One of my current model railway projects is British – for many good reasons.
When I was a wee lad, my first train sets came from the toy shops in the big department stores and were British outline. I had a Hornby clockwork set in 00 scale, followed by a succession of battery-powered Hornby-Meccano trains in 0.
My connection with British railroading was further entrenched through the magazines that were available to me. At the time, finding a North American modelling publication such as Railroad Model Craftsman or Model Railroader required a trip to the hobby shop – and in Toronto, that required most of a day via public transit and therefore only happened a few times per year. By contrast, I could find British magazines in smoke shops and bookstores – and there seemed to be one of those every few blocks in my neighbourhood.
GWR Bydemill is my take on the classic GWR BLT – the Great Western Railway branch line terminal. My layout is freelanced but heavily influenced by the GWR’s real terminal at Highworth – a few miles north of Swindon. I’ve set it in 1905 because I am attracted to the locomotives, coaching stock, and wagons.
North American railroading eventually won me over and I have enjoyed several decades of modelling and operating layouts based on Canadian or American prototypes.
Then a few years ago I was invited to help my friend Brian Dickey exhibit his 7mm scale Great Western Railway layout Roweham – and the experience rekindled my interest in British trains.
As a direct result of those exhibitions, I acquired a locomotive – a lovely 517 Class from Lee Marsh Models, as it appeared at the turn of the 20th Century.
My new locomotive – my first British model in decades – made its debut on GWR Roweham at the 2018 Great British Train Show and I thoroughly enjoyed running it. But since a locomotive needs a train and Brian’s equipment was too modern for this Edwardian machine, I built a few Slater’s Plastikard kits for four-wheel GWR coaches for it to haul.
Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and was all prepared to field these at the next Great British Train Show – in April 2020.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. And then I moved 3000 km west.
With a new, larger space for my hobby – and no more access to a 7mm scale British layout – I decided to build my own. I built several more kits for passenger cars, plus a fleet of goods wagons and some company service equipment.
I also acquired a few more locomotives and other pieces of equipment. Most of these models depict the GWR (“God’s Wonderful Railway” or “Great Way Round”) in the Edwardian era.
That said, there’s been some challenges with maintaining focus, and a few other prototypes and eras have crept in.
I’ve shared a number of posts on this website about my British modelling. You can find all of them in the Great Western Railway in 7mm scale Category.
In the summer of 2024, I started building my first-ever 7mm British layout. GWR Bydemill occupies a two-foot by 24-foot shelf, and is fed by a removable staging area attached out of view at the right end of the layout. GWR Bydemill is inspired by (but not faithful to) the Great Western’s small terminal at Highworth.
The layout is about 90% finished. I’m down to a few details and some upgrades, and then I’ll paint the fascia and call it done. Meantime, I have more equipment to build and a lot of happy hours to enjoy running trains.
You can read all about this layout in the GWR Bydemill (Highworth) Category. Enjoy if you visit!
The Model Railway Show 