Harry Potter Hogwarts Express Railway
Model Railway Advice
Intro
The Hogwarts express is one of the highlights of the Harry Potter
films and with the Locomotive and carriages as well as platform 9 and three
quarters being produced by Hornby it is very easy to produce a model railway
that has all the feel of the world of Harry Potter. This page will advise you on
what types of scenery you should use, The rolling stock you should buy along
with general model railway advice.
The Stations
In the film King's Cross Station in London plays home to the
magical platform 9 and three quarters, which can only be accessed by running
trough the wall between platform 9 and 10. Kings cross station is the London
terminus for the east coast mainline which is severed by the Great North Eastern
railway (GNER).
Hornby who have bought the rights to produce Harry potter railway
models have built and sell a model of platform 9 and three quarters (R8204)
based loosely around one of their earlier model railway station packs without a
station building, made up from their model railway station system. I would not
recommend buying this on its own as it is not long enough to hold the Hogwarts
express locomotive and its 3-4 carriages and it is not an end of the line
terminus station. By buying some extension station sections (R460 RRP £2.75) you can extend it to a more appropriate length. You can
also add a station building to it, positioning it so that it turns the station
into a dead end.
Hogsmead Station which serves Hogwarts School is a small local
station with two tracks running through it. The station is open with only a
small station building on the platform. From the film it is difficult to know
whether this station is a terminus or not. For the purpose of your layout it
would be easier if it were not as you can position it on a long straight section
of track which makes up part of your oval. I would recommend buying the Hornby
country station (R8000) pictured below to represent Hogsmead station. It will
need extending due to the length of the train It can be positioned to fit into
one of the corners.
The Hogwarts Express Model Train
The Hogwarts express is a great western Hall class locomotive
(class 5672 Olton) and lives at the North Yorkshire Moor Railway where some of
the filming also took place. Hornby who produce the Hogwarts express (R2378 or
R2491) for some reason decided to base their model on the castle class.
Hornby Hogwards Express (R2378 or R2491)
An accurate Hogwarts express train consist of the Hogwarts
Express locomotive (R2378) pulling 4 carriages consisting of, 3 composite
(R4219A) and one brake coach (R4220A) at the back all in a maroon colour. To
accompany this train at kings cross station you can also buy the modern GNER
Class 92 225 train (R2427 or R2427A) which is also featured in the films in the
background.
Composite Coach R4219A
brake coach (R4220A)
Track
(Positioning the track and designing the
layout)
Before you start laying the track you will have to build a
baseboard. To get advice on building you baseboard click here
To get advice about model railway track
click here. To get advice on building and
designing a layout click here
The Hogwarts express weaves its way through the British
countryside between Hogsmead, the station that serves Hogwarts school, and
King's Cross station in London.
As discussed Platform 9 and three quarters is a terminus station
and Hogsmead station is probably a though station. Bear this in mind when you
are designing your layout. I would recommend you either position Kings Cross
station in the centre of the layout, or you position it on one of the sides. You
will have problems having a dead end station as you will have to reverse the
train in or out. That is unless you position some points at the end of the
station to allow you to uncouple the locomotive and manoeuvre it on to the
second platform and around the coaches to couple it up on the other end before
departing. This is not a problem for the GNER as it has a driving position at
both ends.
Harry Potter Model Railway Scenery
The Hogswart express is pictured in the films travailing through
hilly terrain with few trees around the bottom of hills and around lakes
as well as crossing a viaduct. All this can be achieved on your model Railway
layout.
Hills can be made in a variety of ways from papier-mâché to
polystyrene and polyfiller. If you are planning to build this with your kids I
would recommend the papier-mâché as it is the easiest and most fun.
Click here to find out how.
The viaduct is more difficult to do as unless you have a large
board you will not have enough room for the incline and dissent ramps. If you do
have enough room the viaduct can be made using multiple arches as seen below.
Lakes and water effects can be made by using glass or plastics or
by buying some special model water forming compounds. It can also be achieved by
using layers of clear varnish.
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