Brian the Brit in New York has been back in touch, with an update on his shelf mounted model railway:

“Hi Al,

Its been about 6 months since I last wrote and introduced you to my new project – a shelf railway based loosely on the Ashover Light Railway located in Derbyshire, England, close to Chesterfield where I grew up.

I described the history of the railway, which ceased operation in 1950 three years before I was born, and my interest in it which started with a school project so I will not repeat any of that.

I have a corner in my train room which has available wall space 8 feet and 6 feet long and 2 ft wide. I am limited in the length of the 2 legs by the need to access the stairs at one end and a door into the storage half of the basement at the other end.

I have built the infrastructure using a storage shelf system which seems very stable.

The layout will be L shaped with trains going end to end. Because I need to access the space below the stairs, the shelf is 52 inches above the floor. I have my work bench under it, and yes, I have to be careful not to bang my head when working!

The resulting model consists of a main line in OO gauge and the Ashover Light Railway in 009 gauge which is OO scale on N gauge track. Both tracks are set up as shuttle lines because, for the main line there is no room for a return loop and for the ALR in real life was an end-to-end line with no turn around.

My aim with this layout is a focus on the scenery rather than the fun of running trains although I do enjoy watching them go back and forth.

There are 3 main dioramas- Clay Cross at one end, Ashover Butts at the other end and Ogston Hall, a stately hall, in the middle. Clay Cross is a mid sized town where the ALR meets the main line from Sheffield to Derby and onto London.

It is represented by a row of terraced houses and a pub and the station for the ALR as well as a coal yard and fueling infrastructure for the main line.

The countryside starts at the end of the street and reflects the typical rural countryside of Derbyshire with agriculture and fields surrounded by dry-stone walls. The ALR had a number of small stations or halts along its route, but I only have room for one.

Further along, Ogston Hall is represented by a Metcalfe building and next to it is a cricket match and pavilion. I find cricket is a great way of filling a field with interest rather than just another field of animals. The item missing in the landscape, which I did not have room for, was a river but at least the background represents one.

Finally, at the other end of the line is Ashover Butts station. When the line was popular with tourists, primarily from Sheffield and Derby, they joined the train at Clay Cross and disembarked at Ashover Butts station where they went to the café called “the End of the Rainbow” which I have depicted along with picnic tables.

This station is much bigger than the actual one at Ashover Butts but it’s one I made for a previous layout and decided to use it with poetic license!

The main line goes into tunnels at each end, one under the town of Clay Cross and the other under Ogston Hall, the bridge in the foreground carries the ALR over the main line.

I very much enjoyed building this layout, very different to my main layout which you have featured previously.

(Below are pics of the previous layout: Model cliff railway.)

Finally, as ever, to AL a big thank you for giving us model railroaders this blog which I enjoy every day. It’s a great source of help and inspiration and makes this hobby so much more rewarding.

Brian
Brit living 40 miles outside New York”

A big thanks to Brian for sharing this update – I absolutely love what he’s done.

I know I’ve said it a million time before, but this hobby is all about picking a theme and making a start.

That’s all for this time folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.

Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the store.

They are great fun to make and great value too.