The following layouts are booked/expected for 2021 – more will be added as they are confirmed over the forthcoming weeks
RIPON
7mm/’O’ Gauge – coarse scale
Vintage Layouts – David Knighton & Jonathan Ward
An impression in ‘O’ Gauge coarse scale of the former Newcastle – Leeds main line through north Yorkshire in LNER days. The layout uses a mixture of vintage models from the 1930s by Bassett-Lowke, Hornby, Leeds and Milbro, blended with modern items from ACE Trains and others.
CORWENNA
4mm Scale/OO Gauge
Phil Waterfield
A fictional location inspired by the branch line from Boscarne Jnc to Wenfordbridge. The buildings although much reduced in scale purport to give a flavour of operations at the clay dries served by the Beattie well tanks and GWR pannier tanks from Wadebridge shed.
LEIGH BRIDGE STABLING POINT
4mm Scale ‘OO’ Gauge
Craig Holt/Leigh Model Railway Society
A small stabling and refuelling point set at the end of a freight yard. A ‘What If’ the railway lines around Leigh, near Manchester, had remained open. Set in the BR blue diesel era.
FALAHILL
2mm Scale/’N’ Gauge
Karl Smith
This circular layout represents part of the Waverley route, circa 1964 through to 1969 whereupon it closed in the January of that year. The layout is fully DCC operated with all locomotives and stock typical of those that ran on the line during the final five or six years of operation.
TGB METAL RECYCLERS
7mm Scale ‘O’ Gauge
Paul Rolley
‘T.G.B. Metal Recycling & Block Paving’ are scrap processors located in the fictional town of Fulchester. The layout is 7mm scale and set during the final years of the British Rail ‘Sectorisation’ period. The various different types of air-braked scrap carrying wagons seen on the layout are all scratch built by the owner/operator, being typical of those that would have been seen during the era modelled.
BUCHSHEE
4mm Scale ‘OO’ Gauge
Peter Rust
The layout is undergoing modernisation, both in era, previously 1950/60s transitional, and operation as it is now full DCC. The modernisation into the current era enables a wide spectrum of stock to be operated, with a Scottish bias, the ethos being that it is a preserved line just down the coast from Oban on a proposed route down to Campbeltown, planned, but never built. The actual topographical node is Kilninver, about 15 miles south of Oban just the name has been changed to protect the innocent.
ROSAMUND STREET (LOW LEVEL) SIDINGS
4mm ‘OO’ Gauge
Brian Rolley
Rosamund Street (Low Level) Sidings are located in the shadow of a British Steel Co. Works, in a rundown part of town. This is the sort of place where 1970s train spotters would need to go in order to find that elusive shunter or two that have still to be underlined in their Combined Volumes. The layout is operated as a ‘shunting puzzle’ using photographic cards relating to each of the wagons used on the layout.
ELLESMERE
4mm Scale/OO Gauge
Phil Greaves
A scale replica of Ellesmere station, situated on the Cambrian main line between Whitchurch and Oswestry in Shropshire, which opened in 1864 and closed in 1965. Train services were essentially local in nature although there were through trains to Aberystwyth on the Welsh coast. There was also a branch to Wrexham from Ellesmere. A variety of smaller GWR Locos (including Manors) and some BR standard classes provided the mainstay of services in the 1950s and ‘60s. The layout is operated to a sequence representing a typical day of the period.
DOLFRIOG
4mm Scale/’OO9’ Narrow Gauge
Richard & Judy Wallace
A multi-level, six-track ‘rabbit warren’ style layout. Set on a Welsh mountainside with a series of copper mines near Beddgelert, locally known as ’Mynydd Copr’, within Snowdonia, at the turn of the century.
The layout has six separate operational tracks, one in ‘Hof’ 6.5mm gauge,
four in ‘OO9’/’Hoe’ 9mm gauge on three levels and one in ‘HOn3z’ (Zahnradbahn), a 10.5mm rack railway, all separately controlled providing variable speed control.
A copper mine grotto and lake with lighting shows the depth and manner of copper mining in the area. The layout was built by Jim & Lyn Owers and featured in the October 2015 Railway Modeller.
BRANDGEIGHT
4mm Scale/OO9 Narrow Gauge
Peter Hardy
Brandgeight depicts all that remains of a 2ft 3in gauge light railway built by a late 19th Century industrialist Willson Henry who made his fortune by developing new techniques for casting and refurbishing church bells. He later acquired extensive farmlands in Leicestershire and Derbyshire and built the railway to link the small villages and hamlets in the area. Willson Henry later diversified into manufacturing small saddle tank locomotives for the many small mining and quarrying companies around the country. Today only Hector and Lady Jane survive and with extensive rebuilding by the volunteer staff, now provide the prime locos on Brandgeight, being supported by an eclectic mix of locos from the many existing narrow gauge lines in the UK.
LIVE STEAM CLUB
4mm Scale/’OO’ Gauge Live Steam
We are the ‘OO’ Live Steam Club and see our role as supporting Hornby Live Steam and showing owners and potential owners how to get the best out of their Hornby live steam locomotives. We have a layout and driver training experience which has three loops making for a busy and interesting presentation.
The ‘driver’ does not need his own loco he can use one of ours; we also have a technical area to help owners with malfunctioning locos.
We have introduced a ‘Speed Challenge’. Younger members of the public are encouraged to enter, using one of our locos, and attempt to break Mallard’s world record. This is all done to scale speed. Come along and have a go!
KYLE OF MACALLAN
4mm Scale ‘EM’ Gauge
Adrian Walby
September 1966, at the locomotive shed at Kyle of Macallan, somewhere in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. Sream has long gone from the area, last seen here in June 1962 and, where the steam locomotives were once serviced, diesels now rest between duties, though not for much longer as the writing is on the wall for this somewhat derelict shed.
The layout is based on, but not an exact copy of, the shed at Kyle-of-Localsh and coincidentally, the shed lost its roof in a fire shortly after the end of steam, remarkably similar to events at Kyle-of-Localsh! The layout is built to 4mm:ft scale ‘EM’ gauge and is DCC controlled. All locomotives are ready-to-run converted to ‘EM’ and sound-fitted.
FALL MILL
4mm Scale/’OO9’ Narrow Gauge
David Wright
Based on the long-lost Ashover railway in Derbyshire, this table-top layout consists of a simple loop in ‘OO9’. Running off the main loop is a siding and head shunt where limestone was delivered to the mill to be grounded down to extract the fluorspar. This was then used for the production of iron at the Clay Cross ironworks.
Although the loop is freelance, the yard, the mill and the power house are based on the buildings that still remain on the site today. All the buildings and structures are scratch-built from card with a skin of DAS modelling clay added. The dry clay has then been scribed to replicate stonework before being painted and then weathered.
Other features include the River amber and the nearby stone clapper bridge. Te complete layout and backscene has been hand-painted representing the Amber Valley.
David will also be providing a demonstration alongside the layout to show how these structures have been created.
CHESTERS YARD
4mm Scale ‘EM’ Gauge
Robin Coulthard
Chesters Yard is a completely fictitious location loosely based around the late 1970s Blue Diesel era and is a first attempt at finescale modelling in ‘EM’ by the owner. The layout is DCC controlled using an NCE Power Cab system, track and point work are from Marcway. Motive power is supplied by a mixture of Class 24, 25, 26, 35 and 128DPU from Bachmann and Heljan and all but two at present are sound fitted. In no way is Chesters Yard a perfect layout, the learning curve has been a steep one at times but if we do not push what we feel are our limitations we will never know what our imaginations might achieve. The building of this layout is another adventure in this hobby which helps us learn and develop various skills, achieve and sometimes fail and meet like minds along the way, it is what continues to fuel my interest.
PER ARDUA AD ASTRA
4mm Scale ‘OO’ Gauge
Team Grantham
We are delighted to be welcoming one of the star teams from Channel 5’s 2019 ‘Great Model Railway Challenge’ TV Series. The team triumphed in Episode 5 with Per Ardua ad Astra before progressing through the semi-finals to compete as one of the four finalists.
Members of the team will be exhibiting three of their layouts and answering questions from the public. Per Ardua ad Astra is Latin for ‘Through adversity to the stars’ and is the motto of the Royal Airforce. The layout certainly reached for the stars in more ways than one, featuring a Swiss-style Alpine landscape, with a rocket launching from the top of the mountain and a superb radio telescope which had the show’s judges mesmerised.
Team Grantham will also be exhibiting their ‘Fun of the Fairground’ layout which was in the Series 2 Final . Team member Pete Jarvis will also be bringing his ‘HO’ scale Canadian layout (see separate entry).
VILLEFRANCHE-LA-CHAPELLE
French SNCF c.1990
3.5mm Scale/HO Gauge
Carshalton & Sutton Model Railway Club
Villefranche-la-Chapelle is a small layout designed to show a shunting yard in a fictional French town in the 1990s, serving a few industries at the same time, and based on memories of traditional French railways, sadly mostly now gone. The area to the right was possibly once a quarry, but is now used to handle local timber and stone traffic, while the sidings to the left serve the industries of the small town on the hill behind. There’s also a higher level line in and out of a platform, to allow an Autorail or two to be run.
The idea was to create the atmosphere of a typical French small town and its still-active rail system, something that had disappeared from the British rail scene in the 1960s, but which could still be enjoyed in France for many years afterwards.
With the addition of catenary in parts of the shunting yard, it’s now possible to see AC or DC electric engines, as well as diesel power.
ST FAYRE RHIANNE
3.5mm Scale/’HOm’ Narrow Gauge
John Davies
A century ago a traveller could go almost all the way from Calais to Marseilles on the metre gauge tracks of the ‘vie libre’, provided they had sufficient time and patience. Not known for speed and efficiency, ‘les tacots’ or ‘tortillards’ were almost a French equivalent to the Colonel Stephens lines in this country and, like them, survived for an amazingly long time. Sadly they are gone and just a few preserved lines, along with a growing number of modellers, keep the spirit alive.
The layout represents the period just before the Great War when these little lines were in their heyday. The first warning signs that the Edwardian high summer, la Belle Epoch, is drawing to a close are there, for those perceptive enough to see them, but this is still 1912. The little trains of the CF d’Moribund et Querkie innocently continue their placid way, somewhere on the border between Britanny and Normandy, undisturbed by thoughts of the changes soon to come.
Everything on the layout is scratch-built, from salvaged scrap materials obtained from a wide range of skips… err, sources… and obsolete ‘TT’ mechanisms. The gauge is 12mm to one foot, the scale 3.5mm (‘HO’). Why French metre gauge? Eh bien, mesa mis, why not? Vive le difference!
CASTLE WORKS
‘Gn15’, representing 18in Gauge
Andi Nethercoat
My intention was to try and build an operable working micro-layout without spending a large sum of money on materials but by re-purposing, recycling and upcyling readily available items. Total build cost has been very minimal. The only things I’ve had to purchase are glue and paint from my local Pound shop and a few electrical items from ebay.
Trackwork is re-used ‘OO’ points and rail salvaged from donated second-hand Peco code 100 flexitrack soldered to some copper-clad sleeper strip cut from some offcuts of PCB that was found in a skip. Buildings are made from a core of corrugated cardboard stuck together with a hot glue gun and covered in papier mache (newspaper and PVA glue) to strengthen it, while the ‘Stonework’ is individually cut pieces from various cereal packets and the ‘wriggly tin’ on the roofs is from tomato puree tubes cut into suitably sized sheets and ‘crinkled’.
Doors and gates are made from coffee stirrers and the toolbox and bench in the shed are made from scraps of wood and firework sticks, other items are made from bits and bobs found in the scrapbox.
All the track ballasting is with various grades of tea-leaves and coffee grounds and the ground cover is home made from various materials and leftover water-based paints. A lot of fun has been had in the building of this layout which is currently being extended.
CLYDACH RAILWAY
4mm Scale/’OO9’ Narrow Gauge
Richard Holder
The layout represents a fictional preserved tourist railway situated somewhere on the coast of north-west Wales. Richard has imagined that the original line was built to carry slate from quarries in the mountains to the port of Aberclydach. After commercial operation ceased, the Clydach Railway Preservation Society took over the ownership of the railway in 1954 and re-opened it.
The line later expanded onto the track-bed and bridges of a standard gauge branch line which had closed in the ‘60s. The new section was opened in 1979 and since then passenger numbers have grown, new stock has been built and now the Clydach Railway (Rheilffordd Clydach) is undoubtedly one of the ‘Great Little Trains of Wales’.
A wide variety of stock is run on the layout representing a variety of narrow gauge lines. Locomotives include a number of Garratt articulated designs. There are two stations on different levels with inclines and an impressive girder bridge across a river estuary. The layout also features a colourful beach scene and many other scenic details.
KIMBLE
7mm Scale ‘O’ Gauge
Leamington & Warwick Model Railway Club
At the left end of the layout the town of Kimble is set on a hill, dominated by Knight’s Brewery with its array of industrial buildings, workers’ housing and private railway with a wagon turntable, operated manually or with an automatic shuttle. Below the town there is the through station, set-back siding and a comprehensive motive power depot with roads leading to the loco shed, coaling/sand/water renewal, storage and turntable. To the right is an impressive viaduct, with hills, rocky outcrops, pine trees and a tunnel. All structures on the layout are scratch-built, closely modelled on or inspired by actual prototypes.
The double track (continuous loop) main line has a six-track track fiddle yard which allows for 12+ trains to be marshalled at any one time. The modelled location is non-specific, the buildings and structures are based on BR(LMR). The period represented for exhibition running extends from early BR to steam/diesel transition, demonstrating a wide variety of stock. Control is by DCC using MERG components. The majority of locos are fitted with sound decoders and all signals are operational. The focus at exhibitions is running main line trains although loco movements on and off shed are an attractive feature.
PURGATORY PEAK
‘ON30’ Scale, Narrow Gauge
Macclesfield Model Railway Group
The railroads around Purgatory Peak were conceived in the euphoria of the mining boom of the late 19th century when deposits of several heavy metals, including gold and silver, had been discovered. The booming American economy created ever-increasing demands and pack horses were simply not quick enough to deliver…… and so, the Denver and Colorado Western was born.
It’s now the late 1930s and times are hard. As for the railroad – it just keeps plodding on. Nothing much changes in this part of the world.…. unless it has to!
Purgatory Peak was selected for the area to model, not for its scenic beauty (it has none), nor for its significance as a milestone in railway history (as if!). It was simply chosen because getting to this point (the highest) not only on the original railway but also on the model, had been sheer purgatory!
The upper level was the original Denver and Colorado Western line but has long since been by-passed by subsequent improvements to the system following acquisition by the D&RGW. The mines served by the improbable zigzag are struggling following the Great Depression but, despite their best efforts, the D&RGW have not been able to dispense with the branch (under the mine) to Oblivion.
For the technical information and more background search the web for Purgatory Peak Model Railroad or see: http://sites.google.com/site/purgatorypeakmodelrailroad
GREAT ENDON
4mm Scale/’OO’ Gauge
Great Endon is a fictional location in Lancashire set on the proposed extension of the Preston to Longridge Branch that was never built. Had this line been extended, it would have finished at Clitheroe, allowing a direct link to the Settle to Carlisle line.
The layout represents a modernised track plan when the original double track line has been reduced to single track. This leaves an island platform station, allowing trains to pass. The layout also features, a rubber factory a small freight depot, and a permanent way servicing depot that was originally the local loco servicing point in BR days, now operated by Balfour Beatty.
Passenger trains are typically made up of a variety of one or two car DMUs with the occasional Voyager travelling on a cross country route. Freight and infrastructure trains pass through the station on a regular basis with some trains servicing the factory and depot. The permanent way servicing depot sees an eclectic mix of equipment including snowploughs, an MPV, RHTT and a range of other track measuring equipment.
The layout features working semaphore signals (including operational ground signals) with point interlocking and DCC control allowing for realistic full independent control of the trains (this keeps the operators busy as two trains approach the island platforms from each direction along what is effectively a single track!).
Most of the locomotives have full working lights with an increasing number having working sound.
THE TRANSPORT MUSEUM
4mm Scale/Various Gauges
Robin Brogden
This popular layout is celebrating its 30th birthday this month having first been exhibited in mid-October 1991, since when it has seen considerable development and additions.
The layout consists of a fictitious Museum of Transport situated in the regenerated former dockland of an English town. Railway exhibits are housed in a purpose-built Railway Gallery where may be found historic and unusual locomotives, carriages, signals, models and other railway artefacts.
Electric tramcars operate on a double track around part of the layout that also includes the Road Gallery housing an extensive collection of classic motor vehicles, and the Tramway Depot. A Miniature Railway (based on 2mm track) operates around this area and beyond.
A deep-water dock features maritime exhibits including the steam paddle-driven tug PS Eric Cope and the restored ‘Clyde Puffer’ Connie. A canal basin is included in this area with working narrow-boats. A ‘green area’ features a bandstand, displays of visiting vintage vehicles, a hot-air balloon and a children’s play area. The line from the engine sheds runs the entire length of the layout and is operated using DC, with many of the locomotives having digitial sound.
The front part of the layout is dominated by an ex-RAF Lancaster Bomber, which performs regular ‘power-up’ demonstrations with sound.
The concept for the layout was born from a desire to create a layout where virtually all types of model may be displayed together with a single theme. The layout is full of varied examples of transport and industrial archaeology items to appeal to everyone.
COKETOWN
2mm Scale/’N’ Gauge
Dave Pallant
Coketown is set in the Lancashire town made famous in Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times. Now, in the 21st century, situated on the West Coast Main Line around 2015, the town has been cleaned up somewhat. Many of the mills and chimneys are gone, replaced by warehouses and shopping areas but some of the old buildings are still left in the town centre near the station. The station was rebuilt in the 1990s but some of the original old parts of the station are left.
A high level line to the Pennines was closed by Beeching, but the viaduct is now listed and preserved and there are several plans for the line including a cycle path, a tramway or possibly reopening the track. The traffic on the line is predominantly off the West Coast Main Line and is fitted around the Virgin passenger expresses to and from London and Glasgow. Transpennine Express and Northern run local services from the station and London Midland branded services can be seen at certain times during the week.
The yard is still used for container deliveries for a local supermarket distribution warehouse and a scrapyard and there is also a small Network Rail yard for their equipment and their contractors. The coach sidings at the front of the station are for daytime storage of passenger trains between the peak times.
The layout is wired for DCC, powered by NCE controllers. Track is Peco code 55 with a mix of wood and concrete sleepers. The points are SEEP motors driven by DCC concepts solenoid drive boards which, in turn, are controlled from a Windows touch screen laptop running JMRI software, which uses the point positions and sensors to set the signals. In addition, there are timers in the control software on the lines leaving the front of the layout so that the signals step down from red after the train has left, back to green through yellow and double yellow over a period of time.
The catenary has some Dapol individual supports but the majority of the portals are from N Brass kits. The buildings are a mix of kit and off the shelf items with some hand built items and customisation to suit the environment. Stock is mainly Farish and Dapol but much of the newest stock on the layout has come from Ben and Mike at Revolution Trains who I have to thank for producing the Pendolino without which this WCML layout would not be complete!
THE DEPOT
7mm Scale ‘O’ Gauge
Nigel Adams
This layout is the latest of my micro-layouts and is a model of a small stabling point. I have built a number of small layouts of engine sheds in the past. In common with previous layouts I have built, it has no points at all. As with all my layouts I have concentrated on scenic detail because that is the side of our hobby that attracts me the most. Building micro layouts also means you can quickly complete a layout, have fun with it and move on to another one! This is especially relevant to people like me who enjoy building and completing layouts in a relatively short time.
And also including…
Thomas’ Trackway – ‘G’ Scale/45mm Gauge by Michael Smith
Caroline Castle – ‘N6.5’ Scale (2mm Scale on ’Z’ Gauge track) by Jeremy Mole
All the Fun of the Fair – 4mm Scale/’OO’ Gauge – Team Grantham, second layout from Channel 5’s Great Model Railway Challenge (2019 Finalists)
Tri-ang ‘TT’ – 3mm Scale/’TT’ Gauge by David Lyon
Scenic Demonstrations
- OO9 Society, West Midlands – display and demonstration
- Track-building, Scratch-building (both Sat) and Kit-building and 3D Printing (Sun) demonstrations by Leamington & Warwick Model Railway Society
- Modelling Demonstration by Hornby Collectors’ Club Magazine and BRM’s Phil Parker
- Scenic Modelling demonstration by John Lloyd of Green Scenes
- MERG – Model Electronics Railway Group; demonstrating the benefits of membership and some of the ideas in electronics relevant to railway modelling that it has developed over the last 50 years
Clubs and Societies
- Talyllyn Railway – the pioneers! – Britain’s first heritage railway, opened in 1951, celebrating 70 years of narrow-gauge steam.
- 6880 Betton Grange Society – building the 81st ‘Grange’ and nearing completion.
- The London & North Western Railway Society; the society was formed in 1973 and in 2005 achieved charitable status as an Educational Charity with the following objective: “To advance the education of the public in all aspects of the London and North Western Railway, including the study and preservation of information, drawings, photographs, models and other material pertaining to the railway company and related organisations and subjects.” Thus, the Society aims to foster interest in all aspects of the LNWR, its constituent companies and joint lines.