---
type: Article
title: Loxley Barton Falls - part 1 - inspiration
description: My first visit to Expo Narrow Gauge in 2004 rekindled an old hobby I thought I'd never return to—model railways.
resource: https://www.simoncox.com/post/2011-02-25-loxley-barton-falls-part-1-inspiration/
tags: [Post, Loxley, Modelling]
timestamp: 2011-02-25
---

![Wm Pittock and Sons Ltd. warehouse at Loxley Barton Falls.](/assets/img/content/loxley-barton-falls-inspiration-1032x.jpg){loading="eager"}

## I decided to enter a model making competition

I had not done any model making since I was a teenager and had not been to a model railway exhibition for a very long time. ExpoNG was fantastic and was a real eye-opener. The exhibition is about the best modelling for narrow gauge railways there is — it is not your normal Thomas the tank engine rubbish that you see at most shows but real works of modelling art. In one corner the show had a small informal competition with a few entries — the Shoebox Challenge. As I don’t have much room in my house I thought that this was a splendid idea for building a small model railway, testing out ideas and being able to actually complete something in a short space of time. Paula was delighted as she was about to get some new shoes! However the following year’s exhibition competition was not for a shoebox at all but a little bit bigger challenge — build a working model railway that would fit inside a fictitious 500mm cube. I had to have a go!

I spent months and months sketching and thinking about what I wanted on post-it notes on the train, over a cup of tea. We even went on a Trains and Gardens holiday to Wales to give me some inspiration and finally, I had a plan, mostly in my head, and work started.

I sketched out the plans on 6mm MDF (in hindsight this was way too thick) and marked out the track, points buildings and features.

![Loxley Barton Falls baseboard sketch out.](/assets/img/content/loxley-barton-falls-inspiration-base.jpg)
*Loxley Barton Falls baseboard with plan sketched out*


The board was cut and then the framework assembled around it to produce a 500 mm box. I didn’t have to do this but I did want to frame the layout and a box seemed to the best way to do it. Part of the plan was to allow viewing into the box from two sides thereby giving the plan a diamond share rather than a square one. This then gives a wider viewpoint when looking at the model. This meant that only two sides were to be used for the backdrop so the corner posts needed to be slightly stronger than I had first anticipated.

As you can see from the second image in the gallery the lower sides, base, uprights and lid make a strong box.

![Loxley Barton Falls baseboard construction.](/assets/img/content/loxley-barton-falls-inspiration-base2.jpg)
*Loxley Barton Falls baseboard construction from 6mm MDF and strip wood*


More to follow… (when I gather more of the build photos and remember what I did next — the old grey cells are gathering a bit of dust). For now though I do have a dedicated page for [Loxley Barton Falls.](/loxleybarton/).

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[Read full article](https://www.simoncox.com/post/2011-02-25-loxley-barton-falls-part-1-inspiration/)