Eridge

Presented by The Kent Area Group

Eridge was a rural junction on an ex-LBSCR secondary main line near the Kent/Sussex border.  As the map shows, routes once radiated from Eridge to London (via Croydon), Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, Eastbourne and Brighton.  More recently, the Eastbourne and East Grinstead routes have closed altogether and the one to Brighton has been cut short at Uckfield, while the Tunbridge Wells line is now the preserved Spa Valley Railway.  So although the station is still there, it now boasts just a basic hourly service in each direction between London Bridge and Uckfield.

Our model of the station depicts it in the 1950s/1960s period when all five routes were still open.  The station area is modelled at full scale length and the track plan is an exact copy of the original, though we have invented a cutting and road overbridge at the London end to create a scenic break.  Stock available so far leans towards the earlier part of our modelling period, so we’re pretty well off for the type of mostly ex-LBSC and SECR locos and stock which would have been seen at Eridge in the 1950s.  There is also a representative selection of more modern steam power but we are still in the throes of putting together the stock we need to cover the early diesel era, when the station remained largely unchanged but the trains serving it were changing fast.

The accompanying video gives more detail on the construction of the model – which remains very much a work in progress – as well as showing a representative selection of trains.  We hope you enjoy it.