The Richmond Ferry, which bore a strong family likeness to its three real sister ships, was fitted out during a NATO posting to Brunsuum in S.E.Holland in the early 80s and benefited from a wide selection of ships’ fittings from a specialist shop in nearby Aachen. The model returned home on the back seat of my car aboard the St Elois train ferry from Dunkirk to Dover.
Sad though it was to see Keyhaven leave in 2005 I just could not fit it into a new property in Suffolk, it was a great relief to know that it would be in the very capable hands of the New Forest Model Railway Society. I kept the down-and-under extension which was below the baseboards and this long, 4-road length with crossovers, is still destined to become a test track in the loft at Aldeburgh. It is now operational again despite lying fallow for several years.
Keith Batt
Aldeburgh November 2008
Aldeburgh November 2008
Keyhaven Motive Power Depot
during renovation
could become an exhibition layout which is why the control panel could be reconnected from behind the backdrop. In the event, once it was ‘at home’, there it stayed and I indulged my bad habit of modifying or building new locomotives instead of properly finishing other things which I had started many years before.
In 1987, Keyhaven left North Yorkshire for ever (it had been there on three separate occasions over 16 years). The insulated Brockenhurst garage proved to be a very satisfactory home where, fortunately as it turned out, I resisted the temptation to dilute its self contained, portable nature. From the beginning, I rather hoped that it
photograph of the Hampton Ferry on her last cross-channel trip. The highly detailed overhead picture had been taken from a Photo Reconnaissance Canberra of No 39 Squadron RAF to mark the withdrawal of the three 1935 vessels. (note, Not the one above. Ed.) The top deck images were more useful than ships’ drawings, which is what I had hoped to find at Dover to supplement my earlier, ground level photographs.
The French crew were all ex Twickenham and insisted on a group snapshot on the boat deck around the model as we came into the dock at Dover. I also enjoyed a conducted tour of the heavily laden train deck and a restaurant receipt printed for the Twickenham nearly 5 years after she had been withdrawn.
‘Tis always emphasised how important it is to pay particular attention to laying perfectly level track and I can endorse this advice 100%. My cork based floating track on the soft fibre baseboard surface was ‘all right’ but by the time I had graduated exclusively to Nucro/Romford wheel sets, it became increasingly necessary to make a lot of adjustments including the need to replace certain points with turnouts built in situ. From the outset, I had tried to avoid less than 3 ft radius curves on principal routes, but of course, this precaution could not, by itself, guarantee smooth running. A very slightly oversized back-to-back was also helpful.
Totton and Brockenhurst schools to very kindly drive me to Dover (in thick fog!) to photograph one of the train ferry vessels. Fortunately, the Shepperton Ferry was there and I used a lot of 35mm film at the quay side. The prints, plus invaluable
Keyhaven was a long time in the making - worldwide. Its roots really began in the traditional, for those of my generation, Hornby Gauge 0 system. This had a Southern maritime theme with a 20v 4-4-2 masquerading as Lord Nelson that brought boat trains alongside a large wooden, commercially made Queen Mary berthed near my attempt to paint Rank’s Flour Mill on the back drop: you could just about see the real things from Eling Quay at the end of Eling Lane where I spent my youth.
Very reluctantly, I sold my pride of Binns Road when I joined up and for seven years I was without a model railway. By 1959, however, it was all too much and whilst serving at RAF Hereford the idea of a train ferry model in 4mm began to take root with motorising a Kitmaster Battle of Britain to see if I could cope with small scale modelling. By the time
As may be seen from the MRN article of March 1965, the Hobby Shop facilities and the carpentry skills of the resident instructor (and railway modeller) Flight Sergeant Robinson at RAAF Edinburgh Field, South Australia provided an outstanding opportunity to make high quality baseboards to fit my projected track plan. Meanwhile, using a military packing case for a workbench, a Tri-ang “Nellie” was modified into C14 30588 and I produced a scratchbuilt chassis for a Kitmaster Schools. I had taken with me some Hamblings driving wheels and bits and
pieces from ERG at Boscombe for the project.
It was now time to think about a vessel to fit the dock created in the first baseboard and time to decide on a name for the whole thing. Dover wouldn’t do because life would be too short to do it justice and somebody would always be on hand to point out its shortcomings as a scale model. Far from home, “Keyhaven” became
knew and liked the district and no one could quibble
knew and liked the district and no one could quibble
more and more attractive: it was on the coast in Southern territory, I
about how many sidings, doors or windows the prototype had.
Why a train ferry terminal? Chiefly because it would provide a variety of operating possibilities, the Southern/BR(S) had one, building a model vessel with authentic hidden sidings for up to 10 carriages would be a challenge and judging by the model press, the concept had been curiously neglected.
The period would be BR(S) with a South Western flavour 1950-1960 later extended to 1963 to justify some models of the Eastleigh built JA/Class 73 diesel electrics in their initial green livery.
The period would be BR(S) with a South Western flavour 1950-
Then another lucky break. After nearly 3 years in the Antipodes, I was called back to London for an interview and before returning to Adelaide, this flying visit provided just enough time for my longstanding friend and fellow railway enthusiast, John Cronan from
information from ‘Train Ferries of Western Europe’ by P. Ransome-Wallis provided the blueprints for shipbuilding although at this stage, I had little or no idea of the vessel’s ‘top side’ features and fittings.
So it was that in 1964 three pairs of virgin baseboards in specially made packing cases arrived unscathed at the RAF Regiment Depot Catterick and a cycle shop in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex (Ray Rippon) provided the Firmway Code
90 BH N/S half-track and points. By the end of 1966 at Catterick, and despite Aden & Southern Arabia interrupting things (no modelling out there!), the permanent way was laid, wired and ballasted and a rudimentary control panel allowed test running.
I left RAF Odiham in 1962 bound for Australia, the Keyhaven track plan had been finalised on paper and a small selection of general purpose rolling stock, mostly kit built, was
packed away for future use.
But I digress from the main purpose of this note about 4mm modelling and it was back to Catterick where the 32 Keyhaven turnouts received their modified Bemo point motors and an Anglicised Fleishmann turntable replaced my scratch built, non-automatic version.
Later, in between operational excursions to N. Ireland, a milestone occurred at RAF Wittering when I laid the shaped, horizontal plywood of the Richmond Ferry ‘keel’. The impetus for this came from a visit to the Dover BR Marine HQ where, in his office, the Marine Superintendent had an excellent aerial
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My link-span lifting gantry was modelled on the one at Harwich which, interestingly, had a South Coast connection. The prototype was moved from Richborough in Kent when the pioneer wartime cross channel train ferry service was discontinued after WW1. (A pity that it was not the other gantry at Southampton for the WW1 route to Cherbourg, but that seems to have been broken-up.)
Two years at the Pentagon in the early 70s provided some interesting steam and other excursions on American railroads but little
in the way of progress on Keyhaven apart from collecting Kaydee couplings which I intended to use but never did. However, some UK leave did provide an opportunity to start fitting-out half of the Brockenhurst double garage which had just been built chiefly to accommodate Keyhaven.
Courtesy Nigel Thornton
Courtesy Nigel Thornton
Hampton Ferry
Twickenham in dock