Layouts – 2020 exhibition

PLEASE NOTE: We endeavour to present all layouts as described here. However, this may not always be possible and we reserve the right to amend and withdraw exhibits when circumstances are unavoidable and beyond our control.

Layout details

Z scale

Oberammergau

Graham Jones
The layout features Oberammergau in southern Germany, famous for the ten yearly Passion Play, and is a small terminus station on the branch line from Murnau. The layout is set in a year when the play is being staged so there can be some interesting motive power to be seen. Track and rolling stock is from Märklin and is controlled by a Gaugemaster hand held controller.

N scale

Brook Lane

Paul Butler
Located in the west Midlands, Brook Lane is an industrial area on the fringes of the large town of Westbrook. Just off a busy cross country route Brook Lane Depot is under the control of Trainload Coal who run a multitude of MGR workings between the local coalfields and the Trent Valley power stations together with other services distributing coal products to various industrial sites. A variety of locos can be seen including classes 20, 31, 37, 56, 58 and 60 mostly in corporate triple grey livery although some remain in the older Railfreight grey or even BR blue. The depot also sees visiting locos from other sectors for fuelling or stabling between duties, some coming off the adjacent small freight yard which sees a variety of traffic for local trip workings, permanent way services or a visit to the wagon repair depot. Part of the previously closed upper level line has been reopened to provide a passenger service into the main line.

Hartley Poole

Richard Hart
Hartley Poole is set in Somerset in the years between the end of the second World War and the nationalisation of British railways. At the east end of the layout is the William Thomas brickworks, whose sidings led on to the GWR mainline between Bristol and the west of England. From Poole the line runs west passing the Grand Western Canal at the Nynehead boat lift, to Wellington with its platforms, sidings and goods shed (the only feature which still exists today). The station was widened to four tracks in the 1930’s enabling through trains such as the Cornish Riviera Express to pass stopping trains. Further west the line runs up Wellington Bank to enter White Ball Tunnel, the eastern portal of which is in Devon while the western portal (off-scene) is in Devon. The owner/builder of the layout was born in the signalman’s cottage at Poole where his grandfather was signalman. His father was the engineer-fitter at the brickworks.

Hawthorne Dene

Les Richardson
This layout represents the North Eastern Region’s Durham Coast mainline, somewhere around Easington in the late steam/green diesel period. The old Hawthorn Dene Colliery no longer winds coal. Its winding gear has been removed and the shafts fitted with fans. The washery and screens are still in use, mainly preparing household coal for merchants and for the nearby landsale yard. Waste is still sent to be tipped on to the beach, both by conveyor belt and aerial ropeway. Colliery locos bring empties from the exchange sidings to the South for weighing and taking on to the screens, while full wagons are removed from the screens, weighed and taken either to the exchange sidings or North to the Hawthorn complex. Meanwhile the main line sees a procession of expresses, local passenger, fitted goods and coal trains, which seem not to disturb the inhabitants of the pigeon lofts on the bank. Buildings are typical of the area though not modelled in the right places relative to each other, and in reality Easington Colliery did not have an older neighbour to its North. The underbridge is based on the one at Easington Colliery – the different pararpets are the result of a partial rebuild, possibly following a derailment. The red and white pigeon cree is a local landmark and is still there, though it has been renewed. NCE Powercabs control this DCC layout and the signal is from Dapol slightly modified to make it look more like an NER example.

Kayreuth

Ian Hogben
Kayreuth is a fictional large town in Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany. The town which sits astride the river Lippe/Wesel – Datteln Canal,is a dormitory for its larger, more heavily industrialised neighbouring towns and cities. In addition to a four track main line there are three branch lines which radiate from the northern end of Kayreuth HBf’s (main station) nine platforms. Under normal circumstances Kayreuth plays host to a variety of traffic including prestige ICE 1’s and ICE 3’s and international expresses, InterRegio and local passenger services as well as large volumes of freight. Today however the main line is closed due to major bridge replacement works which have also closed one of the branch lines. These works can be observed just to the north of the HBf and A37 Autobahn (which is itself undergoing resurfacing work). Consequently trains which would normally use the main line to nearby cities have been diverted along one of the branchlines, crossing the RiverLippe on the three span girder bridge before entering Kayreuth Messe (Exhibition Centre) HBf.

Small N Working

Ian Redman
A display of working N-gauge layouts in what seems on occasions impossibly small spaces. They are in a variety of cases varying in size from a CD to a gun case. The themes are aimed at modellers and children, including Lego and showcasing a range of eras from British, Continental and Japanese rolling stock. Please feel free to ask questions.

009 scale

Hawkins Tower

Philip Moore
The layout features a lake in an old Victorian Park where the locals and visitors go at weekends. There is also a folly in the form of an old tower, named “Hawkins Tower”. An old narrow gauge railway has been partially restored and gives visitors rides around the park.

Ilfracombe East

Brian Key
Ilfracombe East is the terminus of a fictitious Blackmoor Gate to Ilfracombe branch of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. The L&BR did in its early years operate a bus service along this route using Milnes-Daimler petrol vehicles. Following prosecution for exceeding the 8mph speed limit, the L&BR chairman, Sir George Newnes, discontinued the service and sold the buses to the Great Western Railway. The layout is set in the ‘Southern Railway’ period (1923 – 1935) but a number of vehicles retain their old L&BR colours. Other stock may be seen, operating through Minehead –Ilfracombe services. These run over the equally fictitious Minehead & Lynmouth Railway which joins the L&B at Barbrook Junction, just outside Lynton. Interestingly an abortive GWR backed scheme was proposed for a 2ft gauge Minehead to Lynmouth line around 1900. In addition there are a number of locomotives which might have happened if closure had not taken place in 1935.

Smallbridge Junction

Dale Gillard
Smallbridge Junction is an imaginary small junction connecting a branchline to Wood Warehouse. Today the station car park is hosting a Mini Owners’ Club event. Track and points are by Peco and locomotives are mainly kitbuilt, Minitrains and Bachmann. Questions are welcome at all times.

H0 scale

Elmwood Yard

David Dalman
Elmwood Switching Yard depicts a small and rather run-down corner of the larger and busier (fictitious) Elmwood Yard somewhere to the west of Chicago, Illinois. Elmwood Township is set within the city of Aurora, Illinois. The yard was established to serve local industries and connected to the main railroad systems around the area of West Chicago. The main railroads using this yard are Milwaukee Road (MLW), Chicago & North Western (CNW), and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q). The layout is set in the years between 1960 and 1980.

H0/H0e scale

Donnersbachkogel

Gerhard Novak
This fictitious layout is set in the pre-Alp area of Austria in the 1990’s. The name is derived from ‘donner’ the word for the thunder-like noise of a mountain stream and ‘kogel’, the word for hill – which in Austria can be as high as mountains. The old station of Donnersbachkogel is the terminus of a narrow gauge line which used to bring minerals from a remote mine in the mountains down to the main line, but which now transports tourists to the mining museum. The standard gauge single line through the station does not see many stopping trains except at weekends when it brings tourists to the area, but besides ÖBB stock, private owner multi-system locomotives from neighbouring Italy and Switzerland can also be seen on through trains. Peco finescale code 75 track is used for the standard gauge with Peco 009 track for the narrow gauge. DCC control is by the Roco Z21 system using mainly Zimo digital decoders in the locomotives. Points are controlled with the Megapoints servo system linked to a home-made mimic board.

00 scale

A Fracking Disaster

Ron Stanbridge
The first public showing of this layout, built for the 2019 Channel 5 series of The Great Model Railway Challenge by the Fancott Miniature Marvels team. The theme was ‘The Restless Earth so look out for some special effects.

Abbey Park

John Polley
This display, effectively two layouts in one, has been carefully designed to provide constant activity by way of moving trains and other interesting features. The platforms and buildings are all scratchbuilt using mainly card and plastic sheet. The station is based on the classic Charles Holden art deco style of Arnos Grove and features integral Tesco and Timpson stores. Platform advertisements have been downloaded from the Internet and printed to a suitable scale. Operation is conventional 12v DC and features a microprocessor with over 136 bi-colour miniature LED’s providing route information to the operators. There is a mixture of tube stock and surface stock together with heritage and engineering trains. London Underground trains from the 1980’s onwards appear on the upper level, while older and heritage ones use the lower level tracks. Most models are handbuilt Metromodels, some from 0.5mm brass sheet and some from 3D printed body shells.

Dublingham Goods Station

Tony Harris
A cameo style 3-rail shunting layout, operated to a timetable with a large-screen monitor showing train information. Track is Peco with a handbuilt 3rd rail and control is by analogue feedback controllers. Wrenn/Hornby Dublo diesel shunters have been re-geared with 60:1 gears to give smooth operation and slow running.

Ealing Road

Missenden Modellers
This layout was conceived and built for the first series of Channel 5’s ‘Model Railway Challenge’ programme, when the theme was ‘Movies’. It is based on a medley of cinema films produced by Ealing Studios in the 1950’s and the London dockland setting depicts scenes from The Ladykillers and Passport to Pimlico, with ships The Maggie (from the film of the same name) and Cabinet Minister (from Whiskey Galore) in the dock. Animations were a requisite of the TV programme and these are provided by a working dockyard crane, ship’s derricks and the occasional helicopter. The layout is DCC controlled and up to five trains can be run simultaneously on three circuits.

Frampton on Severn

David Fryer
This exhibit depicts a branchline terminus in rural Gloucestershire, midway between Bristol and Birmingham. Built originally by the GWR to serve a small town, the local agricultural community and a busy dairy, running rights were also extended to the Midland Railway. The layout portrays this line in the 1950’s and early 1960’s when steam locomotives were being replaced by diesels. Although freight and passenger traffic was now in decline, the dairy was still a rail user, with incoming and outward goods trains supporting the local farming community and parcels traffic continuing to be a significant feature. A Digitrax DCC system controls the layout and steam locomotives reflect the interesting mix of surviving GWR and MR classes that could still be found at this time. The diesel locos and units capture the changing railway of that transition period. All motive power is sound fitted and comes from the Hornby, Dapol and Bachmann ranges. Trackwork is Peco code 75 with points operated by Cobalt motors.

Great Minion Railway

Trevor Powell
The Minions are at it again and this time they are running their own railway with some unusual features. The layout aims to attract both younger and older visitors alike.

Hawkins Halt

Rodney Hodge
This layout, built to entertain children, is based on a theme park attraction and is motorised wherever possible, controlled by large coloured buttons. It has 00 gauge track on the outside loop with an N-gauge figure of eight in the centre. Plastic toy trains have been motorised using proprietary chassis and it is intended that the layout will be used to teach children how to move around both Heritage and real railways in general.

Manygates

Steve Saxby, Chris Saxby
In the 1970’s, BR passenger and freight trains had long since disappeared from the East London Line (ELL), but it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to have the now completed link from the ELL near Shoreditch to the North London Line (NLR) between Broad Street and Dalston Junction come to fruition much earlier than it has done in reality. This link has been electrified on the LT 4th rail system (as was the ELL, and the NLR for a time) and it now forms a cross London freight link between WR/LMR/ER and the SR as well as supporting a BR and LT passenger service. A small freight depot also serves the area handling mostly parcels traffic. The layout uses DCC control and the tube trains operate automatically.

Much Murkle

Nick Wood
Much Murkle is a fictitious community in Herefordshire, which according to the 1931 Census has a population of 1452. It is served by an 8 mile single track branch line from the equally fictitious junction at Newent on the Gloucester to Hereford line. There is one intermediate station at the village of Kempstone and a small halt serving Sollers Hall. Approximately one mile outside Much Murkle there is a rail served quarry and all trains departing the quarry have to be reversed at the terminus due to the quarry having no run round facility which makes for more interesting stock movements. The quarry is not the only significant industry using the line as Rancoutt Cider also use the branch to distribute their fine cider and perry to the outside world; consequently vans from all of the ‘Big Four’ rail companies can be seen in their sidings. Track is Peco code 100, locomotives are detailed and weathered proprietary items and most of the rolling stock is kitbuilt. DG autocouplings are used on all stock to give hands free shunting operations.

North Bridge

Mike Kelly
North Bridge is the fictitious location of the old Westbridge branch in Leicester and is where trains from Coalville and Burton on Trent terminated. The period modelled is the early 1960’s and the infrastructure is based on, but not a copy of, what might have been there. For operating purposes the passenger service still exists and an additional Push Pull service has been invented from Leicester London Road. The goods yard at Westbridge was in reality very much larger and even in the mid 60’s was still busy with coal, oil and general traffic. The layout is DCC controlled with Peco code 100 trackwork and uses small radius live frog pointwork. Most buildings are from the Metcalfe range, all altered in some way to fit the location. Rolling stock is mainly proprietary and all weathered or modified in some way.

Silverbury

Robert Thomas
Silverbury is an amamlgamation of Silverstone and Aylesbury to create a ‘what might have been’ layout based on the Great Central Railway through Buckinghamshire had it not been closed as a result of the Beeching Report. Featuring terminating trains from both Network South East and Chiltern Railways, there are also long distance and cross country passenger trains together with freight movements to give operational and viewing interest. The layout is of modular construction and can be erected in various forms to give either continuous run or end to end in both linear and U-shaped configurations.

Troutons

Wakefield Railway Modellers Society
This DCC layout is based loosely in the West Yorkshire area and the name is an anagram of Stourton. Built around a medium sized container yard with working crane there is also a signing on point, small depot and a scrap yard. The aim of the layout is to provide mainline running of typical trains from 2005 onwards with their varied liveries and rolling stock. Look out for the Network Rail STG train. One end of the layout features a motorway bridge and there is an old mill undergoing restoration at the other end. A canal passes through the centre of the scene which once served the many mills that could be found in the area. Many of the buildings have been scratchbuilt by members of the group.

Whitehall

Roger White, Don Hall
Hornby Dublo was a typical table top railway system available from the late 1940’s to the 1960’s. This display covers trains from the ‘Big Four’ companies which existed prior to the nationalisation of Britain’s railways up to the four regions of post nationalistaion. Contemporary road vehicles can be seen around the layout, which complement the scene. Hornby Dublo trains were toys manufactured by Meccano Ltd. and due to their robust nature provided many hours of enjoyment for both boys and girls. Nowadays Hornby Dublo is mainly collected by people who either kept their childhood toys or who have re-purchased examples of what they once possessed. There is a large range of replacement parts and even replica boxes available from specialist suppliers so there is no reason why the brand will ever disappear.

0-16.5 scale

Appleton Dene

Tony Clarke
Appleton Dene depicts a narrow gauge line running through a station and providing rail access to a factory and a builder’s yard during the 1930’s. The rolling stock is either scratch built or from modified kits and features some interesting wagons, carriages and locomotives. The buildings are also scratch built using a variety of techniques. The layout was featured in the November 2013 issue of Railway Modeller magazine but has since been extensively modified to make it more compact.

Calstock’s Halton Quay

Chris Peacock
At the turn of the 19th Century the River Tamar would have been full of small coastal vessels serving the myriad of small (and larger ports) along the river. Halton Quay was one such small port and was connected to the East Cornwall Minerals Railway, which took the output from the Kelly Bray mines and transported it to South Wales where it was smelted into metal. We have tried to portray the hard and unglamorous life those workers endured.

EM scale

Roundtree Sidings

Blythe and Tyne Model Railway Society
Roundtree Sidings is a representation of part of the Tyne & Wear Metro line at Fawden in the summer of 1985. During this time the metro service terminated at Kenton Bank Foot and British Rail had running rights over the line for two daily trip workings – one to the Rowntrees chocolate factory at Fawden, the other to the explosives factory at Callerton. The layout portrays a simplified and compressed version of the exchange sidings at the Rowntrees Fawden factory.

Scale 7

Cranmore

Eric Hines
Opened in 1858, Cranmore was situated on the Cheddar Valley Railway between Witham and Yatton, operated by the GWR. The station was closed to passengers in 1963 but a bitumen delivery service operated until 1985. Cranmore has since been reopened and is now part of the 2½ mile long East Somerset Heritage Railway.

0 scale

Bishops Lane Brewery

Colin French
This is a micro shunting puzzle layout, built as a result of a challenge by a fellow modeler. Wagons are positioned at three points on the layout and wagons are moved governed by the throw of a dice. Two locomotives are required to shunt the layout and only three wagons are permitted on each of the two sidings so there are six permutations. To begin the sequence, Wagon A is positioned in the Cooper’s area against the ‘main line’ buffer stop. Wagon C is put on the front siding at the entrance to the Brewery with Wagon B in front of it.

Crompton Road – stabling point

Martin Litchfield
Constructed by the Scunthorpe Modern Image Railway Group, this layout is based loosely in the north of England and depicts a stabling point for locomotives laying over, awaiting their next turn of duty or taking advantage of the refueling facilities. The goods shed is still in use, serving a declining local community who still choose to have deliveries by British Rail. The locomotives are a mix of DJH brass kits, Heljan r-t-r with wagons from Slaters, Heljan, Skytrex, Westdale, GJH Plant and Just Like The Real Thing. The goods shed is scratch built, the lever cabin is by Peco and the yard lights are from Direct Train Spares.

Eastbridge

Les Pace
Eastbridge is an imaginary small London Midland Railway terminus which would have been found somewhere in the West Midlands, during the late 1940’s just prior to Nationalisation. It is possibly a holiday or market day, as these stations were rarely as busy as this one appears to be. LMS locos and stock are mainly used on the layout with other regions stock making up the numbers. The locos are all brass kits mainly from Mercian models and the stock is mainly Parkside-Dundas and Slaters with some brass kits of the more unusual types of goods wagons. The coaches are Slaters plastic kits and all the layout’s stock uses Spratt and Winkle auto couplings. All the locos have recently been fitted with DCC sound however the points are all manually operated. The boards are connected electrically by connecting blocks that join up automatically when the boards are pushed together, which saves on the wiring, and makes the layout very simple to put up and take down. As most of the homes that are built now are a lot smaller than they used to be, this layout I think dispels the idea that you need a separate or large area available to run an O gauge layout.

G scale

Putnoe Halt

Simon Marshall
Putnoe Halt is a fictional G-scale model railway based on a small country village station with a couple of goods sidings. Most of the locomotives and stock are of foreign origin, which work well with the layout. It is the owner’s first attempt at building an exhibition layout, and goes to show that even large scale trains do not need a massive amount of space to be enjoyed. Questions are welcome at all times, do not be afraid to ask.

G1 scale

Penphyl Halt

Martin Shenton, Tracey Shenton
Penphyl Halt is an indoor G-scale ‘garden’ railway. It features trains, buildings and accessories which are also used on my outdoor garden railway at home. A variety of trains can be seen running on the twin running lines. Models include LGB German outline, Lynton & Barnstaple trains and White Pass models from the USA, together with the odd quirky extra in between.

All layouts listed by scale

Z scale

Oberammergau

Graham Jones
The layout features Oberammergau in southern Germany, famous for the ten yearly Passion Play, and is a small terminus station on the branch line from Murnau. The layout is set in a year when the play is being staged so there can be some interesting motive power to be seen. Track and rolling stock is from Märklin and is controlled by a Gaugemaster hand held controller.

N scale

Brook Lane

Paul Butler
Located in the west Midlands, Brook Lane is an industrial area on the fringes of the large town of Westbrook. Just off a busy cross country route Brook Lane Depot is under the control of Trainload Coal who run a multitude of MGR workings between the local coalfields and the Trent Valley power stations together with other services distributing coal products to various industrial sites. A variety of locos can be seen including classes 20, 31, 37, 56, 58 and 60 mostly in corporate triple grey livery although some remain in the older Railfreight grey or even BR blue. The depot also sees visiting locos from other sectors for fuelling or stabling between duties, some coming off the adjacent small freight yard which sees a variety of traffic for local trip workings, permanent way services or a visit to the wagon repair depot. Part of the previously closed upper level line has been reopened to provide a passenger service into the main line.

Hartley Poole

Richard Hart
Hartley Poole is set in Somerset in the years between the end of the second World War and the nationalisation of British railways. At the east end of the layout is the William Thomas brickworks, whose sidings led on to the GWR mainline between Bristol and the west of England. From Poole the line runs west passing the Grand Western Canal at the Nynehead boat lift, to Wellington with its platforms, sidings and goods shed (the only feature which still exists today). The station was widened to four tracks in the 1930’s enabling through trains such as the Cornish Riviera Express to pass stopping trains. Further west the line runs up Wellington Bank to enter White Ball Tunnel, the eastern portal of which is in Devon while the western portal (off-scene) is in Devon. The owner/builder of the layout was born in the signalman’s cottage at Poole where his grandfather was signalman. His father was the engineer-fitter at the brickworks.

Hawthorne Dene

Les Richardson
This layout represents the North Eastern Region’s Durham Coast mainline, somewhere around Easington in the late steam/green diesel period. The old Hawthorn Dene Colliery no longer winds coal. Its winding gear has been removed and the shafts fitted with fans. The washery and screens are still in use, mainly preparing household coal for merchants and for the nearby landsale yard. Waste is still sent to be tipped on to the beach, both by conveyor belt and aerial ropeway. Colliery locos bring empties from the exchange sidings to the South for weighing and taking on to the screens, while full wagons are removed from the screens, weighed and taken either to the exchange sidings or North to the Hawthorn complex. Meanwhile the main line sees a procession of expresses, local passenger, fitted goods and coal trains, which seem not to disturb the inhabitants of the pigeon lofts on the bank. Buildings are typical of the area though not modelled in the right places relative to each other, and in reality Easington Colliery did not have an older neighbour to its North. The underbridge is based on the one at Easington Colliery – the different pararpets are the result of a partial rebuild, possibly following a derailment. The red and white pigeon cree is a local landmark and is still there, though it has been renewed. NCE Powercabs control this DCC layout and the signal is from Dapol slightly modified to make it look more like an NER example.

Kayreuth

Ian Hogben
Kayreuth is a fictional large town in Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany. The town which sits astride the river Lippe/Wesel – Datteln Canal,is a dormitory for its larger, more heavily industrialised neighbouring towns and cities. In addition to a four track main line there are three branch lines which radiate from the northern end of Kayreuth HBf’s (main station) nine platforms. Under normal circumstances Kayreuth plays host to a variety of traffic including prestige ICE 1’s and ICE 3’s and international expresses, InterRegio and local passenger services as well as large volumes of freight. Today however the main line is closed due to major bridge replacement works which have also closed one of the branch lines. These works can be observed just to the north of the HBf and A37 Autobahn (which is itself undergoing resurfacing work). Consequently trains which would normally use the main line to nearby cities have been diverted along one of the branchlines, crossing the RiverLippe on the three span girder bridge before entering Kayreuth Messe (Exhibition Centre) HBf.

Small N Working

Ian Redman
A display of working N-gauge layouts in what seems on occasions impossibly small spaces. They are in a variety of cases varying in size from a CD to a gun case. The themes are aimed at modellers and children, including Lego and showcasing a range of eras from British, Continental and Japanese rolling stock. Please feel free to ask questions.

009 scale

Hawkins Tower

Philip Moore
The layout features a lake in an old Victorian Park where the locals and visitors go at weekends. There is also a folly in the form of an old tower, named “Hawkins Tower”. An old narrow gauge railway has been partially restored and gives visitors rides around the park.

Ilfracombe East

Brian Key
Ilfracombe East is the terminus of a fictitious Blackmoor Gate to Ilfracombe branch of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. The L&BR did in its early years operate a bus service along this route using Milnes-Daimler petrol vehicles. Following prosecution for exceeding the 8mph speed limit, the L&BR chairman, Sir George Newnes, discontinued the service and sold the buses to the Great Western Railway. The layout is set in the ‘Southern Railway’ period (1923 – 1935) but a number of vehicles retain their old L&BR colours. Other stock may be seen, operating through Minehead –Ilfracombe services. These run over the equally fictitious Minehead & Lynmouth Railway which joins the L&B at Barbrook Junction, just outside Lynton. Interestingly an abortive GWR backed scheme was proposed for a 2ft gauge Minehead to Lynmouth line around 1900. In addition there are a number of locomotives which might have happened if closure had not taken place in 1935.

Smallbridge Junction

Dale Gillard
Smallbridge Junction is an imaginary small junction connecting a branchline to Wood Warehouse. Today the station car park is hosting a Mini Owners’ Club event. Track and points are by Peco and locomotives are mainly kitbuilt, Minitrains and Bachmann. Questions are welcome at all times.

H0 scale

Elmwood Yard

David Dalman
Elmwood Switching Yard depicts a small and rather run-down corner of the larger and busier (fictitious) Elmwood Yard somewhere to the west of Chicago, Illinois. Elmwood Township is set within the city of Aurora, Illinois. The yard was established to serve local industries and connected to the main railroad systems around the area of West Chicago. The main railroads using this yard are Milwaukee Road (MLW), Chicago & North Western (CNW), and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q). The layout is set in the years between 1960 and 1980.

H0/H0e scale

Donnersbachkogel

Gerhard Novak
This fictitious layout is set in the pre-Alp area of Austria in the 1990’s. The name is derived from ‘donner’ the word for the thunder-like noise of a mountain stream and ‘kogel’, the word for hill – which in Austria can be as high as mountains. The old station of Donnersbachkogel is the terminus of a narrow gauge line which used to bring minerals from a remote mine in the mountains down to the main line, but which now transports tourists to the mining museum. The standard gauge single line through the station does not see many stopping trains except at weekends when it brings tourists to the area, but besides ÖBB stock, private owner multi-system locomotives from neighbouring Italy and Switzerland can also be seen on through trains. Peco finescale code 75 track is used for the standard gauge with Peco 009 track for the narrow gauge. DCC control is by the Roco Z21 system using mainly Zimo digital decoders in the locomotives. Points are controlled with the Megapoints servo system linked to a home-made mimic board.

00 scale

A Fracking Disaster

Ron Stanbridge
The first public showing of this layout, built for the 2019 Channel 5 series of The Great Model Railway Challenge by the Fancott Miniature Marvels team. The theme was ‘The Restless Earth so look out for some special effects.

Abbey Park

John Polley
This display, effectively two layouts in one, has been carefully designed to provide constant activity by way of moving trains and other interesting features. The platforms and buildings are all scratchbuilt using mainly card and plastic sheet. The station is based on the classic Charles Holden art deco style of Arnos Grove and features integral Tesco and Timpson stores. Platform advertisements have been downloaded from the Internet and printed to a suitable scale. Operation is conventional 12v DC and features a microprocessor with over 136 bi-colour miniature LED’s providing route information to the operators. There is a mixture of tube stock and surface stock together with heritage and engineering trains. London Underground trains from the 1980’s onwards appear on the upper level, while older and heritage ones use the lower level tracks. Most models are handbuilt Metromodels, some from 0.5mm brass sheet and some from 3D printed body shells.

Dublingham Goods Station

Tony Harris
A cameo style 3-rail shunting layout, operated to a timetable with a large-screen monitor showing train information. Track is Peco with a handbuilt 3rd rail and control is by analogue feedback controllers. Wrenn/Hornby Dublo diesel shunters have been re-geared with 60:1 gears to give smooth operation and slow running.

Ealing Road

Missenden Modellers
This layout was conceived and built for the first series of Channel 5’s ‘Model Railway Challenge’ programme, when the theme was ‘Movies’. It is based on a medley of cinema films produced by Ealing Studios in the 1950’s and the London dockland setting depicts scenes from The Ladykillers and Passport to Pimlico, with ships The Maggie (from the film of the same name) and Cabinet Minister (from Whiskey Galore) in the dock. Animations were a requisite of the TV programme and these are provided by a working dockyard crane, ship’s derricks and the occasional helicopter. The layout is DCC controlled and up to five trains can be run simultaneously on three circuits.

Frampton on Severn

David Fryer
This exhibit depicts a branchline terminus in rural Gloucestershire, midway between Bristol and Birmingham. Built originally by the GWR to serve a small town, the local agricultural community and a busy dairy, running rights were also extended to the Midland Railway. The layout portrays this line in the 1950’s and early 1960’s when steam locomotives were being replaced by diesels. Although freight and passenger traffic was now in decline, the dairy was still a rail user, with incoming and outward goods trains supporting the local farming community and parcels traffic continuing to be a significant feature. A Digitrax DCC system controls the layout and steam locomotives reflect the interesting mix of surviving GWR and MR classes that could still be found at this time. The diesel locos and units capture the changing railway of that transition period. All motive power is sound fitted and comes from the Hornby, Dapol and Bachmann ranges. Trackwork is Peco code 75 with points operated by Cobalt motors.

Great Minion Railway

Trevor Powell
The Minions are at it again and this time they are running their own railway with some unusual features. The layout aims to attract both younger and older visitors alike.

Hawkins Halt

Rodney Hodge
This layout, built to entertain children, is based on a theme park attraction and is motorised wherever possible, controlled by large coloured buttons. It has 00 gauge track on the outside loop with an N-gauge figure of eight in the centre. Plastic toy trains have been motorised using proprietary chassis and it is intended that the layout will be used to teach children how to move around both Heritage and real railways in general.

Manygates

Steve Saxby, Chris Saxby
In the 1970’s, BR passenger and freight trains had long since disappeared from the East London Line (ELL), but it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to have the now completed link from the ELL near Shoreditch to the North London Line (NLR) between Broad Street and Dalston Junction come to fruition much earlier than it has done in reality. This link has been electrified on the LT 4th rail system (as was the ELL, and the NLR for a time) and it now forms a cross London freight link between WR/LMR/ER and the SR as well as supporting a BR and LT passenger service. A small freight depot also serves the area handling mostly parcels traffic. The layout uses DCC control and the tube trains operate automatically.

Much Murkle

Nick Wood
Much Murkle is a fictitious community in Herefordshire, which according to the 1931 Census has a population of 1452. It is served by an 8 mile single track branch line from the equally fictitious junction at Newent on the Gloucester to Hereford line. There is one intermediate station at the village of Kempstone and a small halt serving Sollers Hall. Approximately one mile outside Much Murkle there is a rail served quarry and all trains departing the quarry have to be reversed at the terminus due to the quarry having no run round facility which makes for more interesting stock movements. The quarry is not the only significant industry using the line as Rancoutt Cider also use the branch to distribute their fine cider and perry to the outside world; consequently vans from all of the ‘Big Four’ rail companies can be seen in their sidings. Track is Peco code 100, locomotives are detailed and weathered proprietary items and most of the rolling stock is kitbuilt. DG autocouplings are used on all stock to give hands free shunting operations.

North Bridge

Mike Kelly
North Bridge is the fictitious location of the old Westbridge branch in Leicester and is where trains from Coalville and Burton on Trent terminated. The period modelled is the early 1960’s and the infrastructure is based on, but not a copy of, what might have been there. For operating purposes the passenger service still exists and an additional Push Pull service has been invented from Leicester London Road. The goods yard at Westbridge was in reality very much larger and even in the mid 60’s was still busy with coal, oil and general traffic. The layout is DCC controlled with Peco code 100 trackwork and uses small radius live frog pointwork. Most buildings are from the Metcalfe range, all altered in some way to fit the location. Rolling stock is mainly proprietary and all weathered or modified in some way.

Silverbury

Robert Thomas
Silverbury is an amamlgamation of Silverstone and Aylesbury to create a ‘what might have been’ layout based on the Great Central Railway through Buckinghamshire had it not been closed as a result of the Beeching Report. Featuring terminating trains from both Network South East and Chiltern Railways, there are also long distance and cross country passenger trains together with freight movements to give operational and viewing interest. The layout is of modular construction and can be erected in various forms to give either continuous run or end to end in both linear and U-shaped configurations.

Troutons

Wakefield Railway Modellers Society
This DCC layout is based loosely in the West Yorkshire area and the name is an anagram of Stourton. Built around a medium sized container yard with working crane there is also a signing on point, small depot and a scrap yard. The aim of the layout is to provide mainline running of typical trains from 2005 onwards with their varied liveries and rolling stock. Look out for the Network Rail STG train. One end of the layout features a motorway bridge and there is an old mill undergoing restoration at the other end. A canal passes through the centre of the scene which once served the many mills that could be found in the area. Many of the buildings have been scratchbuilt by members of the group.

Whitehall

Roger White, Don Hall
Hornby Dublo was a typical table top railway system available from the late 1940’s to the 1960’s. This display covers trains from the ‘Big Four’ companies which existed prior to the nationalisation of Britain’s railways up to the four regions of post nationalistaion. Contemporary road vehicles can be seen around the layout, which complement the scene. Hornby Dublo trains were toys manufactured by Meccano Ltd. and due to their robust nature provided many hours of enjoyment for both boys and girls. Nowadays Hornby Dublo is mainly collected by people who either kept their childhood toys or who have re-purchased examples of what they once possessed. There is a large range of replacement parts and even replica boxes available from specialist suppliers so there is no reason why the brand will ever disappear.

0-16.5 scale

Appleton Dene

Tony Clarke
Appleton Dene depicts a narrow gauge line running through a station and providing rail access to a factory and a builder’s yard during the 1930’s. The rolling stock is either scratch built or from modified kits and features some interesting wagons, carriages and locomotives. The buildings are also scratch built using a variety of techniques. The layout was featured in the November 2013 issue of Railway Modeller magazine but has since been extensively modified to make it more compact.

Calstock’s Halton Quay

Chris Peacock
At the turn of the 19th Century the River Tamar would have been full of small coastal vessels serving the myriad of small (and larger ports) along the river. Halton Quay was one such small port and was connected to the East Cornwall Minerals Railway, which took the output from the Kelly Bray mines and transported it to South Wales where it was smelted into metal. We have tried to portray the hard and unglamorous life those workers endured.

EM scale

Roundtree Sidings

Blythe and Tyne Model Railway Society
Roundtree Sidings is a representation of part of the Tyne & Wear Metro line at Fawden in the summer of 1985. During this time the metro service terminated at Kenton Bank Foot and British Rail had running rights over the line for two daily trip workings – one to the Rowntrees chocolate factory at Fawden, the other to the explosives factory at Callerton. The layout portrays a simplified and compressed version of the exchange sidings at the Rowntrees Fawden factory.

Scale 7

Cranmore

Eric Hines
Opened in 1858, Cranmore was situated on the Cheddar Valley Railway between Witham and Yatton, operated by the GWR. The station was closed to passengers in 1963 but a bitumen delivery service operated until 1985. Cranmore has since been reopened and is now part of the 2½ mile long East Somerset Heritage Railway.

0 scale

Bishops Lane Brewery

Colin French
This is a micro shunting puzzle layout, built as a result of a challenge by a fellow modeler. Wagons are positioned at three points on the layout and wagons are moved governed by the throw of a dice. Two locomotives are required to shunt the layout and only three wagons are permitted on each of the two sidings so there are six permutations. To begin the sequence, Wagon A is positioned in the Cooper’s area against the ‘main line’ buffer stop. Wagon C is put on the front siding at the entrance to the Brewery with Wagon B in front of it.

Crompton Road – stabling point

Martin Litchfield
Constructed by the Scunthorpe Modern Image Railway Group, this layout is based loosely in the north of England and depicts a stabling point for locomotives laying over, awaiting their next turn of duty or taking advantage of the refueling facilities. The goods shed is still in use, serving a declining local community who still choose to have deliveries by British Rail. The locomotives are a mix of DJH brass kits, Heljan r-t-r with wagons from Slaters, Heljan, Skytrex, Westdale, GJH Plant and Just Like The Real Thing. The goods shed is scratch built, the lever cabin is by Peco and the yard lights are from Direct Train Spares.

Eastbridge

Les Pace
Eastbridge is an imaginary small London Midland Railway terminus which would have been found somewhere in the West Midlands, during the late 1940’s just prior to Nationalisation. It is possibly a holiday or market day, as these stations were rarely as busy as this one appears to be. LMS locos and stock are mainly used on the layout with other regions stock making up the numbers. The locos are all brass kits mainly from Mercian models and the stock is mainly Parkside-Dundas and Slaters with some brass kits of the more unusual types of goods wagons. The coaches are Slaters plastic kits and all the layout’s stock uses Spratt and Winkle auto couplings. All the locos have recently been fitted with DCC sound however the points are all manually operated. The boards are connected electrically by connecting blocks that join up automatically when the boards are pushed together, which saves on the wiring, and makes the layout very simple to put up and take down. As most of the homes that are built now are a lot smaller than they used to be, this layout I think dispels the idea that you need a separate or large area available to run an O gauge layout.

G scale

Putnoe Halt

Simon Marshall
Putnoe Halt is a fictional G-scale model railway based on a small country village station with a couple of goods sidings. Most of the locomotives and stock are of foreign origin, which work well with the layout. It is the owner’s first attempt at building an exhibition layout, and goes to show that even large scale trains do not need a massive amount of space to be enjoyed. Questions are welcome at all times, do not be afraid to ask.

G1 scale

Penphyl Halt

Martin Shenton, Tracey Shenton
Penphyl Halt is an indoor G-scale ‘garden’ railway. It features trains, buildings and accessories which are also used on my outdoor garden railway at home. A variety of trains can be seen running on the twin running lines. Models include LGB German outline, Lynton & Barnstaple trains and White Pass models from the USA, together with the odd quirky extra in between.

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