Hartburn 
Ian Manderson EM gauge 4mm scale
Hartburn is a small village in Northumberland. It was never served directly by rail but lay just north of the old Wansbeck Valley Railway from Morpeth to Redesmouth, with the nearest station being Angerton.
However, the original plan put forward in 1855 to link Morpeth and Rothbury proposed a line running via Meldon, Hartburn and Longwitton. This proposition pre-dated the Wansbeck Valley. A survey and report was produced by John Willet but nothing came of the project and Rothbury was eventually linked to Morpeth by the Northumberland Central Railway (NCR) that joined the Wansbeck Valley at Scot's Gap.
I have therefore based the plan for the layout on the assumption that this original route was built. The track�plan is based upon an amalgamation of the 1862 and 1896 layouts for Angerton. The station buildings are based on those at Brinkworth on the NCR.
The layout is set around 1962/3 just prior to closure. Occasional freight trains still pass through on their way to Rothbury hauled mostly by ex�LNER J27s. It is imagined a token passenger service is still in operation, being handled by one of the ubiquitous Metro�Cammell DMUs.
The layout started out as a test track that quickly took on a life of its own. It has allowed me to experiment with rural modelling, having for so long modelled urban decay, and also see whether I can survive operating a three turnout layout for two days.
