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  • Home
    • Paul Rollinson, the train book seller
  • My Books
    • Hamilton's Other Railway
    • Rails to the Lakes
    • Narrow Gauge for Us
    • CP to the East - International of Maine
  • Ontario Railway History
    • Railway Gauges in Ontario
    • Grey and Bruce Counties
    • Haldimand and Norfolk Counties
    • Dufferin County
    • Perth and Huron Counties
    • Peterborough County
    • Simcoe County
    • Victoria and Haliburton Counties
    • Wellington County
    • Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway
    • Georgian Bay & Seaboard Railway
    • Hamilton & North Western/Lake Erie Railways
    • Lake Simcoe Junction Railway
    • Lindsay, Bobcaygeon & Pontypool Railway
    • Northern Railway of Canada Group
    • Portage Flyer
    • Schomberg & Aurora Railway
    • Toronto & Nipissing Railway
    • Cardwell Junction
    • Omemee Junction Ontario ("The Old Road")
    • Victoria Junction, Lindsay, Ont.
  • Ontario Railway Stations - Gallery
    • Image Credit Abbreviations
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E F
    • G
    • H
    • I J K
    • L
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • P Q R
    • S
    • T U V
    • W X Y Z
  • Ontario Show and Event Calendar 2023-24
  • Ontario Railway Station Museums
  • Ontario Railway Murals
  • Railway History - Canada
    • Quick Railway Histories and Related Information
    • Carl Riff's Railway History Diaries
    • Rod Clarke's TG&B and T&N Diaries
    • Timetables
    • Glossary of Common Railway Terms
    • "Canadian Rail" (CRHA) - Links to Issues
    • "Branchline" (BRS) - Index to past Issues
    • Upper Canada Railway Society (UCRS) and its publications
    • GTR Locomotives - R&LHS Bulletin #147
    • GTR Buildings & Bridges Inventory 1907
    • GTR Buildings & Bridges Inventory 1903
    • CNR - Stations - Designating Numbers (1924/1927)
    • CPR - Stations - Designating Numbers 1924
    • Railway Stations and distances - by Jim Fergusson
    • CNR - Synoptic History to 1960
    • Intercolonial Railway - report - Sandford Fleming, C.E.
    • Post Cards - a primary research source - by Ralph Beaumont
    • Searching for Antecedents on the Railways
    • Research and Writing a Book
  • What's New In Publications
  • Railway Modelling
    • My 3-Rail Hornby-Dublo layout - and tips and thoughts
    • Prototype Modelling in Ontario
    • Our Friends at the Shows - a Photo Gallery
    • Disposing of model railway and other train stuff
    • The Great British Train Show
    • Aberfoyle Jct. Model Railway
    • The Credible Model
    • Superdetailing Ideas
    • Basic Model Railway Insights
    • More About N Scale
    • My Eagle Lake & Northern Model Railway in N Scale
  • Toy Train and Model Railway Tracks
    • Gallery of Track Images
    • Track Identification
    • Scale, Gauge, and Track Geometry Information
    • Mystery Department
    • Chronology, Toy Train and Model Railway Events
    • Model Railway History
    • Manufacturer Histories
    • Bibliography and Reference
  • Opinion Piece
  • Links
  • Postage Stamps - Railways and Traction
    • Common Terms and Abbreviations
    • North America
    • British Isles and Ireland
    • Europe - Western - Continental
    • Europe - Eastern
    • Caribbean Islands
    • Central America
    • South America
    • Middle East
    • Far East, Asia and Pacific Ocean
    • Australasia
    • Africa
  • Trains on TV and Screen
  • About My Railway Interest
  • Contact Me

My 3-Rail Hornby-Dublo layout - and tips and thoughts

Scroll down for copies of H-D instruction leaflets, advice and tips.

This happened quite by accident. Hornby 0 and then Hornby-Dublo three-rail is what I had as a teenager growing up in Yorkshire, England. (See About my Railway Interest.) The fortuity is that just a few years ago, the son of a former model railroading buddy from back in the '70s offered to donate his father's boxed, brand-new Hornby-Dublo ELG17 goods set "to a good home". How could one refuse? Well, I set up the simple oval on the dining room table, and the memories started to come flooding back. My introduction to Hornby-Dublo came when I was about 14 and I was at a cousin's home for the summer - he had a GWR goods set (the engine I remember had the gold-leaf "button" GWR emblem - so it must have been pre-war) - he had a simple double track layout with a crossover pair of points and that was it - just on a green plywood-type board - no scenery - nothing else - but that was total fun for a whole summer - amazing isn't it? In those days, teen happiness was a bicycle, a cricket bat, a soccer ball and an electric train. (The first three were relatively affordable, but an electric train often remained a dream, especially in the years just before and after WWII.) My, how the world has changed.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I decided on a "memory lane" 3-rail 00 expanded venture - tinplate rollingstock, metal wheels and couplings are "de rigueur", but with a concession to mostly Superquick for some additional buildings.

Click here for a video of "the Rise and Fall of Hornby Dublo".

Longley-Sutcliffe panorama

Longley-Sutcliffe panorama

The Layout

NETHER SCRIMSHAW and the hamlet of LONGLEY SUTCLIFFE
This layout is a double track oval that wraps itself around the country town of Nether Scrimshaw, with a branch to the hamlet of Longley Sutcliffe. The original plan was to have all the points manually-operated, with total reliance on isolating points to create the necessary block sections, but the notion of having to walk around the layout soon wore thin when passing loops and a goods yard were added on the far side, so that remote-controlled points became de rigueur.

Power is handled by a Hammant & Morgan "Duette". Unfortunately, remote-controlled points do not come in an "isolating" version, so some additional wiring became necessary, which is always a good work-out because the layout is only 24" off the floor for convenient operation while sitting on the adjacent sofa.  The overall dimensions are 9ft 9 inches long and 44 inches wide, with a partial 50 inch width at one end for an outer goods train loop and access to the branch. A 38" width is the least practical minimum (allowing 1" space at both outer edges of track) for double track operation. At Nether Scrimshaw, an extra six inches allow for two sidings off the outside circuit, one for an alternate 3-coach passenger train at the island platform bay, and the other for a one-stall engine shed. 

Nether Scrimshaw completed as far as track layout and major scenery goes. Some buildings still to come, together with some little people.

Nether Scrimshaw completed as far as track layout and major scenery goes. Some buildings still to come, together with some little people.

A Down suburban calls at the Inner station while an express pounds through on the Up line.

A Down suburban calls at the Inner station while an express pounds through on the Up line.

Looking over to the engine shed, and the outer goods loop in the distance. The infants' school is close to the engine shed to give the kiddies early exposure to Hornby-Dublo. I wish.

Looking over to the engine shed, and the outer goods loop in the distance. The infants' school is close to the engine shed to give the kiddies early exposure to Hornby-Dublo. I wish.

An express passes through Nether Scrimshaw Outer, while a local waits for its turn out to the west country. The island platform is 3" sectional lumber with applied Superquick paving. At perfect platform height.

An express passes through Nether Scrimshaw Outer, while a local waits for its turn out to the west country. The island platform is 3" sectional lumber with applied Superquick paving. At perfect platform height.

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