Son of Sarre – AKA Queen Charlotte Dock
The replacement layout for Sarre is now being worked on. After quite a bit of planning and discussion we have decided on a two-level urban design. Passenger traffic into a two-platform terminal on a raised viaduct with a fiddle yard at the left-hand side. Underneath there is a large goods yard which emerges from the viaduct – hiding two fiddle yards.
There is plenty of operational scope and Chris is devising a ‘history’ of the location.
Queen Charlotte Dock – A History
Queen Charlotte Dock was the first and smallest dock to be built on the Isle of Dogs in East London. Built in 1796 it was named Queen Charlotte Dock in honour of the wife of George III and its success led to the creation a few years later of the London Docks system. Overshadowed by the later and larger docks it largely escaped the public mind but continued as an important part of the London Docks system handling a wide range of goods etc. Indeed, over the 180 years of the life of Queen Charlotte Dock its storage facilities were often used as an overflow capability for the other docks until their closure in the 1970’s.
As with the rest of the London Docks System goods were received and sent all over the country leading to an enormous variety of wagons and other goods vehicles being seen there from many different railway and private owner companies.
During the General Strike of 1926 dock workers at Queen Charlotte Dock carried on working alongside those at Millwall Dock while those at the other London Docks, who were principally West Ham supporters, came out on strike. Bitter violent clashes ensued and to this day the intense and often violent rivalry between the two sets of fans continues.
Incredibly unlike the rest of the London Docks Queen Charlotte Dock was largely unaffected by the Blitz in the Second World War and indeed none of Hitler’s bombs are known to have fallen on it. This stroke of good fortune contributes in some way to the hive of activity at Queen Charlotte Dock during the period now being modelled.
Work on ground cover and track infilling needs to be completed.
Early days with Chris and David working on the permanent way.
Setting up QCD for the running test
Running the full layout before the Bexhill show
Running the full layout at the Canterbury show 2026.
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Queen Charlotte Dock on show: Sat/Sun 17/18 and Sat/Sun 24/25 January 2026
Over the two weekends above Queen Charlotte Dock attended firstly the Canterbury Show and then the Erith Show.
For Canterbury we set up most of the layout on the Friday evening with the rest being set up early on the Saturday in time for the doors being opened to the public. Our team of David L, Tim, Bill, Martin and me soon got into our stride with the tried and tested sequence of operations on the upper level and some experimental shunting on the lower level. Martin gave his usual front of house spiel informing people what they were looking at and explaining that they were actually standing up to their waists in water in the middle of the dock.
The layout and operators worked well all weekend apart from a short hiatus on Saturday afternoon when the Gaugemaster control unit fell to the floor with a large crash. Fearing the worst, David L took it along to Kevin on the Coastal DCC stand who gave it the once over and pronounced it fit to carry on. With some relief, normal service quickly resumed for the rest of the weekend with no further alarums or excursions.
Once the Canterbury Show was over everything was packed up into our cars where it remained until we took it all to the Erith Show setting it up on Saturday morning. With Bill being otherwise engaged this weekend, Roger joined the team on Saturday and Steve replaced him on Sunday (the ever-popular Roger being required on the SECR Society stand on Sunday). With nothing falling to the floor or otherwise being knocked about, the layout and some of the operators behaved impeccably. As at Canterbury, we received many plaudits which is always gratifying and particularly so when you know that you are getting praise from somebody who knows what they are looking at. So, two very busy and exhausting weekends but we had fun and we also received a number of invitations to other shows. Chris
