Benter Railway 
John Perrett OO9 gauge 4mm scale
This OO9 model is based on Moorewood Colliery and tramway, which was on the southern Mendip coalfield in Somerset.
The colliery was sunk in the ten year period between 1860 and 1870, flooded in 1873. Re-opened about 1909 with the tramway constructed in 1913-14. This line led to Moorewood sidings on the Somerset & Dorset Railway, where nearby quarried stone was already being loaded. The tramway closed sometime between 1925 and 1930, with the colliery closing in 1932.
My model is made of mainly secondhand materials, from baseboard framing to rails. The scenic areas are supported on pieces of corrugated card, crumpled a bit and glued down. Old newspapers form the detail undulations and make a good surface to glue scenic materials.
Rail is soldered construction, from OO gauge components, the points being of pivoted operation. All points and uncoupler controls are manual, wire in tube or bicycle spokes.
Much of the rolling stock is altered N gauge, although some new secondhand items are being used.
The layout is self supporting with painted sheet board frontage, not curtains. Three spotlights mounted on timber posts are used. The model itself is fairly open in appearance with few cameos and little clutter. The backscenes are painted to represent the typical sky of the area.
Moorewood Colliery provides the main interest, with working pit wheel, a visible machine wheel in the winding house and the powered incline.
We always try to operate in hands off mode especially with coal wagons using the incline.
