During 1999, after completing a 00 gauge diorama for the Darlington Railway Centre of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (Brusselton Incline to Stockton Quayside) for the unsuccessful 175th anniversary celebrations, Darlington Model Railway Club members decided to build their first O gauge layout, in fine scale (7mm = 1ft).

As we are based in the North-East we decided on a typical but fictitious North-Eastern country station. The name; Burtree was chosen as it is a local point associated with the Stockton and Darlington railway, on the main line between Darlington North Road and Heighington, where there was originally a gated level crossing, now replaced by a bridge. The operating period was set to be between LNER 1945 and British Railways 1960. Club rules allow approved layouts to be funded by the club and locomotives and rolling stock by members if they so choose.

A layout was drawn up based on four boards, each 4ft x 2ft 9ins – this size was dictated by the fact that a member had already made them and would donate them for this project! Construction was in four-ply, with outer frame sandwich of ply and spaced 2 x 1 inch solid wood blocks. The first board has two folding trestle-type wooden legs; subsequent boards have only one pair of legs but have two ¼ inch locating dowels on one end. The boards are secured to each other by two 8mm bolts with wing nuts and steel washers. The washers are fixed to the board ends by wood screws to prevent losses during erection and dismantling. Two further boards were built, each 6ft x 2ft 9ins, for a fiddle yard and turntable. The turntable has five roads, individually energized by locating brass pins from the running layout. Operations would be such that we would need to assemble trains to run out and back, before turning, to avoid having to handle stock. Track work is generally Peco bull-head 100lbs flexi track, with all points being handmade and incorporating C & L components. The track is laid on strips of 4mm cork tiles, obtained from a well-known DIY store, fixed with PVA glue and industrial staples. Ballast is granite chippings fixed with the tried and tested method of watered down PVA glue. All points have been kept to the centre of operations wherever possible. Blade operation is achieved by sleeve and cable which is also connected to slide switches to change frog polarity, and provided interlocking control for signals.

Signals are hand built with solenoid arm operation to a variety of prototypes, including NER slotted posts and early BR steel posts.The signaling is very operator friendly- six signals being operated by two switches, One selects the direction the train is traveling, the other operates or deactivates the appropriate signal. The signals are interlocked to the appropriate road selection and direction – one tricky situation was to be able to run round a train standing in the station! The solution was to activate a ‘calling on’ board rather than the main line board and this was achieved by the use of an ERDOT positioned on the line at a strategic point in the main platform and triggered by the last carriage standing in the station.
All the buildings are scratch-built with three-ply skeletons and card or plastikard cladding. The prototype for the station was Cattal, on the Harrogate to York line. The bridges were all scratch-built to BRMSB standard height to rail clearance but we had a height problem when running some of the kit-built locos, so we had to increase the bridge heights to give clearance.
The layout was expanded in 2003, a 90 degree curve being added and designed in such a way that it could be used either left or right handed. Construction was the same as the other boards. Track was laid to a minimum radius of 5ft 6in with 6in straights at both ends. This required some modifications to the scenery on the mating boards and in order to retain track alignment with the mating boards two sets of board alignment bolt holes were required.
Ground scenery comprises a polystyrene core covered with scrim cloth and a well-known brand of textured coating plaster. Brown powder paint was included to prevent unsightly white showing through if the surface is chipped. PVA glue was also added to minimize cracking during the drying process. Once dry the surface was liberally painted with PVA glue and various flock powders applied to achieve the final effect. Stone walls were made from a foam board, cut to the land profile, and then covered with modeling clay. While still wet individual stones were scored out. When dry, the surfaces were painted with washes of various colours. Hedges were made from rubberized horsehair, cut to the required height and width and stuck down with PVA glue. The hedge surface was then covered with spray glue, or hairspray, and various colour flock powders sprinkled on. The canal base and towpath side were made from plywood with the latter covered with embossed plastikard to represent the stone wall. The other bank was formed from scenery as described above, and the base painted with a green and brown mixture to represent mud. Reeds and bank side vegetation were then fixed in place with PVA glue. Temporary ply ends were then attached and the box, thus formed, was sealed around the inside with a clear mastic sealer to make it ‘water’ tight. The ‘water’ was clear casting resin, mixed and poured on in small amounts until the required thickness was achieved. Warning! The baseboard must be perfectly level when pouring the resin as, like real water, it will find its own level! The resin was poured just before leaving the club rooms for the night to reduce the risk of dust settling on the wet surface. Figures are proprietary items from Phoenix, Omen, etc., and were expertly painted by a club member. Beforehand, all figures and animals had a brass wire pin inserted and glued into a leg as an aid to the painting process. After painting the pin was retained and, when the final location was chosen, was inserted and glued into a very small hole to help keep it in place during transportation.

As previously stated, all the stock is owned by club members, mainly built from kits. We try to ensure that all loco motors are wired the same way round, to ease operations, but we have not always been successful! All couplings are of the three-link variety, which have led to some difficulties at some exhibitions where the lighting was not as good as it could have been. To overcome the problem we constructed a set of removable lights for exhibitions, using spot lights attached to gallows type brackets suspended over the layout, but their light is not as even and soft as we would like, therefore we are proposing to change to fluorescent tubes, hoping for a better all round effect.

Future developments under consideration are a signal box, coal drops, and an extension to an industrial site.