Who was there?...

1. 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 (The Manor House, The Mason’s Arms, The George Hotel, The Fat Cat Cafe, 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.

2. Avonbridge

7mm scale, O gauge

Solihull Model Railway Circle

The circular part of this layout was completed as a 13 feet across, two-road test track in 2001. In early 2005, work started on eight straight boards to turn the circular test track into a three-track oval layout with a station and fiddle yard. By mid 2007, the track and wiring on the eight straight boards was completed, with two main lines and a third track which is used as a goods line.

All the boards are made from 9mm exterior plywood with partly aluminium bracing. The layout is supported on square section tubular steel legs with nuts welded onto one end, so that they can be screwed into the bolts under the boards, and rubber door stops on the other ends as feet. PECO Streamline 'Fine Standard' Code 124 'bullhead' track is used and the layout is 29 feet across by 13 feet deep, with a minimum track radius of six feet.

The layout has PECO six foot radius points, switched using S?H & M? point motors and micro-switches from a single control panel. Panel-mounted feedback controllers are used to drive up to three trains at a time. Some scenery has been completed and several Midland Railway buildings have been made for it from scratch by a club member, modelled on local prototypes. There is an opportunity to provide the layout with further scenery and buildings. It has been built to display reasonable length trains and allows continuous running, those trains being run reflecting the varying interests of the membership.

3. Pending

2mm scale, N gauge

Ken Jones

An N gauge layout designed and built by Ken Jones using an A4 box file in 2003, inspired by a 009 layout by Barrie Etter. The staples holding the front panel of the box were carefully removed and the spring and fitting for holding paperwork in the box discarded.

There is an abandoned mineral line and the buildings were made from bits and pieces from other models including Kestrel Kits. Everything used to make this layout [except the helicopter] was acquired second hand. The track is actually Peco 009 gauge crazytrackÓ as it was impossible to bend N gauge track to fit the box file even by removing several sleepers. The layout appeared in N Bahn Magazine in 2004. The same year the layout made its first public appearance.

The name PendingÓ comes from the fact, like in real life, no decision has been made on the future of the site, or because PendingÓ is often put into a box file3‹4

4. Salverton

2mm scale, N gauge

Ken Jones

This layout measures 50cm x 70cm and even has its own folding legs. Started in winter 2012 and being completed during 2013, with a tray that Ken's wife was going to throw out. Ken added a canal, before fixing a roadway around the outside of the tray. This carries the Tomytec moving road system allowing N gauge buses to operate a shuttle service. Above this extended base board is a small N gauge circular line offering brake van tours.

The tray itself has a small Nn3 layout and a transport museum. Work started in February 2013 to lay the Nn3 track - the museum's buildings come from a Cornerstone modular kit donated by a friend. Much of the construction of this layout uses second hand items to keep costs down. The water tower is a second hand Lyddle End item and rolling stock will come from Ken's other layouts. Only the Tomytec moving bus system was acquired new, direct from Japan.

5. Easter Park

3.5mm scale, HO gauge

Colin Woolley

This is my first attempt at an HO scale American model, built and exhibited for the first time at TVNAM in June 2013. Peco Code 100 track is used; Control is DCC (NCE). The layout is inspired by the Los Angeles Junction Railway. Easter Park is imagined to be somewhere in the Vernon area of Los Angeles. A warehouse and team track sees a variety of freight from box cars, tank cars, reefers and hoppers. Adjacent to this is a cement terminal which receives hoppers loaded with cement for distribution for ready mixed product by road. Easter Park is mainly served by LAJ, however, BNSF and Union Pacific can also be seen.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask me.

6. 'Binnslo' - Summer to Winter

4mm Scale, OO Gauge 3 Rail

Richard Boyce

A scenic Hornby Dublo 3-Rail layout with summer to winter display. The track plan is a simple oval with a passing loop in the station; this is made up with one manual and one electric point which are close to hand with two manual signals being next to the controller for easy operation. Children are invited to operate/drive the trains.

7. - Cancelled

8. Deesle Park

4mm, OO gauge

Les Plews

Deesle Park depicts a modern traction depot during the 1980s: the depot contains refuelling, maintenance and stabling facilities for locomotives, multiple units and some rolling stock. It is based no particular location but has reminiscences of many, situated within the conurbation of a north of England town adjacent to the East Coast Mainline. It was originally the site of a steam shed that was modernised, but remains of its previous life can still be seen. Please feel free to ask questions about the layout or model railways in general. We don?t bite!

9. Llantwy

OO9 Narrow Gauge

David Jeanes

Llantwy is a fictitious Welsh country town serviced by a canal and narrow gauge railway. The time period of the layout is set in the latter part of the 1930s. The buildings are all scratch built, as are all of the engines and eighty percent of the rolling stock, none of which are from specific plans, just a very fertile imagination!

10. Swan Bank

7mm Scale, O Gauge

Paul Walker

This layout has been built in less than a year and made its debut at the Warley Show 2012. My history is as an accomplished military and aircraft modeller and I have carried many skills from this over to the model railway scene. I started in N gauge but soon made the change to O gauge after seeing my dear friend, Kevin Cartwright?s, Stodmarsh layout. I discovered that this would be a better gauge to work in, and I also developed the skill of building etched brass locomotives.What you see today is a small O gauge layout, built primarily to go on to the Exhibition circuit (providing Show Managers like it enough to book it!) It can be set up at home and is easily transported in the family car. The layout is fictitious, depicting a small road, rail and canal interchange somewhere in the West Midlands, in the BR period. It utilises some of my recently built stock. The locos and rolling stock are mainly brass and plastic kits, many of which are from the Connoisseur Models range. The Proprietor of Connoisseur has helped me greatly with advice on kit assembly and choice of motors etc. The buildings are a mix of kits, Skytrex and modified and scratch built.I hope you approve of what is exhibiting here today, and please feel free to ask any questions you may have on any modelling topic as I like to have a chat between running trains.