Chew Magna

Gauge          O (43.5:1 / 7mm/foot)

Size              46' x 20" with 6' Fiddle Yard

Show            Clubs premier O gauge show layout

Description   The layout is set in a period between the late 1940's and the early 1960's and is based on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The initial layout was donated to the club by Les Pace of Northampton Model Railway Club, and has expanded significantly since.

Chew Magna is in the Chew Valley Parish in North East Somerset. The town lies between Wells and Bath. In the reality the railway never came to Chew Magna but in our model world it did! This was through the efforts first by a Railway Benefactor, Sir Les Pace a renowned locomotive builder from Northamptonshire. Following his gift to the town two local Squires, Squire Dale Heys and the Right Honourable Terence Rowe got involved as it was felt the line would not only benefit the town but the wider community as well.

Although the line was part of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway the Great Western Railway had running rights as it is linked to the GWR routes into Wales (via Bristol) and the West Country.