Yesterday, I visited my parents to help complete the retirement of dad’s O-gauge layout. His mobility and stroke-induced dementia have meant that he hasn’t been able to model for a while and so the decision was made to retire the layout.

It was based in a shed the bottom of the garden, with a station on each wall and the loop of track from one to the other outside, around the garden. We have now removed the outside track and will be dismantling the layout in the shed in due course. To my knowledge, he moved to O-gauge in the early ’90s and was using OO-gauge in the loft before that from the early ’70s. It’s truly the end of an era for him.

I don’t have many photos of the layout, but here’s a few to give a flavour.

The single track had a number of loops and sidings outside. Dad was more into operations than scenics and he had various operation schedules for the layout based how many operators were available. 5 were required for a fully staffed operation.

Inevitably, Thomas for his grandkids. This picture was taken 15 years ago:

5 years later, his grandkids were interested in operating it with him:

This photo from 18 months ago is one of the last times it was operated. By this stage, he was mostly watching his friends operate it.

What a fantastic hobby this has been for him!