Pickwick Yard is the first “proper” model railway I ever built. I say it’s my first proper layout because I had the classic Hornby Track Mat layout as a kid which me and my Dad built… ok to be honest it was mostly built by my Dad but I did a great job of watching. Anyway back to this layout, Pickwick Yard was an attempt at something bit more serious and due to a lack of space I decided to have a go at a compact shunting layout.

I started it as a teenager and managed to get as far as gluing down a ballast mat and some old Hornby set track but it took another ten years for me to get round to finishing it.

After getting back into the hobby in 2019 I decided to pick up where I left off with Pickwick Yard as a sort of stepping stone before I started on a layout that was more ambitious.

Pickwick Yard by design is incredibly simple and was never intended to be the best looking or most detailed layout the world has ever seen (that’s my excuse anyway!) Instead it was just a place where I could enjoy “playing trains” to keep my enthusiasm going while building something bigger and to that extent it has certainly succeeded.

At around 4ft x 1ft, Pickwick Yard isn’t quite a micro layout but it’s definitely on the smaller side. When I restarted work on the layout it did also gain a slight extension in the form of a fiddle yard which has definitely expanded the operational capabilities and, though highly unrealistic, it’s not unusual to see three locos moving about the yard.

It’s also mostly make out of reused materials - the baseboard for example is two old shelfs that had been taken down, the track is all reused from my childhood layout, even the backscene has been attached to a spare laminate floorboard that was going spare!

As for the setting, well it’s a small industrial yard surrounded on all sides by factory buildings but aside from that, it’s anyone’s guess really. No-one really knows what these factories produce and similarly the workforce keep themselves to themselves and are rarely seen.

Thanks to volunteering on a heritage railway as a teenager I have a real love for small industrial tank engines, so it’s not unusual to see a few of these pottering about the layout. Despite their often short wheel bases, they seem to navigate the old insulfrog points without stalling at all, which is a surprise to everyone - myself included.