Shift' tem sidings is a small shunting layout set in an industrial town. There is a yard at the front that is run by the Army but more on this later. The location is fictitious and is run in a variety of eras, steam, end of steam and modern traction. Running the layout in this way means that at exhibitions we have a variety of stock to run and keep the interest of the public and the sanity of the operators. The layout is 5ft x 2ft, free standing and has its own lighting frame to show off the layout. This means that the layout can stand in the corner of the living room (to the disapproval of some!) enabling running of trains to happen at home (again to the disapproval of some!!) The stock is a mixture of ready to run and kit built. You can see class 03, 08, 20's, 37's, 59's, 60's and 66's. Though it’s a tight fit with the 37's, 59's, 60’s and 66's The wagons are a mixture of tank, closed van and open coal trucks.

The layout is currently in the process of being changed. When first built it was made of card / brick paper for the walls and buildings. This is being changed to plastic card with white metal details. This adds a texture to the layout that makes it look and seam more real which is what we try to achieve as modellers The layout is based on two levels. The lower section is made up of two sidings and the access line. This is where the main action on the layout takes place. The upper level is a line with a point and is run using a shuttle service. The track work is SMP with hand built points. The point motors are H&M with centre off switches to throw them. The points are wired in a way that when thrown it changes the electrical contacts. It can be operated from the front or the back using a handheld controller. There is a possibility of changing to DCC (lights and sound!!) but that is in the hands of the directors! The buildings are a mixture of warehouses, signal boxes and a porta cabin which are a variety of kit built ones from the likes of Wills, Ratio and Knightwing. The rest are scratch built items based on pictures of real buildings and the layout of the building changed to suite the location on Shift'tem. Details like the gates, bus stop and the street lights (when fitted) are from Langley models. Now the reason for the Army, well one of the other interests of the operators is Landrovers and in the yard there are a few types, series 3 109' soft tops, 109' hardtops, Radio wagons, 101's and a 101 ambulance. The layout has recently moved over to the North Yorkshire area from the North West exhibition circuit althogh it is still shown on the North West circuit. If you see the layout at an exhibition please don’t be afraid to ask the operators any questions about the layout, the stock or even the Landrovers. We don't bite!!'