BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//6.4.7.2//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:5943@whatson.org.uk DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261114T100000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261114T163000 DTSTAMP:20261006T065359Z URL:https://whatson.org.uk/wo/events/solihull-model-railway-circle-annual- exhibition-2026/ SUMMARY:Solihull Model Railway Circle Annual Exhibition 2026 DESCRIPTION:List of Traders Attending :\n\nKeiths Model Railways\nElaine’ s Trains\nBaz’s Model Rail – 12 Volt DC\n\nList of Layouts Attending : \n\n1. Grange Aggregates\n2mm Scale\, N Gauge\nSolihull Model Railway Circ le\n\nGrange Aggregates started up many years ago. The canal was cut to tr ansport the stone out instead of using horses and wagons. The narrow-gauge railway was then laid to take stone to the crushing plant. Steam engines were introduced on the narrow gauge in the 1800s. When the main line railw ay was built\, the loops and sidings to the quarry were also put in. All t hese forms of taking the stone out are still very much in evidence\, with stone going out by canal\, road or by rail.\n\n2. A scottish Layout\n4mm S cale\, 00 Gauge\nSolihull Model Railway Circle\n\nAn end to end branch lin e club layout based on Scottish practice\, displayed here partly built to give an insight into layout construction. It is 16 feet long and just over 2 feet wide and we are using SMP code 75 bullhead plain track and handmad e Marcway points. It has been constructed to run with either DCC or tradit ional control. There is a terminus station at one end and a hidden ‘fidd le’ yard with a traverser at the other\, with a scenic section in betwee n. A major part of the concept is the use of very deep baseboards\, with t he railway running through the middle\, allowing greater depths and height s of scenery for a more interesting appearance. The major architectural fe ature is the curved viaduct based on Killiecrankie.\n\n3. Cherwell\n4mm Sc ale\, OO Gauge\nSolihull Model Railway Circle\n\nA scenic OO gauge\, 26 fe et 6 inches by 10 feet 6 inches\, four track mainline with an integral bra nch line. It features working automatic signals and has largely scratch bu ilt buildings with a local theme\, e.g: the Manor House\, the Masons Arms\ , the George Hotel and the Fat Cat cafe from Solihull\; Kings Heath librar y\; Tyseley station\; and Water Orton station. The layout was built mainly to display scale length mainline trains\; those being run reflecting the varying interests of the membership. Trains run are usually British outlin e but can come from any part of the UK mainland and from any date between about 1900 and the present day. If you look carefully\, you can see pigeon s roosting under the station bridge\, foxes using the track bed as a short cut and one fox eyeing lambs\, gull’s eggs and the shepherd on the upper pasture\, cats watching building work in the arch from the platform and g ulls above the sea and on the cliffs with a lonely cormorant.\n\n4. Avonbr idge\n7mm Scale\, O Gauge\nSolihull Model Railway Circle\n\nThis layout is 30 feet by 13 feet\, three tracks\, and continuous run with station and s torage loops. Early in 2013\, we widened two of the front boards to provid e some space to allow for shunting.\n\nThe boards are made from 9mm exteri or plywood with some aluminium box section bracing and steel box section l egs with rubber door stops as feet. Peco code 124 bullhead track is laid t o a minimum radius of 6 feet. Points are operated from the main panel usin g Hammant and Morgan motors.\n\nThe buildings are based on local Midland r ailway prototypes and therefore the layout represents a busy MR branch lin e somewhere in the midlands\, although the stock run\, is from a variety o f companies and eras to suit our varying interests. Most buildings are scr atch built from a combination of Plastikard and wood. The main station bui lding is a model of Northfield and the small shelter on the opposite platf orm is from Moseley. The signal box is modelled on Luffenham\, with Marton Junctions coal bunker. A scratch-built scale model of the goods shed at E ckington on the Birmingham and Gloucester railway is at one end of the sta tion and future developments will probably include a footbridge between th e platforms\, back scenes and possibly a small engine shed.\n\n5. Leigh St George\nN gauge\, 2mm Scale\nLeigh Thompson\n\nThe Layout Leigh St George is a fictional market town\, somewhere in the Midlands. Set between 1990 &\; 1996\, Leigh St George station is comprised of two platforms and a small station building. A TMD depot and fuelling point is situated to the south of the layout operated by BR Railfreight. Royal Mail occupies the fo rmer British Rail goods siding and platform for their mail &\; parcels trains. A stabling point is situated to the west of the layout for resting engines and a type 15 signal box is situated to the east of the layout\, which was saved from demolition by the local railway enthusiasts club. At the back of the station is a row of houses\, known locally as “Railway T errace”. A popular fish &\; chip shop for passengers and residence ca lled “The Cod father” and a local pub called the “Lamb and Flag” a re situated within the Terrace.\n\nAbout Leigh St George Leigh St George w as named after me (Leigh)\, my son (George) and the patron saint of Englan d\, St George. The Layout was bought by me in 2017 for £200 but was ori ginally build by professional layout builder Steve Hornsea. A new fiddle y ard was built to replace the old yard and to accommodate more trains and a 2ft extension was built by me\, to allow more added interest to the layou t and more operational options. I have also changed the layout significant ly to what I have imagined it.\n\n6. Bond Lane\n4mm Scale\, OO9 Narrow Gau ge\nThe Limbrick Family\n\nBond lane is a unique 009 / 00 model railway la yout incorporating lighting\, video and audio to create an atmospheric and dramatic display. The effects run on a four-minute cycle that includes a sunset\, a firework display and a thunderstorm.\n\nThe layout is set at hi gh level but can be lowered for wheelchair users.\n\n7. Purves Holt\n4mm S cale\, OO9 Narrow Gauge\nKen Jones\n\nPurves Halt is my new layout\, well not exactly new more like resurrected. It’s an 009-layout built many yea rs ago by the line WMNGC member Derek Purves in a plastic wheel clamp box\ , the clamp being bought to protect his caravan from theft. The main layou t shows a small terminus on probably a narrow-gauge line not surprisingly as Derek used to drive locomotives on the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway.\ n\nThe main board with building in place is 33cm x 97cm and still has the original artwork / label for the wheel clamp underneath. Some may remember this at early exhibitions we did like the Wonderful World of Trains and P lanes.\n\nSince those days he added a 26cm x 54cm rear board which held a fiddle yard. The points at the station are all manual operated by push / p ull rods. In 2024/5 the fiddle yard was extended to utilise self-isolating points and isolating switches with the help of Vince Painter.\n\nThe layo ut and fiddle yard now measure a total of 51cm x 97cm. It is viewed from t he front and operated from behind. It is thanks to Vince Painter that this fiddle yard section is now operational.\n\n8. Pine Ridge\n1:87 Scale\, HO /HOn3 Dual Gauge\nAdrian Hall\n\nPine Ridge represents a town in the valle ys of the San Juan mountains of Southern Colorado. It is a bustling town i n the classic wild west style with many rail side industries that serve th e local logging and mining industries. Dust-blown streets\, boardwalks\, a nd a skyline that is dominated by the Copper Glenn Headframe on the ridge above and the steam rising from the Twin Mills by the log pond. The Bear C reek &\; Copper Glenn Logging and Mining Co. is the economic engine of the town and has its own “private” industrial railroad\, the BC&\;C G. With the D&\;RGW also being represented in the town as the common ca rrier. Shays &\; Climaxes are the “mountain goats” of the operation working the Copper Glenn Mine Spur\, and the Bear Creek Timber Run\, drag ging massive Ponderosa pine skeletons down to the log pond.\n\n9. Henley i n Arden\n7mm Fine scale\, O Gauge\nMike Bragg\n\nThe Henley -In- Arden Lin e\, a twice -Derelict Railway and a rebirth in Model Form In 1861 a privat e company was formed to build a railway from Rowington Junction to Kingswo od (now Lapworth) to Henley-in-Arden a little over 3 miles. Five years lat er\, when the line was half made\, funds ran short\, and work on the line was suspended. The line lay derelict for twenty-eight years. Then came ano ther and larger scheme and the project rejuvenated so work on the long-neg lected line was resumed in1889\, and by 1894 the line was ready for use. T he G.W.R worked the single line service from the very outset and took it o ver in 1900. However\, in 1914 the passenger service was suspended althoug h goods continued to pass until 1916 when the service was closed all toget her. During the 1980’s when I ran my small business in Hatton\, I not on ly saw remnants of the line but\, walked most of what was left before the M40 wiped nearly all trace of the line.\n\nWell as per usual I have massag ed fact with more than a soupcon of fiction and added a dash of essence to create a might have been 1939- 1950 version of the original. Adding at le ast on the timetable station halts at Rowington and Lowsonford. The track layout is similar as are the buildings although using artistic licence the Station building is now timber and not brick and I have moved Potato Lane Bridge to help conceal the fiddle yard. Points are constructed from coppe r clad sleepers to which the rail is soldered\, but the plain track is SMP .\n\n10. Cook End\n7mm Fine scale\, O Gauge\nLeicester Model Railway Group \n\nThe layout was started by the late Howard Finch\, member of the Covent ry and Warwick 0-gauge group (COVGOG) and the 0-gauge guild and completed by the members of the Leicester Model Railway Group (LMRG).\n\nThe track p lan details are from the Light Railway Layout Design book\, although the s iding between the Passenger line and Engine shed has been extended to form a loop with the Carriage shed siding.\n\nThe large mill is fictitious but provides additional scope for goods traffic. The rear siding provided acc ess to a private line into the brickworks.\n\nThe layout is based upon the Haverhill station on the Colne Valley and Halstead Railway\, 1863 – 196 5. The station was opened as the northern terminus of the CVLR with prospe cts of extending to Cambridge. In 1865 the GE railway opened its Cambridge to Sudbury line with a connecting spur to the CVLR. In 1924 the passenger service was diverted to the GER station\, although we still run workman t rains and specials to the station. Due to the light railway construction\, the use of bogie coaches and large locomotives is restricted\, however wi th plenty of good’s wagons and tank locomotives available\, the traffic volume is well catered for. Operation is DC cab control with power operate d points. ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://whatson.org.uk/wo/wp-content/uploads/202 6/10/SMRCEhibition2026.jpg CATEGORIES:model railways LOCATION:St Marys Church Hall and Solihull Scout HQ\, Hobs Meadow\, Solihu ll\, West Midlands\, B92 8PN\, Midlands\, United Kingdom X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS= Hobs Meadow\, Solihull\, W est Midlands\, B92 8PN\, Midlands\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TI TLE=St Marys Church Hall and Solihull Scout HQ:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261025T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR