Aberddu Yard is a compact shunting layout depicting a small maintenance yard somewhere in the Cardiff area in the late 1980s or 1990s with a variety of visiting motive power and wagons appropriate for this period and area.

It is 4 feet wide by a little under 2 feet deep and is designed to be stored under a bed, meaning that the height of the layout is significantly constrained. The track plan is quite complex to allow for operational interest in such a small area.

It is built around two 3-way points and a single slip which means that several shunting moves are required to move locos around the layout. The layout is DCC controlled using equipment by Lenz and DCC Concepts along with Big Bear control software.

Bowleggett Manor is the country estate of Lord and Lady Fitztightly. Lord Fitztightly has established a narrow gauge passenger carrying railway in the old quarry on the estate, however the enthusiastic and resourceful volunteers who help to run the railway have grown tired of going round in circles and have constructed an extension down to the local market town of Farr End.

Now they feel they have a proper railway and more scope for realistic railway operation.

This is our special guest layout which won 'Best Narrow Gauge" layout at last year's Warley Show.

The layout represents a 2'6" main line narrow gauge railway, not in the first flush of youth, but well maintained and capable of handling heavy traffic.

Set in Cornwall, the railway runs between Port St George (aka Padstow) and Bodmin and handles significant China Clay traffic as well as passengers and general goods. The section modelled is the area between Wadebridge and Bodmin. Starting at St Breock, just outside Wadebridge, the line leaves the river valley climbing to a remote moorland junction at Buckland Newton.

Heavy freight trains are banked up the gradient to the junction where the branch to Blissland Abbey diverges from the main line to Bodmin. This is a "might have been" railway - exploring a "what if" some standard gauge secondary lines in mainland UK had been built to narrow gauge. The layout is DC and stock is kit-bashed or scratch-built.

Rod Mackay recreates happy memories in HO scale of his holidays to Diano Marina which is a seaside resort on the Ligurian Coast of Northern Italy.

The railway between Genoa to the French Border hugged the coast of the Mediterranean and was mainly single track with many level crossings. Diano itself had a station with passing loops and a 1.5Kv substation to provide current to the overhead catenary.

Rod's favourite haunts included their regular hotel, favourite bar and mini golf course, all of which are modelled in his layout.

This is the first layout built by the newly formed N Gauge Society Newport South Wales group.

It is based around a modular system where sections are provided by individual members and joined together to form a bigger layout on club running nights.

Ask us to explain how this works and possibly a demonstration of swapping them around.

The scene shown could be a farm, a castle, a town or a dairy. It all depends on the day and time.

Please ask one of the members operating the layout if you are interested in attending one of our twice monthly meetings, all modellers are welcome.

Heybridge Wharf is purely fictitious and is situated somewhere in Suffolk at one of the last inland wharfs still operating. The railway was built under the Light Railways act as the Hey Light Railway to connect the town of Heybridge to the Great Eastern Main Line via Heybridge Wharf.

The trains from the main line enter Heybridge Wharf via the line between the Church and the gas works. This is the end of the line for the stock not allowed to proceed along the tramway to Heybridge Town. Those that are allowed will run round their train and proceed along the tramway squeezed between the gasworks and Colly Tobbold's brewery. The wharf still receives one of the last barges still trading but now converted with a diesel engine.

The layout is built of plywood with track by the 3mm society and points from 3SMR. Points are operated by Hoffmann point motors and couplings are adapted B&B/DG. Stock is from the 3mm Society, Worsley Works, whilst some of the buildings are scratch built , most are super detailed Bilteezi card kits from the 1960's

This is a cameo style layout designed to fit in a carrying box 700mm long, 300mm wide and 240mm deep.

It is situated in North Devon/Cornwall and takes its inspiration from;
- Lelant and its associated quay siding, on the St Ives branch
- The old quay in the centre of Newquay Harbour
- Fremington Quay on the extension of the old North Devon Railway.

It features a quay on wooden trestles tied up to which is a West Country smack. The sandy estuary has a small creek running under a timber bridge and passing nearby Lime kilns. A small station serves the area.

The track features mixed gauge of the old 7 foot Broad Gauge and standard gauge. The period is from the late 1870's until the end of the broad gauge in 1892 and traffic includes both broad gauge and standard gauge passenger, freight and fish trains

Lochty is a model of the goods-only terminus of the East Fife Central Railway which was operated by the North British Railway. It opened in 1900 and ran until 1960. Its chief claim to fame is that after closure it ran as the Lochty Private Railway. Its most prominent pieces of stock being Gresley A4 Pacific 60009 "Union of South Africa" and a Coronation observation coach.

The stock is all kit-built and the track is the newly introduced EM track by Peco.

The layout packs a lot of detail and operating interest into just a 4ft by 2ft 6inch and features an entire village bought from car boot sales and charity shops.

The buildings are resin cast cottages sold as collectors items including 'Tetley Tea folk' houses. They are to slightly varying scales and are used to "force the perspective" on the layout by using the larger ones at the front and smaller ones at the back to increase perception of depth.

The most any of these buildings have cost is around £1.50 each. The station buildings and other railway structures are scratch built in plasticard based on Midland Railway and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway prototypes. There is a small harbour which serves Mardy Frozen Foods warehouse and Mardy marine ships handlers.

Three trains can run simultaneously two on the lower track and one on the high level branch line.

The track is a mix of Marklin and Peco and all points are electrically operated. The lower tracks are fitted with overhead catenary.

Rolling stock is a mixture of diesel, electric and steam based on Marklin chassis and includes class 47s, 56s, 90s and HSTs. Steam outline includes LNER A3s and A4s. Rolling stock is a mix of scratch built and repainted Marklin items.

Hidden on the layout (and very small indeed) the good folk of Midsomer Mardy are up to their favourite pastime, murder!

Midsomer Murders is a popular TV detective show in England set in a sleepy village full of thatched roofed houses. See if you can spot the murders that have or are about to happen.

The layout is quite ground breaking in representing the U.K rail scene in Z.

The layout is based on a rail production works in northern England. Steel billets arrive from Scunthorpe and are unloaded inside the receiving shed.

The billets are processed and rolled into rail sections inside the works. Finished rail is stored and then loaded onto wagons by the overhead gantry crane.

Industrial steam and diesel locomotives work the yard, BR locomotives interchange the wagons with the main line. The rails are dispatched throughout the UK and shipped overseas.

The layout is DCC. The points are hand operated using rods.

The diorama attempts to represent a small outpost of the PC&N (Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport) Railway which was constructed in 1891 to enable coal from the Taff Valleys to reach Newport Docks.

It was originally a freight-only line, but passenger halts were built along the line from 1904. Nantgarw is one of those halts. The line closed on 17th Sept 1956 but by exhibitors licence I have extended the life of the line by 10 years!

Newvaddon Parkway is set in the diesel-electric era between 1995 and today and the stock reflects the transition from BR blue to the present-day privatized liveries. Newvaddon Parkway is a fictional layout based somewhere along the Cornish mainline with branch lines at either end. It draws inspiration from Newport (Wales), Totnes and elements of different branch lines and depot facilities.

The layout is situated in an industrial area that was once the centre of Cornish tin mining.

The track is Peco code 80. The points are all motorised using either SEEP or Peco motors and overall control is DC using a Gaugemaster controller. Working colour light signals are used throughout.

This is a 10mm or 1/32nd scale narrow gauge layout, in an end-to-end format, depicting Welsh slate quarry workings.

Slate buildings are modelled on examples from various railways in Caernarvonshire.

They are put together with standard gauge 16.5mm track to emphasize the layout being modelled as narrow gauge.

The track runs over a frozen waterfall and through snowy scenes.

The layout was exhibited at the Glasgow show and is featured in a Youtube video

Sherton Abbas is a 7mm scale representation of a Great Western Railway branch line terminus and is set in the Edwardian era circa 1905.

The name Sherton Abbas comes from Thomas Hardy's novel "The Woodlanders" although quite what he would have made of this railway is anyone's guess!

The buildings are scratch built from plastic card and are based on William Clarke designs. The track is built using wooden sleepers with chairs and rail from C & L products and is set to 31.5 mm gauge. The locomotives and stock are built from etched brass or plastic kits with compensated chassis running on wheels and axles from Slaters.

The landscape was carved from Polystyrene sheet glued in position on top of the base boards.

This substructure was then covered in a mixture of static grass fibres, rubberised horse hair and ground foam scatters.

Weobley is a small market town north west of Hereford and is one of the well known 'Black and White' towns of half-timbered houses. Although it never had a railway it is imagined here as being located on a branch line from Hereford built by the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway which eventually became a joint line of the GWR and LMS.

All the town and railway buildings are scratch built and are replicas of real buildings located along the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway. The time is 1930 and the line is being jointly worked by GWR and LMS trains. The pointwork is hand built using code 75 rail and copper-clad sleepers.

The track is SMP Scaleway. Most of the locos and stock is kit built. Operation is DC with the track divided into isolating sections.

Within the confines of 9 feet by 13 feet the layout is a faithful replica of the prototype station and surrounding area in 1922 just prior to the Taff Vale Railway losing its independent identity at the grouping. Rolling stock is a mixture of scratch built, kit bashed and etched brass kits and represents the type of stock and motive power that would have been used on the branch at the time.

Baseboards are open top construction on braced ply frames located at joints by brass connectors and held together using steel bolts and "tee" nuts.

Track work, with the exception of the storage areas, is purpose built using ply sleepers and Exactoscale 3 bolt plastic chairs and accessories, ballasted with a sieved mixture of recovered ash and Woodland Scenics fine ballast.

Control is by conventional wiring and Kent Panel hand held controllers with point operation to the viewing areas by "Tortoise" motors with Peco motors in the storage areas. Signals are MSE components adapted to accept solenoid operation.

The scenery is an adaption of the egg crate/card former system used at Pendon with scrim cloth covering and various surface treatments including flock, ground rubber, scatter materials and the now obligatory teddy bear fur. Rock faces are carved Dry Wall adhesive and the buildings and structures are all scratch built using a combination of preformed and flat plastic sheet.