Ever since I acquired my first 7mm scale Great Western Railway locomotive I’ve been pondering what kind of layout to build for it. With my decision to abandon my Proto:48 layout and replace it with a 7mm British project, the question became more urgent. I looked at several options (including Tetbury), but kept getting drawn back to the GWR at Highworth – the terminal on the branch of the same name.
Having spent many enjoyable days over better part of the past decade helping my friend Brian Dickey exhibit his layout, Roweham, I knew that something similar in scope would work for me. So, as the photos here show, I’ve adapted Highworth’s track arrangement to fit my allotted space. The track, turnouts, and catch points are in the proper relationship but I’ve bent the terminal’s large sweeping arc back on itself at each end to keep it on the benchwork.
The real station at Highworth included many of the features one would expect to find on a GWR branch line:
There was a station with a long platform used for passengers and milk churns. A siding permitted locomotives to run around their trains, although wagons spotted at a cattle dock located at the far end of the station platform would foul one of the turnouts.
A long spur served as a team track, with a coal dealer’s bins at the end. A switchback off this track accessed a goods shed with covered platform, with this spur passing through the shed to end at back of the station platform to accommodate end-loading wagons.
Finally, the main exited the scene on a downgrade past the team track, offering some visual interest. Fences and fields along the right of way finish the scene while keeping the focus on the railway.
I would call this a proto-freelanced layout – strongly inspired by Highworth but not faithful to it. For example, I have not yet decided whether to build the specific structures from Highworth or use other GWR designs. (In any case, I will likely come up with a new name for the location: The layout’s simple track plan reminds me of what I liked about my S scale Port Rowan layout, so maybe I’ll call this “Rowan”. We’ll see.)
Also: I’m still keen to build structures on modular bases so I can era-swap to enjoy my more modern British Rail equipment in an appropriate setting. There won’t be that many structures on the layout, so this shouldn’t be onerous. Cutting appropriate templates for structure bases will be a good place to start.
Over the past few days, I’ve laid out and cut the subroadbed, then added risers to support it above the benchwork and define the grades. For this layout – my first using British track with its bullhead rail and chairs – I’ve opted for PECO flex track and turnouts, which are easy to acquire and have worked extremely well for Brian. My track supplies are en route from the UK and moving from benchwork to first train under steam should happen relatively quickly once they arrive.
I will finish the scene with carved foam board terrain, a styrene backdrop that wraps around both ends of the layout, and a lighting valance. Once I have the backdrop and end framing in place, I can build a two-track staging area on a removable shelf that will store under the layout when not in use.
As I’ve explained elsewhere on this site, I have long been interested in British railway modelling. Frankly, this speaks to me on an emotional level that’s much stronger than what I was attempting to do with Proto:48 so I’m glad I made the switch.
Finally, this shelf layout still leaves me with plenty of room for my other railway modelling passion project, the Niagara St. Catharines & Toronto Railway in 1:64. So I think I’ve hit that sweet spot in balancing these two competing interests.
The Model Railway Show 