The Nissen Hut, which now contains the Gauge1 Model Railway layout and a large number of model carts was first opened to the public in September 2004. The hut itself was acquired after WWII when many such buildings were military surplus and erected on the present museum site. It had remained as a store room for many years but during 2004 it was completely refurbished, a concrete floor laid and fitted out as you see it today.
This layout has been built to Gauge1 (scale 10mm - 1ft, track gauge 45mm) which is the largest of the model railway scales and the smallest of the model engineering scales.
The layout was designed as a typical British small terminus but has evolved a 'Somerset & Dorset' flavour and is operated using a mix of S.R. and L.M.S. stock as would have been seen on a twig, off a branch of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway.
Much Hammering is believed to exist on the north west corner of Poole harbour with the line running north easterly to a north facing junction on the southern line from Poole to Broadstone, just south of Broadstone station. This gives access to the Somerset & Dorset main line for the services to Templecombe and Bath. A junction onto the L.S.W.R. main line north of Little Snoring (beyond the tunnel on this layout) gives access to the Push-Pull service to Swanage via Wareham and the EMU service to Bournemouth via Poole.
MUCH HAMMERING.
