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Virgin’s 4 in 2 la y
A NOVEL LAYOUT DESIGN IN ‘00’
For their exhibition displays, including the annual Warley show, Virgin commissioned
an unusual, adaptable layout to depict their main railway activities. DAVE LOWERY
shows how he fitted these requirements into an ‘OO’ layout.
Virgin Trains wanted a layout that would show
the public the various areas that they cover in
their railway empire. Not much of a problem
there, then - particularly as they cover most of
the country one way or another!
So, by process of elimination and by differentiating
the key areas, we needed to show both Cross Country
and West Coast operations. For these two categories
we decided on the South West seaside coastal scene
for the Cross Country as this is well known and for the
West Coast, the hills and dales of the North West
would be representative. This, of course, brings in the
overhead catenary - a necessary part of West Coast
representation. To link both of these areas a central
‘Birmingham’ style area would be needed.
So the challenge was to bring these elements
together in a layout that would also be able to be
transported to exhibitions for display. The final size
was requested to be at least 8ft by 10ft so that it
would form the central focus of an exhibition stand.
Now, that is too big to transport on its own even
with a number of ‘good old boys’. However, two
boards 8ft by 5ft would be manageable and this
would lend itself to the two operations of Cross
Country and West Coast, one on each board.
One of the main features that must be avoided’
at all costs on an exhibition layout is board joints.
They are the source of all manner of problems, so
they should be avoided at all costs.
So we now had two operations, on two separate
boards to ensure smooth problem-free running, but,
how to join the two together?
And this is where the ‘Birmingham’ theme comes
in to help out. It also offered me another view I had
always wanted to model and that was looking over
a bridge and seeing the trains coming towards you
and disappearing ‘under’ you.
The ‘Birmingham’ scene could be split down the
centre when the two layouts were parted and so
look like a city station when exhibited singly. But
when both boards were joined it would give a wide
city station throat that you often see looking over
the parapet of a bridge.
And, of course, you would see both Cross
Country trains HST and Class 47 locomotive-hauled
Mk 2 stock alongside West Coast overhead electric
locomotive-hauled Mk 2 and Mk 3 stock.
Both baseboards had their own sets of folding
legs and cross stays which allow for easy erection.
They both had a main scene on the outer, long
side. For the Cross Country section this was the sea
wall scene while for the West Coast a ‘fells’ scene,
then, down the centre and viewed from the two
other sides the City scene.
Not having a room big enough to house the
complete layout I ended up building the West Coast
layout in my kitchen and the Cross Country in the
shed. Eventually joining the two up just before they
went to the annual exhibition at the NEC run by
Warley Model Railway Club.
And that was the result of the excellent challenge
set for me by Dennis Lovett of Virgin Trains. MR

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yout
Above: West Coast scene showing the soon to be
outmoded electric locomotive fleet. Seen here are a
Hornby Class 86 and a standard Hornby Class 90.
MODEL RAIL VIDEO LINK
Virgin Trains operations are featured in
Model Rail video No. 6 (see page 15)
Below: Joint operations centre in the style of
‘Birmingham’. Left-hand side is Cross Country while
the right is the West Coast. Platform positioning
allowed for maximum radii to be used on the
baseboards for smoother running.
Top: The sandstone rock faces and the track
running between it and the sea are a key feature of
the south west Cross Country scenes. Heljan
Class 47 on a rake of Mk 2s passes a Hornby
(correct livery) HST set.
Above: To the future and the shape of things to come
- the new Dapol Pendolino tilting train. Alas, due to
long overhangs it cannot go round standard Hornby
layout curves without hitting trains coming the
other way.
Seaside
Left: While Moses only managed to part water with
a little practice, I have now perfected the movement
of more solid objects.
Loco Depot
Birmingham
West Coast
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