Model Railways

The GRETA VALLEY RAILWAY is 00 gauge set in the mid to late 1960's, my attempt at a representation of the Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith railway (CKPR) in it's British Rail days. It is a 'tail chaser' built in the garage loft space measuring 4 metres by 2 metres. The scenic area features single line working, two through stations, and my impressions of some of the iconic features of this famous Lake District line that closed after Beeching:  Thomas Bouch designed bow string bridge over the River Greta, the Mosedale viaduct, lakeside running beside Bassenthwaite Lake. The main station is based on the architecture and features of Keswick but re-named to reflect that it isn't a replica - the name Greta Valley is taken from the river valley that the original line followed between Penrith and Keswick. The secondary station takes elements from the original Bassenthwaite Lake station (named as such by the CKPR to attract tourists, it was actually at Peel Wyke) and Braithwaite. Consequently, I've christened it Thornthwaite which is the real hamlet between those two CKPR stations. My Thornthwaite station has a station building housing the local Post Office as per prototype, the little lakeside harbour which expands the reality of the Peel Wyke 'harbour', and a narrow gauge transfer siding. The CKPR had such an arrangement at Threlkeld for granite, and plans to do the same at Braithwaite with a narrow gauge line from the slate works at the top of Honister Pass, along the flank of Cat Bells (a famous Lake District fell) to meet the CKPR at Braithwaite.