A mammoth masterpiece
This 20ft long, ‘N’ gauge layout is a real team effort, says Epsom and Ewell Model Railway Club member Dave Searle.
The city of Oxford conjures up many mental images. A world class university for one. You could be forgiven for thinking that everything in and around the city of dreaming spires was pristine. But lying just over a mile to the south of Oxford station is a reminder of the manufacturing that used to take place here, when engine grease, dust and dirt were king.
Hinksey Yard, on the former Great Western main line to Didcot, played a key role during the early 20th century in the growth of Oxford’s motor industry (see p28). Now, it’s a ‘virtual quarry’ storing ballast. An enormous quantity of ballast. So, how do you depict the busy movements of freight and passenger trains through a yard a kilometre long in the heart of England in model form? You follow in the footsteps of the Epsom & Ewell Model Railway Club and build a mammoth ‘N’ gauge version over four years.
“The layout came about when a couple of visitors to our club’s annual exhibition a decade ago commented that there are very few ‘N’ gauge or modern image layouts, so a small group of us decided we’d kill two
birds with one stone,” explains club member Dave Searle. “None of us had any prior experience of
‘N’ gauge so we were able to start with a clean slate. If we were to do it again, we’d use the newer Finetrax system, which would look better, and we’d be able to ensure the points don’t rely on a touching electrical contact. This is something we’ll be incorporating into our next layout which is in 2mm Finescale.”
None of the members had any prior connections to Hinksey Yard, so how does a club situated inside the M25 decide to model a yard 70 miles away? Well, they have an internet search to thank for that.
“I saw a photograph of the yard and thought it would make a good layout. The idea was pitched and, after a site visit on the footbridge, we agreed on the location. One of the aims was to be able to take photographs that looked natural and where the scale of the model was not obvious.
“The length of the yard meant it was perfect in allowing us to showcase the advantages of modern ‘N’ gauge, principally running prototypical length trains in a space that ‘OO’ gauge simply doesn’t allow.
There has still been a lot of compression, almost 50%, but many people have recognised the location and recall watching trains from the bridges there.”
These lengthy trains include the Avon ‘binliner’ waste train to and from Calvert, and empty coal wagons returning from Didcot power station before it closed in 2013. In fact, the group has so many trains that a ten-track fiddleyard was required behind the scenic backscene. With around 60 point motors at ‘Hinksey Yard’, it led to some rather complicated wiring.
With such a large layout, it was inevitable that not everything would stay on track.
“On the first time round, a locomotive on the outer loop derailed, did a double somersault with two-anda-half twists, and separated into five parts when it lost the fight with the ground. We put this down to a raised inner rail, which a large file has since encouraged to stay flat.”
The solution? A lip of clip-on, 2in wide aluminium bars with a Perspex screen has been placed around the edge of the scenic section and the fiddleyard – deterring such aerobatics from happening again.
With the track wired, extensively tested and the lip installed, the rest of this little slice of Oxfordshire could begin to take shape, and it was truly a team
“The group has so many trains that a ten-track fiddleyard was required behind the scenic backscene
effort, with different club members taking responsibility for different sections of the layout.
“With such a large space, it would have taken an age for a single person to do all of it, so having a committed group was perfect. Brian Sayer scratchbuilt the lone electricity pylon from plastic strip, based on photos of the one at the yard. Andy Coombes made all of the trees. Steve Stevenson constructed the ballast pile using wood and expanded polystyrene before covering it in Chinchilla dust (at least it’s not as messy on a ballast pile as when it’s used for its intended purpose!).
“Steve also made the barrier fence, while I created the two footbridges using a silhouette cutter, thin plastic sheet and an etched brass mesh, as well as the office from bits of container kits.”
In addition to the large elements, the team have really focused on some of the finer details to bring the scene to life as much as possible.
“There’s the usual array of lineside details, such as signs, signal numbers, cable trunking, Network Rail engineers and the like, anything that makes it appear more similar to the prototype. These are often not noticed, but we feel that it adds to the realism. A local resident told us he’d once seen deer at the northern end of the tracks, so we added some to go with the rabbits that are on the path leading to the ballast pile. These little features on an ‘N’ gauge layout really keep people interested at exhibitions!”
“Brian Sayer scratchbuilt the lone electricity pylon from plastic strip based on photos of the one at the yard”