This week, as promised in last week’s post, I will share with you some photos and videos from the Southampton Model Railway Society’s Exhibition which was held at Barton Peveril College on the 24th and 25th of January 2015.

This was a fairly big show and had twenty four layouts, twelve demonstration stands and lots of traders, all spread out over several big halls.  The layouts were all British, except one, and covered all the major scales. As I was only at the show on Saturday I didn’t get a chance to see it all properly but I was very impressed with what I did see.  This exhibition is also a very popular one and draws big crowds which meant that it was very hard to photograph several of the layouts.  So if some layouts have more or better photos than others it is by no means a reflection on the layout.

Barton Hill

2mm/N Gauge layout built by Stan Potter from Swindon.

The layout is compact without losing the sense of a much larger railway; it reflects the EWS depot at Barton Hill as seen a few years ago.

The backdrop was also nicely painted giving sense of realism with a cloudy sky, typical for the UK.

Botleigh Old North Raod

4mm/00 Gauge layout built by Ian Corps of the Southampton Model Railway Society.

This is a fictitious engine shed on the Southern Region set in the 1960s.

Brighton East

4mm/EM Gauge layout built by David Smith from the South Hants Model Railway Club.

EM Gauge stands for Eighteen Millimeters.  Although the scale is 4mm to a foot (1:76), the same as traditional OO, the spacing of the rails has been increased to 18.2 mm (0.717 in).  This is an accurate representation rather than the OO track at 16.5 mm (0.65 in).  The reason for this dates back to the early 1930s when manufactures had trouble fitting electric motors in small steam engines in the popular, now called HO, 3.5 mm to a foot (1:87).  The manufactures increased the model scale to 4mm to a foot but left the track gauge at 16.5 mm (0.65 in) and OO was born.

The layout is set between 1998 and 2003 on a Southern Region rail terminus.

The hospital in the background is having some work done and the modeling of the scaffolding was a great detail.

Right at the front of the layout was a construction site scene which was also very nicely modeled.

Fairhaven

7mm/O Gauge layout built by Fareham & District Model Railway Club.

This layout is again set in the Southern Region and depicts a through station with a goods yard.

As well as very well modeled track work and scenery the attention to lighting nicely finishes the layout. The gentle glow coming from the signal box was very believable.

Hebble Vale Goods

4mm/EM Gauge layout built by Karl Crowther form Chitheroe.

This layout is also an EM layout so all the track had to be hand-built as well as all the rolling stock requiring wider wheel sets.  I think the extra work was well worth it as this layout was superbly finished.

All the stone work was wonderfully done, I could not see any repetition in the stone pattern suggesting that commercially available wall panels hadn’t been used, neither could I see any joints.  If there were any joints they were very well hidden.

Hollow Fosse

3mm / TT Gauge layout built by John Thomas from Cirencester.

This layout set in a fictions setting in the South-West Cotswolds represents a small rural branch line in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  I particularly liked the track layout, it was very different for an exhibition layout.

Everything on the layout was scratchbuilt, although it was hard to see, all the tiles on the roofs of the buildings were hand laid, one at a time.

 Leicester South GC

4mm / OO Gauge layout built by the Shipley Model Railway Society.

This was a big layout and was a big crowd pleaser with lots of trains running up and down the main line as will as in the big yard.

It is set between 1948 and 1963 and is modeled on an actual location a few hundred yards south of Leicester Central Station.

An interesting feature on the layout was the large goods warehous; not only was it a fantastic model but the tracks around it all worked.

Normally working tracks is not such a big thing but in this instance the builders had managed to model a working section where, in real life, box vans full of goods would have been moved by hand using pinch bars and the small turntables you can see in the photo below.

And to show you this working here is a video of a box van being moved from the back track to one of the front tracks.

As this was a big layout it needed a big yard, and as with all the trackwork in the front, all the trackwork in the yard was handlaid.

Here is a video of a passenger train leaving and a freight train entering the yard.

Another clever section of this layout was the engine shed link.  As well as the main lines and yard there was another through track that in real life connects the engine facilities with the Lester Central Station where express engines were often changed, so on this layout locomotives running light would often trundle through.

Here is one more video of nice long trains running on this layout.

 

Littlebridge

7mm / O Gauge layout built by Norman Cronan from the Southampton Model Railway Society.

This fictional layout is set in the West Country and depicts a branch line in the 1950s to 1960s.

Lowe Quay

4mm / OO Gauge layout built by the Southampton Model Railway Society.

This layout represents a goods yard somewhere in the West of London in the 1950s and early 1960s.

 

 

The high line at the rear of the layout carried the local electric suburban trains that you can just see disappearing in the photo below.

Maindee East Shed

4mm / P4 Gauge layout built by Steffan Lewis from Barry, Glamorgan.

This layout was my favorite of the show, it was simply wonderful.

It is set in 1961 at Maindee East service area in Newport, South Wales.

The level of detail on the whole layout was amazing and it was finished off with a fantastic painted backdrop showing a really overcast cloudy day.

The layout also had its own lighting which helped create the gloomy effects.

Having worked on real steam engines I can confirm the level of dirt that comes with them and this layout has captured that perfectly.

And as it is set in 1961, when steam was approaching its zenith, the engines would have been worked hard and not cleaned as preserved locomotives are today.

This layout is P4 Gauge.  It stands for Protofour and has a track gauge of 18.83 mm (0.741 in).  Like EM Gauge, it is at a scale of 4mm to the foot (1:76).  P4 is currently the most accurate fine scale for 4mm to the foot (1:76).

The layout also featured an integral smoke system which releases smoke all over the layout depending on where locomotive are at the time; sadly I was so mesmerised with the effect I forgot to take any pictures.

The painted backdrop also gave a great sence of depth to the scene.

Even the brambles and weeds encroaching on the edges of the site are fantasticly modeled.

The coal shoot at the back of the layout certainly looks like it has seen better days  but the lights in the lower room really help bring it to life.

Masham

3mm Finescale/14.2mm Gauge layout built by Peter White from Salisbury.

This layout, similar to the EM layouts, is based on the TT Scale but with a correctly spaced track gauge of 14.2mm.  With a scale like this everything has to be handmade.

The layout is set in Masham which lies in the lower reaches of Wensleydale in North Yorkshire.  The scene is set in 1922.

Modbury Torr

3mm/TT Gauge layout built by Paul Hopkins.

This layout represents the proposed terminal of the Great Western Railway as it would have been at the end of the Yealmpton branch in South Devon.

Priors End

4mm/OO Gauge layout built by John Smerdon from Tadley.

This layout is a fictional terminal on the Southern Region set in the 1970s.

Tal-Coed

4mm/OO9 Gauge layout built by Chris Ford from Lewes.

The layout was built in a hurry to fill an exhibition space but was very nicely done.  It is set in North Wales and influenced by the Tal-y-llyn and Ffestiniog railways.

Valencia

4mm/21mm Gauge layout built by Andy Cundick from Pewsey.

This layout was is set in County Kerry, Ireland.  It depicts the end terminus of the line from Farranfore on the Mallow to Tralee. It was said to be the westernmost railhead in Europe.  Although the scale is 4mm, the track gauge is 21mm because Ireland run on a broader gauge railway; theirs is 5′ 3″ instead of 4′ 8″1/2.

Wadebridge

4mm/N Gauge layout built by Salisbury & South Wilts Railway Society.

This layout is set in North Cornwall between 1955 and 1959.

Wherewithial Quay

4mm/009 Scale layout built by John Bruce from Ludgershall.

This layout had to be the smallest here. It measures 21″ by 18″. But it didn’t lack in anything for its size.  The scene is set in Southern Cornwall and was built as a shunting (switching) puzzle.  The operator has a set of cards which are shuffled, one is picked and the operator has to arrange the wagons in the correct order shown on the card.  Then another card is picked and the wagons are re-sorted.   It sounds easy but when space is limited it can be a bit tricky.

Yes Tor Junction

7mm Finescale/32mm Gauge layout built by Graham Hatton from Eastleigh.

This huge layout is O scale but again with the correctly spaced track gauge of 32mm.  Once again this means all the track had to be handmade and the rolling stock had to have wider wheel sets fitted.

The actual station is fictious but the viaduct is modeled on a real one although at two-thirds the size, the viaduct is now a cycle way.

Here is a short video of a medical train rushing on with supplies after a quick stop at the station.

This lovely layout was very popular but I did manage to get a videos with something crossing that huge viaduct.

And lastly I want to give thanks to my friends at Model Railway Solutions (the baseboard people) for letting me use their stand throughout the day.  Here is a short video of part of their display stand showing one of their helixes for N scale.  This video has not been speeded up either, that poor little class 33 diesel was zooming up and down all weekend!

In next week’s post I will be getting back to the drawing board, well mouse and keyboard, and showing you the designs for my next big N Scale locomotive which will be coming out in a few months.

As promised in last week’s post this week I am going to share with you some photos from this year’s Poole & District Model Railway Society’s 2014 Exhibition.

The exhibition was held in Poole Grammar School on Sunday 9th of November and for this one day show there is always a good turnout.  This year there were thirteen layouts on show and a good number of trade stalls covering everything from base board construction to ready-to-run trains.

To start with we have an N Scale layout set in 1912 Altenholz, Bavaria.

The layout was very nicely finished in a surrounding display case with built-in lighting giving a realistic look to the scenery, particularly because of the great shadows.

This German railway is based on the Royal Bavarian State Railways or KBayStsB.

All the track work and most of the rolling stock are made by Fleischmann.

The little loco pictured above is a 0-4-4-0 mallet locomotive and ran like a sewing machine.  Given the limited number of wheels for electrical pickup and traction this locomotive was smooth and pulled very well.

The most curious little locomotive was an 0-4-0, as pictured below.

Here is a short video of a freight train running over the viaduct.

 

The next layout is Camlas; this was built by the same person who also built Holm which you can see here.

This is 00 Gauge Great Western Railway based in Carmarthenshire near the Welsh/English border.  Camlas is Welsh for canal, and yes the layout has a canal.

The canal runs past the warehouse buildings at the front right of the layout.

Next we go up a scale to the O Scale layout Danbee.

This beautiful layout is also a GWR branch line railway

The track work on this layout is made by Peco.

This layout had one of my favorite GWR trains, the classic railcar or ‘flying banana’ as it was often affectionately called.

Here is a short video of the railcar leaving Danbee station

Next we are at Mallingford.  This is an N Scale layout based on the station used in the 1953 movie, ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’.

There are several references to the movie including Sid James on his steam roller!

The quality of detail on this layout is fantastic, my photos don’t do it justice. Every part has been customized and weathered to look just it would have done back then.

Stepping up a size we now go Teignford which is a TT (1:120) or 3mm Scale layout.

3mm Scale is roughly half way between OO (HO) and N Scale and dispite being an avid N Scaler I think it is the perfect size.  Not too small and too big.  However, as it is not one of the more popular scales the majority of rolling stock, building and track needs to be scratch built.  3D printing is an ideal tool for this scale and there were some 3D printed locomotives on the layout.

The use of the low relief building to help blend in the backdrop was very effective.

The track work used on this layout is Peco’s HOm gauge.  Designed for narrow gauge trains in HO Scale it is ideal for TT.

Stepping up in scale again we are at Ruggin Manor Peatworks.

This self contained layout is packed with detail and was fun to watch.

The track scale is GN15 which is an unusual gauge.  GN15 is G Scale (1:20.3 to 1:24) running on OO/HO Scale track.

There was so much to see on this layout; the little details are subtle which makes them even more believable.  There is a tiny blue bird on top of the milk bottle, nervously eyeing the cat on the step.  The cat jumping onto the wall at the back has spotted a rabbit in the hedge.

The characters are fantastic, the driver of this train looks like he has stopped for the photo, the foreman on the top step is not so impressed!

The detail goes through to the back of each building, completing the realism.

Another cat dozes on the chair just inside the door.

Now we go back to N Scale to visit Bodmore Vale.

Bodmore Vale is a mix of rural and industrial scenes with four running tracks, so there is always something moving.

I particularly liked the two traction engines on the big truck, it blends the vintage with the modern era.

Everywhere you looked there something going on.

At the front of the layout between the two pairs of main lines is a canal scene with barges.

Stepping back up to O Scale we next come to Ellen Green.

Ellen Green is a beautifully modeled branch line small station halt and industrial scene set on the Southern Railway.

Although this is the Southern Region a coal wagon from Parkend Deep Navigation Collieries has made it down here. This is one of my favorite UK wagon liveries as I grew up just a few miles from Parkend in the Forest of Dean, and I also worked for many years on the Dean Forest Railway which runs tourist trains to Parkend.

The last four layouts at the show, all fantastic layouts, have recently been covered in other posts so rather than repeat myself you can find out more about them in the relevant posts using the links below.

Sawpit Creek built by Neil Lancaster.

Sumach Grove  built by John Levesley.

Gorpeton Blymee By Wimborne Railway Society.

Corris by Rod Allcock.

Corris won the People’s Favorite Layout award at this year’s show.

One other group that was at the show was the Slim Gauge Society and although they did not have a layout they did bring some of their fantastic locomotives.

And that was the Poole & District Model Railway Society’s 2014 Exhibition.

Next week I will be getting back to my new 3D printed projects which are coming out soon; I currently have a big order coming from Shapeways, not just in volume but containing the largest print I have done to date, which I look forward to sharing with you.

This week is the final part of my overview of the layouts at this year’s National Model Railroad Association (British Region) annual convention which was held in Bournemouth. You can find the previous two parts here and here.

I have four layouts to share with you and to start off we are going to Stevens Point, a HO switching layout built by Chris Prior.

‘Stevens Point is a mid-sized town in Central Wisconsin approximately 250 miles north of Chi-cago in the Mid-West of the United State. In railroad terms the town is better known for be-ing on the former Wisconsin Central (WC) main line and acted as its’ operational base. How-ever, the other railroad in town was the Green Bay and Western (GBW) at least it was taken over by the WC in 1993.

The inspiration for this layout was a picture of an Alco C-424, 312, switching the paper mill in 1987, shortly after the WC (my other road) started operation. I didn’t know that this section of railroad had existed, despite living in Stevens Point for a year, as the area in the picture was abandoned and paved/ grassed over when the paper mill was expanded in the late 1980’s.

Industry in the Stevens Point Downtown area and rail- served by the GBW included the Con-solidated paper mill which has its’ own hydro electric power plant using water from the Wis-consin River, Vetters, a window and door manufacturer, the Pagel Mill, a seed and feed dis-tributor, Bake Rite, a bakery (who’d have guessed) and most importantly the Point Brewery! With variety the industry on the layout most US car kinds can be seen being spotted for load-ing/unloading. The rolling stock comes from all the major US manufacturers, although I have a particular liking for Exactrail!’ (X2014 News, NMRA (BR) Convention Guide, 2014).

The season for the layout is early Fall and the trees are starting to turn, some have already started to drop their leaves creating a lovely scene for the trains to rumble through.

Here is Chris’ C-415 recreating his scene from 1987.

Although compact, the layout gives a nice sence of space and offers plenty of switching between all the industries.

Next we switch to N Scale for the largest layout at the convention; Black Diamonds’ huge modular layout.

I don’t have an overall shot of the layout, it was too big, but in the photo below you can see part of it in the background with the blue State Of Oregon banner on the side.  In the foreground is the British Region HO Modular Setup and the Bearwood Group HO Modular Layout.

‘The Black Diamonds modular setup comprises a number of modules. Starting from the East end we have “Salute Yard”, this is our six track holding area which has had extensive work done to it and now looks very different to the bare boards shown before and is in the position it was designed for as entry to the “Station” the second major module make its début as part of the layout. This is based on Ogden, UT.

 The next is Warehouse Junction with the junction track giving access while the main heads into another new module “Oregon City”. This module is based upon the depression area and the trestle bridge that runs through it. The model has a 2m long trestle running through the industrial sector. At each end of this section are the new boards that connect our two track standard to the FreemoN standard. These adaptor boards will enable us to connect with the many FreemoN boards across the UK. Following Oregon City we have “Q Tower” and the “Creek” leading into our third end loop.’ (X2014 News, NMRA (BR) Convention Guide, 2014).

I have seen this layout in several configurations before, each time with new sections.  Below is the updated “Salute Yard” and the work that has been done makes it look very good, although it is fundamentally the entrance to the staging area and reversing loop, having ballasted track, yard and engine facilities and a station make it into a scene in its own right.

The road bridge is positioned perfectly to hide the actual staging area.

This then leads into the huge new station area which is based on Ogden, UT.

Here is a Penssy 4-6-2 passing through with a local passenger train.

Here is the 2m trestle running over the Oregon City area.

This was a good spot to get some video.  Here we can see the SP tugging one of Black Diamonds’ lovely long trains over the trestle.

Coming the other way, the BN works a long mixed freight; it came to a stop because it was waiting for a clear line at Warehouse Junction.

Warehouse Junction runs in front of and between the two warehouses in the picture below.

This long train of tanks powered by the UP also made several appearances.

Here we catch up with the SP again as it passes in front of Warehouse Junction.

The Black Dimonds’ layout is great for showing big vistas.

 

There’s always a lot of Pennsy action on the Black Dimond layout.  Here is a huge 2-10-4 J1 pulling a long passenger train. 

Here we see the J1 running from Warehouse Junction to Ogdon Station.  Coming the other way is a mighty B&O EM1 on a long coal drag.  Chasing up the J1 is an Amtrak Passenger.

One of the interlopers I spotted on the Balck Diamonds’ layout was Dirk Jan Blikkendaal’s 4-6-2 made by Pecos River Brass. It is a model of ATSF 3420 and here is what Dirk has to say about it.

‘It is a nice model but was a poor runner and Hans Starmans (Nstars) designed and made a new tender-drive with a lot of lead as a bonus. This left the boiler and firebox empty…… 

Then I put a Tsunami 750 Micro Medium Steam decoder in the firebox. In the boiler I put a Soundtraxx Currentkeeper, just in front of the decoder (I had to widen the slot in the bottom of the boiler a little bit with a Dremel but all wires and electrical devices are invisible).

The headlight is an LED. On the main driver axle I put a camdisc against the remaining large gear to synchronise the exhaust.

Sound comes from a Zimo sugarcube speaker 8 x 8 x 12 mm which I put in the tender just on the cab side.  There are 6 wires (2 pickup, 2 motor, 2 speaker )running from cab to tender, all black and very small, therefore hardly visible…… They came from (www.ledbaron.de).

 Next to the Currentkeeper I put some lead strip in the boiler, to give some extra weight on the front driver for better tracking.

It runs well and pulls over 70 cars on my layout and it pulled 54 hoppers on the Black Diamond layout with ease.’

Here we can see Dirk’s ATSF 3420 pulling out of Salute Yard with a Pennsy freight. (Well I did say it was an interloper!)

And just to show you how strong this loco is, here it is coming back pulling two trains combined.

Another interloper I spotted also belonged to Dirk.  It was his ATSF doodlebug number M-183.

Dirk says ‘I bought 2 Bachmann cars, splicing and lengthening them to the correct car length.  In the process I used both drive trains, in real life these motor cars would pull freight cars and a caboose every now and then on their trips.

I also modified the rooftop mufflers and cooling coils to look like ATSF and I replaced the motor with a better one….

Then I added a Digitrax SDXN136PS 16 bit decoder with a new uploaded soundscheme M190 by John McMasters (this can be found in Yahoo group DIGITRAXSOUND).’

Here it is running on the Black Diamonds’ Layout.

Next we are back with HO and Fulton Terminal, Brooklyn, NY built by Andrew Browne.

‘Fulton Terminal was situated on the East River operated by the New York Dock Railway and was one of a large number of similar rail terminals, around the Upper New York Bay and Hud-son River area, connected together by the river. In 1954 railroad companies employed almost 2000 vessels in this trade tugs, barges, car floats (a barge fitted with rails) and various special craft, all bar one closed following the takeover of containerisation, Fulton Terminal closing in 1982.

The model is closely based on the original and is full size, it is not intended to be an exact replica, I have altered various details, and Pier 12 was not directly rail served. The line con-tinued south to serve Piers 17 & 18, and north to team tracks (public sidings) together with the Jehovah’s Witnesses “Watchtower” printing works.

It is Sunday morning, the docks are idle as dockers have the day off, ships crews have a day in port, ship owners fret, maintenance crews are at work, the lines north and south are closed for track repairs, even the Brooklyn Queens Expressway is quiet. Hard at work are the Fulton Terminal switching (shunting) crews and tug crews, a chance to earn overtime and to catch up on repositioning freight cars and car floats ready for a busy Monday.’ (X2014 News, NMRA (BR) Convention Guide, 2014).

As all the barges are movable this makes the switching operations very interesting and I think gives a really unique twist on a switching layout.

One of Andrew’s passions is model ship building and that really shows in his beautiful vessels.  He said he built a lot of the boats and ships before he built the layout.

At the head of the layout, where the line would connnect to the rest of the network, is a city freeway which makes a great vew block, a biker and a Greyhound bus are heading off on a road trip

  The BEDT has a small engine house near the throat of the yard.

An old barge ramp sits in the yard awaiting repair or the scrap man’s torch.

None of the tracks on the barges need to be powered as no motive power is allowed on them, the heavy locomotives would cause the barges to sink much too low into the water.  Instead a switcher’s truck is used between the locomotive and the stock on the barge as shown below.

The ships are also all movable and on the Sunday morning the large ship had moved to the other side of the dock.  This is a really nice touch as it makes the layout different every time.

The BEDT have several switches that were working the harbour.

A piling rig waits in the dock for its next job.

The tug boats position the barges near to the loading ramps, then the dock crew attached ropes that pull the barges into the dock. You can see Andrew’s models of the rope winches and a docker in the photo below, there is a winch for each side of the barge.

Each side of the layout is framed with the warehouses which are built on the docks, some of the doors are open so when you peer through the holes on the layout facia, you are looking out of the warehouse doors.

This layout was great to watch and gave an interesting new element to the fun of switching trains.

The final layout at this year’s convention is an Hon3 Layout, Sawpit Creek built by Neil Lancaster.

This layout is simply stunning, the attention to detail is wonderful, there was not an area that did not have the same level of work and skill given to it to make the overall realism come true. Here is what Neil has to say.

‘This is my first venture into Hon3. Until recently, modellers had to scratch build most of their needs but the introduction of ready to run locomotives and rolling stock, together with available turnouts and track, has made the scale increasingly popular.

My layout, Saw Pit Creek started life as an 8ft x 6ft test track for the superb locomotives and stock which had recently become available from Blackstone Models. It was soon extended along the left hand frontage to add operational variety and more space for my scratch built buildings and scenery which is of particular interest to me.

I have recently added a further 4ft module along the right hand frontage which is being exhibited for the first time at this Convention.

The layout depicts my interpretation of the Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge in the late fifties. It is based on nowhere in particular. Saw Pit Creek is ‘my place’ USA. It’s certainly not for the narrow gauge purists!

As mentioned, all locomotives and stock are manufactured by Blackstone (a division of Soundtrax). Not surprisingly therefore all locomotives are equipped with sound. DCC operation is via a Digitrax radio control system. Track work is by Micro engineering and Peco.’

Neil’s passion, apart from attention to detail, is structures and it really shows in this layout. All the buildings look like they have been there for ages and the railroad has grown up around them.

The boiler works are busy with their current workload and the detail goes all the way to the back where you can see a small steam boiler freshly painted.

The crew from the local farm supplies shop are servicing a tractor.

At the junk yard they have just about everything, even a bath tub!

Even the sides of the layout have been used to add detail to the scene.

Every building had detail all through, this fabricator’s shop has a welder working at the back.

This machine shop has all the workings and machinery visible, along with all the tools and even a cat sat on the barrel, useful for keeping the rats away.

If you look at the back wall of the workshop you can see the fire buckets hanging on the wall.

The building to the right of the engine house spans the joint in the base boards, but as Neil wanted to position the building there, it splits apart when the layout is dissembled. It’s not square to the cut either which was impressive.

As Neil said the locomotives are made by Blackstone and are beautiful to watch. Here is a 2-8-0 in D&RG Bumbel Bee yellow.

And a train of matching coaches.

Here it is running through the layout.

The freight locomotive are not so clean, they have been fantastically weathered by Steve Knight of Model Railway Solutions in Poole.

Here is a video of a freight working its way through the layout.

This layout kept me occupied for a long time as there was so much to see and I reckon I didn’t see it all.

And that is it for the layouts at this year’s NMRA (BR) convention, a big thanks to everybody who brought layouts and came to see the show. Next year the convention is at Derby and I will be there along with my club, the Gosport American Model Railroad Group and our N Scale club layout, Solent Summit.

Next week I will be getting back to posting about some of my new products I have been drawing and developing over the last month.

In this week’s post I am continuing my overview of the layouts at this year’s NMRA (BR) convention which was held in Bournemouth last weekend.  You can find the first part here.

The first layout for this week is Drew, Iowa.  This is a HO club layout built by the South Shore Group.

“Rural railroading in deepest Rural Iowa, it’s continued existence is due to the grain and feed elevators at one end of town. Drew, Iowa represents a small town on one of several branch lines running aimlessly through Granger Country waiting for the axe to finally fall. In the meantime it struggles to run short trains up the overgrown dilapidated track. Currently running in a Milwaukee Road guise; buildings are either heavily weathered kits or scratch built to suit. The track was laid like that on purpose. (Honest – track that bad takes a lot of care to lay to be effective – more time than well laid track!) (X2014 News, NMRA (BR) Convention Guide, 2014).

The track work really is superb on this layout, not only because it looked so dilapidated but because it ran so well.

I should also mention Andrew Dunn, who built the beautiful Stout Oak, Iowa (which I featured last week) is also a member of the South Shore Group and at the age of 17 built this layout as well,  the group has since added to Andrews master piece giving us the fantastic layout we have today. You can read more about the group and their layouts here.

The next layout is Sumach Grove, an On30 layout built by John Levesley.

“Sumach Grove is my first go at O scale 1:48th railway modelling. Its a fictional narrow gauge railroad with a 30” Gauge located in the NW N Carolina, E Tennessee, Virginia area of the USA in the 1930s, based on a place I’ve never been at a time before I was born. The two volumes of “Slow Trains down South…. Daily ‘Cept Sunday” by Mallory Hope Ferrell, Thomas Fetters two books on “Logging Railroads of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains” and “Extra South” by H Reid have been the main inspiration for the line. It is (or when fin-ished will be) a railroad of the deep South.

The location is Sumach Grove on the Sandford and Sumach Grove RR. S&SGRR trains are usu-ally local way freights and the occasional passenger railcar. Additional rail traffic can be either mineral workings of manganese or felspar from North Bend Mining, or timber traffic. Mimick-ing a real life practice in the region, narrow gauge mineral and timber cars are loaded piggy-back onto standard gauge flat cars for transfer to mineral processing plants and sawmills down the valley. Buildings and structures will be in a transitional phase. Some I’ve bought second hand to use until stored craftsman kits are completed, some are mine, some are even scratch built.

The six modules can also be operated as a switching layout which is how (at the time of writing) I anticipate it will be operating at the Convention. Control is by a Gaugemaster and MRC DCC system, turnout switches are thrown using Blue Point switches to operate push rods. Operation is directed by a switch list.”(X2014 News, NMRA (BR) Convention Guide, 2014).

And what 1930s narrow-gauge railroad is complete without a Shay locomotive?!

You can read more about John Levesley’s Sumach Grove here as well as finding some more, and better, photographs, including photos of the layout from its start.

The Bearwood Group’s HO Modular Layout is the last layout for this week.

This modular layout consisted of a nicely modeled city scene and large mill in an industrial area.  The majority of the running on this layout took place while I was giving my clinic on 3D printing so I missed most of the action but I was able to get a few trains.

This crane is fully DCC controlled with moving jib and rigging.

I was also able to catch a Warbash streamliner as it streaked though the city.

This layout also had an interloper; my 3D printed Re-Built UP excursion train tender behind a huge Gas Turbine.

Here is a comparison between the correct tender and mine.  Mine was sprayed with Flowquil’s UP Armor Yellow paint but I think it’s a bit too yellow although I’m very pleased with the overall tender.  Even the brake wheel printed crisply.

The tender coupled up perfectly and ran smoothly as you can see in this video.

In next week’s post I will show you the last four layouts from this year’s NMRA (BR) convention.  This will include the largest layout as well as a truly spectacular Hon3 layout and two fantastic HO switching layouts.

This weekend I was at the National Model Railroad Association (British Rigion)’s Annual Convention in Bournemouth.   In this post, the first of three, I am going to share with you some photos and videos of the layouts at the Convention.

The event was held at the Carrington House Hotel who provided a nice large room for all the layouts and trade stalls.  This photo, taken from the stairs, shows one end of the hall.

The first layout I am going to share with you is Horsethief Bridge by Ant Quinlan.

“BNSF Horsethief Bridge marks my return to railway modelling after some 28 years and is based on the ex Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S)line which runs along the north side of the Columbia River Gorge in Washington state, just along from Horsethief National Park. The period modelled is generally from 2006 onwards when BNSF introduced their “swoosh” logo. I try to run a broad selection of trains that are found along the Gorge includ-ing domestic and international inter-modals, trailer trains, the Swift roadrailer, autoracks, Amtrak’s Empire Builder, grain trains, coal trains from the Powder River Basin and my personal favourites – manifests.” (X2014 News, NMRA (BR) Convention Guide, 2014).

All of Ant’s locomotives and rolling stock were very nicely weathered.

The layout captured the warmth of the Washington sun, not so easily captured in photos.

The single track bridge was a nice focal point on the layout.

As the trains emerge from the tunnel mouth they cross the Columbia River on the bridge before entering the double track section.

Halfway along the double track section is a maintenance-of-way spur.

A local BNSF MOW train awaits orders in the MOW spur.

Here is a video of a BNSF container double stack train running through the layout.

There was also an interloper on the layout, a Monon Railroad Alco C-628 working as a pusher on the rear of a coal train.

This was not one of Ant’s beautifully weathered locomotives, it is one of my new products undergoing a few tests. Ant very kindly offered to test it around the layout.  Here is a video of it running over the bridge.

The Alco C-628 is actually a dummy locomotive, the chassis and drive mechanism has been used as a donor for a DT6-6-2000.  This spare shell has been mounted onto a 3D printed chassis and trucks.  Here it is again working as a mid train helper.

The kit for the dummy C-628 will be available soon and it will be covered in a later post but for now here is one more shot of it on Horsethief Bridge.

To finish off BNSF’s Horsethief Bridge here is the Amtrak Empire Builder running through the layout.

 

The next layout is Stout Oak, Iowa by Andrew Dunn

“A fictional narrow gauge short-line running somewhere in rural Iowa. Outliving the Bellevue and Cascade Railroad, however widely unreported, due to its small size and sketchy rail service.
It owns an eclectic mix of rolling stock from small ex-industrial diesels to steam locomotives built for export but never sent due to the outbreak of war; moving general merchandise; grain and coal with the occasional passenger (catered for by a motley collection of rail-cars) this run-down Granger Road ekes out its existence making do and fixing what’s broke. The layout buildings have all been scratch-built and rolling -stock heavily modified or scratch-built to suit.” (X2014 News, NMRA (BR) Convention Guide, 2014).

This layout had some truly wonderful scenery, this view with the pickup truck was full of detail.

Andrew said that he researched the vegetation for the areas which would be growing that time of year to help bring realism to the scene, the taller plants you can see around the layout are corns.

Andrew certainly achieved his goal of creating the look of a ‘run-down Granger Road‘.  The track work and track overgrowth was spectacular.

The last layout for this post is the British Region HO Modular Group’s modules.  The modules were presented by Harry Brown, Tom Winlow and Peter Lloyd-Jones.

The modules worked well together forming a large switching layout centered around a straight through main line.

All the rolling stock on the layout was very nicely weathered making the scenes look very realistic.

The locomotives were also nicely weathered, this Geep looked like it had been worked hard but was still running strong.

Each module had a nice array of buildings for a variety of industries, all very well modeled.

The two main switching areas were separated by a river spanned by this bridge.

The main line down the center looked well maintained whereas the spurs and yard tracks had a very nicely done, less cared-for look.

I think the Pontiac muscle car will blast past that truck once he clears the crest of the bridge.

This layout also had an interloper, Bob Phelps from Peco was running his Brass UP 844, as seen below, and this was the perfect engine for another new product of mine.

My new 3D printed UP excursion train water tender in HO.

This locomotive in HO was very impressive and the 3D printed tender looked fantastic running behind it.

This tender is the one I test printed in the FD material, you can read about it here and they are available in my shop here.

And to finish off here is a video of UP844 running with its two tenders.

In next week’s post I will cover four more of the wonderful layouts at the NMRA (BR) Convention 2014, as to which ones, you will have to wait and see.