Pete Waterman and the Railnuts are making final preparations to put all three Making Tracks layouts together for the first time at the 2023 Great Electric Train Show. We visited the Making Tracks Workshop to catch up with the latest progress with Pete and the team.
Above: At the 2023 Great Electric Train Show on October 14/15 the new model of Milton Keynes Central station will become the centrepiece to a giant 152ft long layout combining Making Tracks 1, 2 and 3 together for the first time.
THE SUMMER long Making Tracks exhibition in Chester Cathedral has been another huge success for Pete Waterman and the Railnuts. The event saw over 54,000 people visit to the Cathedral and more than 4,500 children took their turn at the controls to drive trains around the 64ft x 14ft layout. It was watched online through Railcam by more than 100,000 people and the 'OO' gauge locomotives and rolling stock clocked up tremendous mileage running six days a week, eight hours a day.
But Pete and the Railnuts have one more Grand Challenge in 2023: assembly of all three Making Tracks layouts together for the first time at the 2023 Great Electric Train Show. Pete said: "We didn't plan to join all three together when we started, but it will be a incredible to see the three layout as one and be able to drive through Watford Tunnel, Northchurch Tunnel, Tring Cutting, Milton Keynes Central and Hillmorton Junction."
Final preparations are currently being made at the workshop where the scenery on Making Tracks 1 and 2 is being upgraded to match the higher standard of Making Tracks 3 while the electronics and wiring on the first two layouts are also being upgraded to match the latest configuration used on Making Tracks 3. Its no small task and during our visit in late September, the team were busy finalising connections and preparing the layout for transport.
Key Model World Publisher Mike Wild added: "Transporting Making Tracks to the Great Electric Train Show is a huge undertaking in itself. We'll be using five Luton bodied vans to move the layout safely from the workshop to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes to set it up for the weekend event."
Planning for locomotives and rolling stock continues with the Hornby Magazine team adding new stock to the roster to run alongside the Railnuts collection. In total there is over 500ft of on track storage to take a wide variety of realistic train formations modelling the West Coast Main Line in the privatisation era.
Advance tickets for the 2023 Great Electric Train Show are on sale until October 9 at 5pm offering a discount versus on the door prices and early entry to the show from 9.30am each day. Full event details including all 30 attending layouts, 55 trade stands and demonstrations are available to view on the dedicated Great Electric Train Show pages here on Key Model World.
Catch up with the latest progress with Pete Waterman in our exclusive video interview and workshop tour below and visit the Great Electric Train Show pages for more information.
Order your discount advance tickets for the 2023 Great Electric Train Show here.
