Although built as a German layout, the mountain scenery and overhead electrification equally suited other European hilly areas like Switzerland, Austria or even Northern Italy. British stock could be run, since the mountains and cantenary suited a Scottish setting, (the west coast mainline, north of Carlisle). The layout also suited ‘across the pond’ areas such as the Northeast Corridor' (Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington DC), Milwaukee pre 1945, and great northern cascade tunnel, allowing American stock to be run. The cantenary was usually removed since the amount of electric stock was limited.
We tried to keep to a given scenario under operation, which depended on the stock available. When operated as a modern scenario, the option for specials throughout Europe also brought the sight of steam, and heritage diesel traction to the layout. The layout was used for the first public run of the Dapol 45xx tank loco - thanks to the Company stand at the Bristol Exhibition ‘05.
The photos below, show us hard at work during club work nights,re-tracking the 14-road fiddle yard (7 in each direction) at the rear of the layout.
This was ‘born’ from a German layout owned by our late Chairman Dave Teall, called “Bayerscher Wald”. It was decided to use the layout to display Club members N-gauge rolling stock in prototypical settings. But now its time to take a new direction.
LAYOUT DEMISE
Regrettably, after much ‘heart-searching’ it has been decided to sell off the front scenic boards, whilst retaining the extensive fiddle-yard. It was long considered that the layout looked ‘tired’, and that there was little that could be done to improve it without extensive re-modelling. The concern shown by some members that a train could fall off the track, and crash to the floor in ‘bits’ (although this never happened), was an additional incentive to do something positive. The front board is now being re-designed as a canal scene, with a passing loop.
This page now serves as a reminder of what we once had. Some pictures will be retained, as new photos are provided of the progress on the new layout scene.
