‘OO’ GAUGE LAYOUT NOTTINGBOROUGH

Stickler for detail and self-confessed ‘train nut’ Steve Povey spent a long time planning this stunning layout, and overcoming technical challenges.

Words: Chris Gadsby

Photography: Chris Nevard

“ What makes this layout great? Steve’s personal experience of engine sheds means that everything is in the correct place at ‘Nottingborough’ and the scene is packed with little details that not only add to the realism but will also keep you observing for a long time when you see it on the circuit.”

We’re all aware that getting the details right on a layout can turn a good one into a great one. We’ve even produced a bookazine titled In the Detail (see page 109), showing you all the things around the railway you may have missed and might want to include on your next model railway. For some, adding all of these details gets expensive and risks cluttering the layout, but for others, including Steve Povey, the details are the most enjoyable part of the whole build.

“When it came to planning my first layout, ‘Nottingborough’, I’d made lots of lists about the details I could use and put onto the layout. I then spent an entire winter painting all the detailing bits before I even put the board and track down. I’ve been a train nut for as long as I can remember and was a member of Brambleton Model Railway Club in Harpenden in my earlier years, as well as working on the footplate on a preserved railway, so I knew a lot about engine sheds and it was natural that my layout would be based around one. About 20 years ago I had the idea of building a shed within a triangle, but the radius curves would have made the layout far too big. The thought stayed in my mind though, and after a few sessions with Giles Walburn and John Freer from Elite Baseboards, we were able to tweak it into something manageable.