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Pictures: Chris Nevard Artwork: Andrew Macintosh
What makes this layout great?
“Pete has done a superb job of making the railway appear to be part of a wider world, with significant elevation changes both above and below the tracks. ‘N’ gauge allows modellers to create a more extensive area in a small space, and Pete has leveraged this potential to maximum effect.”
As model railway enthusiasts, we tend to accumulate a lot of ‘stuff’. Sometimes, it’s things from previous layouts, items we have been gifted, or simply scenic items that we had to buy in a pack of six, and we only needed two. Pete Latham is one such modeller who has accumulated a large quantity of ‘stuff’ over the years. His layout ‘Claremont’ was featured in the 2023 edition of Great British Model Railways, and after deciding that his ever-growing pile of buildings, track and accessories was getting too large, he set about building this ‘N’ gauge layout ‘Hopeless’.
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“ Most of the buildings that were in my railway room had come from older layouts. Rather than let them gather dust, I wanted to use them again”
“Most of the buildings that were in my railway room had come from older layouts. Rather than let them gather dust, I wanted to use them again – specifically the Walthers grain silo kit complex I had used on a previous layout ‘Deep Lane’. I then acquired a Walthers Glacier Gravel Company kit from my friend Stephen Farmer and decided to use the two buildings as the basis for the cement works on ‘Hopeless’. I wanted the cement works to dominate the scene, so added more buildings to the complex using parts of a Peco diesel shed and two sheds from Graham Farish (the ones you used to stick cardboard details on), all glued to a plywood base. Everything was sprayed grey and I added vents and hidden conveyor belts from Unit Models. After placing that on a single board and adding a nine-road traverser fiddleyard, the layout was ready for its first show, the Rhyl MRC charity show in Prestatyn.”
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