END OF THE LINE
As if the sizeable collection of locomotives wasn’t enough, ‘Westcott’ features a tram terminus, too. “I’m old enough to remember trams operating in Liverpool, and actually rode on the last tram when Liverpool Corporation Tramways closed in 1957. I’ve been fascinated with them for years,” he says. Jack built some trams himself from plastic kits, while friend Peter Callon built 22 of them. Others have been purchased pre-built. Four of the trams in Jack’s collection were built by Mike Edge and painted by Ian Rathbone; these are painted, painstakingly lined and flawlessly finished. “Ian lines by hand,” says Jack. “Inside the vestibule is lined, too. He has endless patience and is top of the class in my opinion, but I doubt he’ll paint any more trams [laughs], he said they were a nightmare!” Weathering expert Martyn Welsh was also commissioned to give some trams a little extra realism. The tramway is one of ‘Westcott’s’ defining features, and with Jack’s interest in such motive power you’d have thought it was always in the pipeline, but not so. It’s actually a relatively recent addition. “The idea was first mooted about seven years ago, when I bought
a few trams from a well-known dealer. Thereafter, I trawled the market for more trams and it mushroomed rapidly. “I tacked on a 6in edge to the original boards to accommodate the tramway. It was a bit ‘Heath Robinson’ but that’s my attitude to life - let events overtake doubt!” The trams are all DCC, but don’t have sound and, although the overhead wires are not powered, the trolley pole is guided prototypically - even through points.