The grimy industry of the Black Country in the 1980s is the setting for NEIL WOODBINE’s latest ‘OO’ gauge layout, which demonstrates the atmosphere which can be achieved in a small space.
GAUGE: ‘OO’, 16.5mm | SCALE: 4mm: 1ft | SIZE: 7ft x 13in | REGION: Midland | PERIOD: 1980s | CONTROL: DCC, NCE Powercab
Above: A Ford Capri and Escort take pride of place in the yard as a Class 25 arrives at Rosebury Goods. The backscene features landmarks from the Wednesbury and Bescot areas.
HAVING SEEN a couple of 1980s photographs of Wednesbury Exchange Sidings on the internet, and being brought up mainly in the Wednesbury area of Birmingham as a child, I came over all nostalgic for my hometown during the first Covid lockdown period.
My main memories were from Potters Lane signalbox as I never managed to get access to look around the exchange sidings themselves. I remembered local landmarks such as the Patent Shaft steelworks and Ocker Hill power station together with the flats which have long disappeared from the local skyline.
An added bonus going to school at Wood Green High was having the South Staffordshire line pass over the arches to one side and the main Grand Junction line passing the bottom of the playing field. This meant interes…
