MIDDLETON
A model railway layout seen from above, wrapped round a well lined with yellow curtains, with a black stool, two control panels and a painted sky behind.

A railway in the loft · OO gauge

Middleton

Grandad’s layout, built around an operating well in his loft: a market town and a circus, a quarry, a busy freight yard, and a station called Middleton.

Begin the tour See all 92 photographs

The operating well, with the stool between its two control panels.

Saturday 21 July 2012 · 17:14

For Grandad

The railway in the loft

Grandad’s layout filled the loft. A long aisle ran between two loading bays, where the trains were put on the track, to a fold-up section that lifted to let you into the operating well. From there the layout wrapped all the way round: a market town and a circus, farms and girder bridges, a bus depot, a brewery, a busy high street, and Joshville, the station he named after his grandson.

These ninety-two photographs were taken on Saturday 21 July 2012, in two visits to the loft: one at about five o’clock, and another at about half past seven.

The tour follows the way you would walk round it, stop by stop. Every photograph opens full screen and can be zoomed into, gold markers point out the small scenes he set up, and each one can be compared with the original.

The tour

Round the layout in ten stops

Open the map
  1. IThe LoftAlong the aisle between the loading bays, and in through the fold-up section to the operating well.
  2. IIMiddleton StationThe platform along the back of loading bay 2, with its posters, passengers and trains.
  3. IIIThe YardWhere the trains were put on the track: stone and coal wagons, diesels, the engine shed and a coal merchant’s.
  4. IVThe QuarryBuffer stops beneath the pylon, stabled Class 59s, and a quarry cut into the rock.
  5. VTown & IndustryThe bus depot by the way in, a scrap yard and the roadworks, the brewery and the goods depot.
  6. VIThe CountrysideJoshville, the Swan and the timber yard, the water tower, and the bridge with the river underneath.
  7. VIIThe CircusBilly Smart’s big top, in the far corner from the way in.
  8. VIIIThe Market TownThe market hall and its stalls, a 1921 terrace, and the platforms of Braintree and Bocking.
  9. IXThe High StreetThe shops across the main line, the level crossing, and the builder’s yard round the corner.
  10. XBehind the ScenesHis control panels, and the drawers and tubs labelled in his hand.

The layout from above

Round the loft

Along the aisle past the loading bays, in through the fold-up section, and round the operating well. Pieced together from the photographs and family memory, and not to scale.

  1. IThe Loft
  2. IIMiddleton Station
  3. IIIThe Yard
  4. IVThe Quarry
  5. VTown & Industry
  6. VIThe Countryside
  7. VIIThe Circus
  8. VIIIThe Market Town
  9. IXThe High Street
  10. XBehind the Scenes
IThe LoftThe operating well, reached through the fold-up section at the end of the aisle.Go to this stop
AISLE LOADING BAY 1 LOADING BAY 2 · MIDDLETON FOLD-UP · WAY IN CONTROL PANEL 1 CONTROL PANEL 2 OPERATING WELL CircusBridge,river belowWater towerJoshville Bus depotMarket townHigh street I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
Main line Fold-up section Drawers under the bays His stool

The photographs

Restored, with the originals kept

The photographs were taken with a compact camera under the loft’s warm lights, which gave everything a yellow cast and left the corners dark. Each one has been gently restored: the colour balanced, the shadows lifted and the detail sharpened, with nothing added or taken away.

The originals are kept exactly as they were taken. In the viewer, switch to Original to compare, or zoom in to see the layout in full detail.

  • Photographs 92
  • Taken Saturday 21 July 2012
  • First visit 17:05 to 17:38 · 47
  • Second visit 19:23 to 19:52 · 45
  • Camera Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
  • Scale OO gauge, 1:76