Based on a real location, this complex ‘OO’ gauge exhibition layout was built by Abingdon and District Model Railway Club. ERIC YOUNG describes the planning and operational details of trying to keep the public entertained. Photography Trevor Jones.
Gauge: 'OO' Control: Analogue Era: 1960s Size: 26ft x 10ft 6in
Above: At the steam depot a Peppercorn ‘A1’ 4-6-2 shares space with a Robinson ‘O4’ 2-8-0 as a Gresley ‘O2’ 2-8-0 arrives from servicing.
WHY LEICESTER (Belgrave Road)? It is a station few have ever heard of, that lost its service to Peterborough in the early 1900s and its service to Grantham in 1953, leaving its only claim to fame as the weekend excursions to Skegness and Mablethorpe. A station without even a name - on the station approach it says London North Eastern Railway - the signalbox says Leicester Passenger, there are no signs on lamp posts or walls, and only the timetable says Leicester (Belgrave Road).
So how did we come to model it?
Above: An Ivatt ‘4MT’ 2-6-0 passes on the LMS line while a ‘J50’ shunts parcels stock and a ‘B1’ awaits departure in the station below.
In 2002, I started on a design for a model railway using the ‘N’ gauge idea of a storage yard at the back of a terminus station with a long curve c…
