This is the OO gauge layout of the North London Society of Model Engineers as it appeared in the Ewen Hall, High Barnet in 1951, Festival of Britain year.

The layout depicted a large, suburban, through station on the GNR main line out of Kings Cross. I believe it was based on Wood Green although it only had a double track through line. It was very advanced for that period, it had two rail supply and cab control via four control panels built almost entirely from government surplus equipment. Copper-clad circuit board was unobtainable at that time and every sleeper was made of wood with two narrow strips of thin copper wrapped round it!

Fiddle yards do not seem to have been invented at that time and  trains simply ran round and round until stopped in the station - however the onlookers seemed to enjoy it.

The leader of the Section was the late Frank Dyer so standards were very exacting. When I joined as a fifteen year old he handed me a go-no-go back-to-back gauge which doubled as a buffer height gauge and I was told very firmly 'If your rolling stock doesn't conform to this gauge it doesn't run on this railway'. I still use that gauge!

About half-way along on the right-hand side can just be made out a model of the then very modern diesel electric LMS No 10000 resplendent in its black and silver livery. Frank had built this from scratch, including its two motor bogies. It happily hauled around the layout every coach we had, twenty-two I seem to remember.