The West Dorset Light Railway

I've always liked the idea of starting from a wider concept and then building a model from these ideas. With a bit more time on my hands, I decided to have a go at a proper history for my OO layout; the West Dorset area has always interested me as I regularly go to Bridport, West Bay and Lyme Regis, whilst Gerry Beale's book on the Bridport branch is a fantastic read.

So I decided to have a look at where a line would be useful, and the town of Beaminster interested me. Up until the early 20th century, it was a very prominent producer of rope and sailcloth similar to Bridport, however its lack of a railway connection caused an untimely demise of the industry in the town as they were unable to acquire coal or transport their goods away, the nearest station 10 miles away.

But what if, similar to the Bridport branch but later on, after the introduction of the Light Railway Act in 1896, the mills in Beaminster decided to build a railway service their industries?

There would be two obvious options; join the LSWR at Crewkerne, or the GWR at Bridport or West Bay; or even both? Studying a 1950s OS map, (I know it's later but it gives the idea) and Google Earth as well as histories of Bridport and Beaminster allowed me to study a possible route. Another possibility is an extension to Charmouth for holiday and tourism traffic, in the same vein as the West Bay extension to the Bridport Branch.

Whilst I haven't planned the specifics, the line can follow the River Brit for a fair distance and otherwise the only possible issue is that it would have to probably go around Horn Hill in Beaminster. In terms of industry, the flax mills and ropemaking that line the River Brit (as they originally used water power) between Beaminster and Bridport provides a raison d'etre as such, as well as the powdered milk factory in Beaminster and the sailcloth manufacture. Passengers would be a smaller service but potentially some will join from the main line at Crewkerne.

This was an initial route plan, but terminating at West Bay rather than Charmouth- in terms of space, if the line wished to join the GWR it would struggle to join in Bridport however West Bay was rather under developed at the point of construction.

Obviously all a bit straight at the moment, but I am planning on zooming in and working out how the route may travel easiest through the scenery.

I think I will probably rework it without the West Bay part or GWR connection- the route more Crewkerne-Beaminster-Bridport-Charmouth. It will be to the west of Bridport as this is where many mills were situated, and the other side of town to the GWR stations.

In terms of how this translates to a model, I think the key will be compromise- I'm not planning on slavish copies of the area but similar to David Taylor's Bridport, a little rearrangement and picking out suitable buildings and features.

Pymore Mill


Lots of words but more pictures next time!