‘OO’ GAUGE LAYOUT WADDON MARSH
Power play
Buying a second-hand layout gave Simon Barratt and the Scottish Diesel Electric Group a headstart, but that was just the beginning…
Words: Chris Gadsby
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Pictures: Chris Nevard
What makes this layout great?
When you look closely at ‘Waddon Marsh’ you notice that there are three separate lines, front, middle and back, allowing for plenty of operation and, crucially for exhibitions, plenty of things moving about.
One of the most challenging aspects of building a model railway can be deciding on a prototype location. It helps to make a choice straight from the off, helping you to avoid a potential minefield of problems, especially if you want to make your scene believable. However, a good way to speed up the decision making is to let somebody else make the choice for you. This is what Simon Barratt and the rest of the Scottish Diesel Electric Group did when they bought the beginning of what would become ‘Waddon Marsh’ from its previous owner.
“The layout consisted of a single baseboard at the time and was built by a former Southern Region driver, who was based at Norwood Junction, but then moved to Norfolk. I arranged to collect the board when I was next visiting the area and took it back to Scotland with me so that the group could start extending it and adding the scenic details. When the board was purchased only the track between the platform and the right-hand side of the scenic section was laid, so there was still plenty for us to do. We decided to double the scenic length, add some sidings and an entrance to the power station with some gates. Waddon Marsh was an unusually heavy industrial setting for south London, with evidence of some of it still there, and we wanted to make sure we captured the feel of the place.”