Horsted Keynes
2mm/ft N gauge, by Alan Brewster
Horsted Keynes is a junction station on the line originally built to run from Lewes to East Grinstead. Operated from 1882 by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) up to 1923 when the line became part of the Southern Railway. In 1948 the line along with the rest of the rail network was nationalised as British Railways. The era covered by the model is during the 1950's.
The model has taken 10 years to construct and, like many others is is not yet complete. It is hoped that the general atmosphere of this part of Southern England has been captured. Horsted Keynes is still operational as part of the Bluebell Railway.
The buildings are made from business cards and finished with various overlays. Look into the booking hall to see passengers purchasing their tickets. The signals are made from components available from Model Signal Engineering. Over 700 metres of wire are contained under the baseboards.
The rolling stock is still being developed to give a more accurate collection of that run on the line during the time modelled. Special trains will be run as part of the operations depicting the latter days of the line before its final closure to steam on 15th March 1958. However, the electric services via Ardingly and Haywards Heath continued until October 1963.
