Tipton Hills is a fun ‘Rabbit Warren’ type of layout traditional in the earlier years of N Gauge and often Continental in Style. It comprises of a double track main line at baseboard level and a tortuous climbing and dropping single track around and through the hill.

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Originally rescued from a skip by former Chairman Ken Jones, it was donated to the club. Since that time, it has undergone a major refurbishment and extension. The ‘hill’ was totally refurbished with lift up sections to access the hidden parts of the track; one of the curves was eased leading to a ‘disused tunnel mouth’ and some rickety timber track bed. An extension was added to one side of the board with a loop leaving the outer main line track and branching into three storage roads before coming back together. This area was developed scenically as a display area or caravan site and different displays and activities can be portrayed at exhibition.

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The layout is fully analogue with three controllers. All points on the main board are electrically operated. It is possible to run most types of stock on the main line but short locos, small bogie diesels and fairly short rolling stock are the requirements for the hill line. Unlike Waterstock and Whartson Hall, operation is fairly simple so it is an ideal layout for new members to start to use and is often used as a test track and running in track at club meetings.

 

The narrative behind the layout, when taken to exhibitions, is that it depicts a closed iron mine where the owners operate fun trains for tourists. The layout usually is exhibited at least once a year; in 2022 it was at ‘The International N Gauge Show’.