'OO' gauge layout features
HOLLY BANK GROVE MPD
The gritty North East is the setting for IAN FORSYTH’S ‘OO’ gauge depot scene which started out as an ‘L’ shape design, but has since been converted to a straight layout. Ian reveals the full story behind Holly Bank Grove MPD. Photography, Trevor Jones.
MAKING TRACKS for Chester Cathedral
Creating a brand-new model railway is one thing, building a giant 64ft long model of the West Coast Main Line for a three month long event in Chester Cathedral is quite another. PETE WATERMAN OBE relished the challenge and in our comprehensive guide to this fantastic ‘OO’ gauge layout he reveals the full story behind the project.
Pete Waterman OBE
Great Wakering Garden Railway: The first 40 years
It's more than 40 years since Hornby Magazine’s photographer Trevor Jones made the first steps towards construction of his inspirational ‘OO’ gauge garden railway. Trevor brings the story of this ever-developing scale 23/4mile long model railway up to date. Photography, Trevor Jones.
HURST GREEN
Originally built as a through station, COLIN CHISEM decided to give his ‘OO’ gauge home layout a new lease of life by converting it into a rural branch line terminus. Read the full feature here with extra images!
Horsley
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. Look out for a full feature on his rebuild of Horsley (renamed Hurst Green) in the July 2021 issue of Hornby Magazine.
Westbury Cement
Faced with a third lockdown and desire to do something different, STEVE JONES built a box-file layout in ‘OO’ gauge with a distinctly industrial setting.
MAKING TRACKS
This summer, a threemonth exhibition will launch in Chester Cathedral and the centrepiece will be a mammoth 64ft long ‘OO’ gauge model of the West Coast Main Line built by Pete Waterman and his friends. MIKE WILD and RICHARD WATSON visited the build in its final phases of construction to find out more in words, pictures and video.
HALIFAX POWELL STREET
Competition between the pre-Grouping railways for access to Lancashire and Yorkshire’s towns and cities was fierce. PETER DURANT shows how he created this fictional station in Halifax which has a strong grounding in reality in ‘OO’ scale. Photography, Peter Durant.
Roundtree Sidings
Summer 1985 is the setting for this super detailed ‘EM’ gauge exhibition layout built by the DEMU North East Area Group members. TREVOR SMITH reveals the detailed story behind this popular layout which features main line and Tyne and Wear Metro operations in 4mm scale.
Somerset & Dorset Celebration
The famous Somerset & Dorset Railway is a modeller’s dream with double-headed passenger workings, locomotives and rolling stock from across the regions and stunning scenery. MIKE WILD celebrates the S&D 55 years after its closure in March 1966 by recreating the journey from Bath to Bournemouth West in model form. Photography, Trevor Jones, Chris Nevard and Mike Wild.
Whiteacres
Originally developed as a transition era layout, Stafford Railway Circle recast this Midlands-set ‘OO’ gauge model railway to the early years of privatisation, as IAN RAE describes. Photography, Trevor Jones.
Mansion House
The hustle and bustle of South London’s railways in the 1950s is recalled by STEPHEN GRANT in this superb home-based ‘OO’ layout set in the era of Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ and third-rail electric units. Photography, Trevor Jones.
Lee-on-the-Solent
This wonderful London and South Western Railway era ‘P4’ layout models a real railway on the South Coast which had a short career, as PHIL CHUDLEY explains. Photography, Trevor Jones.
A Nod To Brent
The area around Brent, South Devon inspired Robin Sweet to create this atmospheric ‘OO’ gauge layout set in the last years of the Great Western Railway. See this superb home-based model railway in full in pictures and video. Photography, Trevor Jones.
Penmouth & Curzon Street
Unable to decide on one location, MARK WILSON set out to create an ‘OO’ gauge layout covering London, Birmingham and the South West – to grand effect. Photography, Mike Wild.
Fence Houses
Drawing on the heavy industry of North Eastern England, IAN FORSYTH created this atmospheric colliery layout in ‘OO’ which showcases a long disappeared railway scene. Photography, Trevor Jones.
Ashdan Junction
The West Midlands in the 1970s is the setting for BARRY PLATT’S ‘OO’ gauge digital sound layout – which recaptures the times wonderfully. Read the full story here, originally published in HM121, and watch the video too. Photography, Mike Wild.
North Cornwall Brewery
The brewery trade is the setting for MALCOLM BRIGGS’ superbly modelled brand-new ‘OO’ gauge exhibition layout. Discover its secrets and how this well thought-out project came together. Photography, Mike Wild.
Coniston Lake
Taking a beautiful location and giving it a railway, MIKE POWELL set this Lake District scene in the 1960s, with steam firmly in charge. Photography, Mike Wild.
Parkstone Goods
After hearing about a long-forgotten industrial railway in Poole, COLIN LOCKYER set about recreating some of it in ‘OO’ – with a 1970s twist. Photography, Trevor Jones.
Newpool-on-Trent
This multi-station, multilevel layout is ‘locked up’ in the former Police Station adjoining GRAHAM TAYLOR’S home. Discover how this enticing and busy ‘OO’ gauge steam era layout was built. Photography, Mike Wild.
The Gresley Beat
The East Coast Main Line around King’s Cross is the scene for this famous ‘OO’ gauge layout, which will form part of the future AIMREC venture in Ashford. Its creator, CLIFF PARSONS, tells the story of how it was built and developed. Photography, Trevor Jones.
BINNS ROAD EAST
Rather than aiming for realism, PETER BRACKENBURY sought to recreate the train set he never had in his childhood by restoring authentic Hornby-Dublo three-rail products. Photography, Mike Wild.
Railmen of Kent
The Great Model Railway Challenge has taken railway modelling to television screens around the country on Channel 5. FRED GARNER from the 2019 winning team, Railmen of Kent, reveals the layouts they created and what it was like to be involved.