Members of Stafford Railway Circle are celebrating after their Whiteacres model railway layout reportedly received a ‘Best in Show’ award at an exhibition in Taunton.
The club, which is based at Stone Business Park, took its detailed OO gauge layout to Rail-Ex Taunton, held at Taunton School on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October 2026.
Whiteacres is a fictional railway network set in the Staffordshire and Derbyshire area, depicting railway operations in the years following privatisation.
The layout imagines an alternative railway history, with a former London and North Western Railway route linking Birmingham with Derby and Nottingham. A main line runs on an upper level, connecting with another railway route below.
The model features detailed town and countryside scenery, railway bridges, industrial facilities and a network of tracks carrying passenger and freight trains.
Much of the trackwork has been built by hand, while bridges and buildings have been constructed from scratch or adapted from kits. The layout also features colour light signalling and digital train controls.
Behind the scenery, a series of storage tracks can accommodate more than 60 trains, allowing club members to run a varied operating timetable during exhibitions.
Stafford Railway Circle was established in 1957 and meets at its clubrooms on Emerald Way in Stone. The club also organised its annual Stafford Model Railway Exhibition at Staffordshire County Showground in September.
New members are welcome, whether they are experienced railway modellers or interested in getting started. The club meets on Tuesday and Friday evenings.
Further information about the club, its layouts and membership is available on the Stafford Railway Circle website.
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