Tatjana

I wonder if you know what is on the top floor of Asda in North Shields? I didn’t until recently but it’s a massive hangar of a place, home to The Blyth and Tyne Model Railway Society. It was a hive of activity on the night I visited, when I was shown around by Trevor, the secretary, and Lee, the treasurer. Trevor has a background in Education (was Vice Principle of Blyth Community College) but since he retired has had more time to devote to building train models and layout, as well as travelling to check on real-life trains and tracks etc. Trevor’s family worked on the railways and both men’s enthusiasm for model trains goes back to childhood when they were given train sets by their parents. Trevor envies Lee, however, as he gets to drive real trains in his day job for Northern Trains. What I took from my visit is the commitment to detail the members have and the authenticity of the rail layouts. All of the layouts are based on existing (or past) rail locations. As one of the members, Louis, said, “The best way is to look at the real thing in person.”  After that, as Trevor told me, it’s a case of, “Concept, make a plan, then build.”