The Middlebridge Lines
Model railways by Ben Mitchell

Hello and welcome to The Middlebridge Lines. This website is all about my railway modelling.

A note to start

This site is a work in progress; as a placeholder to bring up to date as I get back into the hobby.
Please enjoy what is here, but be forewarned that it is very undeveloped for content. This will come with time!

If you're looking for details for a specific layout, use the navigation bar at the top to jump straight to what you're looking for.

At the moment, the most populated pages are for Middlebridge Shed, Corona Lines Ltd, and Middlebridge Metro.

Otherwise if you're just here to see what this website is all about, read on for a brief summary below.

A bit about me

I have recently started a slow return to the hobby after 20 or so years spent with a few trains boxed up, but now with the time and space to build layouts. I definitely have more ideas than time to realise them all! Having lived in small flat and in rooms without much space, I am keen to explore how much can be achieved for both fun and visual interests on relatively modest layouts. I am a big fan of micro layouts. There is a little more about me in the separate page here.

What do I model?

I model in three track gauges and their associated scales:

OO gauge is where I started as a child and have the most variety of stock to run. I'm interested in everything from British pre-grouping to modern day. Very occasionally a European HO model may make an appearance.
N gauge attracted me a few years ago as a viable way to "watch the trains go by" on a roundy-roundy layout (yet to be built!) so a few modern-image models were acquired as my favourites became available. This is almost entirely British, with a couple of favourite American trains in the mix too.
Gauge 1 is a bit of a departure from the others as a significantly larger scale, seemingly incompatible with indoor layouts (spoilers: check out Middlebridge shed for what can be achieved there). I run Gauge 1 on my Dad's garden railway, and enjoy having the bigger models for more interesting details and electronics. My Gauge 1 (with a foray into American G scale) is all one of 1:32, 10mm/foot (1:30.5) and 1:29 depending on model, with a mix of British and American.

My OO and N gauge models are track-powered DC (with a small dabbling into DCC for signalling in Middlebridge Metro). Gauge 1 is all battery-powered radio control, and will likely have a page of its own at some point. All of my layouts are portable to some degree, meaning I could theoretically exhibit any if there was sufficient interest. That noted, working full time leaves little enough time to do my own railway modelling, and I am not currently an active member of any local clubs.

Why The Middlebridge Lines?

I moved to Romsey in 2021 to the Middlebridge area. I love the name, so have incorporated it wherever I can.

Now, on to the layouts!