Borchester Market

Builder: Frank Dyer Issue it appeared in: MR126 January 2009 Chosen by: Dave Lowery, Modelling Consultant

I always have to be different, so I’ve gone for two layouts, but for very different reasons. I first went to Bekonscot Model Village on a school trip, and while I loved the buildings, the model railway stole the show. It was the sound of the coaches going over the rail joints that did it. A couple of years ago, I bought an Exley coach from ebay and when I ran it round my layout, it made the same sound that I’d heard all those years ago… wonderful! The other is ‘Borchester Market’, which appeared in MR126 (January 2009), and many years later I saw it at an exhibition. For this is all you need for a successful and enthralling layout: a simple circuit, a terminus station, involved pointwork, a turntable and locomotive and goods yards. The stock was built to a lovely, consistent standard, all topped off by working signals. These two layouts were, for me, the inspiration that got me started, and why I now have such a rewarding life working on model railways.