Wickwar is a small town on the railway line between Bristol and Gloucester. The model railway layout was constructed by the members of the Farnham & District Model Railway Club in N Gauge. The layout is modelled as it was around the early to mid 1950s. As well as local trains, there were many long distance expresses with destinations such as Plymouth, Bournemouth, Manchester, Bradford and Newcastle. Goods trains were mostly to or from Bristol or Avonmouth docks. Motive power was mainly LMR tender locos.
To the south-west (left side) the line comes out of a tunnel and along the side of a valley. To the north-east (right side) it starts to cross the valley. All the buildings are scratch built. Next to the tunnel is the large brewery, built by the railway company to replace existing breweries whose water supply the tunnel cut through. At the period modelled, it had become a cider factory which later closed but has now reopened as the “Wickwar Brewing Company”.
Each of the two tracks can operate on DC or DCC. The fiddle yard has three roads in each direction, each divided into sections so that 24 model trains can be stored. The backscene was “photoshopped” from photographs of the real location and printed on vinyl. The movement of trains in the fiddle yard is automated using MERG “Train On Track Indicators” (TOTI) detectors which work with both DC and DCC. Points, signals, and the car system are controlled by servo motors; the signals are operated automatically as trains pass. Lorries and buses run along the front using the Faller moving vehicle system.
