A faithful model of a real location with no spatial compression, automatically running a real timetable from 2017 in real time with working public information displays and day/night lighting. Visitors press a “time warp” button to jump to the time of the next train. The whole layout fits into a Christmas tree box and can be carried to an exhibition on public transport.
Using the same timetable as used by the layout
Live station departures (if this were September 2017)
Be transported back in time to September 2017: the autumn days of UK rail franchising, when all the local trains in Wales were still teal and the infamous “Pacers” were still in regular service. Visit a tiny station on a backwater of a line with more operational variety than its size would suggest, and be immersed in the world of the railways of the Welsh valleys in the late 2010s by a layout that uses software to simulate the world beyond the tiny slice of Wales that it models physically.
The real Maesteg station re-opened in 1992, the line to the town and beyond having closed in 1970. It is the terminus of a single track branch line starting at Bridgend on the South Wales main line.
In 2017, trains to and from Maesteg served a surprising variety of locations for such a minor branch, including Ebbw Vale, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Holyhead and even (once a week) Manchester Piccadilly. Rolling stock was equally varied, with classes 142 and 143 “Pacers”, class 150 and 153 “Sprinters”, class 158 “Sprinter Expresses” and class 175 “Coradias” all regularly appearing.
Because of the single track nature of the line, train frequencies are limited to once an hour. Left unattended, the fully automated layout will actually run one train an hour to the exact 2017 timetable. To allow the public to enjoy the layout without having to wait an hour between trains, a “time warp” button is provided that will automatically advance the time to when the next train is due so long as there is no train currently running.
Fully synchronised with the timetable are a day/night cycle, including street and building lighting and passenger information displays (shown on a computer screen).
The station
Maesteg station as re-opened in 1992 is a simple single platform terminus with a basic station shelter. The station is built into the Asda car park. The real station has been replicated in detail, including the shelter, the signage, the car park, the ramp, the ticket machine, the fences and barriers, the platform (accurately dimensioned to the real Maesteg) and the access ramp.
View Station Photographs ›
Day & Night Lighting
Fully integrated into the timetable is a day/night cycle based on the first week of September 2017 (which is also matched with the appearance of foliage, with some buddleia flowers remaining but most remaining brown). The lighting level changes both with time of day and simulated weather (viewable by a simulated weather forecast app), and changes both in colour temperature as well as brightness to achieve maximum realism.
See Night & Dusk Scenes ›
Exhibition Presentation
The layout is intended to be exhibited on a standard 6’ x 2’ (1.83m x 0.61m) table, and comes with its own distinctive cloth showing a map of the destinations reachable from Maesteg in the 2017 timetable.
Exhibition Specifications ›
Models the 1992 single-platform terminus without spatial compression, including the buffer stops, full-length platform with access ramps at both ends, waiting shelter, ticket machine, bus stop, and adjoining Asda car park (with accessible bays).
Seven storage sidings fan out behind the scenic break, colour-coded on the diagram by usable length so the automated timetable can stable and dispatch the varied 2017 fleet:
| Class 175/1 | 476mm | Class 143 | 210mm |
| Class 158 | 305mm | Class 142 | 205mm |
| Class 150 | 266mm | Class 153 | 156mm |
The software powering Maesteg (a series of scripts that work with JMRI) was created, with the help of AI, by the layout builder and is fully open source.
Maesteg has been the test-bed for the Timetable Automation System – a suite of scripts for JMRI that synchronise the running of trains, public information displays, signallers’ displays and day/night lighting with a realistic timetable. It incorporates an innovative solution to balancing realism in timetable operations with the need for constant interest on an exhibition layout: a visitor operated “time warp” button that automatically advances the layout time to the time of the next train provided that no train is currently running.
Skeuomorphic main menu styled after a traditional British railway working timetable cover page.
One of many passenger information displays included with the Timetable Automation System, this is the small modern orange LED type that is a simulation of the type used at the real Maesteg station.
The actual timetable in operation can be displayed as an authentic style working timetable
Displays for signallers are also modelled accurately and synchronised with the current timetable. This is based on the TRUST TRJA screen used by signallers in the UK since around the early 1990s to show a line-up of trains due to enter their area and whether they are running late or on time.
A highlight selection of photographs of Maesteg (click any image to enlarge, or visit the full gallery page for 30 photographs)
Where to see Maesteg next
| Dates | Times | Exhibition / Event | Venue & Location | Stand | Status |
|---|
Key operational specifications, footprint, power requirements, and booking enquiries
| Layout Name | Maesteg |
|---|---|
| Scale & Gauge | British N gauge (1:148; 9mm track) |
| Era & Region | September 2017; South Wales (Llynfi Valley) |
| Overall Footprint (inc. Fiddle Yard & Operator Space) | 1.9m x 0.23m (6’4” x 9”) |
| Track Plan & Fiddle Yard | Single-track terminus with 7-road fiddle yard (Roads A–G) — View Track Plan › |
| Presentation | Self-contained lit proscenium case with station totem, visitor Time Warp box, and printed “Trains from Maesteg” route-map cloth |
| Electrical Supply | RCD supplied. |
| Operators & Transport | Two operators (one operator/supervisor and one relief). Can travel by public transport. |
| Layout lives in | The layout owner and builder is based in London. |
| Insurance Value | Approx. £6,000 |
To invite Maesteg to your exhibition, e-mail the layout’s owner and builder, James E. Petts.
