Jump to content
Nominate your favourite RMweb modellers in the BRMA awards.

  • Categories

    Show all categories  

  • Show all categories

    Exhibition Layout Details

    • 6990WitherslackHall
      Scale: N gauge (2mm:1ft)
      Layout size: 4ft 4ins x 8ins
      Era: 10 Rebuilding of the railways (2005-2015) (although it can be put back to era 8 BR Sectorisation 1983-1994) 
       
      Rolling stock
       
      Locomotives
       
      Class 31 31135 BR Engineers dutch
      Class 31 31602 Driver Dave Green NR yellow
      Class 08 08585 Freightliner
      Class 8F 2-8-0 48773 BR Black Late crest
       
      Wagons and coaches 
       
      MJA wagons (Freightliner Heavy Haul & Network Rail)
      ISP Snowplough (Network Rail)
      HEA hoppers (Railfreight Coal Sector)
      Queen Mary Brake van (EWS)
      BR 20T Brake van (BR Engineers dutch)
      Ex-LMS 20T Brake van (BR Engineers dutch)
      3x mineral wagons (BR Engineers dutch)
      TTA oil tank (Shell)
      BR MK1 BSK Engineers yellow
      BR MK1 BSK Crimson & cream (Support coach for 48773)
      2x BR MK2D BR blue & grey
       
       

    • 4mm 16,5mm
      The Depot was originally conceived as a finescale(ish) exhibition layout presented at wheelchair and children friendly height.
       
      Footprint 1200x600mm height 800mm, the layout is operated from the front with full access to the viewing public. The layout has its own built-in LED lighting, fed from a single 13 amp power socket, all electrical equipment is annually PAT tested. The layout requires the provision of a sturdy table at least 1800mm long and three chairs .
       
      Travel expenses should cover transport by one car for the layout and operators - no hire vehicle required. For shows of more than one day and venues more than 50 miles from West Dorset accommodation may be required.
       
      email:- [email protected]
      mob: 07861 380101
      https://pwdepot.blogspot.com/
       

       
       

       

       

    • Bleat Wharf

      By NHY 581, in 4mm scale,

      Bleat Wharf.
       
      Owner: Rob Gunstone 
      e-mail: Rob. Gunstone @hotmail.co.uk
       
      or by way of PM. 
       
      Layout based in Cardiff. 
       
       
       
      { Ex-S&DJR Goods only branch }
       
      British Railways 1955- 1962
      Bleat Wharf is a small inland quay 'somewhere in Somerset' and is at the end of a spur off the Highbridge branch of the S&DJR, set in the 1950s.
      Goods only, the area is run down and approaching closure. Traffic is mostly vans or covered carriage trucks serving the few remaining quayside businesses. Services run as required and haulage is provided by wheezy ex-Midland 3F tender locos with the occasional 4F or 1P 0.4.4T.
       
       
      Overall size of the layout is  7ft x 2ft.
       
      Baseboards is my now usual IKEA shelfage.
       
       Track -PECO Code 75. Buildings are a variety of Ready To Plant from Bachmann and Hornby.
      Locos  as mentioned above, are ready to run Midland types from Bachmann. Rolling stock is also ready to run. All stock buildings etc are weathered accordingly.
       
       
      Bleat is operated from the front by one operator and needs an overall space of 7ft x 4ft. One socket will suffice. 
       
      Insurance value is £1000.00
       
      Bleat Wharf has appeared in BRM October 2019. 
       





    • Mutton

      By NHY 581, in 4mm scale,

      Name of Layout.            MUTTON. 
       
      Owner.                    Rob Gunstone.
      E-mail                      [email protected] 
       
                                       Or PM. 
       
       
      Layout size.              10ft x 2ft. { operated from the front so add in another 2ft for operator 10x4ft ish)
      Layout shape.            Straight. 
                                        Viewed from the front only. 
       
                             ☆☆☆☆Layout best displayed against wall. ☆☆☆☆
       
      Number of operators.   One. 
       
      Tables.                         One only,  for stock, tea and cake. 
       
      Electrics.                      One socket. {I carry extension leads}
       
      Scale.                            00 gauge. 
      Period /Era                    1950s British Railways..
       
       Based on.                      Ex-L&SWR Devon branch line. 
       
      Layout lighting.             Self contained LED. 
       
      Insurance value.             £1000.00.
       
      Expenses.                       
       
      Mutton  featured in  Model Rail  and BRM .
       
       
       
      Mutton is inspired by Combpyne on the Lyme Regis branch line in Devon/Dorset. 
       
       Mutton is the only intermediate station on the EX-L&SWR Lamb Regis branch. The period modelled is that of 1955 to 1960 before the closure of the branch in 1965. 
      The scenic section of Mutton is 120cm {4ft} x 40cm {16ins..ish}. All  baseboards utilise table tops from a well known Swedish furniture manufacturer. 
      Track is Code 75 PECO,  buildings are Bachmann ready to plant with stock by Bachmann and Hornby. All are weathered by myself. Electrics are very basic and powered by Gauge master.  Lighting by Herr Lidl. 
      Main motive power is provided by three Adams Radial 4.4.2t engines retained for the branch though other motive power is available.......
       
       
       
       
                          
       
            
       
       



    • The layout is based on a prototype station that served the village of Rolleston-on-Dove, Staffordshire from 1894 until closure in1949. Modelled in 4mm scale employing EM gauge track standards, this layout first went public in 2007 and has been featured in both Railway Modeller and British Railway Modelling magazines. The period of modelling for this ex North Staffordshire Railway branch is both post WW2 in the BR period, prior to closure, and 1930's during LMS days. The model is the precursor of a successful scheme to preserve the remains of the actual station which is now part of the Jinny Nature Trail. Keep up with progress by visiting the website: www.rolleston-on-dove-station.co.uk or "The Model Railways of Clive Baker" on Facebook.





    • Tinner's Forge

      By Stubby47, in 4mm scale,

      Standard inglenook format, OO gauge.
       
      Era/stock can be anything from GWR through to blue diesel
       
      Layout is 5'8" x 2' - scenic secion is 3'9"
      Power - 1 x 13amp
      Operator - 1
       
      Area:  Southwest UK, possibly Midlands or M4 corridor
      Insurance value = £1,000
       
      Contact details:
        email:  stubby47 at hotmail.com
        phone/txt : PM me
       

    • The Fenny Stratford layout had a very strange birth. At the time my wife was undertaking research for our local heritage group, on how the railways affected our area of Milton Keynes. As part of her research, she found a track plan of Fenny Stratford from the late 1940’s and my first thought was that it would be a good Exhibition layout. 
       
      Fenny Stratford is located just east of Bletchley and was part of the Varsity Line running between Oxford and Cambridge operated by the LMS.  During the 1950’s Fenny Stratford was a double track station and it had a number of sidings and a large active timber yard. During this period the timetable was comprehensive with a mixture of passenger and freight services. In the future Fenny Stratford will again be part of the new East West Rail link.  However, even this new plan will see Fenny Stratford remain as a single track.
       
      I suggested to our model railway club that it could be built as a club exhibition layout, but this was not possible due lack of room. It was at that point that a fellow club member Peter Ellis and I decide to build it as a joint venture in my garage.
       
      Peter converted the 1946 track plan into an AnyRail track plan. We had to move the Grand Union Canal about 150 yards nearer the station, this was to keep the overall length of the layout within the restrictions set by the length of the garage.  
       
      Construction
      Once we had the detailed track plan we, could start work on the baseboards. For this we turned to a friend at the club, Wayne Webb. He had built a number of baseboards for a few of different layouts (including Brinklow BRM February 2018 and Dentdale BRM April 2014). He designed the individual boards and even cut all of the plywood pieces required. This, for Peter and I was great as it was just like putting together a piece of Ikea furniture. The major benefit of these boards is that they are both lightweight but unbelievably strong.
       
      The layout consists of 5 scenic boards. The length of these is 1 at 1.2 metres, 2 at 1.0 metres and 2 at 0.9 metres, making a scenic length of 5 metres. 
       
      -  Each board is constructed from 12mm plywood for the sides and 9mm plywood for the top.
      -  The legs are 44 x 20mm softwood with steel corner braces.
      -  The layout is held together with 5mm bolts and wing nuts.
      -  At the outset we decided that the layout would be DCC controlled, have working signals and working level crossing gates. These would be controlled using servos with a MegaPoint Controller. 
      -  The track is Peco code 75 bullhead rail. All points have been modified for DCC use and to improve their appearance we removed all of the excess sleepers. The result of this work was extremely pleasing.
      -  All of the points are operated using Cobalt Digital slow action point motors.
      -  The signals are hand built using kits from Wizard Models as the base, these are operated by mini digital servos controlled by MegaPoint controller.
      -  At each end of the layout there is an addition 1.2 metre fiddle yard board.  For the fiddle yard we have used a twin track cassette system with 4 cassettes at each end. These locate with brass rod and tubing that both locates them and also provides the electrical connection.
       
      Layout Control
      Once the track had been laid the task of wiring the layout started. Each board was wired as a single unit, with a DCC bus, a 12volt bus and wiring for signals and level crossing servos. The boards are connected using Tamiya connectors for the DCC bus and 12 pin D connectors for everything else. Each board was individually tested by connecting it to the master board. Once all of the boards where completed the whole layout was connected and the first trains ran on Fenny Stratford. This was great as we could play trains for a while.
       
      The layout is controlled using an NCE Powercab system. We decided very early on that we did not want to control the points using a mimic panel, so we decided to use JMRI PanelPro and use the Routes functionality it provides. The actual operation of the layout is performed using wireless tablets again connected using JMRI.  These allow the operators freedom of movement and also easy access to the throttles and the routes. During our testing phase we refined the setup and we are now very happy with its operation.
       
       
      Buildings
      All of the buildings on the layout are a true representation as they were in the 1950’s. Some of the buildings still exist today, such as the station building, police station and the canal cottages.  All of the others we had to find photographs on the Internet. These included the crossing keepers house, signal box, Rowlands Timber Yard building and Rowlands house on Simpson Road.
       
      Fortunately, Peter is a retired architect and was able to produce accurate plans that we could use to build them from.  The station building has some very complex fittings, such as the bargeboards and the supports for the sidewalk cover. Once again Peter’s skill with his CAD system came to the rescue when he produced 3D drawings which we then had 3D printed with excellent results.
      The vast majority of the buildings are scratch built on plain PlastiKard carcasses covered with brick embossed PlastiKard then painted and weathered. Most of the buildings are fitted with lights for even more effect.
       
      We have used a few kit buildings for such things as the coal office, platelayers’ huts and goods shed. However, all have been modified in some way to fit our requirements.
       
       
      Scenery
      The lengthy process of bringing the layout to life was started by the adding of the scenery.
       
      The first task was to replicate the ‘Stag Road’ bridge that carried the A5 road over the railway.  Once this was in place the remaining contours for the rest of the layout could be set out. The main embankments were constructed using the tried and tested method of lacing card strips over forms and then covering this with paper soaked in PVA glue. These were then covered with various Woodland Scenics scatters and static grass, to build the look we wanted.
       
      Simpson Road crosses the railway controlled by level crossing gates.  The gates were constructed by modifying a Willis kit.  These are operated by mini digital servos. After our first exhibition these gates needed to be strengthened as a couple of the gates got knocked off.
       
      The Grand Union canal at Fenny Stratford includes a set of locks that have the smallest rise of any lock on the Grand Union canal network of just 12 inches. Unfortunately, we only have room for one of the sets of gates, but this one is an accurate representation of the real thing.
      The canal was built using a plywood base that was sanded and then painted a mixed green colour which was blended to give that canal colour. This was then covered with two coats of Deluxe Solid Water.  A tip when using this product is to make sure ALL holes in the sides and base are filled, we missed a tiny pin hole and finished up with a puddle on my cabin carpet...!!
       
      During the work on the scenery, we began to realise that we needed in excess of 50 trees on the layout. We decided that we simply did not have enough hours to build these ourselves, so we subcontracted these to another of our friends at our model railway club, Jacqui who runs Ceynix. We are so glad we made this decision as the trees Jacqui produced for us are just brilliant.
       
      The backscenes for the layout could not be obtained from any commercial source. To produce what we wanted it was decided that these would need to be hand painted.  Peter took on this challenge and produced them using Acrylic paint. The perspective is just right, so you can look down Simpson Road and see it disappearing into the distance. 
       
      All of the point rodding has been added using the Willis point rodding kits which bring the track alive.
       
       
      Rolling Stock
      The rolling stock is mainly Bachmann with a scattering of Hornby items.  We found on the Internet a copy of a timetable for the 1950’s which we could then use to determine the rolling stock required.  The majority of the movements are using steam locomotives with a DMU serving the local passenger service.
       
      We use a mixture of MK1 corridor coaches as well as suburban coaches for the passenger services.  In addition, there are a number of goods trains used to keep the interest going.
       
      Finally
      Both Peter and I are very pleased and proud with what we have achieved, both in terms of realism, interest and quality. Our biggest accolade was when one of my neighbours came to see the layout. She explained that as a child she would catch a train from Fenny Stratford to school in Bedford. In her words it brought back many memories and was exactly as she remembered it.
       
      We started work on the layout in September 2016. Our target was to complete the layout for the Milton Keynes Model Railway Society 50thanniversary exhibition.  This was to take place on the 16thFebruary 2019, which was to be the layouts first outing. We are pleased to say we made it.
       
      Fenny Stratford will be at the National Festival of British Railway Modelling, Doncaster Exhibition Centre, The Racecourse, Doncaster, DN2 6BB on the 8th– 9thFebruary 2020.  Please come along and see us.
       
      If you would like to see Fenny Stratford at your exhibition please refer to the attached 'Fenny Stratford Exhibition Specification' documentFenny Stratford Exhibition Specification.pdf
       
       
      Factfile
      Layout name: Fenny Stratford
      Scale/gauge: 1:176 / OO gauge
      Size: 7.4 metres x 0.8 metres (24ft x 32in)
      Era/region:  BR (LMS) 1950 – 1965
      Location: Buckinghamshire
      Layout type: DCC
      Words: David Court
      Photography: Adrian Court, David Court and Peter Ellis
    • Almost certainly the UK's first (and only?) large Chinese HO roundy-roundy layout.
       
      26ft x 10ft , requires XLB transit van. Based in Watford. Six operators
       
      Contact : Paul Stapleton 07799728863  [email protected]
       
      This is a layout that tells a story that 99% of exhibition visitors don't know - the very last BIG steam operation in the world taking place in the 21st century! So this appeals to railfans, but also to the family audience as I have packed the layout with unusual features to engage with the 'average' exhibition visitor including authentic sound effects and working level crossing barriers but there are many others - come and see for yourselves at Fareham October 2019 or Warley November 2019.
       

       
      Still unfinished - shown at CMRA exhibition Jan 2019
       
      Here is how we present it - our display board shown at each end of the layout ….
       

       
      Prototype shot taken in 2007 of typical industrial system …………..
       

       
      My version...…………...
       

       
      Features :  
       
      Authentic operation - last of mainline steam action in 2004 alongside diesel powered national rail system alongside steam powered industrial railway. Constant action on the scenic front.
       
      Four circuits :  Bi-directional steam powered regional railway. Twin track diesel powered China Rail mainline. Bi-directional industrial line
       
      Passenger trains up to 17 coaches long
       
      Double headed 2-10-2 hauled freight trains
       
      Banking station where bankers attach to industrial line trains and leave on a 1/30 incline
       
      Steam sound
       
      Many working features - level crossing barriers etc
       
       
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

  I accept