Layout Feature – West Coast Cement by Hornby
West Coast Cement by Hornby
Asides from covering exhibitions, from time to time we will also cover layouts. These are ones I have seen at exhibitions that take my fancy and think are worth sharing with you all.
The first one of these involves a bit of a trip back into the archives
In May 2022 I went to the Stamford Model Railway show, and fell in love with this layout. Given it is OO gauge it is not my usual taste, given I prefer the finer scale of N Gauge. However, it is a well put together layout and has a lot to like. Below is a video of action on the layout I shot whilst standing enjoying it at Stamford.
West Coast Cement is part of the Hornby Magazine’s layout roster. It depicts a fictional section of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) north of Crewe. The layout is set in the privatisation era and boasts amongst other features, overhead electrification, a large cement works, busy main lines and a large 11 road fiddle yard at the back.
What is to like?
Amongst the things I like about this layout is the overall length of it. To do a layout well in OO gauge I believe you need to be able to run near prototypical length trains, even if you can’t run them at full length. Given the size of OO gauge compared to such a N Gauge and TT:120 etc this is harder said than done sometimes. However, with West Coast Cement they manage it with aplomb given the layout measures an impressive 20ft x 10ft.
Also appealing to me is the fact that it is an overhead electric based layout. On here the mock catenary which is from the Peco range of Somerfeldt equipment is done very well and all locos set up to use it look right. Set in the post privatisation era, the layout can be run in specific time periods by the Hornby team. At the Statfold exhibition last year they ran for one day depicting the 2000-2010 period. The following day as it was a two day show covering the weekend featured 2010 to the present day.
The Tech Behind The Layout
The layout is operated by Digital Command Control (DCC). Thanks to it’s simple track layout for the main line, this means that all the points on the scenic section can be switched quickly and easily using their individual accessory addresses on the DCC handsets.
Adding to the impressive and realistic feel, the main line incorporates fully working four-aspect colour light signals into the layout. These come from the Train-Tech automatic signalling range. These have built in sensors to trigger the signals to change to red when a train passes. Subsequently they then work through a standard sequence of amber, double amber and finally reverting to green to mimic reality as the train gets further away.
The level crossing on the right end of the Castle Cement layout uses a Wills new modern level crossing kit. The kit used comes complete with twin barriers. The team at Hornby responsible for the layout have modified this to incorporate Train-Tech working level crossing lights. These lights are on the viewing side of the layout to add further realism to the scene. The lights are again controlled by a DCC address so that the lights go through the correct sequence before a train passes through.
With so much impressive technology included, as well as full length trains there is a lot to like about this layout. The video above is cut down quite heavily from the half hour plus I spent watching trains go by. For me the layout ticks many boxes, and I look forward to hopefully seeing it out and about again some time.
