A model of Fairford station on the other side of the world! This is a typical British Terminus to fiddle yard layout. It is built and operated by Stephen Beck and Ian McEwan of Nelson, New Zealand. All the buildings and the bridge are scratch-built except the grounded van body by the Engine shed and the pagoda on the platform - Ratio and Wills kits. The locomotives are from Hornby, Airfix/Dapol, Replica/Mainline, Lima and Bachmann. The stock is basically RTR, with some wagon kits from Parkside Dundas, Ratio and Cooper Craft. The wiring is fairly basic and is controlled by an H & M Duette; the left hand knob controls the fiddle yard and station and the right hand knob the goods yard and engine shed. This way the layout can operate with more flexibility and run two trains at the same time. The track is Peco code 100 streamline and electrofrog points. Signals, points and uncouplers are manually operated by angle cranks and wire. The fiddle yard is run with cassette type/traverser system and the trains run by an ordered schedule. The layout has two operating heights: at 875mm for general public exhibitions as set up today; and at 1250mm for working on or at special exhibitions.
   The layout was begun in early 1992 with the buildings, platform and overbridge completed and the track laid, but no scenics done. It made an appearance along with the Nelson NZR group, then put in storage for 12½ years. It was taken out of storage on 28th January 2005, power connected up, and low and behold, the engine ran without the tracks being cleaned. The buildings had suffered from attacks of silverfish, so restoration was the order of the day. Tracks were painted and cleaned and checked. A new backboard was put up with an increase in height - now at 15 inches. The scenic work began in earnest on the 5th February. The layout was exhibited at the Nelson Model Railway Exhibition on 19 & 20 March 2005, and  the "The Big Train Show" in Christchurch (New Zealand) on 1 & 2 October 2005.