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British trains

The IWMR has a lot to show. On entering you come into our museum. Then you enter the ‘time tunnel’ along which you see a diorama of British scenery with typical trains of the past and present. This leads to the Children’s layout with large-scale trains. Finally you enter the Devil’s Canyon where you see American trains. The exit leads you into our shop.

THE MUSEUM has glass cases all round containing a fascinating collection of model trains produced since the 19th. Century including an early ‘dribbler’ live steam loco from the 1890s, some Bassett-Lowke gauge one electric and clockwork engines and live steamers from the Edwardian era and after the 1st. World War. Colourful Hornby models from the 1930s include some of the beautifully tin printed wagons bearing names like Carr’s biscuits and Meccano. There are Lionel models from the USA of the 1930s 40s and 50s, and OO scale trains from the 1950s onwards such as Hornby-Dublo, Triang and Trix including some real rarities. There are also some related cars and a display of the first commercial N Gauge models, ‘Treble-O’ from Lone-Star. The Minic Motorway system was designed to complement Triang Trains and was a delightful toy not much known outside collector circles. Here are some rare examples. Similarly Minic Ships,- small scale diecast ship models which have great charm. In a separate cabinet is a diorama of Mill Hill station in Cowes as it was in its busy days of the 1960s before closure. Many workers flooded out of the station on their way to the shipyards in the old days.

THE TIME TUNNEL has a low ceiling like a tunnel and a diorama all along one side showing typical English scenery. The scene is not modelled on any specific area but is designed to have a familiar feeling. There are a number of separate tracks. The main lines have gradients and cross each other at bridges and tunnels. We always run a fast passenger train such as the Flying Scotsman or the Irish Mail here. A mainline goods train will usually be seen too, perhaps a long train of milk tanks or a long drag of coal wagons from the mines to the power stations. We have models of nearly all the famous trains of the past and present but cannot guarantee to run requests. Other tracks run at different levels, including a track on a viaduct modelled on part of the Sankey viaduct on the Liverpool and Manchester railway of ‘Rocket’ fame. You will see busy little tank engines hard at work and trains coming into and leaving a country station.

We have a very comprehensive stock of British models to run here, from early steam to the latest in train technology. The trains do not run to a program and the selection of trains running at any time is random and always interesting. We are sometimes asked to run a particular train but although we try to please, we cannot promise, as any train may not be available if in the shops for maintenance.

THE CHILDREN’S LAYOUT is in big G scale. The trains are chunky and colourful and the kids may see one of their favourite engines. The tracks are at a low level where everyone can see them and little ones can get up close as they trundle by. The rails are laid to an ingenious plan to give a longish track in space less generous than the average garden where such models usually run. The scenery is simple and striking and there is a lot to see from the castle to the station and the lighthouse. Be prepared to wait for ages as children can often demand all the time they can get here to press the buttons and make the trains and trams run.