South Midland Railway

Seasonal acitivity has begun at Deddington Junction.

Hornby's long-awaited Tintagel Castle was delivered to join the top link at Hempton shed this summer. It will be put to work on the Oxfordshire Belle between Deddington and Kirkburton, hauling our new rake of Pullman 12-wheelers, with or without observation car. Sometimes it will stand in for Sketty Hall on the Exmoor Express comprising Baba's 1930s Centenary stock.

Take a wander through the rolling stock sidings here.

The delayed arrival of the former LBSCR 'Terrier' 060T completed the trio of LSWR locos now given stabling facilities at Hempton MPD. The reason for the difference in the shades of green is that the Terrie is in pre-1917 livery; the others post 1917. Some LSWR and other pre-grouping goods vehicles hav arrived from Robbies Rolling Stock which will provide work for the M7. The express T9 'Greyhound' will haul period GWR and Midland Railway passenger stock.

Bachmann LMS corridor vehicles, optionally coupled to one or two full-brakes can now be hauled by the beautiful Bachmann Patriot recently allocated shed space at Hempton.

To kick off the 2011/12 season, the gas works siding has been installed ahead of schedule. This involved a complete site re-arrangement and building a cantilevered extension to the base-board.

Photos of the finished job will follow.

Replacement Peco panels for the two double-slip point sets have been installed.

	Work-in-progress and latest news 2011/12
Seasonal acitivity has begun at Deddington Junction. Hornby's long-awaited Tintagel Castle was delivered to join the top link at Hempton shed this summer. It will be put to work on the Oxfordshire Belle between Deddington and Kirkburton, hauling our new rake of Pullman 12-wheelers, with or without observation car. Sometimes it will stand in for Sketty Hall on the Exmoor Express comprising Baba's 1930s Centenary stock. Take a wander through the rolling stock sidings here.
	Over the summer period, locos from neighbouring railways have been arriving at Hempton in line with SMR's new open and pregrouping policies. We have taken delivery of two Hornby special edition LSWR locos sourced from eBay (seen below) and the NRM's fine edition of the Bachmann Great Central heavy goods (left). Under arrangements with these companies, these locos will work SMR diagrams as required.
The delayed arrival of the former LBSCR 'Terrier' 060T completed the trio of LSWR locos now given stabling facilities at Hempton MPD. The reason for the difference in the shades of green is that the Terrie is in pre-1917 livery; the others post 1917. Some LSWR and other pre-grouping goods vehicles hav arrived from Robbies Rolling Stock which will provide work for the M7. The express T9 'Greyhound' will haul period GWR and Midland Railway passenger stock.
	The Terrier was pressed into service, helping out on the Barford branch while we had a temporary shortage of panniers, now resolved. It is likely to remain based at the Barford sub-shed.
Bachmann LMS corridor vehicles, optionally coupled to one or two full-brakes can now be hauled by the beautiful Bachmann Patriot recently allocated shed space at Hempton.
	The demand for through passenger workings from the Midlands has extended back in time to the pre-grouping era. So a pair of Midland Railway clerestory corridor coaches, a 1st/3rd composite and a brake/third (now with interior paint and upholstery refurbishment) have been sourced off eBay as have a pair of Midland Railway clerestory non-corridor coaches. Either set can be hauled by the LMS Crab in near-Midland Railway livery. They could also be hauled by a LSWR loco or indeed the S&DJR 4-4-0 (on order).
To kick off the 2011/12 season, the gas works siding has been installed ahead of schedule. This involved a complete site re-arrangement and building a cantilevered extension to the base-board. Photos of the finished job will follow.



	Nearly finished, still in engineers' possession. More photos to follow.
Replacement Peco panels for the two double-slip point sets have been installed.	With their finer construction than the 30-year old sets, they appear to have eliminated derailments.
	At Hempton shed, still to build are the stairs each side of the coal plant. Other plans for 2011/12 include refurbishing the High street and platform paving. The Replica pannier now runs well with a replacement motor pod as does the Hornby Dean pannier with a complete chassis transplant. One of the replacement motors from ModelTorque in Australia has been fitted successfuly into the Hawksworth pannier; the other two Lima models should be fixed soon. A web page featuring SMR's rolling stock is now available here.
Refit early 2007/ 2008 Refit autumn 08 Refit autumn 09 Back to the top of this page	Prehistory Change of scale Lambourn Raising the game in the interim years The birth of Deddington Junction Early years at Deddn Jn Re-wiring and first refurbishment The Grand Refit Building Barford terminus Hempton shed refit Work in progress - latest news Thirty Years On – Grand Re-opening Gallery 1 Gallery 2 Gallery 3; fin de siècle Gallery 4 The Deddington Junction mythology Loco power Rolling stock Track plan Electrics Museum Thomas and friends