It's been a long and arduous process but, at 29 years old and after extensive delaying tactics despite being urged by the wifey to take it up, I have finally settled upon the location to be modelled. Tucked away nicely beneath the Clifton Suspension Bridge was the old terminus of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier Company, a short line that ran between Avonmouth and Hotwells along the bank of the River Avon. Despite such a diminuitive status next to the likes of Temple Meads and its hefty railway presence not 2 miles away The BPR&P was eventually absorbed jointly by the Midland and the Great Western as the port at Avonmouth grew and despite having been bypassed by the line under Clifton Downs managed to retain a reasonably frequent train service of passenger trains for dock workers commuting out of Bristol. This need was so heavily felt that when the line was closed to allow the Portway Road to be built in 1922 the GWR had to put on additional services between Avonmouth and Clifton Downs purely to cater for the traffic that formerly used Hotwells. Hotwells was, for all intents and purposes, an extremely small branch line terminus in a cramped space with a tunnel at one end - the exact type of layout that so many opt for. I have a couple of baseboards that were built for an aborted teenage attempt at a Western Region branch terminus which have been sitting around with nowt to do until now. A few measurements off google earth have revealed that it isn't too unrealistic to have a 6 foot scenic area which isn't a problem considering the short wheelbase 4 wheel carriages that were the staple diet. As for the kicker that has brought the wifeys blessing? Hotwells was also the terminus of one of Bristol Tramways routes, so with a small extension to one end a little fiddle yard can be added for her to run Trams as well. Small compromises and all that.
