Termini make wonderful railway models and the Hornby Magazine team embarked on a project to create a Western Region theme station set in the Midlands in 2016. MIKE WILD introduces Grosvenor Square and explains its first phase of development.
The big railway termini have been likened to cathedrals. Their grand architecture and the sheer size of the train sheds which cover the passengers and railway staff beneath dominate skylines in major cities.
Finding land close to a city centre was difficult for the railway developers. Prices were high and the physical space needed was often difficult to obtain. In other locations (Crewe and Doncaster spring to mind) the town developed around the railway, but when it came to places like London and Birmingham the opposite was true – the railway had to fit around the town. That is one of the great challenges to layout builders – developing a layout where the railway, our prime interest, plays second fiddle to the rest of the world.
Above: A Bachmann Class 43 draws out across the newly laid junction at Grosvenor Square. With seven platforms this layout is sure to entertain.
There is a high chance that many will be able to recall a visual in their mind’s eye of what the inside of London Paddingt…
