Some of you may know me and my previous layout, Lodge Valley (link in signature). This layout was a quick 6x4 to enable me to practice the art of railway modelling. With "completion" of the layout set for next year, my mind has already starting thinking about "the next project".....
I'd never particually planned on ever replicating a real station. I just enjoyed building my own minature world but all that is about to change. From where I sit at work I can see the York to Scarborough line, seeing trains arrive at Seamer on a daily basis. I assumed the station itself would have never changed from the way it looks today....
A simple island platform station with only 2 main lines and 2 siding which are not used. One signal box and generally, nothing much of interest to model.
But the history addict in me had to do some digging....I was amazed at what I discovered. Below is just a few of the many photographs I have found after months of research...
Seamer Station was opened in 1845 by the York and North Midland Railway company. It initally served as a stop on the York to Scarborough line, and eventually took on traffic from the Hull branch when a junction was created south of the station. In 1882 another branch line passed through the station from Pickering (known as the Forge Valley Line). A new down line was added, along with the extra platform and footbridge. A new signal box was built by the station (known as Seamer East) to deal with the new pointwork, the old 1845 signal box was no longer used but survived until the 1990s. Seamer became a unique station featuring two signal boxes side by side. The Forge Valley line was closed in the 1950's, the track was lifted and platform demolished. A BATA goods shed dealing general goods deliveries and coal staithes, just north of the station, has now been replaced by a car pack and the railway crossing has been replaced by a fly over bridge. An old livestock platform is now overgrown and has not been used since the Seamer Auction Market was closed and replaced by the idustrial estate. There was also a platform ramp for loading lime wagons from the local quarry, but again, has now been demolished as there is no working quarry. As you can probably tell, Seamer today is very much a shadow of it's former self.
With the brief history, I could forsee a lot more operating and modelling potential as well as a chance to preserve a slice of history in model form. I've met several people who used to work on the railway at Seamer who have been of great help building up the day to day life at Seamer. Luckily, I came across a plan for the station whilst the Forge Valley platform was still in service....
Now all I had to do was to create an 00 plan which best represented Seamer's past. The main condition of the layout is that it has to built in sections to allow me to remove it from the loft should we ever move (I've opted for 4 x 2 sections as this is the maximum that will fit through the hatch). I'm working towards DCC operation and the period I've opted for is between 1940-1950 so I can include the Forge Valley line. So....armed with google earth...I came up with this....
There will be some tweaks to come so any suggestions are welcome. The red lines indicate the start and end of the layout and hopefully everything else should make sense. Sorry for such a long read but I hope you've enjoyed it and look forward to any comments.
Thanks for looking,
Tom
