As many readers will know, I can often be found at shows helping friend (and Principle Signalling Designer for Network Rail) Simon Paley, operating and providing logistic support (van driving!) with his Collingwood layout. I firmly believe that Simon’s Collingwood is the most accurately signalled and 3rd rail model railway on the exhibition circuit today, based firmly in Southern territory.
I am pleased to integrate Collingwood within this website and further posts, by Simon, will follow in due course to provide further details on some of the unique features, especially the signalling, of the layout.
Collingwood is a 00 Gauge exhibition layout of a fictionalised version of Fareham in Hampshire (on the former Southern Region) and set in the period 2003 – 2017.
The layout presents the busy junction between the Portsmouth to Southampton ‘West Coastway’ and the line between Portsmouth and Eastleigh and is designed to educate the viewer about the operation of the current privatised railway as well as present an aesthetically pleasing layout! Featured is not only the aforementioned junction, but also the station at Fareham with its unusual centre bay Platform, a extensively modified Stone Terminal and a representation of one of the harbours dotted around the island of Portsea and with twin girder bridges (not actually at Fareham) along with a fully working level crossing.
Collingwood’s ‘Party piece’ is Simon’s incredible full prototypical signalling system, replicating the very latest Signalling standards, complete with route selection, full interlocking, live train detection, all controlled via a computer and displayed to exhibition visitors on a large screen above the layouts backscene at exhibitions. This system can also be used as a stand alone demonstration of such a signalling panel also allowing simulated fault inputs that can be used for training for operators of the real thing.
Trains between the ‘cassette’ fiddle yards at each end are controlled via DCC working off Smart Phones.
The layout features a mixture of modern and traditional building techniques, including lots of 3D Printed detailing parts, but also uses scratch-building and kit bashing of several HO Scale kits. The station buildings, pictured left, based on those at Fareham were scratch built by myself.
More details and pictures can be found in Hornby Magazine issue 184 October 2022. Pictures courtesy of Mike Wild / Hornby Magazine.
I hope you enjoy this introduction to Collingwood and like me look forward to further post about the layout, its signalling and 3rd rail installation.
To see when Collingwood is next being exhibited check out the ‘On the road – exhibition diary’ page here that now lists exhibitions appearances of Collingwood as well as Canute Road Quay.
Simon’s excellent book Colour Light Signalling for Model Railways can be obtained here.
As somebody who started in the Southern Region signalling design office I must applaud Simon for accurately representing an aspect of the railway so often not fully understood by modellers.
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Well done!
Great to see the third rail so well modelled.