LAYOUT | O | NORWICH CENTRAL
In 1995, while watching an 0 gauge SDJR layout, I was asked whether I could help operate, not realising that this simple request to join the crew behind the layout would lead to nearly 30 years of assisting, building and owning 0 gauge exhibition layouts. Exhibiting is great fun; chatting with the public, camaraderie with like-minded souls, weekends away at exhibitions not normally visited, plus, of course, a few beers with one's mates. There is also the pleasure of watching your layout perform as envisaged… most times! The ‘muscle work’ of loading, carrying and erecting/ dismantling is the price, and it is soon forgotten.
‘Norwich Central’ is likely to be my last portable exhibition layout and, as such, was designed to appeal to the public but avoid some of the operating flaws of previous ones. It is also my first dual with DCC and DC locomotive operation and use of mimic panels and networks (Megapoint) for operation of ancillaries. The space I have, after moving much furniture, limits the layout scenic length to
