Populating the layout

A model railway layout isn’t just about the track and trains, the whole scenic effect is important. We have slowly been finishing off the station frontage, piece by piece.

The arch on the left is Holland Street and is almost ready to receive the roadway complete with vehicles.

We also decided to add working lights to the station so we can show the layout in near dark.

The platform seats have been bespoke made (by Chris Cox) and are replicas of LCDR seats of the period.

For a station set in 1870s London our biggest headache is finding suitable road vehicles and people in the numbers and variety that we require. Articles have been written in the model railway press about putting together little scenarios rather than randomly dotting figures around the layout. Having managed to purchase some figures in Victorian dress approximately right for the period (there is no such thing as ‘Victorian dress’ – fashion changed rapidly every few years) we have been painting them up and are now starting to put them in situ.

We were surprised at just how many advertisements were present on the walls and those in the model have been reproduced from near contemporary photographs.

Some other figures are a work in progress, but inclusion on the layout may be delayed as my 3 year old granddaughter enjoys playing with them!

Road vehicles are available, but we probably need a production line to make sufficient Hansom cabs, carriages, carts and drays. Some we can use off the shelf and others can be modified. Again our sources include old photographs from the time.

This will be used to honour one of our members, Simon Harris – no connection as far as we know to the firm of I & B Harris of Aldgate. It is now in place next to the organ grinder!

And once I have found a suitable monogram/coat of arms to go on the sides this will be taking a journey along Southwark Street.