Layouts: 'OO' gauge

'OO' gauge layout features

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The Spirit of Shap in 'OO' gauge

GRAHAM NICHOLAS

This legendary West Coast Main Line outpost is the subject of GRAHAM NICHOLAS’ stunning ‘OO’ gauge layout. He explains how he recreated it – including its famous banking locomotives.

GRAHAM NICHOLAS
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Dalziel North

RODDY NEWBIGGING

The atmosphere around a Scottish freight terminal in the early 2000s inspired RODDY NEWBIGGING and friends to create this detailed pastiche of the early privatised railway in North Lanarkshire.Photography, Jonathan Newton

RODDY NEWBIGGING
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Redbridge Wharf

RICH SULZMANN

Winchester Railway Modellers took on the challenge to build Redbridge Wharf - a layout based on the expansive sleeper works at Redbridge, Southampton, nestled alongside a busy main line railway. RICH SULZMANN tells the story.

RICH SULZMANN
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Lockdown Sidings

SIMON MARSH

The Pandemic lockdowns prompted SIMON MARSH to build his first layout in many years - and it shows what can be achieved in a small space in ‘OO’ gauge. Photography, Trevor Jones

SIMON MARSH
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Gonerby - a freight depot in the diesel era

KEVIN CRANE

The atmosphere of a 1980s freight terminal and depot was what KEVIN CRANE wanted to recapture, done to brilliant effect in ‘OO’ gauge. Read the full feature and watch our exclusive layout tour video here.

KEVIN CRANE
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KINLOCHEWE

NICK SKELTON

Based on a projected but never built railway in the Highlands of Scotland, NICK SKELTON captures the atmosphere and essence of the 1980s in ‘OO’. Watch our trailer video below and sign in or sign-up to read the full feature and watch the entire exclusive video.

NICK SKELTON
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Halifax and the Calder Valley in the LMS era

PHILIP WADDINGTON

PHILIP WADDINGTON drew inspiration from West Yorkshire to recreate a pre-Grouping slice of nostalgia in ‘OO’ gauge, focused on the famous Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway.

PHILIP WADDINGTON
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Ranelagh Bridge - London Paddington's stabling point

MALCOLM BENTLEY

The once familiar sight of Western Region hydraulics at Ranelagh Bridge yard has been preserved in model form by MALCOLM BENTLEY'S stunning ‘OO’ gauge layout. We discover how and why it was built as well as its clever operational tricks.

MALCOLM BENTLEY
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Byway MPD - a steam era depot with sound

JOHN GAY

This compact ‘OO’ gauge depot layout is set on the Midland Region in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Builder JOHN GAY reveals how it was built and its high-tech operation in words, pictures and video.

JOHN GAY
St John's layout feature Feature Premium

St John’s - a GWR branch line terminus in 'OO'

PAUL WARDEN

PAUL WARDEN opted to 'Go Great Western’ with his first ever layout, recalling summer Saturdays in Glorious Devon in the 1930s and 1960s in ‘OO’ gauge - and you can see it at the 2023 Great Electric Train Show. Read the full feature and watch our exclusive layout tour video here.

PAUL WARDEN
Pete Waterman's Making Tracks 2023 Feature Premium

MAKING TRACKS 3: Milton Keynes Central - the finished layout

MIKE WILD

When you have built two stunning 64ft long layouts in two years and you want to build a third, how do you make it even better? The answer was to take on a challenge from Hornby Magazine, which PETE WATERMAN OBE and the Railnuts did when they set out to build Milton Keynes Central in ‘OO’ gauge. MIKE WILD explains all.

MIKE WILD
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Catherwood - a Southern Region branchline, Part 1

GLENN JONES

Inspired by his grandmother's tales of life in England and visits to the Swanage Railway, GLENN JONES recreated a slice of southern England in Australia. In the first instalment of a two-part feature, he explains the early construction, operation and train fleet. Photography, Jonathan Newton

GLENN JONES
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Twelve Trees Junction

MIKE WILD

Hornby Magazine’s popular Southern Region ‘OO’ gauge layout has been out of the limelight for some time, but it is far from forgotten. We look back at its first full feature from the Archive. Photography, Mike Wild.

MIKE WILD
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Hawkswood Junction - Nottinghamshire in the 1980s in 'OO'

STEVE BRAMMER

Nottinghamshire during the 1980s is the setting for railwayman STEVE BRAMMER’S ‘OO’ gauge home-based layout, capturing the scene of the times delightfully.

STEVE BRAMMER
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Bakewell - the Peak District in 'OO' gauge

ROB BROOKS

The Midland Railway's stunning route through the Peak District is the subject of ROB BROOKS’ ‘OO’ gauge layout, which keeps this much missed railway alive in model form.

ROB BROOKS
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Seend - a lost Wiltshire station in 'OO'

STEVE JONES

Modelling real locations is difficult but rewarding. STEVE JONES decided to rekindle a long closed station in Wiltshire in ‘OO’ and set in the 1960s.

STEVE JONES
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Croydon North Street - Network SouthEast on the Southern

PETER SHARPS

London’s bustling commuter network was rarely more colourful than in the days of Network SouthEast. PETER SHARPS set out to recreate a small slice of it in ‘OO’ on a layout just 18 inches wide.

PETER SHARPS
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Devon Junction - a Western Region through station in OO

LES PARRY

Glorious Devon has inspired generations of modellers and LES PARRY is no exception. However, he chose to emulate Exeter St David’s in the basement of his Spanish home.

LES PARRY
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Wickham Bishops

ALAN PUMFREY

A long-gone sleepy byway in Essex is the subject of ALAN PUMFREY’S ‘OO’ gauge exhibition layout. He recalls his inspiration and reveals how he recreated it in model form.

ALAN PUMFREY
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Parsons Vale - modelling OO gauge carriage sidings

DAVID JONES

As a self-confessed ‘dabbler’, DAVID JONES gave an old ‘OO’ gauge layout set around Bristol a new home and revitalised it to show the final years of the Class 50s in homage to these popular machines. Photography, Richard Watson

DAVID JONES
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Rumbling Bridge – a Scottish through station

NICK SKELTON

NICK SKELTON has long been fascinated by Scotland’s railway byways and chose one of the lesser known locations on the network as the subject of his fascinating ‘OO’ gauge model.

NICK SKELTON
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Misselthwaite - the Yorkshire Dales in OO gauge

LEWIS BUCKNELL

To make the most of an inaccessible space in his new home, LEWIS BUCKNELL built a ‘OO’ gauge layout set in the BR steam era in Yorkshire - to evocative effect. Read our full feature here with exclusive Key Model World only video.

LEWIS BUCKNELL
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Horsley - a Southern Railway branch line in OO gauge

COLIN CHISEM

Sometimes a new model can prompt a new wave of interest, and for COLIN CHISEM, Bachmann’s ‘N’ 2-6-0 saw him switch to the Southern Railway from his lifelong passion for all things Great Western.

COLIN CHISEM
Billingham in OO gauge. Feature Premium

Billingham – the 1950s in the North East

MIKE WILD

BILL STEPHENSON describes the Middlesbrough MRC’s ‘OO’ gauge exhibition layout depicting Billingham station and its approaches from 1955 to 1963. Photography, Mike Wild.

MIKE WILD
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Clarendon - LNWR steam in 4mm scale

JOHN GOWERS

'P4' is the most uncompromising of scales yet some fine compromises helped create this unique layout set back in 1908. In this feature JOHN GOWERS of Leamington and Warwick Model Railway Club explains all.

JOHN GOWERS
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Burntisland 1883 - Victorian steam in Scotland

EAST OF SCOTLAND 4MM GROUP

Modelling the Victorian railway is not for the faint-hearted, but EAST OF SCOTLAND 4MM GROUP has done just that with this stunning layout based in Fife just before the Forth Bridge opened.Photography, Mike Bisset

EAST OF SCOTLAND 4MM GROUP
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Astonbury Junction - a steam era junction layout in OO gauge

WILLIAM THOMAS

The sleepy railway byways of Buckinghamshire  are the subject of Three Counties Model Railway Society’s atmospheric ‘OO’ gauge layout. WILLIAM THOMAS explains how it was built and operates.Photography, Trevor Jones

WILLIAM THOMAS
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The Bluebell Railway: Horsted Keynes in 'OO' gauge

MIKE WILD

Based on the heritage railway station on the Bluebell Railway, MATT WICKHAM built this atmospheric ‘OO’ gauge layout in a garden shed. Photography, Trevor Jones.

MIKE WILD
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Wardwood - Yorkshire in the late 1960s in OO gauge

Ian Woodward

Rekindling happy childhood memories, IAN WOODWARD opted for a fictitious urban location in Yorkshire as the basis for his first ‘OO’ gauge layout.Photography: Jonathan Newton

Ian Woodward
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Building a Diesel Depot - introducing Natford TMD

MIKE WILD

There is always a plan for a new project layout at Hornby Magazine - and this issue marks the debut of our latest build to create a multi-era depot in ‘OO’ gauge. MIKE WILD introduces the project in the first of four features which join our new video series on KeyModelWorld.com – and an exclusive laser-cut building kit.

MIKE WILD