‘OO’ GAUGE LAYOUT JEFFREY LANE
Depot debutant
Despite never having built a layout, Brad Joyce jumped in feet‐first and created this beautifully observed West Midlands-inspired depot.
Words: Chris Gadsby
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Photography: Chris Nevard
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What makes this layout great?
You wouldn’t be able to tell that this is Brad’s first attempt at a layout. There’s a lot going on, but it doesn’t look too busy as the scenes have been nicely framed and spread across the layout. You could easily spend hours finding new details.
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T headvice we are often given before setting out on the journey of creating a model railway for the very first time is to “start small”. That way you avoid getting discouraged from trying to fill a large area and you can have a go at most of the techniques in a relatively short time frame. Some of us heed this advice and start making dioramas to find out what we’re good at and what areas need a bit of work, and some of us just outright disregard it and build a room‐filler. There are pros and cons to both, of course, but when Brad Joyce’s wife told him he could use the spare bedroom for a layout, he jumped at the opportunity to make as much use of the space as possible.