We have a number of built, and retired club layouts in N and OO Gauge at our club rooms, (Retired layouts not at club rooms) with photos and details provided below. A number of our members also have their own private layouts.
Glenridding Lane
(New society layout Under Contruction)
Glenridding Lane is an 8ft by 2ft 6in shunting layout set in the mid 1950s to 1960s. The layout has a canal scene which encompasses a shuttle freight service that runs along side it. The main section will incorporate an inglenook shunting style of operation. A strong Eddie Stobart presence is also visible. The extension board/fiddle yard will feature formation cassettes and a sorting area. More details will be added nearer to the completion of the layout.
The layout will be available for exhibition in 2022.
Porlock
The original Porlock layout was based on the Exmoor village station built by a Hemel Hempstead resident Bill Faulker as a home based layout.
Due to a house move the layout was donated to the Hemel Hempstead Model Railway Society in late 2012. After some debate it was decided to extend the layout by adding a fiddle yard, scenic board and produce a layout that could be taken to exhibitions.
We have used a degree of modellers’ licence to produce what we hope is an interesting layout for both the general public and the Society members.
An interesting feature of the layout is an inclined siding which allows coaches to be shunted into the siding then rolled back into the station which then enables the locomotive to move to the other end of the train.
We operate the layout either in the GWR period or BR Western region featuring steam passenger services, railcars, autocoaches and freight services.
The buildings modelled are a mixture of kit built (Metcalfe, Ratio, Wills) and scratch built by the original owner.
The layout is available for exhibition by contacting kevin.grace15@googlemail.com or
info.hhmrs@yahoo.com
GENERAL INFORMATION
Scale:- ’00’ 4mm=1ft Prototype:- UK
Era:- 1930/40’s GWR Location:- Exmoor
1950/60’s BR
Power:- 1x13amp outlet Operators:- 4
Tables:- 1 small (4’x2′ ish) Transport:- 2 cars
Set up:- 1 hour Insurance:- £2,500.00
Support:- self supporting Size:- 12′ 6”x2′
operating space 2ft min
Bruscon Bridges ( SOLD)
Bruscon Bridges is our main N Gauge model railway which was unveiled at the Stowmarket Model Railway Exhibition on 29th April 2012. The layout is currently for sale. Please see the contact information page for the Society’s email address.
General Information
Two Circuits Dimetions: 7ft wide
Two Bridges 12ft Length
Operators Well: 9ft Length
4ft Wide
Two Millimetres Operators: 4 min
Twice the Fun! Transport: large people carrier or van
set up: 2 hrs Support: self supporting
Insurance: £2000
Former Society Layouts of HHMRS
Stanegate (Retired)
Stanegate is a modern image 4mm ’00’ scale layout featuring a double track station on the outskirts of a large city. The location is set in a cutting with access to the platforms via a staircase from the ticket office.
The principal services are provided by D.M.U.’s which operate a busy commuter schedule. Loco hauled traffic is fairly sparse with a few mail trains and the occasional departmental working. There is a small refuelling depot together with some D.M.U. stabling sidings.
To provide sufficient observer and operator interest the service provided is much more intense than the real thing would have been together with a wide variety of appropriate stock.
Leaford St. George (Retired)
Leaford St. George is a 4mm scale layout by the HHMRS. It is loosely based on the steam Great Western era, but in truth it is set wherever you want it to be; somewhere in that misty part of England.
Private layouts Owned by Members of HHMRS
Aspens Junction.
Owned by member Kevin Grace ( private home layout )
Aspens Junction is a ‘OO’ scale DCC controlled home based layout. It is set loosely in the late 1950’s in the Midlands and features mostly steam power with a few early diesels.
The layout is a double track top section with passing loops at Aspens Junction station. There is also a steam engine shed located at this station. Then a branch runs from Aspens Junction to the lower level station called Alfred Street where there is a goods depot.
The layout was started in 1994 after a Christmas gift of a ‘Mighty Mallard’ train set from my wife.
Stock is from all the major manufacturers, some having survived from my boyhood railway notably two car transporters and a Hornby footbridge now approximately 50 years old.
The layout has survived 3 room moves and 1 house move and is now in its 4th reincarnation!
Cameos on the layout include Uncle George’s Ford Anglia (parked outside the pub), my sister-in-law’s dogs, our pet rabbits and a small herd of Boxmoor’s most famous cows!
Hectors End
Owned by member Barry Cossins (private Home layout)
My layout Hectors End was started in September 2016. It is a DCC layout measuring 12ft x 5ft and uses Peco code 75 track and points and MERG electronics for train and track operations. The design is a modified copy of a layout that we saw in the National Railway Museum in York which we liked very much and was of a similar size to what we had decided to build. Some additional points, loops and sidings have been added to the original design which is 3 continuous circuits with up and down and local lines. There is a 4th line, notionally a goods line, that has a circuit around the layout.
The ultimate plan was to have the layout capable of being fully automated via JRMI and for the signals to function logically so to that end all of the necessary circuitry has been made and fitted. This is all up and running and has a host of electronics such that the system is able to know where locomotives are on the track and for the signals to work as they should. The layout is permanently connected to a PC which is sited under it. I have added sound to all of the locomotives on the layout, the last few being completed last year.
I was at the stage of starting the basic scenic work some of which had been completed when I took part in the Great Model Railway Challenge TV series in 2018 due to which all work on the layout ceased! Early this year we decided to change our ideas about the back of the layout and the overall scenic setting so to that end an additional 1ft section has been added to the rear of the layout and a 2ft high curved panel round the layout back and sides. Originally lit at the back, the lighting has now been moved to the front of the layout.
The layout is set loosely around 1960 so the locomotives and rolling stock are from the BR steam era.
Tyler Ash Yard.
Owned by Chris Hartley (Private Home Layout)
OO scale – analogue. – A small Goods and storage yard set at the time of diesel shunters.
Bachman Branch Line – Class 03 Diesel in Green Livery
Various types of wagon from different companies.
Replica Railways – “William Whiteley” Plank/Container Wagon
Bachman Branch Line – “Castrol Oil” 14 Ton Tank Wagon
“J A Bartlett Ealing” 9 Plank Wagon “Easter Iron Mines” 3 Plank Wagon
Dapol – “Ronuk” tank Wagon
Hornby Railway – “Chance and Hunt” Open Wagon
Unknown -“Pugh & Co London” 9 Plank Wagon
“LMS” 3 Plank Wagon with Container atop.
It was designed to fit on shelving brackets in an alcove and used in a shunting operation and it measures 41 inches by 15 inches.
There are four sets of Peco Set Track points and various uses of other Peco Set Track sections complete the layout. It is operated with a Gaugemaster controller Model 100 and points are operated with servo units via switches on the front of the layout.
The scene is a fictitious area in the late 50’s and early 60’s and the buildings are variants of Scale Scene and Metcalfe model kits, along with some scratch-built sections. Peco scenic backgrounds finish the layout off.
History,
I started “Tyler Ash” over five years ago as an infill to my larger layout. However due to downsizing the larger layout had to be dismantled and is now in the process of being redesigned and built for inclusion on the members’ layouts page in the near future. This, therefore, enabled me to re-electrify and sort out various issues on the layout that happened in transit, and the HHMRS club house and members have brought it to life once again on new shelving brackets.
