Stop one · The way in

The Loft

The layout filled the loft. You came along a long aisle between the two loading bays, where the trains were put on the track, with drawers of wagons and locomotives underneath.

At the end, a whole section of the high street folds up out of the way. Step through, and you are in the operating well: his stool, the two control panels, and the layout wrapped all the way round you.

Gold markers point out small details. Select one to read about it.

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. — Across the operating well, with its stool and curtained fascias, the layout wraps around the loft: cottages and a red double-decker at the level crossing in front, the circus, church and water tower beyond.17:14

A strip of model town baseboard stands upright on its end, its buildings turned sideways, beside a gap looking through to an aisle with drawers and a stool. — Lifted on end, the fold-up section opens the way into the operating well, and the aisle behind shows through the gap.17:14

The fold-up section

To get in and out of the well, a whole slice of the high street, cottages and shopfronts and all, folds up on end.

Through the gap you can see the aisle, and the drawers under loading bay 2.

Look closer

The fold-up section lifts to let you into the operating well, and the whole street goes up with it, every building fixed fast: cottages, Post Office, ABC cinema.

A long model high street with shops, a cinema and a level crossing runs beneath a sloping loft roof, with yellow curtains below and openings in the wall above. — Lowered into place, the fold-up section completes the high street, with the Routemaster at the level crossing and the ABC cinema behind. The rest of the loft continues through openings in the partition.17:15