Modeller building replica of Brighton Station for toy museum

Malcolm Thomas has spent hours each week for the last five years on the replica, creating every pillar, platform and passenger with intricate detail.

He has used historical plans and reference images to construct the station buildings and canopy out of rigid plastic, wood and aluminium.

The track layout of the model (Image: Malcolm Thomas)

"I used to travel in and out of the station quite a bit at the time and had a love for its structure," said Malcolm.

At the time, he was not interested in modelling but this changed in 2002 when he lost both of his parents in a road crash.

He said: "I inherited my dad's railway which was in the loft. I had it all dismantled and packed it away and didn't do anything with it for the next God knows how many years.

"A friend invited me to a modelling exhibition and I thought I quite fancied doing a bit of that. And that's where the idea gelled about building a model of Brighton Station."

A digital overview of Malcolm's design - showing every part and connection (Image: Malcolm Thomas)

The 67-year-old researched original drawings and converted those to digital plans on specialist computer software Autocad.

Malcolm, who now lives in southern Spain, visited the station three years ago and captured detailed pictures of every detail. His attention then shifted to how he was going to model the structure, which will fit OO gauge trains.

Malcolm tinkering with the roof on the station (Image: Malcolm Thomas)

"It was mostly trial and error," Malcolm said. "I've been physically building it for the last two and a half years, spending two or three hours on it every other day.

"I've had to research modelling techniques, and also find the materials which represent what the station is. 

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"Lots of it is bolted together with little screws and other parts just slot together. It's the only curved station on the London to Brighton line which comes with one of the biggest challenges, cutting everything to size to fit the curve."

Malcolm has even had to study basic electrics to supply power to the lights and sound effects.

The station with a Brighton Belle model sitting on Platform 4 (Image: Malcolm Thomas)

The model is based on the station in the Seventies and he managed to find the correct colour for its then-red structure with help from the Brighton Toy and Model Museum, where he hopes to donate the model once it is completed.

The logistics of moving the 3m long model from Spain are yet to be established.

Malcolm's ambition is to have a live diorama of the Brighton Station open day in 1974.

LSWR Drummond Class M7 at the Brighton Station open day in 1973 (Image: Hugh Llewelyn / Wikimedia Commons)

He said: "I managed to find a programme of all the rolling stock in the station on that day and I am hoping to replicate it.

"I like making a historical connection with the model itself and recreating some of the pictures from the time."

While it is just a hobby, he has found a new audience of people keen to find out his techniques and methods - with one person even calling Malcolm "mad" for his ambitious design.

Malcolm's roof pieces taking shape in 2022 (Image: Malcolm Thomas)

Hundreds of people are now following along with the build on his Facebook page. 

One of them, Ian Perry, said: "One of the finest pieces of model engineering you'll ever see... just amazing."

Another fan, Bill Gandey, told Malcolm: "I have been following the build for a while and your attention to detail, such as the roof joists is amazing."