Cheltenham South and Leckhampton – OO

Gauge: Finescale OO – 4mm
Scale: 1:76
Period: 1950’s Early B.R.
Type: Fiddle yard to Layout Circular
Viewing Dimensions: 12′ x 2′ 6″
Working area: 20′ x 9′ (Minimum)
Built By: GMRC – Phil & Graham
Sold To: Giles & Sarah (GMRC Members)

The right hand flap did not happen so the access is now only on the left of the layout shown here.

Leckhampton station was opened in 1881 as part of the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway with a single track.

In 1891 the Midland and South Western Junction Railway obtained running rights from Andoversford to Cheltenham and the track was doubled in 1900. In 1906 the platforms were extended and the name was changed to “Cheltenham South & Leckhampton”.

It is in this form that we are attempting to portray the station. Little changed until closure in 1962, other than another name change to simply “Cheltenham Leckhampton” in 1952, so we feel that we will be able to run sessions from the pre-grouping days to the BR era.

The layout is being converted from an end to end layout into a full circular one with a larger fiddle yard, this is a work in progress, which was started last April and near competition by June 2024 when Giles and Sarah hope to start exhibiting it again in its new format under the GMRC flag.

Cheltenham South and Leckhampton – History

Cheltenham South and Leckhampton station was opened originally as simply Leckhampton in 1881 on the single line Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway and was the last station on the line before it joined the Gloucester to Cheltenham main line with a loop towards Cheltenham. The name was soon changed to Cheltenham South and Leckhampton and incidentally gave the signal box the longest name plate on the GWR system.

Unfortunately both ends of the system met at Chipping Norton Junction, later Kingham, in a southerly direction on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) thus making a direct connection involving a reversal.

Following the Midland and South Western Junction Railway (MSWJR) reaching Andoversford and gaining running rights from the GWR via Cheltenham South and Leckhampton to Cheltenham that psrt of the route was doubled in 1900.

In 1906 a bridge over the OW&WR bypassed Kingham enabling through running from Banbury to Cheltenham. This enabled the running of the daily once each way Ports to Ports express between South Wales and Newcastle. North of Banbury the train was pulled by an LNER engine and southwards by a GWR engine. The train stock was alternately LNER and GWR. A spur junction (Hatherley Curve) was constructed towards Gloucester to avoid a reversal at Cheltenham.

The station was renamed simply Cheltenham Leckhampton in 1952.

Daily trains from Southampton were a feature from the MSWJR usually pulled by a “U” class 2-6-0 engine but “N” class locos were not unknown. These trains were reduced to a single one each day in the late 1950s.

The MSWJR was closed in 1961 and and Cheltenham South and Leckhampton only lasted until 1962 when it closed. The track was lifted in 1965.

The cutting in which the station stood is still there but is now inhabited by industrial units and flats. The bridges at each end still exist, one for the main Leckhampton Road (B4070) and the other an occupation bridge.