A nostalgic project that was born out of lockdown has grown into Britain’s most popular model railway. It is now on the verge of going on tour.
Simon George, 53 years old, is a businessman who longs to recreate his childhood spot, Mirfield, West Yorkshire, which he loved from 1983.
For the past seven years, he has been finessing his £250,000 model of ‘Heaton Lodge’ – faithfully recreated after downloading hundreds of maps of the railway line in the 1980s.
The model will be displayed in Wakefield Market Hall, December 4 through 19, with the possibility of a UK tour following, The Observer reports.
Simon George, 52, (pictured) has created what is said to be Britain’s biggest model railway by recreating the Heaton Lodge Junction in West Yorkshire
Simon George (left), a boy, loved to watch the trains pass at the busy railway junction in a small hamlet near his house.
The real inspiration for Simon’s life was his time spent on the footbridges or on embankments at Heaton Lodge Junction in the early 1980s. He marvelled at the sounds, sights, and power of the locomotives, as well as the steel-laden goods wagons.
It was, he says, his favourite place, and — despite growing up to run a successful supercar driving experience company and own a Lamborghini himself — the happy memories of those innocent days, and the excitement he felt at seeing a train emerge from way down the tracks and waiting to see exactly which type it was, never left him
Mr George, a North Yorkshire resident, said that he used to spend a lot time there, watching trains pass by, and it left an indelible impression on his memory.
‘I don’t think there’s anybody daft enough to go to the extremes I’ve gone to in some of the detail that’s built-in.’
The model, which was created in 2015, includes a miniature 12-year-old Mr George who watches intently as the rail carriages pass.
He sold his shares in a supercar driving company two and a quarter years ago and threw himself into this project, Heaton Lodge Junction. Built in O gauge, 7mm to 1ft, with extra time spent during lockdown, Heaton Lodge Junction was built in O gauge.
Other details include a small 1980s Tesco bag that was caught in a tree, and 5,000 brass fern leaves made by hand. Each leaf is individually placed and then twisted into shape. The model emits diesel fumes and sounds like a railway.
Mr George said: ‘I think if you’re going to do something, you’ve got to give it 100%.
‘As people walk through the door, they’re confronted by a really well-lit basement with an enormous model as far as the eye can see. Sometimes they are thrown back. It’s a nice reaction.
Time flies by when you’re the driver of a train: Simon at the controls of his huge, 200ft masterpiece
More than seven years on, and after laying 2½ miles of O gauge track, taking pains to get houses, factories — and even individual trees and manhole covers in the roads — in the right place, installing 10,000 individual bracken ferns and other exact replica features of the landscape, his masterpiece is 199ft 8in long, 40ft wide
Simon sold his 50 percent share in the events business in 2018 so that he could focus on his railway full time and make it a profitable business. Along the way, it cost around £250,000 to make — helped by sponsorship from Danish model railway company Heljan
Roll out the barrel: British Rail engineers enjoy a chat with two discarded oil drums. These are just a few decorations Simon has added to his model recreation.
‘It’s funny because when it’s up and running and you glance up, it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up because it’s just like being back in 1983.’
George plans to take his model on a tour across the UK, but it will need three trucks to transport it.
George Dent, editor at Model Rail magazine, stated that many people are shy about their love for model railways. There are many hidden in large houses or barns across the country.
He said: ‘We know of some very famous people who have a closet interest in model railways, but they don’t seem to be keen on sharing it.
‘Rod Stewart might be open about his passion, but not everyone else is willing to admit to it, which is a real shame – especially in the present climate, when we’re all realising the benefits of crafts and hobbies.’