Boxers Yard

• Scale - 4mm/ft. OO
• Era - transition
• Exhibition space required (including layout & operating space) 6ft. X 5ft. and space to barriers.

Boxer's Yard is a minimum space layout, first shown at South Shields in February 2005

Boxer's Yard is a small freelance private owner siding in the town of Dalefoot at the bottom end of the fictitious Dalefoot to Castledale branch in the Yorkshire and Durham Dales.

This layout is unique in that it has been designed to pack away into a B&Q aluminium flight case (including stock). The layout is thus incredibly portable. With less than 5ft. of length, it can be set up in even the smallest location. If you see this layout at a show you will be left in no doubt that any home can have a model railway.

Remarkably, all of the buildings are based on real prototypes, or have elements of real prototypes within them. All are to scale, and attention has been paid to the quality of detail. Locations range from Durham City, to Darlington, to Richmond in North Yorkshire. Some of the buildings have modelled interiors; no mean feat in 'low relief'. Some of the interiors are also illuminated and small cameo scenes can be viewed through the windows. Two of the buildings have a recurring theme which is present in most of our layouts, but you'll have to ask us about it at a show to find the answer!

This is the ideal solution for the modeller who lives in a broom cupboard. It would fit nicely on the top of an office desk and could be the ultimate executive toy.

The layout however is certainly not a toy - Boxer's Yard is a busy commercial area; there are two or three manufacturers who continue to rely on rail transport for their supplies and to despatch the finished products. The most significant of these is J. Boxer (Manufacturing) Ltd. who produce packing cases. These can often be seen on the other layouts as cargo. A sentinel shunter an ex L&Y pug, a BR Class02 and a Y7 are used for shunting. Because of the small size of these locomotives, they do not look out of place on such a small layout - sometimes realism is a question of proportion.

More Pics

Click on the thumbnails below

it goes in a flight-case

Sentinel Shunting

Boxer's Yard track plan