Magdalene Lane is a NER passenger station, converted for use as a goods depot. The layout is set in the period between 1923 and 1939 and seeks to capture the flavour of LNER stock and operations.

The layout is based on Gilesgate Station in Durham City, which was the first passenger station in the city. The station closed to passengers very early in its life (1857, after the opening of the present Durham Station) and became Durham Goods Station. It passed into BR ownership, and continued in use until 1966. Later, it became a DIY store used by J & G Archibalds, and recently has been converted to a hotel and restaurant.

The train shed and former refreshment rooms still exist as they are listed buildings, but some of the site was demolished to make way for the A690 to A1M link road. The conversion to a hotel and restaurant has sympathetically retained most of the original architecture.

A variety of kit built and ready to run stock can be seen on the layout which is basically a shunting operation. Although DC controlled, the layout is actually 'DCC ready' and can be converted by plugging in a control unit and flicking a switch.

This is the east end of the layout. The building in the foreground was originally built as a tea room for passengers, and must have had a wonderful view of the cathedral at the time. It later became offices, and is now part of the offices of the Durham Travel Lodge.

Another busy day for deliveries as the incoming pick-up goods has just arrived and is waiting to be shunted

A view across the yard towards the Engine Bridge. This footbridge was demolished in 1966 and replaced with a modern steel and concrete bridge to span the A690. The coal drops on the model contain 10 cells, the originals had 12. This is one of the areas in which compromise had to be made because of the finite size of the baseboards. The J39 is waiting to collect the empty (Slaters) coal waggons. This locomotive is a Bachmann model. All of the rolling stock in the picture is kit-built.

Magdalene Lane Track Plan