The Haywards Estate Railway sort of just happened, and was the result of a bit of dabbling in Gn15 scale. It all started with the wagon, an 00 underframe with a scratchbuilt superstructure. This was followed by a Sidelines conversion of a Bachmann Gas Mechanical. Of course, that needed an Engine Shed to store it in, so some G scale structures were required. The Workmans Cabin came from my garden railway. I designed an Engine Shed/Workshop so as to make economical use of two sheets of scribed siding.

The engine shed, ready for assembly

Experience has taught me that structures like this need plenty of bracing, and this one is braced prototypically. These shots were taken on my Sn3½ layout.

The braced and assembled shed

At last, the completed shed, awaiting the final fit out and detailing

Then, with a burst of enthusiasm, the basic shape of a layout was assembled using On30 trackwork (more to save time than anything else). The layout measures 43” x 24”. The length was determined by the track design, which uses 8” radius curves, and has no track closer to the edge than 4”. This is a safeguard in the event (unlikely) of a derailment … it is 3’ to the floor!

The basic layout

With the scenery still a bit damp, I took the layout along to a Live Steam meet, and set it up to run on battery power on a picnic table. Rob England stopped by, and captured this realistic scene while the train was still moving. At this stage, the layout still lacked a lot of finishing detail.

Rob England’s photo of the layout’s first outing

The layout was taken to the 2008 New Zealand Model Railway Convention both as a competition entry, and as a display for the public open day, so most of the detail work was done just in time. At the Convention, was a clinic on making trees from Yarrow. Participants were able to ‘make and take’ a tree, so I cobbled up this G scale one at the back of the shed to complete the scene.

A fine pine adds height to the layout

Chris Krupa, from England, brought along a little speeder, and this spent an enjoyable day with running rights on Haywards Estate. The layout does not have a backdrop, and is best displayed in a dim room with the layout spotlit. And talking of backscenes …

Nothing beats a real backdrop!

… on the way home, I stopped off and set up the layout on the side of the road to capture this little gem - this is a genuine shot, no Photoshop here.