Richard Butler
Westcliff is a ‘might have been’ whose location is based on the Dorset seaside town of West Bay, Bridport’s harbour, as it might have evolved by the 1920s. When the railway arrived at West Bay in 1848 there was the expectation that the town would grow into a seaside resort in the same way as Bournemouth or Weymouth had done. In the event this did not happen. However, in our version of events the existing station was moved to make way for developments in the town and a larger station built in a new location under the ‘west cliff’ to cater for a now intensive service of main line holiday expresses and local passenger trains. Goods trains bring supplies into the town and service the harbour via a short branch line. Extensive carriage sidings and loco facilities are located off the main line to the east of the station, beyond the bridges carrying the footpath to the promenade.The model has won many awards including ‘The best of the best’ at ExpoEM at Bracknell, celebrating 60 years of the EM gauge Society.It has featured in ‘British Railways Modelling’ ‘Railway Modeller’ and ‘Model Railway Journal’.
