Watch this space for details of the layouts that will appear at Rail-Ex 2025.
Layout 1:
Overlord
OO Gauge 1944
As with the Great War some thirty years previously, the railways played a key role in World War Two, transporting people and material throughout the country, from dispersing the returning troops rescued from Dunkirk, evacuating children from the London Blitz, to moving the men and material from their depots and assembly areas to the embarkation points for the D-day Landings of June 1944 codenamed “Overlord”.
Based loosely on Southampton and Portsmouth dockyards, the layout attempts to depict the hectic quayside activities to be found at many of the Southern ports of England in the days surrounding the invasion of Normandy. Much of the variety and confusion of the moment are displayed: tanks await loading and mechanised infantry columns search for their embarkation point. There are specialist vehicles such as bridge layers, rocket launchers, mine clearers and amphibious tanks needed to ensure the success of the landings. Landing ships of various shapes and sizes, together with the vital support of escorting destroyers, launches and torpedo boats, prepare to put to sea. Overhead, gliders make their way south, watched over by the W.A.A.F's on the anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloon. And finally there are the tea-ladies of the NAAFI, providing a continuous supply of drinks to the nervous troops.
Look closely and you will also see sections of the Mulberry Harbour, the floating port towed across the Channel, and PLUTO, the underwater fuel pipeline which powered the Allied advance from the hard-won beachhead through France, Belgium, Holland and ultimately over the Rhine.
Layout 2:
Holmeshurst
O Gauge 1930s
Colonel Stephens Light Railway
The passing of the Light Railways Act in 1896 prompted many proposals for the creation of light railways. At the same time there was a proposal for the construction of a new coastal resort to the southwest of the existing town of Winchelsea, and integral to the design and promotion of the new development was the provision a good railway connection to South Eastern Railway at Rye Harbour. A light railway seemed to answer that need.
In preparing the scheme it was found that it would be possible to get authorisation for the line much more simply and cheaply under the Railway Construction Facilities Act, 1864 by structuring it as a tramway. By this means the public road level crossings would not require the special safety arrangements required for railway operation, and accordingly the line was formed as the Dinsdale & Dogs Hill Tramway.
The layout of Holmeshurst features a passing loop and a single siding served by a cassette type fiddle yard. Built over a period of 4 years the layout reflects the vernacular architecture of the ancient Sussex towns of Hastings, Rye & Winchelsea. The buildings are both scratch and kit built with detailed visible interiors and lighting. The Station building is scratch built using plans provided by the Col. Stephens Soc. website and is a model of the Camber Station on the Rye & Camber Tramway. Many of the figures are homages to family members along with Col. Stephens and Frank Hornby.
Layout 3:
Penworth
N gauge 1930s GWR
Penworth is a "pendonesque" layout in N gauge, featuring hands free shunting and scratch built buildings, which are exact scale copies of the 00 Buildings that can be seen at PENDON museum at Long Wittenham in Berkshire.
Layout 4:
Kleine Albula
HO Gauge: 1990s Switzerland
Set in the late 1990’s, Kleine Albula is a representation of a fictitious passing loop station, many of which can be found on the largely single track network of the Rhätische Bahn (RhB), in South-Eastern Switzerland. The layout is set towards the end of winter depicting clear roads and tracks but with plenty of snow still in evidence. The snow effect has been achieved using multiple layers of artex on top of the traditional scenery. The buildings, tunnels and the viaduct are all from commercially available kits including Faller, Kibri & Peco. Rolling stock is primarily from the Bemo range with a few D&R Modellbahn items also included. The catenary comes from Sommerfeldt but is purely artificial. The trains running represent the various types of traffic seen on the RhB, including the Glacier Express, various freights, and enthusiasts specials. The layout is controlled with Gaugemaster handheld controllers with the track layout being fully sectionalised
Layout 5:
Llandyfai
OO Gauge Early 2000s South Wales
Llandyfai is a small branchline terminus set in South Wales between 2003 - 2018 which covers the Arriva Trains Wales franchise. The single platform handles various DMU’s of the ATW fleet and the small sidings handle steel and log traffic that still manages to survive on this small branchline.
Layout 6:
Love Lane Stabling Point
O Gauge BR(W) 1970s-80s
Modelled in O gauge, Love Lane Stabling Point is a fictional diesel stabling point located in British Rail's Western Region.
Locomotives on the layout are based on those seen at Exeter over the years, some of which would have been based at the depots at Laira and Newton Abbot.
Layout 7:
Kings Park
N gauge 1980s BR(M)
Kings Park is located in North West London to the north of Euston station. The model features the 4 tracks of the West Coast Main Line as well as the London Underground Bakerloo lines & the Watford Overground lines. Tracks also head to and from Willesden sheds which means there is always something to see. British Rail blue is gradually being replaced by the "Raspberry Ripple" Executive liveries on this 1980s snapshot in N gauge.
Layout 8:
Cwm Bach and Llados Halt
N gauge BR(W) 1950s GWR
Cwm Bach and Llados Halt represents a small branch line somewhere in the Welsh Marches area during the 1950s. It is a shelf layout that really does live on a shelf in the owner’s railway room and shows what can be done in such a space in N gauge. The layout has an unstaffed halt called Llados Halt with an island platform, a river crossing with a recognisable bridge and a terminus station called Cwm Bach, which, in Welsh, means “small valley”. Even though it is N gauge shunting without fingers takes place at the terminus.
Layout 9:
Central Alonzo
HO CUBA in 1958
Central Alonzo is a HO scale model of a Cuban Sugar Mill as served by the Hershey Railway in the year 1958. Although the Mill is starting to look run down, there are signs of recent investment with new diesels working alongside the veteran steam and electric equipment, and locally there is talk of revolution and overthrow of the Battista government.
The year chosen was based on several photographs taken by railfan visitors around this time and the article about the Hershey Electric in the January 1959 edition of Trains Magazine. The layout was started about 10 years ago after completion of another US Interurban layout, as an excuse to run pairs of pantograph equipped General Electric Steeplecabs and multiple Interurban cars under catenary. 3D printed passenger stock are the layout owners copies. The freight stock includes consists of Hershey boxcars, tank cars and cane cars originally made in Cuba. The town extension and fiddle yard were added to ease the traffic flow at the mill and give more space for scenery. The buildings have been modified and suitably detailed and distressed as per Cuban prototypes.
Layout 10:
Harton Gill
P4 BR(E) Tyneside in 1960s
Set in Southern Tyneside area in the time period of the late 1960s, Harton Gill is a fictional location. In the foreground an overhead-electrified private line connecting the colliery to some imaginary staithes off to the left, just like the real-life Harton Electric Railway. At the back of the layout, is a British Railways North Eastern Region secondary through line, with an occasional passenger service. In the middle is a short passenger line terminating at a halt, with a DMU shuttle service, recently electrified with third-rail, to allow different trains to be run.
Wherever possible the buildings, such as the signal box and the footbridge, and the signals, follow ex-NER prototypes. The timescale allows us to run a mixture of steam and early diesels, in both green and blue as well as the dedicated colliery electrics. And a Tyneside Bo-Bo electric operating off the third rail, and the EPB parcels car which ran on Tyneside for a while. The boards are all made from 6mm birch-faced plywood, glued and pinned together. Track is handbuilt entirely from C & L components with a few homemade modifications for tiebars and to strengthen crossing units. The buildings are all scratchbuilt from plasticard (with the exception of the colliery headframe which is a brass Wrightscale kit) to fit their locations amongst the tracks.
Layout 11:
Beat the Drum and The Shed
009
Steve Gibbons has constructed this layout on an unusual baseboard! He says, ”The layout came about in one of those Hmmm moments, “I wonder if I could build a layout on that old cable drum”. I had, surplus to requirement’s, a 60cm diameter cable drum and so a lockdown project began. I wanted to test out a few new modelling techniques, namely Static Grass and Dry Stone Walling, Derbyshire style. What you can see is the result of two years of build time: the dry stone walls have been created, stone-by-stone, using DAS Air drying modelling clay, which was cut and shaped then glued into place before numerous grey washes created the colour. Around those walls static grass of various lengths (applied using an electro-static dispenser), was built up layer by layer bedding them in.”
The locomotives and rolling stock are a mix of R-T-R, kit built and 3D print.
Layout 12:
West Harkenback
OO BR(W) 1980s
West Harkenback is set in the mid-1980s and is inspired by teenager memories of trainspotting days in Exeter, rail rover travel tickets, family holidays in Scotland and student days spent in the heart of the Nottinghamshire coal fields.
West Harkenback comprises a double track secondary line with a small station that is mainly served by loco hauled services utilizing BR Blue Mk 1 & 2 rolling stock although the occasional DMU/Sprinter service can appear. The bay platform has been out of use for many years but has recently been resurrected to provide access to a small engineering yard that has been pressed into service to aid the forthcoming resignalling and track rationalisation scheme. Passenger services are relatively infrequent with spare line capacity utilised for extensive freight movements such as Speedlink services and heavy ‘Merry Go Round’ MGR trains.
All stock is weathered and detailed with many locomotives fitted with sound. ‘Hark back’ to the 1980s, watch the trains go by or entertain yourself with some pedestrian shunting.
Layout 13:
Carterton
OO Gauge BR(W) 1950s-60s
18 miles west of Oxford lays the small town of Carterton. Founded in 1894 and previously renown for high-quality tomatoes produced by the small holders of the village, it has now grown into a town serving the largest RAF station in the United Kingdom. Despite its relatively modern history, most people are surprised to know that Carterton used to boast its own railways station. Once a halt on the Fairford Branch, Carterton sadly lost its station when all passenger services were withdrawn in 1962, and the branch was finally lifted in the 1970s
The model shows Carterton as it existed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It's a reminder that the Great Western Railway and later the Western Region of British Railways was about moving people and wasn’t all chocolate box scenes. And there's an echo of its wartime past when troops disembarked for RAF Brize Norton and RAF Broadwell, many sadly never to return. Whilst it's nowhere near the most attractive station on the Fairford Branch, it shows that just about any location can be modelled. The layout has proven to be a piece of history, with many people remembering their times travelling by train, when Carterton was connected to the railway.
Layout 14a:
Tinsley Coil Siding
OO Gauge 2000s to present
Tinsley Coil Siding deals with semi finished steel coil from Europe. The layout has just a single line just 8 feet long, but features a handbuilt working overhead crane for unloading coils . Shunting is mainly done with class 08 and class 60 with a few other locos appearing. Wagons are all based on the stock that was used on this traffic over the years, mostly BAA , BZA , BXA , BSA carrying some very large coils.
Layout 15:
Rush Green Colliery
OO National Coal Board
Rush Green Colliery is set in the West Midlands. This layout has been constructed to give a good representation of the collieries that once were spread round much of Britain and tries to show the main features of an industry that has been virtually wiped from our modern landscape. The layout features live loading of wagons. A variety of industrial rolling stock is used as well as some visiting locomotives.
Layout 16:
Klapping
HO Scale - Austria
The OBB station at Klapping is the terminus station of a truncated branch line. The line is electrified using overhead catenary, but in addition there is a freight feeder line and goods yard using diesel traction. Further increasing the operational interest the local steam and nostalgia preservation group also make use of the branch to move locos and occasional steam tours onto the main OBB metals.
Layout 17:
Rosebury Goods
OO Gauge 1980s BR Midland Region
Rosebury Goods is a fictional freight yard inspired by the railways of Wednesbury, Neil and Sue’s old home town in The Black Country area of the West Midlands. The layout portrays operations during the 1985-7 time period when the Railfreight grey livery was starting to appear. The builders have tried to give the impression of a place that hasn’t seen any investment for a number of years and has become very down at heel........
The layout, which is featured in Model Rail magazine for July 2025, is DCC operated with many of the locos being sound fitted. The photographs are Chris Nevard copyright
Layout 18:
Westwick
N Gauge 2000s - present
Westwick is a modern image layout in N gauge, with a T.M.D and freight sidings alongside an active station. There are always plenty of train movements as well, so capturing the essence of a busy modern station.
Layout 19:
Feòrag
009
Feòrag is the first module constructed representing the railways of the Glynoch & Rathmor Railway Ltd. Glynoch and Rathmor are two islands situated in the Atlantic west of Cornwall and south of Ireland. Rathmor is rich in minerals, Glynoch is more farmlands. Narrow gauge railways cris-crossed these islands with goods and tourists from the port of Llanchala. Feòrag is the place to come for the Gwydion Falls and the Cailleach River with stunning views down the Glen Feroag valley back towards the coast. The valley is full of wildlife, including the island favourite, the Red Squirrel, or the Feòrag.
Ruadh as it was called by early inhabitants. Mineral trains would wind their way down to the coast and tourists would disembark on their wilderness adventures. A newer line to the coast has recently been opened from Feòrag now that the new Glen Feorag Viaduct has opened, saving considerable time and an easier gradient. The older route still exists and serves a valuable purpose for the smaller communities along the route, as well as valuable added capacity during the summer months and of course during the Grouse Hunt season!
Layout 20:
Bradstock Loco
O Gauge 1950s BR(W)
Bradstock loco is a small locomotive depot somewhere in North Somerset, and the scene is set in the mid to late 1950’s. Although only a couple of locos are allocated to the depot, others call at the depot for servicing and turning before returning home, so a variety of locos can be seen. The layout is controlled by DCC and locos are sound equipped.
Layout 21:
Mill Falls
HO USA - New England
Mill Falls is a fictious mill town set in New England. The layout’s name is a play on words as it features several mills in the Autumn (or Fall) besides an extensive area of waterfalls. All the structures on the layout are limited edition craftsmen kits from the likes of Fine Scale Miniatures, Fos Scale, Bar Mills and South River Model Works. The station is a model of Crawford Notch depot in New Hampshire on the Conway Scenic Railway. The layout is a shunting puzzle using hidden magnets and Kadee couplers. Animations include a honky-tonk piano in the bar, flashing crossing signals and a road traffic accident.
Layout 22:
Shobrooke Road
OO Present day
Shobrooke Road is a fictitious preserved station on the what-might-have-been branchline between Crediton and Thorverton, joining the Southern and Great Western railways. It was an early casualty of The Beeching Report and after a number of decades out of use the Mid Devon Shunters Society found Shobrooke Road station available and decided to purchase it for their future base. They have now managed to restore the station area and install a shed for locomotive maintenance. Gradually they have relaid the track to Crediton, where there is a connection with Network Rail. The society is unable to extend the railway east, towards Thorverton, because houses and a road have been built on the former trackbed. The society now owns a wide range of motive power, from shunters to mainline locomotives and DMU’s and visiting traction can be seen on Gala Days.
Layout 23:
Dent Head
N Gauge 2000s - present day
Dent Head is based on the Settle and Carlisle Line and the area around the North end of Blea Moor tunnel, Dent Head viaduct and Dent Station. The area is mainly open Moor land with very few buildings. The bridge to the north of the station and the viaduct are all scratchbuilt. The track plan has been kept simple with no point work on this stretch of main line, with the only signal, the one in the Leeds bound direction which is always set to Amber . A fair amount of modellers licence has had to be used especially in the station area.
The Layout is set in ther period from the early 2000's Up to the present day, and can see a vast amount of traffic from many operators. Passenger services are in the hands of Northern Rail, or the predecessor to Northern, Northern Spirit. Specials frequently visit the line including The Fellsman and Cumbrian Mountain Express these are normally steam hauled. Freight services are operated by all of the private freight companies. Anything can be expected to visit the line, including services on diversion from the East and West coast mainline.
Layout 24:
Abingdon
OO Gauge BR(W) 1960s on
Abingdon was on an attractive branch line to the south of Oxford. It appealed to its builder due to the attractive nature of the country termini stations with a great deal of operational and modelling potential. Both owners, although not born in Abingdon, now reside in the town, which gave it “the local line” interest. This enabled the builders to interview people who had actually worked and travelled on the line, which assisted with research. Five years of research turned up several hundred photographs, aiding construction considerably.
Track work is constructed from scale-section bull-head rail with C&L chairs glued to plywood sleepers. Every 5th sleeper is riveted and the track soldered to ensure stability. The ballast is genuine Abingdon Railway Ballast taken from the remains of track bed and crushed down to size. The majority of the rolling stock is modified ready to run, although a number of the wagons are kit built and fitted with Kadee couplings. Abingdon is currently run in an imaginative form as if the station had continued to operate for both passenger and goods services into the late 1960’s
Layout 25:
Wedmore
O Gauge BR(SDJR) 1950s-1960s
Wedmore is a large village in North Somerset which was never served by rail, but this layout represents what might have been if there had been a branch from Edington Junction. Buildings are all scratch built genuine examples from West Pennard station on the SDJR. Originally constructed by Trevor Gibson the layout was rescued from destruction by Graham, a member of the Exeter O Gauge group, who now exhibit the layout in their memories.
Layout 26:
Four Seasons
OO9
On this layout there is a train travelling through four seasons. Winter, with a vibrant Christmas market, ice skaters and Father Christmas. Spring with lambs, spring cleaning and an orchard in full bloom.
Summer complete with swimming pool, wild swimmers, ice cream van and then Autumn. Harvest festival, smoking bonfire, pumpkins and war memorial poppies complete the scene. Lots of things to find on this intricate model!
Layout 27:
Ruyton Road
18.83mm Gauge
Built by the late John Spencer in EM gauge Ruyton Road appeared at a number of shows in the 1990’s and the early years of the new century. Now converted to 18.83 the layout maintains its original premise as an imaginary branch of the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway from Kinnerley Junction to Ruyton XI Towns and serving a nearby quarry. The aim is to give a flavour of a light railway in Colonel Stephen’s group in the 1920’s. Operation is simple with trains arriving from and departing to Kinnerley Junction. Empty quarry wagons are brought up from Kinnerley to be taken forward to the quarry by a quarry engine, with loaded wagons making the reverse trip. The quarry also invested in a couple of very old ex Great North of Scotland coaches to transfer workers from Ruyton Road to the quarry.
Layout 28:
Bigbury Forest
OO9
Currently the layout is named after the location it was collected from. Construction was started sometime after 1982 by Leslie Trill and was worked on prior to his death in 2015. Moving forward to 2025 the layout was rescued and converted from DC to DCC operation and some remodelling and changes have taken place. The concept is of an end-to-end layout which gives over 21 feet of running in a layout measuring 10 feet by 14 inches. The redesign is keeping the original whilst making the layout fit within the modular system that is used for our other layouts. There is a small timber collection area at the top which comes down to the small town passing the mine on the way. In the small town there is a water powered sawmill and some other small rural industry present. The changes we will make, along the front of the layout a mainline will be running which will bring in the ore collection trains and also provide the opportunity for the timber working to be shipped out to the larger sawmill further along the railway (on other modules).
Layout 29:
Los Tanimals
N Gauge American
Built by Bob Norris, this busy layout includes many things to be on the lookout for as well as the trains: there are a Cement Works, Pickle Factory, Scrap Yards ,Factories, Bus Depot, Car Importers, Horse Riding School and an Interurban Line. The whole layout, including the loops at either end, has scenery, and depicts a location in the Texas/Arizona region, with trains from 1930 to 2010. The layout is Digitrax DCC radio controlled.
Layout 30:
Great Pearl Mine
OO9
This, the latest layout from regular SWOONS members, is based on a mine for cave pearls. They do exist but do not achieve the size found in our mine! Extracted pearls will be conveyed in tippers and tipped into a building, while a separate train will offer visitors a tour of the workings for a shilling a head.
Layout 31:
Bournemouth West
OO Gauge 1950s-60s BR(Southern and SDJR)
Bournemouth West was the southern terminus of the famed Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The layout represents the station in the period 1959- 1963.
With regular Southern region trains calling at the station there is always something to see, trains arrive and pilot locomotives move the empty stock away, this accurate model features sound fitted locomotives.
Layout 32:
Bambridge
O Gauge Isle of Wight BR(S)
Bambridge is loosely based on Bembridge on the east coast of the Isle of Wight. It was a country terminal with a sector plate for the run round, neccesary because of the very restricted space that was available to build this station. I tried to represent Bembridge with this sector plate on Bambridge. The track plan is not actually that at Bembridge. The track and the buildings are scratch built.
Layout 33:
Tan-y-Bryn
OO9
Tan-y-Bryn is loosely based on the narrow-gauge railways of North Wales and is the locomotive works and maintenance area for the imaginary Mid Wales Narrow Gauge Railway. The layout was constructed as an entry for Peco’s Rail 200 competition.
Layout 34:
Conifer Valley River Route
HOn30/OO9
