New Bury St Edmunds Station Layout | THE BURY ST EDMUNDS MODEL RAILWAY CLUB

As 2024 is the Clubs 75th Anniversary year we decided that we needed a new Club Exhibition Layout to celebrate this. Appropriately we decided to build a model of Bury St Edmunds Station and to set it in the 1950’s, the twilight years of steam when the Engine Shed was still active.The station itself was built in 1847 for the Ipswich and Bury railway, later amalgamated into the GreatEastern and is an architectural gem listed in Simon Jenkins’ book Britain’s 100 best RailwayStations.

The architect was Sancton Wood and the most noteworthy feature of the station, which is constructed of red brick with stonedressings, is a pair of towers on either side of the tracks at the eastern end of the layout; these were linked originally by an overall roof, removed in 1893. It was built first as a terminus; the station had four tracks, although in practice only one platform was used before the line was extended to Newmarket in 1854.

It is a Grade II listed building and reflects the Victorian’s love of complex and ornate brickwork. The station was built on a mound elevated above the surrounding roads, and the track bed is above that at first floor level, with the platform and canopies rising above higher still. There are significant if complimentary buildings on both sides of the tracks which incorporate not just the usual ticket office and waiting rooms, but also the Station Master’s house and administrative offices. All the different levels give an aesthetic that make very interesting viewing but are proving a challenge to build and model. It gives the scene substance due to it “not being on the flat” and having to fit into the landscape instead of the landscape fitting round the station.

Just beyond the eastern (Ipswich) end of the station, the semi-elliptical brick arch bridge over Northgate Road, is a Grade II listed structure like the station itself; it has been credited to Frederick Barnes, who was a partner of Sancton Wood and Charles Russell.
At the Western end is the station yard incorporating an engine depot which we will also be modelling and the line into a goods yard which lies outside the area of the layout.
This is an ambitious project particularly considering the timescale we were setting ourselves as we wanted it to be running, not necessarily finished, for our September 2024 Exhibition in St Edmundsbury Cathedral. The Layout has been designed from the outset to come in two sizes to accommodate different types of exhibitions. The full size comprising the station and yard is 9×3.6 meters. The short form which includes the station but not the yard and engine shed is 5.4×3.6 meters.

Some pictures of the layout in it early stage of baseboard construction. Fortunately the club had access to extensive workshop facilities courtesy of its chairman.

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