NGAUGE LAYOUT AMBERFIELD
Bigger challenges… smaller scale
Railway modelling had changed a lot since Chris Sykes was a teenager. Now he’s discovered that life begins at 1:148.
Words: Chris Gadsby
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Photography: Chris Nevard
What makes this layout great?
“ Whenever we see an ‘N’ gauge layout as good as this it makes us want to build one ourselves. Considering this is his first layout in the scale, Chris has certainly got our creative juices flowing! ”
Our routes into model railways are varied and numerous but the vast majority follow a similar pattern; enjoy the hobby as a child, life gets in the way, come back to it at a later date. That date will be different for everyone and the way in which you return to the hobby will also be different. Perhaps you were bored one day and stumbled across videos on YouTube or, perhaps, like Chris Sykes, you got caught out in the rain and had to make a dive for cover.
“I was in Thirsk market square one Saturday when it started raining and I took shelter in the town hall, which was the closest building to me at the time. I dived in and there happened to be a model railway exhibition in progress. I was astounded by the level of detail that was in these models, as when I had left the hobby as a teenager we were still using coloured sawdust for scenery. It fired up my inspiration again and I decided to have a go at another layout. Fortunately, I had a spare room available and opted for an ‘N’ gauge layout to make the most of the available space.”