Solihull Model Railway Exhibition 12/11/2022

Annual model railway exhibition presented by the Solihull Model Railway Circle St Marys Church Hall and 3rd Solihull St Mary Scout Hall (B92 8PN) - 15 minutes from J6, M42. 10 Working layouts are invited plus trade and society support. Free parking available.

Buses to Hobs Moat road that stop in front of the nearby ice rink: 72, 72A. Buses that stop at Wheatsheaf, A45, Coventry Road: 60, X1, X2. Bus Information: Available from Network West Midlands: 0871 200 22 33.

ADMISSION: 
Adults £4.00
Children £3.00
Family £10.00 (2 Adults + 2 Child)

Layouts Attending:

1. Gravelly Oak
2mm Scale, N Gauge
Ed Purcell

This is a small ‘modern image’ terminus of a former GWR branch which is still operational for passengers on the border of the West Midlands and Shropshire.  Minimal facilities are provided by London Midland yet, like other stations of theirs in the area such as Hagley.  Gravelly Oak retains its GWR building to serve commuters to West Midlands. As well as the passenger services there is a quarry nearby loading trains with specialised aggregate. Locomotives can also be fuelled and serviced at the fuelling point here.

This was a first foray into DCC though the small terminus layout served by a cassette fiddle yard is a similar concept to the builder’s DC ‘Todmorden Midland’ LMR 1950s layout which appeared in October 2016 Railway Modeller and has been on the exhibition circuit for the last few years.  (‘Gravelly Oak’ uses the same fiddle yard and supporting framework as that layout).  Track is by PECO and control by NCE with traditionally operated SEEP point motors though frog switching is by autofrog units.

Unlike my previous layout which had many scratch built buildings, this one uses largely modified resin and kit built buildings.  Scenics reflect the quarrying nature of the railway here and are created largely from Woodland Scenics materials.

Electrification has occurred since the layout was first completed and allows class 350 units to operate semi fast services over the LMR system.

Stock is by Farish and Dapol with DMU classes 150, 153, and 170, EMU class 350, while classes 37, 60, 66, 70 deal with haulage.

2. Trinity Dock Street Bridge
4mm Scale, OO Gauge
Gavin Rose

Set on a cold dismal Monday morning in February 1939, among the busy inner town docks of Hull on the English Northeast coast.  The tracks are inlaid into stones setts with many points and tight radiused curves as they connect the various quaysides with the yards to the west of the city.  As short trains move about the buildings and rattle over the swing bridge the South Easterly wind is not only bringing the bad weather off the North Sea, but also the threat of war from the near continent.

3. Bankwood
4mm Scale, OO Gauge
David Fletcher

Small quay side station, with a sidings for a small factory.

4. Cannon Bay
4mm Scale, OO Gauge
Jamie Grainger

Cannon Bay is fictitious layout, lots to see and plenty happening that the public especially the children can have a go at. On Cannon Bay trains and buses run very frequently and will be able to get people easily to the local shopping centre down the road.

5. The Stonewaite and Bainrigg Railway
O-16.5 Narrow Gauge
Middle Barton MRC

This is the first phase of a modular layout using 7mm Narrow Gauge otherwise known as O-16.5.  It is set in the 1930s and is based on a fictional mineral line linking a quarry to a canal basin.  Over the years the line has become more successful and is now carrying passengers and general freight, but cash is still tight on the line.  This 1st phase of the model depicts the Wharf at Stonethwaite in North Yorkshire, complete with warehouses, a station, loco shed and canal wharf.  The model has a mixture of DCC sound fitted Locos, extra sounds and a host of operating accessories and parts, including working canal boats. So keep your eyes peeled and ears tuned in.

6. Reely Grate, Muck Work and Primrose Hill
7mm Scale, O Gauge
Ken Jones.

This trio of micro layouts were originally the work of Mike Bragg and latterly owned by the late, Tim Johnson.  Mike in his building of the layouts was highly creative in both his modelling skills and in developing a back story for each section of the line.  The first section to be built was Reely Grate which operated independently with its own traverser storage yard.  It was later joined by Primrose Hill, forming the other end of the line, and again capable of being operated on its own, before the two were finally separated (in distance at least) by Muck Works.

7. Grange Aggregates
2mm Scale, N Gauge
Solihull Model Railway Circle

Grange aggregates started up many years ago. The canal was cut in order to transport the stone out instead of using horses and wagons. The narrow gauge railway was then laid to take stone to the crushing plant. Steam engines were introduced on the narrow gauge in the 1800s. When the main line railway was built, the loops and sidings to the quarry were also put in. All these forms of taking the stone out are still very much in evidence, with stone going out by canal, road or by rail. If you have any questions please ask the operators.

8. Avonbridge
7mm Scale, O Gauge
Solihull Model Railway Circle

This layout is a 30 feet by 13 feet, three track, continuous run with station and storage loops. Early in 2013, we widened two of the front boards to provide some space to allow for shunting.

The boards are made from 9mm exterior plywood with some aluminium box section bracing and steel box section legs with rubber door stops as feet. Peco code 124 bullhead track is laid to a minimum radius of 6 feet. Points are operated from the main panel using Hammant and Morgan motors.

The buildings are based on local Midland railway prototypes and therefore the layout represents a busy MR branch line somewhere in the midlands, although the stock run, is from a variety of companies and eras to suit our varying interests. Most buildings are scratch built from a combination of plastikard and wood. The main station building is a model of Northfield and the small shelter on the opposite platform is from Moseley. The signal box is modelled on Luffenham, with Marton Junctions coal bunker. A scratch built scale model of the goods shed at Eckington on the Birmingham and Gloucester railway is at one end of the station and future developments will probably include a footbridge between the platforms, back scenes and possibly a small engine shed.

At one end is the road over Rail Bridge at ripple, near Tewkesbury and at the other end a section of the 1816 Edstone canal viaduct from Bearley, near Stratford upon Avon.

People and accessories are from various manufacturers, including Peco and Preiser.

9. A Scottish Branch
4mm Scale, OO Gauge
Solihull Model Railway Circle

A new end to end branch line club layout based on Scottish practice, displayed here partly built to give an insight into layout construction. It is 16 feet long and just over 2 feet wide and we are using SMP code 75 bullhead plain track and handmade Marcway points. It has been constructed to run with either dcc or traditional control. There is a terminus station at one end and a hidden 'fiddle' yard with a traverser at the other, with a scenic section in between. A major part of the concept is the use of very deep baseboards, with the railway running through the middle, allowing greater depths and heights of scenery for a more interesting appearance. The major architectural feature is the curved viaduct based on Killiecrankie.

10. Cherwell
4mm Scale, OO Gauge
Solihull Model Railway Circle

A scenic OO gauge, 26 feet 6 inches by 10 feet 6 inches, four track mainline with an integral branch line. It features working automatic signals and has largely scratch built buildings with a local theme, e.g.: the manor house, the masons arms, the George hotel and the fat cat cafe from Solihull; Kings Heath library; Tyseley station; and Water Orton station. The layout was built mainly to display scale length mainline trains, those being run reflecting the varying interests of the membership. Trains run are usually British outline, but can come from any part of the UK mainland and from any date between about 1900 and the present day. If you look carefully you can see pigeons roosting under the station bridge, foxes using the track bed as a shortcut and one fox eyeing lambs, gulls eggs and the shepherd on the upper pasture, cats watching building work in the arch from the platform and gulls above the sea and on the cliffs with a lonely cormorant.

Traders Attending:

Keiths Model Railways
Steve Currin Book Sales
Elaine's Trains
Baz's Model Rail - 12 Volt DC
Helen's Model Trains