Nile Street Basin
The layout was originally designed as a 'minimum space' layout, although the definition of the term has changed somewhat over the years, and at circa 17' long it probably isn't considered as such any more, as O gauge layouts now exist that are only 3-4' long!
The layout aimed to provide a picture of railway operation as it might have been in one of the many small yards which could be found across London in the first half of the 20th century. The traffic at these yards often involved several railway companies, allowing interchange between them, local industry and London docks (via the canal). The layout was primarily operated as either the early 1920's, with pre-grouping stock and liveries, or as the early 1930's, with most stock in the grouping liveries of GWR, LMS, LNER and SR. In more recent years it has also been operated with stock typical of the 1958-62 period.
A few photographs of the layout in the original format are included below.
The layout aimed to provide a picture of railway operation as it might have been in one of the many small yards which could be found across London in the first half of the 20th century. The traffic at these yards often involved several railway companies, allowing interchange between them, local industry and London docks (via the canal). The layout was primarily operated as either the early 1920's, with pre-grouping stock and liveries, or as the early 1930's, with most stock in the grouping liveries of GWR, LMS, LNER and SR. In more recent years it has also been operated with stock typical of the 1958-62 period.
A few photographs of the layout in the original format are included below.
After about 15 years on the exhibition circuit, it was decided that the layout needed a change, but we felt that the layout was too good to just 'put on the shelf', so after much thought we decided to put part of the layout into storage, and to build a new scenic board to go with the remaining part to give a new version of the layout, whilst also retaining the ability to to revert to the original format if we wanted to. The new version will also be slightly shortly shorter at 12' long (including fiddle yard)
The photo below shows where the new board has got to - the track has all been laid and wiring is in progress. The control panel for the new version has also been constructed and largely wired up. Once all the wiring is done, then we will be able to make a start on the scenics.
The photo below shows where the new board has got to - the track has all been laid and wiring is in progress. The control panel for the new version has also been constructed and largely wired up. Once all the wiring is done, then we will be able to make a start on the scenics.
