Instant recognition was first on the list for MARK WILSON when he started designing this compact slice of the Great Western Railway’s famous works in Swindon. This is its story. Photography, Richard Watson.
GAUGE: ‘OO’, 16.5mm SCALE: 4mm:1ft SIZE: 5ft 2in x 15in REGION: WESTERN REGION PERIOD: 1960s-1980s CONTROL: DC or DCC
Above: ‘Hymek’ D7012 displays its original BR green without warning panels alongside ‘Warship’ D603 in the works’ yard.
My latest project is based on Swindon Works. The diorama is called the Essence of Swindon as it’s just what it says on the tin, if you pardon the pun. I wanted to build an instantly recognisable model of the buildings but not an exact replica which is mainly down to time and space constraints.
The diorama is 5ft 2in long x 15in wide – or 1,600mm x 400mm in modern measurements - in ‘OO’ gauge, it will run on a switchable DC or DCC power supply. I started it in November 2020 and completed it in September 2021.
It represents a very small section of Swindon Works in the final 25 years, the early 1960s through to the mid-1980s. Steam can be represented in its final years when the time period is wound back to model that era.
I have attempted to model the exterior of the AE shop which was close to th…
