Church End to Sutton Road 00 Gauge Model Railway

Church End to Sutton Road 00 Gauge Model Railway

00 Gauge Model Railway, loosely based on Finchley Central and Highgate Stations on London’s ‘Northern Line’. Circa July 1939.

There are many anomalies. The tram ‘Cissie’ used to run from Barnet to Golders Green through Finchley, but had been replaced by trolleybuses by 1939 and should have overhead wires.

The tube did not reach Finchley Central till 1940, and Highgate Underground station was not open to the public till 1941, but special trains stopped there prior to its completion and the platforms were used as an air raid shelter – mainly by children.

The escalator up to Archway Road was not built until the 1950s – but everything was planned as part of the electrification scheme to Alexandra Palace and High Barnet on the existing LNER lines with an extension from Mill Hill East/Edgware to Bushey. Much of the plan was eventually dropped after the war. The High Level Station at Highgate still exists but is disused.

The layout is pure fiction and shows electrification in progress. Built for fun, the shops and factory and other small elements have family or friend connections.