I’m currently holidaying back home in the UK, and the first thing my wife and I did, within a few hours of getting off our plane. Was attend a model railway exhibition. Not just any show, but a show featuring Heaton Lodge Junction. At approximately 200’ x 50’ it’s the largest model railway layout on show in the UK. A layout so large, it takes two semis (articulated lorries) and another seven and a half ton truck to transport it. The layout takes several days to assemble and disassemble.
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| Heaton Lodge Junction in the distance |
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| The Layout disappears into the distance. Just like the real location |
Many of you will be aghast now, as this is a small and micro model railway blog. Behemoths like this have no place in its space.
Wrong.
There’s a lot to learn from huge layouts like this. The attention to detail is second to none. Something all modellers can learn from.
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| Detail. A worker puts up a sign while a cat sits on the roof of a wrecked Mini. |
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| Detail. A rough old road, breaking up with weeds growing through, heads into the distance. |
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| Detail. Trainspotters wait for the next train at a footbridge |
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| Detail. It’s winter. Frost is on the ground. The bare tree still has dead leaves at its base. |
Detail is something we all can aspire to whatever our layout’s size. It helps with the realism. Little things like shown in these photographs. A lot of little things make for a larger whole.
Heaton Lodge wasn’t the only layout there. There were a few others some showing scenes, details and vignettes that appealed to me as a micro layout builder.
This is Oldham King Street.
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| A narrow station with a footbridge and a rail bridge acting as scenic breaks. |
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| The end of the platform is cramped. Perfect for a micro layout. |
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A simple refuelling point. This section of Oldham King Street was not the only MPD layout on show. American modellers could learn much from their British counterparts from motive power depot layouts. A simple way to show off your collection, in a small space.
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| These trees were just nice. I don’t know who made them, or if they were scratch built. They just felt nice. |
In all, it was so nice to be at a proper British Model Railway exhibition. It was so, so, different to the train shows I attend in America. Even my wife remarked on that. We both, (notice I said both) came away enthused about the hobby.
Lastly, I’ve come in contact with many modellers through Internet forums, At this show I ran into
Paul Marshall Potter, of “Shelfie” fame. I’ve followed his work through the model railway press as well as RMWeb and it was great to meet up. Hopefully we can do that again sometime. I hope its not too long before I can attend another British model railway exhibition.
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