‘N’ GAUGE LAYOUT ANNERLEY

David Harrison cherry-picked the best of the Scarborough coast for this layout, inspired by his local walks.

Words: Chris Gadsby

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Photography: Chris Nevard

“ What makes this layout great? ‘Annerley’ is another great example of not filling a layout with track and trying to add a bit of scenery to it afterwards. David has made sure that the landscape catches your eye first, and then you’re drawn towards the railway. ”

Sometimes, our inspiration comes from the far-flung corners of the country, and the ability to conduct a site visit is almost impossible without booking a holiday around it. Sometimes, though, the inspiration can come from just around the corner and a site visit could be conducted almost every day. This was the case for David Harrison when it came to planning his layout, as he gets to take in some truly spectacular scenery when walking his dogs.

“Every day on our walks, I look out onto the magnificent white chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head,” he says. “If I walk in the opposite direction I look onto the Hull-Scarborough railway line which comes close to the cliff tops as it approaches Bridlington from the north. It affords great views of trains, especially the rare appearance of a steam special. As the line ventures north towards Scarborough from Bridlington, it turns away from Flamborough and takes a shortcut across the headland passing through Bempton and Speeton before reaching Filey. I often imagine what the line would have been like had it continued on to the headland and run along the cliff edge out onto Flamborough Head instead. ‘Annerley’ does just that. I’ve taken scenes from the coast between Bridlington and Flamborough and I run trains along the cliff top passing by a village, the architecture of which resembles Flamborough.”