THE IDEA !

My passion has always been locomotives and they have to be 'British Railways' locomotives in use from 1948 onward, in other words they have to have a British Railways crest. I do like modern diesels both in the BR blue period and the privatised liveries at the present time, for modelling purposes I stick with BR 1948-1968 stock.

My fondest memories are of the steam / diesel transition period when the railway was being transformed and there was a magical mixture of old and new traction to be seen all over the country. My travels in steam days were sadly confined to; in and around Glasgow and Edinburgh, however my apprenticeship with British Rail Engineering Ltd which commenced on August 12th 1968 (the day after steam was abolished from BR!) opened new horizons and the BR Priviledge Ticket and Free Pass were used to their limit on many journeys around the network. This is where my visits to many Motive Power Depots has left me with this passion to re-create the scene. (I know it was all diesel & electric by then but the atmosphere of the old steam depots still lingered on.)

BERMUDA ROAD ?

Bermuda Road ? Never heard of it. You're right its a fictitious location and the name derives from its design and is courtesy of a 'Geezer' friend of mine John Etherage a fellow MMRS member who upon seeing the design immdiately uttered the phrase 'Bermuda Triange', for the concept of the layout is a Motive Power Depot based on the principle of a triangle to turn locomotives rather than the conventional turntable, this idea was used at several depots around the country in real life, the closest to me in my childhood was AYR.

In essence the layout is 'h' shaped and end-to-end rather than a continuous run. There is provision for a 4 road Motive Power Depot for steam locomotives and a modern 2 road Traction Maintenance Depot for the diesel fleet, run-round loops are provided for shunting of coal and stores and a siding for the breakdown crane. Coaling facilities are confined within the triangle and a fuelling point is within the separate TMD area. The fiddle yard will be located at the 'small' end of the 'h'. The viewing side is the long leg of the 'h' with the triangle being formed between both, a track plan will be uploaded soon for you to view.

I will pen an historical theory for the layout's existence once I have thought of something convincing.