Member’s layout · Built and operated by Alan Hancock

Alville Yard East 1957

Alan Hancock’s compact HO switching layout captures the edge of a Midwestern American city in 1957, with colourful early diesels, freight movements and carefully chosen period details.

HO scale · Standard gauge

Midwestern USA · 1957 · Fictional city

Colourful diesel locomotives and freight wagons beside the factory buildings on Alville Yard East 1957.

THE STORY

EXPLORE THE LAYOUT

EXHIBITION DETAILS

THE STORY

A closer look at Alville Yard East 1957

Alville Yard East 1957 is Alan Hancock’s private HO switching layout, set on the edge of a fictional city in the American Midwest. It is a moving display for his early American diesels, especially the switchers, or shunters, with enough trackwork for quite involved freight movements in a space just six feet long. The year is 1957: steam is just clinging on, while colourful diesels from General Motors, Alco, Fairbanks-Morse and Baldwin take over. Locomotives, rolling stock, vehicles, advertisements and posters all belong to the mid-1950s scene.

The layout began as a Covid lockdown project with a simple aim: use items Alan already owned. Recycled materials, spare parts and pieces borrowed from his other layouts supplied almost everything, although some track, paint and glue still had to be bought. One part of the scene predates the lockdown project. Alan’s road and rail crash diorama won the club’s 2019 Christmas competition, themed ‘Rail and Road’, under the title ‘The 1957 Wall Street Crash’. He later incorporated it into Alville, showing how a competition entry can become part of a larger layout while giving members a chance to enjoy one another’s work. Alan is the sole builder and operator. The railway is active and substantially complete, with smaller details still being added. It has been exhibited several times, but its main purpose remains a compact personal layout.

LAYOUT FACTS

SCALE AND GAUGE

HO scale · Standard gauge

PERIOD AND SETTING

Midwestern USA · 1957 · Fictional city

STATUS

Active layout

CONTROL SYSTEM

DCC digital · Most locomotives sound-equipped

LAYOUT SIZE

6 ft × 18 in · Two 3 ft × 18 in boards

OWNERSHIP & PURPOSE

Member’s layout · Built and operated by Alan Hancock

For further information, contact the club and name the layout you are interested in.

LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER

Explore Alville Yard East 1957.

Look closer at the locomotives, freight yard and city streets. Select a photograph to enlarge it.

Alville Yard East 1957 factory and yard

American diesels and freight stock in the compact industrial yard.

An orange and grey Union Pacific diesel switcher beside factory buildings and 1950s road vehicles on Alville Yard East 1957.

An American switcher at work

An early American diesel switcher in the industrial scene.

Period cars, pedestrians and tall city buildings around a junction on Alville Yard East 1957.

The city beyond the yard

Vehicles, advertisements and street details help set the scene in the mid-1950s.

A diesel locomotive, freight wagons and several sidings in front of industrial buildings and a tunnel on Alville Yard East 1957.

Switching beneath the city buildings

Freight movements make use of the compact trackwork beneath the city backdrop.

Alan Hancock standing behind Alville Yard East 1957 on display at Ruskington.

Alan with the layout at Ruskington

Alan with his layout on display at Ruskington.

Club members displaying their model railway dioramas at the 2019 Christmas competition, themed Rail and Road.

Club Christmas competition 2019: Rail and Road

Members with their entries in the club’s 2019 ‘Rail and Road’ Christmas competition. Alan’s winning ‘The 1957 Wall Street Crash’ scene later became part of Alville Yard East 1957.

A small layout with plenty to do.

The railway sits on two boards, each 3 ft long and 18 in deep, placed end to end. They are small enough to move around the house, including up and down stairs. Alan wanted more than a locomotive depot as a setting for his collection, so the layout combines a detailed urban scene with switching movements that make the most of its limited space.

Control is by DCC, and most of the locomotives are sound-equipped. KD couplers and permanent magnets handle uncoupling. Operation is possible from either the front or the rear. Alan deliberately kept as much of the wiring as possible on top of the boards to make maintenance easier.

The layout was designed so that it could be expanded. Alan tried an additional three-foot board, then decided it added complication rather than a worthwhile new experience and removed it. The compact six-foot version remains, with work now focused on smaller details.

Meet the modeller.

Club member Alan Hancock built the layout and operates it himself. It is designed for one person, and the switching is not immediately intuitive. Training another operator is possible by arrangement, but this is not a public driving layout. Alan is happy to display it when the club asks.

SHGP Media has filmed the layout on several occasions, most recently at Boston Exhibition in 2026, according to Alan’s November 2026 update.

FOR EXHIBITION ORGANISERS

Practical details. No guesswork.

Alan does not actively seek exhibitions, but is happy to consider invitations, particularly when the club needs a layout to represent it. Please contact the club to discuss a request. Availability and practical arrangements must be agreed with Alan for each event.

LAYOUT DIMENSIONS

6 ft × 18 in · Two 3 ft × 18 in boards

SPACE & DISPLAY

Allow 2–3 ft behind the layout where possible and 18 in access at each end. A stock table is also required. Confirm the full floor space with Alan before agreeing an invitation.

VIEWING SIDES / HEIGHT

Viewed from the front; operation is possible from the front or rear. Viewing height to be agreed. The layout has its own lighting.

OPERATORS

Designed for one operator. A previous exhibition booking allowed one or two; additional operators would need training.

TRANSPORT

Two manageable boards, each 3 ft × 18 in. Transport and venue access arrangements should be agreed for each invitation.

Technical details last checked: 8 November 2026 · Alan Hancock’s supplied forms and layout description

EXHIBITION ENQUIRIES

Thinking of inviting this layout?

Send the layout name, event dates, venue, available space and access arrangements. The club will put you in touch with the appropriate layout owner or exhibition contact to discuss availability and practical details.