• Ian Mellors is bringing Fourgig East O gauge
• David Fudger will again bring his extensive Dublo collection
• Keith’s St Peter’s Way in OO will be upstairs as usual
• George will be bringing his layout for the kids to enjoy
• Ian Wigglesworth is bringing his kid friendly layout Greylees Town
• Malcolm Hughes, Bygone Model Railways – a display of heritage railways
• Our Main layout this year will be Five Mile House in OO from the Lincoln Club
• Andy Bailey will be bringing his lovely 009 Layout Avyn-A-Lyin. he will also be looking after a young modeller Ted Newey who is bringing his T gauge layout Sunnycombe
• Les Richardson’s Bregstadt – a TT-120 Gauge slice of the Germany
• Chris Tooth with supporting members of the RMweb forum will be bringing Keyhaven and The Crooked House – All at the Mansfield Show are honoured to be welcoming these tributes to Andy York who passed on last year.
• Matt Jarvis, Arthur Street Tramway – 45mm trackwork with a mix of G scale and Gauge 1 stock plus Garden Railway & 3d Printing demo

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What was less well known was that Andy had a real soft spot for the railways and canals around the Black Country.

There was an idea burning away in the back of his mind and this was to build a layout based upon the Earl of Dudley’s private railway network. An industrial theme, a freight only line using small locos and in a prototype from the Black Country.

It was not uncommon whilst travelling with Andy or standing chatting for him to talk about the Earl of Dudley’s railways and his ideas for a layout. He was however seemingly always too occupied with RMweb and BRM to make a start on this project. 

That changed in 2021 when renowned modeller, Geoff Taylor, decided to make some significant changes to his Dolgelley layout and Andy acquired a 12′ x 4′ L shaped section. It had some industry, and a river that could be converted to a canal, and Andy intended to use this to jump-start his Earl of Dudley project. It was erected in his shed and some fiddle yard boards made.

It was to have featured a Black Country landmark, the Crooked House pub, and was to have been named “Crooked House”.

The Crooked House pub (before it mysteriously burned down)

His wife has mentioned that he saw it as a long term retirement project. Sadly, he passed before being able to see his dreams come true. This layout has now been created by the Staffordshire Finescale Group with inputs from many many other RMweb members in memory of, and as a tribute to, Andy.

The post The Crooked House – OO – Chris Tooth & Staffordshire Finescale Group appeared first on Mansfield Model Railway Exhibition.

Many remember the layout from those early days of the forum and at exhibitions, it also appeared in BRM in 2012. 

Following Andy’s untimely passing last year and in conversations with his wife it was suggested that the layout had been scrapped.  Finding a box of structures, but no sign of the layout, in Andy’s shed seemed to confirm this. The box of structures was taken away with a view to doing some repairs and putting them on display.

A week or so later though, it was quite a surprise to find that an RMweb member had the layout and was willing to hand it over to someone who might be able to restore it. Having been told it was scrapped, it was uncertian how much of the layout would be left, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that the layout still existed and (although looking a bit tired) appeared to be largely complete once combined with the structures that Andy had retained. 

A plan was put in place by the Staffordshire Finescale Group to restore Keyhaven to its former glory making it exhibitable again in Andy’s memory. 

The post Keyhaven – OO – Chris Tooth & Staffordshire Finescale Group appeared first on Mansfield Model Railway Exhibition.

here’s what Ian said way back in 2009 which explains why he always brings something for the kids:

Just got back from the WHOLE day at the show, we were reasonably pleased with the layouts present although, many of them seemed a long way off what I remember exhibition standards used to be, but it is around 7-8 years since I last attended a Model show, I enjoyed the trade presence and found lots of little goodies but no major purchases.

One last thing, my 11 year old son has just summed his day up with ” Really enjoyed it Dad, but not sure I will go again, totally “fed up” (not the words he really used ) of being pushed out of the way by Ignorant Smelly Old Men”.

Now that got me thinking and It really did hit home how inconsiderate some people can be.

So I thought about making a layout just for the kids, as most exhibitions I’ve been to if they don’t supply a box for them to stand on they can’t even see the layout!

He’s been doing it ever since, so bring the kids, let them have a play, Ian is situated in the main room, so you can sit down with a cuppa and a slice of cake while they help Ian run trains

The post Crate Castle – N – Ian Wigglesworth appeared first on Mansfield Model Railway Exhibition.

The layout is 009 narrow gauge in an L shape with the public looking in the inside of the L. from the left is a hill with a ruined castle which is now part of a golf course. The hill slopes down to the village centre and several of the houses have thatched roofs. from the village and onto the other leg of the L is the 4 track pier approx 15″ long overlooking the beach scene which has approx 200 figures on. This part causes many comments by the public asking how we did the beach, often touching the sea to check if it is real water. Many exhibition managers have also commented on the beach scene as well. There are 2 separate rail circuits that are not connected. The idea is that whilst there could be shunting on the lower circuit, there is always a train running on the upper circuit, so something is happening all the time

The post Avyn-A-Llyin – 009 – Andy Bailey appeared first on Mansfield Model Railway Exhibition.

Bregstadt is a fictional small town situated in a Black Forest valley somewhere East of Furtwangen and west of Vohrenbach. Up until 1976 there was a private railway, the Bregtalbahn, from Donaueschingen to Furtwangen. For the benefit of this layout the Bregtalbahn passed into new ownership in 1976 and survives on a hand-to-mouth basis with second-hand equipment and special steam trains run by the local Eisenbahnfreunde.

The layout is set in the late eighties, just after reunification. Short goods trains are hauled by a variety of second-hand diesel locos, with a passenger service provided by 4-wheeled railbuses bought from the DB, and steam specials. Traffic to the yard at Bregstadt is shunted by diesel shunters including an 08 bought cheaply from British Rail.

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Five Mile House was one of several stations between Lincoln and Boston, following the course of the River Witham. It served the village of Fiskerton which had a very small population and took its name from a pub popular with operators of horse-drawn packets up and down the river. Two timber-built staggered platforms were provided either side of a crossing which linked the village to a small ferry across the river. Passengers from Fiskerton wishing to use the train would have to cross the River Witham by the ferry to reach the station, which deterred many.

This history of the station is interesting as it opened on September 15 1858 and was closed two years later due to the lack of footfall. It was then reopened at the request of a local farmer so that he could get his livestock to the cattle markets or slaughterhouses. In 1919, the original wooden station burnt down and only the signalbox was rebuilt.

Regular passenger services were withdrawn on 15 September 1958, but the station remained open until 6 September 1964 for anglers’ specials on summer weekends to and from Rotherham Central, Sheffield Victoria and Wadsley Bridge. By September 1964, only one train each way called at the station. In 1957, the ferry was replaced by a footbridge over the river.

Officially, the last person to use this station before the line was taken up in the 1980s was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on November 14 1980. The Sustrans cycle/footpath runs along the former trackbed and through the station site, of which no trace remains.

In its day though, the Loop Line was very busy with traffic ranging from non-stop passenger trains to East Coast Main Line diversions, fish trains and those aforementioned angling specials.

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Set in the present day trains are short due to the 1 in 25 ruling gradient, which is less steep than the real-life Hollentalbahn two valleys further South (1 in 17).  Most trains are electrically hauled, through workings by Vectron or Taurus locos of the mainline railways or contractors and local trains by the Bregtalbahn’s own vintage fleet of unrepainted locos.  The passenger service is usually a double-deck push-pull set bought secondhand from DB.  The brewery’s own shunter makes an occasional trip to the exchange sidings in Furtwangen. The layout is DCC controlled using NCE Power Cabs.  Locos run with their pantographs touching the overhead wires and the line is fully signalled according to German practice

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Back story is an old stretch of tram line has passed into preservation, along with the old tram shed. Lots of different trams and light railway stock is now stored and operated there, so expect just about anything to be seen trundling up and down! 45mm track gauge, with a variety of 1/24, G-Scale and Gauge 1 stock. All buildings and stock are hand or kit built. The track and baseboards were built by tramway legend Arthur Dawson, and the layout is being brought back to life after almost 15 years in storage, with new buildings and stock.

He will also be brining his 3D printing demo, with examples of items designed by Ian Mellors (Fourgig East) and printed out by Matt for “The Crooked House” layout.

The post Arthur Street Tramway & 3D Printing Demo – G and More – Matt Jarvis appeared first on Mansfield Model Railway Exhibition.

Spion kop or spy on the hill was a famous battle in south africa in the 19^th century and a named stand at the liverpool football stadium.

Spion kop is an existing village but never had a railway so is fictional. I have named all my layouts after nearby locations to my home.

A Derbyshire scenic feeling with a farm and a garage. A pond with fishermen and onlookers from the nearby campsite asking how many fish have been caught, or in Derbyshire slang ”ayeup yo had owt miduk”.

The layout is table mounted and supported on 18 inch legs makes this layout easy to setup and transport.

The track plan is similar to another layout I exhibited (Ardmore circular), which was very popular due to its simplicity. Featured in the railway modeller, and attended many shows such as the NEC.

Fine scale track code 55 is used to the front and code 80 to the rear that has the sidings to hold the stock.two aspect signals at each end of the layout is operated from a switch.

Powered by a 12volt ac wall mounted transformer to a 12volt dc controller gives the locos a smooth operation.

Rolling stock is from any era and area depending on the menu of the day.

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it’s 13ft x 18in and operated from the rear and dcc controlled.

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here’s what Ian said way back in 2009 which explains why he always brings something for the kids:

Just got back from the WHOLE day at the show, we were reasonably pleased with the layouts present although, many of them seemed a long way off what I remember exhibition standards used to be, but it is around 7-8 years since I last attended a Model show, I enjoyed the trade presence and found lots of little goodies but no major purchases.

One last thing, my 11 year old son has just summed his day up with ” Really enjoyed it Dad, but not sure I will go again, totally “fed up” (not the words he really used ) of being pushed out of the way by Ignorant Smelly Old Men”.

Now that got me thinking and It really did hit home how inconsiderate some people can be.

So I thought about making a layout just for the kids, as most exhibitions I’ve been to if they don’t supply a box for them to stand on they can’t even see the layout!

He’s been doing it ever since, so bring the kids, let them have a play, Ian is situated in the main room, so you can sit down with a cuppa and a slice of cake while they help Ian run trains

The post Greylees Town – N – Ian Wigglesworth appeared first on Mansfield Model Railway Exhibition.

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