Track & Test Bed

Following the retirement of our regular tutor, Norman Solomon, the track work course will be run by Tony Geary from October 2024.

The foundation of any model railway layout, this is where you find out just how to make reliable track, learn to recognise the pitfalls of construction and acquire the skills to avoid them.

Whether you’ve never made a piece of track in your life or already have built some complicated configurations, this is where you can settle to learning, building and quite possibly completing your piece.

Not everyone, however, is in a position to build a layout of their own and one of the options within this group is the construction of a test track. Whether you use bespoke hand-laid trackwork or Peco Streamline, Tony will show you how to create a length of track to put your models through their paces, prove their running qualities and, if necessary, expose their shortcomings. Giving your test track the full scenic diorama treatment a la Barry Norman is a further option you might like to consider as a space-saving alternative to a layout proper.

The previous tutor, Norman was renown for his rapid track layer technique. He was generous enough to repeat his demonstration at the last weekend he tutored in October 2023. He also permitted us to video him in action and this can be seen below.