Travelling and holidays may be out of the question at the moment - but residents at Castle View retirement village in Windsor are still letting 'the train take the strain'.
A new model railway club at the venue in Helston Lane has given residents a new hobby to see them through the next level of lockdown.
The track is now in place and an inaugural run has taken place thanks to donations of locomotives and rolling stock from residents, friends and the Hornby Dublo model railway company.
The railway is located on the Castle View roof.
Alan Morgan, who lives at Castle View, said: “The model railway club has a number of resident members who have pooled their old train sets and combined them with fresh track and trains from Hornby to create a huge set - it’s a lot of fun.”
Chief executive of Castle View Robin Hughes said: "Many of our property owners have applied their creative skills by building this fantastic model railway, and we are extremely grateful to Hornby which has contributed historic steam trains such as the Flying Scotsman and Mallard as well as more modern locos.”
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Robin, who used to own England's highest mainline station at Dent on the historic Settle-Carlisle line added: “I'm delighted to help bring a railway theme to Castle View. Sincere thanks go to Simon Kohler, head of UK marketing at Hornby who suggested the idea and supplied detailed track plans to enable a sophisticated layout for the residents to build and enjoy. The layout has attracted interest from all our residents, male and female, and will be a wonderful family draw for grandchildren when they come to visit their grandparents here.”
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