The Victorian Market Railway
Next time you visit the market, look up —
you might just see a train passing overhead.
A much-loved feature of the Victorian Market is back!
The Victorian Market Railway is a new model railway display built high above the market floor, bringing trains back to a place where they were enjoyed by generations of visitors.
The Victorian Market Railway has been created as a lasting attraction for the city — celebrating the history of the market, the region’s railway heritage, and the creativity of the local modelling community.
A Railway with History
This will be the third model railway to run inside the Victorian Market.
The first railway was built in the 1970s by the owner of the Model Shop in the market, known locally as Jackie. His G-scale railway ran around above the shop units beside the Model Shop and quickly became a favourite attraction for shoppers and families. When the shop later changed hands, the railway was dismantled.
In 2010, members of the Inverness and District Model Railway Club were asked to recreate the railway. With track and locomotives donated by Bachmann UK, a new layout was built in a similar style and ran successfully for many years. Eventually, redevelopment in that part of the market meant the railway could no longer continue in its existing form, and the locomotives had also reached the end of their working lives.
Despite its disappearance, the railway was never forgotten. Traders and visitors often asked when the trains might return, with many people remembering watching them as children.
Bringing the Railway Back
With support from the Common Good Fund, a project was launched to bring a new railway back to the Victorian Market.
This has been a complex project involving detailed planning, building warrants for bridge structures, and close collaboration between a wide range of partners to create the best possible display for visitors.
Members of the Inverness and District Model Railway Club have laid the track, while local joiners built the baseboards supporting the layout. Local electricians, steel fabricators, signwriters and painters have also played an important role in bringing the railway to life.
Much of the work has been carried out early in the morning or late at night to minimise disruption to the traders and visitors who use the market every day.
A Bigger & More Ambitious Layout
The new railway is significantly larger than the previous layout and is being built in O gauge, allowing the trains to represent those that once ran in the Highlands and around Inverness.
The trains will be digitally controlled and will run on two independent circuits, allowing multiple trains to operate at the same time.
This will be one of the largest public display layouts of its kind.
An Ongoing Project
Over the coming years, members of the Inverness Model Railway Club will gradually add scenery, buildings and local details to the layout. The railway is designed to grow and evolve over time as new ideas are developed.
Future plans also include working with the University of the Highlands and Islands to install cameras on trains and at lineside locations, allowing visitors to watch the railway from the driver’s perspective on display screens.
