In this brand-new Key Model World video series we go behind the scenes to reveal the construction process of Making Tracks 3 from Pete Waterman and the Railnuts, leading to the 152ft long Grand Challenge layout at the 2023 Great Electric Train Show. Join us for Part One as we go on location at Milton Keynes Central station.
Above: DB Cargo Class 325 325014 leads 325008 through Milton Keynes forming 5A91 Crewe TMD (E)-Willesden PRDC on June 13 2023. Mike Wild.
Making Tracks is one of highest profile model railways ever built. Each summer it attracts over 50,000 visitors to Chester Cathedral and layouts have been a centre piece to the Great Electric Train Show in October 2021 and 2022. However, 2023 was a very special year for Making Tracks, as Pete Waterman and the Railnuts took on a challenge from Hornby Magazine's Mike Wild to build a station - and there was only once choice in Pete's mind: Milton Keynes Central.
But that was only the beginning of the story, as Pete, the Railnuts and Mike hatched a plan to put together the biggest portable 'OO' gauge model railway ever seen for the 2023 Great Electric Train Show by combining Making Tracks 1, 2 and 3 into a single 152ft x 14ft super layout modelling elements of the West Coast Main Line including Hillmorton Junction, Kilsby Tunnel, Milton Keynes Central, Tring Cutting, Northchurch Tunnel and Watford Tunnel.
It was a challenge like nothing else before and the Hornby Magazine team was there to follow the story from start to finish through 2022 and 2023 watching the most impressive of scale model stations come together in miniature. The result is a layout of thousands of modellers dreams and cemented the name for Making Tracks in modelling history.
In this brand-new video series from Key Model World, we follow the story looking at the real location, following the build process, the layouts time at Chester and the assembly of the super layout at the Great Electric Train Show as well as looking to the future and Making Tracks next big event: Model World LIVE on April 27/28 2024 when the three layouts will be joined by brand-new sections to make it a record breaking 208ft long with over 240ft of scenery!
Above: GBRf Class 66 66730 heads 4M47 London Gateway GBRf-Hams Halll GBRf on June 13 2023 at Milton Keynes. Mike Wild.
The four parts of this brand-new video series with launch each Friday from December 22:
PART ONE: On Location - FREE on Key Model World and the Hornby Magazine YouTube channel | December 22 2023
In the first part we visit the real Milton Keynes Central to see the railway in action and discover how the station works and the trains that pass through it.
PART TWO: Construction - FREE on Key Model World with a Freemium Member account | December 29 2023
In part two we focus on construction of the layout at the Making Tracks Workshop as Pete and the team take on the challenges of building a scale model of a real station in the present day.
PART THREE: Making Tracks on Show - exclusively available to Key Model World Premium subscribers | January 5 2024
Building the layout is one thing, making it work reliably six-days a week, eight hours a day for six-weeks at Chester Cathedral brings new challenges. We follow its installation and operation during summer 2023.
PART FOUR: The Grand Challenge - exclusively available to Key Model World Premium subscribers | January 12 2024
The Grand Challenge created one of the biggest ever portable model railways when Pete and the Railnuts assembled all three Making Tracks layouts as one for the 2023 Great Electric Train Show. Discover how it all happened in the fourth and final part of our series together with a look to the future.
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