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Nathanville Model Railway Village

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A Model Railway Village in the Making

Nathanville Model Railway Village - Welcomes Careful Train Drivers! - And Railway Enthusiasts.

A Tour of Nathanville in the making; tips on its constructions, photos and links to the main website for more information. Also browse the relevant links, add to and vote on them, vote in the polls and sign the guest book. Below is a summary of Nathanville's Model Railway Village with links for more information, and at the bottom online shopping from Amazon & ebay for all your travel accessories.

Replica or Imaginary

When designing and making a model railway layout you have many choices including whether it's to be authentic or imaginary.

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Photos and Videos

Model & Real Trains from around Europe

Construction details, video clip and photos of Nathanville Model Railway Village.

Train Photos: Visit Nathanville's main site to view a small collection of photos for Real and Model Railway Trains including the Nathanville Model Railway photos.
A Model Railway Village in the Making: Visit Nathanville's main site to see the full details on its construction, watch the short video clip of it in action and view the photos of Nathanville Model railway Village.

Nathanville Model railway Village

RAILWAY ENTHUSIASTS

Other Great Railway and Model Railway Lenses

Visit our Railways Enthusiasts Group to see what other Railway Modellers and Railway Enthusiasts are doing on Squidoo. Model railways or the real thing, steam or diesel, and model villages. A selection of lenses relevant to Rail travel, Model Railways and Model Villages.

Mode of Transport

Do you go to work on an egg or by some other mode of transport?

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Construction

A brief description on the construction of Natanville Model Railway Village

CHURCH YARD AND GRAVESTONES
The Church and vicarage are at the heart of Nathanville village. Most of the gravestones were made with Match Sticks and Lollipop Sticks. These were then painted, and scale model gravel scattered in the centre of the stones. The two tombs were made from pieces of lollipop sticks and the cross made from small bits of softwood.

BASE TABLE
The frame and legs for the base tables were constructed using 2" x 3" (25mm x 75mm) softwood timber. The frame for the main tabletop was made no wider than 4ft (1.22 meters) as access is from both sides and it is difficult to stretch more than 2ft (0.6 meters) to the centre of the board from either side. The tabletop was covered using tongue and grove loft flooring boards, as this is strong enough to take the weight of the model village and railway. Sections were cut out of these boards for the military docks (shipyard), the valley and a small river running the width of the table.

RAILWAY TRACKS
This was planed, laid and tested before making the valley, docks and hills, so that there was no doubt where to cut the baseboard for the valley and docks, and where the tunnels would need to go in the hillsides etc. The main board supports four railway circuits, of which one has a sub-loop hidden beneath the airfield - Therefore, the main village train system can support up to five trains (four in operation at any time). As a train on the outer circuit enters the hill under the military airfield that train can be stopped, points changed, and the train on the other sub-loop started. Thus, one train enters the hillside and a moment later another train emerges from the hillside. The points that control this operation are wired to a central control making the operation seamless. The system on the underground (subway) operates in a similar way - two main tracks, but with one sub-loop.

ROADS, FIELDS, OTHER SURFACES, BUILDINGS and ACCESSORIES
The roads were made first by pencilling the outline, painting the roads on the surface of the main baseboard with black paint then sprinkling tarmac effect scatter on the wet paint. Grass, soil and other surface finishes were achieved in the same way - using green paint for grass, brown for soil etc., and sprinkling with scale modelling scatter.

MILITARY DOCKS
The dock (shipyard) was made by making an opening in the surface of the main table, and then fixing a piece of loft flooring board to the underside of the table frame - thus giving a depth of 3" (75 mm) below ground level. The railway bridge over the dock was made using 3 mm plywood. Arches were cut into the plywood, and before fixing into place the surface was coated with brick effect wallpaper used for scale model buildings.

Nathanville Railway Village

A quick guide of the railway village in the making

MILITARY BASE
The military base overlooks Nathanville village, and during times of unrest protects it. The airfield and gun defence on the hilltop has external and internal access to the barracks and docks below by steps and lifts. Air, ship, train and road bring in supplies to the military base, and where necessary transported onto the village by rail. (The lift and lift shaft are made from 3mm plywood and thin plastic, glued using contact glue. The lift slides up and down the lift shaft by means of thin string tied to the top of the lift and wrapped around a handle at the top of the shaft). The military base is separated from the village by the main river. The training camp is situated adjacent to the village car park on the other side of the main railway line.

MILITARY AIRFILED
The Military airfield is heavily guarded by defences, which also overlooks and defends the village. The Barracks, just below the airfield is the centurial point of defence and is situated between the airfield and the docks. The Military docks separate the village from the Military base - It also brings in supplies from afar for the military base and the village. Trains then transport village supplies to the village main train station. The Military camp is the only part of the military on the village side of the docks, and plays an important role in defence. Not only is it used for training but also in an emergency acts as an advance attachment in the event of the village requiring ground defence. For added protection from air attack, a network of roads and rail run underground.

MAIN STATION, CAR PARK and VALLEY
The main train station and subway are the village's main link to the military base and the outside world. Although there is also access to the neighbouring villages and towns by country road. The car park over looks the valley, so if you are a little late and miss your subway connection you can wave goodbye to your train as it disappears through the tunnel? In such cases, the waiting room provides cheap coffee and all day breakfasts!

THE UNDERGROUND
Most modellers when they want to add height and dimension to a model railway village use crossover and gradients - and very commendable. I was not so ambitious as to try gradients and crossovers. Instead, I built an underground. The net result is that the layout 12ft x 4ft can support 8 trains (six running simultaneously). Five trains on the main surface and three underground.

Reader Feedback

Reply

AlanUsen May 25, 2012 @ 2:51 am | delete

Thanks for a great lens. I learned a lot. You may be interested in this article about model trains: http://impartialreviews.org/model-trains-for-beginners-review/

Reply

ModelTrainsForBeginners Jan 28, 2012 @ 4:38 am | delete

Great lens. I love your layout, and the pictures are excellent. I haven't seen many model railway layouts that include an airbase, a great touch there. Lee.

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Tipi Nov 19, 2011 @ 11:12 am | delete

Wowzers, hundreds of hours of creativity and all to that standard of excellence!

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Sarunas Mar 13, 2009 @ 3:23 am | delete

Amazing models.
Five Stars from me. :)
Keep it up.

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Sarunas Feb 14, 2009 @ 7:53 am | delete

Love your lens.
Was interesting to read.
5 stars :)

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ratso Dec 12, 2008 @ 2:20 pm | delete

Great lens and railway layout, it looks like you spent a lot of time on it.

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Evelyn_Saenz Oct 12, 2008 @ 6:47 am | delete

I have just started a new lens about trains for young children and I have featured this lens as being one of the best for learning the Model Trains.

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MsMorrison Oct 8, 2008 @ 1:30 am | delete

great lens

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AEAdviser Mar 4, 2008 @ 9:24 pm | delete

Model trains bring out the best is us all, 5*. thanks! Drop by Party Time!

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poddys Feb 10, 2008 @ 8:24 am | delete

This lens is a great view for model railway enthusiasts. Very nicely put together. 5 *****
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