Little Salkeld

The 'Thames-Clyde Express' in the hands of 60077 'The White Knight'.

Visiting Stafford Model Railway Exhibition in February 2008 prompted me to report on a visit I made in October last year to the 4mm scale layout built by my friend John. Based on Little Salkeld on the Settle and Carlisle line, the layout is arranged as a large double-track oval with Little Salkeld along the one long side and a fan of storage sidings on the other long side. A spur from the storage sidings leads to a turntable with a series of radial tracks allowing some of the large stud of locomotives to be admired when not in service.

When I visited, the layout was fully functional, but scenery was incomplete. The layout is about to be relocated so scene-building is currently on hold.

Since John is a bit of a 'rivet counter' I was not surprised to see the high standard of detailing on the locomotives and rolling stock. One of my photographs (the cab of a 'Rebuilt Scot') shows the detailing available on proprietary models these days - a bit of an improvement on the Rovex 'Princess' I was brought up with! John has added quite a bit of detailing of his own so the overall impression, with scale-length trains and correct formations for the period, is very convincing. There are a few, rather poor, pictures of mine linked below which I'm afraid don't do justice to the layout.

More pictures.

Here's a short video clip (in low resolution):-