Andoversford Junction

[Toddington Ted]

Well, everything salvageable has been salvaged and the fibreboards have been removed (with a hammer!) as I will re-cover the panel frames with thin plywood when I rebuild the layout after we have moved. I can't put a date on either the move or the rebuild yet so I've plenty of time to think of a new location to base the layout on. The MSWJR still appeals with its GWR flavour but also its use of all sorts of traffic during WWI and WWII so maybe Marlborough? Time will tell. One thing is certain, I have learned a great deal, not least that building a layout based upon a real place can be very tricky!

[Thisreallyisme]

I've only just happened on your Andoversford model photos. They have brought back to me memories of the time when, as a boy, I used the station fairly often. I lived for a time within walking distance of Cheltenham South and Leckhampton station, where I could catch a train to Andoversford to visit my grandparents, all four of whom lived there. I have a strong memory of leaving things to the last moment to catch the train home, and toiling up the slope to the station with the train already at the platform! Another memory is of seeing troop trains heading southwards, probably in preparation for D-day: on one occasion an uncle of mine came with me to wave to the soldiers when a train crossed over the A40 as it left the station. One of the soldiers threw something from a window, and my uncle went across the road to find it in the long grass at the foot of the embankment - a Mars bar! Seeing the model took me right back there, as if it were yesterday, and I am so grateful to you for allowing me to indulge in a spot of nostalgia.