M Shed
‘EM’ - GUEST
The layout was built specifically for the EM Gauge Society’s 60th Anniversary challenge in 2015 and was a runner-up in that challenge. The layout and rolling stock were built by me, with help from my sons.
‘M Shed’ is the home of the industrial collections of Bristol Museum, based in the last warehouse in use on the docks. It includes Bristol Harbour Railway which runs from M shed to SS Great Britain along the dockside and to Ashton Bridge along the New Cut.
The challenge required a layout 60 inches long (for the 60 years of the society) and 18.2 inches wide (for the 18.2 mm gauge of the track in EM). The length has recently been doubled to include two ‘stations’. Some liberties have been taken with the actual track plan to fit a working representation of the shed and railway into the space allowed. Locomotives include an example from each of the Bristol manufacturers (Peckett and Avonside) that normally work passenger trains, together with the Ruston diesel used on the line. Other vehicles include the passenger train as operated today and a selection of others that could have visited the docks in the past.