Patrick Lane is a 7mm O gauge exhibition layout set on the Southern Region in the 1980s. It takes its cue from Marchwood, near Southampton: a single platform and run-round loop, with a fuel oil depot, an MoD stores building and a nuclear flask crane siding, all served by rail.
An hourly passenger service runs from Southampton, either loco-hauled or by a local DEMU.
Neil Mason of the Little Layout Company first built Patrick Lane as a three-board layout around the flask siding. Bruce Armstrong bought it in 2023 and set about doubling it to six scenic boards plus a seven-road traverser, with Neil building the extension in 2024.
Operating
Three people run the layout: one on the sidings, one on the station area and one on the fiddle yard. Locos run on a Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance DCC system. Every signal works, from Dapol, and the main gantry, based on the one at Marchwood, was built by Jon Fitness. Points and signals are worked from a Layout Concepts 12-way digital switch panel.
