Exact scale model of the UK rail network

[Gathursty]

Has anyone attempted to reproduce faithfully a branch line or an area of railway using Hornby sets and such like? How much space would we need to produce a faithful pared-down copy of the whole network using the Hornby scale?

 

[Oswyntail]

Well, a full size baseboard would need to be about 600x300 miles, so, in scale that would be about 8.5x4.25 miles

 

[david_VI]

The idea of this blows and hurts my mind.

 

[Titfield]

I have two vague recollections:
1) an article in an Airfix Magazine annual from the late 1960s or very early 1970s of someone who built a model of one of the Cornish branches (Helston??) in its entirety.
2) someone who built a model of one of the main lines by having a series of shelves all the way around a room with iirc 4 or 5 levels so as to maximise the run length.

I think it was Peter Denny (builder and author of Buckingham Great Central) who said that a true scale model of an entire branch would be of little interest due to the very large spaces of just fields and plain track.

 

[edwin_m]

I have two vague recollections:
1) an article in an Airfix Magazine annual from the late 1960s or very early 1970s of someone who built a model of one of the Cornish branches (Helston??) in its entirety.
2) someone who built a model of one of the main lines by having a series of shelves all the way around a room with iirc 4 or 5 levels so as to maximise the run length.

I think it was Peter Denny (builder and author of Buckingham Great Central) who said that a true scale model of an entire branch would be of little interest due to the very large spaces of just fields and plain track.

I think (2) was in the Railway Modeller around 1980, and represented the GWR from Paddington to Birkinhead. However it was considerably simplified both in track layout (double lines reduced to single, number of platforms reduced) and in station spacing so a run that took tens of minutes in reality could be done on the model in a few seconds. I seem to recall they operated a timetable based on the real one (with trains representing ones that actually left much earlier) but I couldn't work out how they managed to get all the operators in!

 

[SpacePhoenix]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62532775@N03/9969339953/

Doesn't say what the overall size was or how far down the line from the station was done but even as that is in N gauge i would imagine it would be a fair sized layout. I dread to think how large the baseboard would be for the whole of Waterloo station with say 1/2 a mile from station modelled in OO guage as well!

On a related not it would be interesting one day to see either an artists impression or a photoshopped pic of what Waterloo would look like if it was 100% converted to overhead.

For any branch it's probably best to go for a shortish one otherwise it'll probably need too much space (say 6-8 miles real length tops)

 

[Class 92]

Well, a full size baseboard would need to be about 600x300 miles, so, in scale that would be about 8.5x4.25 miles

How long would it take for a XC service to get from Penzance to Aberdeen then?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Doing one of the Cornish Branches would probably work or do Penzance to St. Ives.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The old Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway line from Middleton Junction to Middleton was quite a short railway line and had items on the route such the J W Lees brewery that could be modelled as extra interest.

 

[EM2]

There is one man's project to build Birmingham New Street exactly to scale:
http://www.p4newstreet.com/

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Well, a full size baseboard would need to be about 600x300 miles, so, in scale that would be about 8.5x4.25 miles

Assuming you could find somewhere to build a representation of a main line in full ( never mind the rest of the network ) your biggest problem will be stopping the trains from conking out en route if James May's experiences in Barnstaple a couple of years ago are anything to go by.

 

[John Webb]

When we were first sorting out the restoration and reopening of St Albans South signal box, we looked at having a model with all its points and signals worked by the lever frame, but in 4mm/ft scale it would have been around 45ft long - the box is only 42ft long! And even in 2mm/ft scale it would still take so much room we'd find it difficult to fit visitors in and work the levers.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Nearest thing to this would perhaps be the huge model railway in Hamburg Germany. ?

 

[Gathursty]

I'm pretty sure there is a section of desert or plain which is 8 miles by 4 miles and relatively flat. We just require an eccentric millionaire and many hands, tracks and models to get it done haha!

 

[edwin_m]

How about Pete Waterman with Leamington Spa in a barn - in O gauge?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I'm pretty sure there is a section of desert or plain which is 8 miles by 4 miles and relatively flat. We just require an eccentric millionaire and many hands, tracks and models to get it done haha!

Or using N gauge, just 4 miles by 2!

Your current signature could be a starting point...

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I Went to a great model rail show/exhibition last January in Erith/Abbey Wood and there was a wonderful OO gauge large model of Loughbough on the Midland Mainline. Must have taken ages to build let alone take it around the country.

 

[Sidious]

Has anyone attempted to reproduce faithfully a branch line or an area of railway using Hornby sets and such like? How much space would we need to produce a faithful pared-down copy of the whole network using the Hornby scale?

One mile is 21.17 metres at OO scale.
The East Coast Main Line from Kings Cross to Edinburgh is just shy of 393 miles, so that would need approximately 8320m. (5 miles, 300 yards) Half of that for N scale.

 

[Monty]

How about Pete Waterman with Leamington Spa in a barn - in O gauge?

It's been considerably condensed in order to fit into the space, it's very easy to forget exactly how much space you need to recreate real locations to scale. For example to model Waterloo, the station throat and it's approaches in OO gauge you would need an area roughly the size of a tennis court.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

I have always liked the American multi-shelved approach, it is something I intend to do when I get a room and the time to build my dream-layout.

Probably because of the much greater space at their disposal, US modellers generally make the trade-off more in favour of design for maximum operational utility over scenic areas and many layouts featured in Model Railroader include multiple large yards and full size branch lines allowing operations to be run in full rather than just simulated.

 

[TheEdge]

There is one man's project to build Birmingham New Street exactly to scale:
http://www.p4newstreet.com/

Tis a thing of beauty and I'd love to see it for real.

 

[talltim]

using the Hornby scale?

thought you said exact scale?

 

[Gathursty]

Ah :P Exact should really be replica. Good job I teach maths, not English.

 

[WestCountry]

Gainsborough MRC have an O gauge layout showing the ECML from Kings Cross to Leeds. According to their website it's 60 years old, has half a mile of track and covers 2500 square feet.

Presumably it must be heavily condensed even at that size.

 

[DiscoSteve]

these kind of efforts should be reserved for Computer Simulations IMHO - the 40 odd miles of the my 2003 MSTS Woodhead Route were more than enough for me to put together - and of course a physical model would need to include the correct inclines... tricky