Husband And Wife Can’t Get Enough After 9 Model Railway Layouts
Every day we receive emails from enthusiastic model railroaders but this Husband and Wife model railroading team were perfect to profile today…
Meet Brian and Ann Silby from The Rylstone Wellingborough Northants England.
My Wife and I have 9 scenic model railway layouts that we take to model railway shows all over the UK and sometimes to the continent. These model railway layouts are all under 2 metres long and they travel in the back of our station wagon. I model in N scale, while Ann models in Z scale.
How long have you and your wife been modeling railroads?
Ann and I have been modeling railways for about 25 years!
Which scale do you and your wife model in?
I model in N scale (continental) whilst Ann models in Z scale. We model in these scales because of space. We only live in a small house.
What brand of equipment do you model with?
I use Fleischmann Roco Minitrix and Kato. All Ann’s trains are Marklin.
Are you using DCC or analog controls?
I use DCC controls on two of my 6 layouts. The other 4 are analog. Ann only uses analog.
Where do you show your layouts?
We show our layouts all over the UK, also in Belgium and this year we have been invited to Eurospoor in Holland.
Why have you chosen the scenes you have created?
All of our layouts are actually based on areas where we have been on Holiday and were attracted by the scenery.
How much time do you spend modeling?
We spend quite an amount of time modeling. I would say about 1 day every week. This year we have 33 shows booked in on our schedule.
Do you think model trains is the greatest hobby in the world?
Yes we do… it is so therapeutic and relaxing.
Thank-you Brian and Ann for sharing your story and your pictures with us… Your model railroads are amazing and it is so inspirational to see a Husband and Wife sharing this wonderful hobby and having a lot of fun in the process.
Got any comments or questions for Brian and Ann Silby? Please scroll to the bottom of the page and leave your comments there…
.
The Special Report "7 Model Train Mistakes To Avoid" (valued at $17.00)... Is FREE for a Limited Time
Just enter your first name and email address in the boxes below and click the "Click Here To Claim Your FREE Report" button. You will get instant access to your special report...
You Will Receive the Free Report in Your Email Inbox Immediately.
Your Privacy is Assured: Your email address will never be shared with anyone.
__________________________________________________________________________
Love the hillside farming in the first shot, inspiring!
GREAT DETAILING! You guys are a couple to be very proud of in the hobby! Always does my heart good to see the effort put forth in such a wonderous way!
Have you ever though of displaying in the USA??? It would be an event I would definetly want to see!
Great work!!!!
great layouts. i model in h-o, o and i have a z scale layout in a brief case. women thick the z scale is ”cute”. i had the z scale layout at a couple of shows. great detail on all your layouts. can’t wait to see your layouts here. c ya trackside.
Brian / Ann, i work in wboro live in kettering, i am looking to purchase a n gauge show style layout, do you know of any for sale or anyone who might build me one for a reasonable price, having spent over 12 years in germany i really like the look of your layouts, brilliant
Best regards
Chris 01536 524668 / 07740401150
Dear Brian and Ann
I used to be the exhibition manager of Bushey & District M.R.S. We sadly lost our premises and all went our separate ways.
I am now exhibition manager of Amersham and Chorleywood M.R.S. I know the excellent standard of your layouts having seem them over a number of years at Bushey.
Next year on Saturday 17 April we are holding the Amersham & Chorleywood exhibition at the Amersham Community Centre. Would you please be able to grace us with a couple of layouts.? (Hot meals and excellent hospitality provided with the usual expenses). I do hope you are available and able to visit us.
Looking forward to hearing from you
Very best wishes
Robin.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to
say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Patricia
http://lioneltrains.info
Hi Brian and Ann,
Let me introduce myself,my name is Geoff and i live in the northwest region,2 miles from the legendary Rainhill,i must say your pictures are superb,and they do show what can be done with the small gauges of this superb hobby,I model in 00 and Ho gauge,all fictional because i tend to change from time to time,especially when i go to exhibitions and i see a must have idea on a layout,my present layout consists of a US ARMY base,with railway flats carrying tanks and army military vehicles etc.my layout is dcc with analoge to run my lights and turntable,and trams.
Well i will sign off now and hopefully i may be able to see you both with your layouts at an exhibition in the near future.
Regards.
G.Plumbley.
AWESOME, just AWESOME!!!
Those layouts are incredible and inspiring. I love the town with the riverboat in front – I’ve been battling with water effects for months and still can’t quite get the knack of moving water in streams. Keep up the great modeling!
Hi,
What amazing results you have. The scenes look so realistic! I have only just restarted and despite the tiny size of my layout room have opted for HO, which I had when a lad. Then it was Marklin, but now I have Roco DCC equipment and a mixture of rolling stock from Roco, Fleischmann, Trix, Lilliput, Rapido (here in Canada), and a few American brands. I agree that it is the best hobby, but I have complicated my life by dreaming up a giant helix to maximise my space. I wonder if I will ever discover how to build it!
Thanks for sharing with us your railway.
Regards,
Paul Jessen in Toronto, Canada
PS I buy most of my trains from Johns Hobbies here in Toronto, who are always very helpful.
You layouts look great. I wonder where you get the trees? They all seem unrealistic that I have found( and really pricey). any suggestions would be appreciated..
At 67yrs old I’m a newcomer to the hoby, I buy magazines etc but am frustrated that all the publications, so far, presume that modlers either have loads of cash available to build a shed 16 – 20ft long in their garden for their layouts or just want to build small end to end layout of about 4ft.
I put up a 10 x 8ft shed in my garden and have built a base board of 2ft6in all around but can I find any track plans to suit, no way. I supose that I will just have to bumble along laying track and taking it all up again.
I think that I may have been to ambitious laying four circits with sidings, leaving little room for scenery.
Anybody got any tips for this old codger.
Can you tell me where I can purchase model cars that would go with my O scale layout. I am just getting started with it, and want everything to be in proportion size-wise when I’m finished. Can I purchase these, or will I have to build them from kits. Please advise.
Hi Bob
You can try http://www.homodeltrains.info/store
or go to the forum at http://www.themodeltrainclub.info/ and ask.
Hope this helps.
Dan
I have never seen such exquisite detailing in my life! The samples of the “work” by Brian and Ann goes to show what can be acomplished over time and practice. I would love to see and hear a video of what they believe is one of their better efforts. What a great boost to the model reilway hobby!
very nice job folks…..
The Kato Model replicates every aspect of the “El Capitan”, with smooth rolling detailed trucks, crisply molded fluting, and detailed interiors which can be upgraded with 11-209 .and 11-210 6-pack LED Interior lighting kits
Curious which company you use for your housing & commercial buildings?
GREAT DETAIL I HAVE A QUESTION WHAT DO YOU USE TO CLEAN TRACK AFTER YOU BALLEST I BALLEST MT TRACK AND THE TRAIN ACT LIKE IT DON’T WANT TO RUN
I Clean the track after ballasting with a rubber track cleaner and then with Lighter fuel making sure to get all the Glue and gunk off the running rails and point blades
The Buildings are mainly Faller and Kibri
Installed lighting in my Kato daylight cars. I replaced a $20000 parts on a $400000 mass spectrometer on Wednesday. Heck I put traction tires on a MP Pacific, after being advised against it. I have very little creativity, but I can do mechanical stuff. … Sometimes they have tabs on the ends, instead of the sides. I’ve always found this site helpful: The Train Doctor.
As a new commer in the N gauge I’m amazed as to what can be done when you put your mind into it. Plus a few dollars.
Thanks for sharing. My wife is from England and some of the scenes bring back fond memories.
Thanks
Thanks for sharing your modeling , looks great, I’m into OO/HO as I started in 1962 with my dad and still have all the gear & rebuilt about 5 times. Luckly I have the room under the house for the layout which I’m rebuilding for my Grandson. Have to move on the ringtail possums who sleep under there sometimes as the walk over everything.
I was going to put it in my shed but with wood and metal lathes and band saws and the cars it would take a lot of rearranging. Love to have your talent in the landscaping, looks so real. Wish my wife could help me with the modeling but not to be with her arthritis.
Best wishes on your trips
Ian
sorry to here of your wifes arthuritus hope its not too painful my wife Ann has recently suffered an aneurysm in the brain so I have had to cancel most of our exhibitions but I am pleased to say she is well on the road to a full recovery so I am hopeful that we will be able to continue our shows
Those are some fantastic pictures of a beautiful layout. The two of you should be very proud of yourselves. I used to have a complete “N” scale layout that took up the majority of the attic. The layout was 30X2 with four 8×4 foot extensions off of that 30X2 ft length. So I admire the work that the two of you have done. Keep it up. I sold mine because my interest moved into another direction “O” scale. Don’t think it will ever be a master piece like your’s, but I will enjoy it.
That was an absolutely wonderful article. Puts a new spark for me to get out and work on mine again. Thank you and keep up the great work.
Rusty
Dale from Meridian, Idaho, USA
VERY good job on your scenery! You captured the look of Europe (I lived in Germany for two years) perfectly! Looking at your layout(s) and scenery takes me back 40 years ago to that time. great job!
WOW!!! These are inspiring to create highly detailed “work”.
s’wonderfull ! S’marvellous!
Only one word to is OUTSTANDING, Nuff said.
Thankyou for sharing the photo’s and information. It is a great help to me as l am in the design stages of my new layout.
where can i get the modeling snow. and is there such thing as modeling water?
Daniel, model snow is made by Woodland Scenics and is available from any good model shop who also produce a water kit which is basically a resin which you melt and pour over the river bed but Ann and I paint a basic colour over the river bed and then apply about 20 coats of good quality yacht varnish.
ok thanks. cause i read on a thomas train site that they used marklin train coves. to make some of the trains and. they used modeling water. is that true?
Brian , Ann you both have done a great job with your layouts.
How many years did it take to build this layout? And, where can I get the tools to build a layout?
Hi Daniel Zweiburg took about 6 months to build I cheated with the baseboard as it started life as a plywood faced door that I got from the local recycling tip I had 2 and they cost me £5 for the two.The scenery is basically polystyrene shaped and coated with plaster of paris and the dressed with various Woodland scenics flocks. Most of the buildings were bought second hand and ready built which cut down on time. Unserstadt and Lindtzal (the snow layout were done in the same way using doors for the base. Brian
I really appreciate the love and work that went into your layouts.
Here is an article I wrote for ezine.com
Dream Train
It’s six thirty in the morning in a little town in Austria. A lightening eastern sky promises another beautiful day as a cool ground mist starts to burn off. A chugging sound in the distance speeds up you heart, anticipating the steam train as it approaches the grade.
Here it comes! The sounds of steam rushing through massive cylinders reach your ears before the headlighted snout suddenly appears in the rough cut in the mountain. Faithfully the two story block long row of cars tag along. You imagine yourself riding the last car, enjoying the cooling breeze as the landscape flows past.
On the hills above you sheep graze peacefully, seemingly oblivious to the plunging antics of a German shepherd as he tries to keep his charges from straying. Up ahead the clanging at an intersection warns of danger as one hundred tons of diesel freight wait patiently for your train to pass. You wave pleasantly to the conductor who casually acknowledges with a raised hand.
Coming into the station, you notice that the lights are still on in the ticket office, dozens of commuters standing in groups ready to board. On the long downgrade out of town, the train picks up speed, the engine roaring to the task of traveling at one hundred miles per hour. The above imagined scenario and many others like it took place every time I turned the switch on the transformer of my 220 to 1 ratio scale model train replica.
The mentioned sheep stand less than a millimeter tall. A normal six foot wide track ends up less than one quarter of an inch in width! These Mrklin trains are made in Germany and have almost all of the features found on their larger cousins. Long locomotives are fully articulated (they bend in the middle), can be coupled or uncoupled remotely, and automatically stop at an intersection when another train is coming. The passenger cars are lighted and show red lights when last in line. Both German and American trains are available.
The biggest challenge in creating the toporama came in inventing flora to look realistic in this tiny scale. The solution I came up with was to use parts of naturally occurring plants that branched just like big trees. All I had to do was dry them and dip the feathery ends in green powdered foam rubber to simulate leaves. There are many companies who supply the proper scale accessories, like Volkswagons, people, dozens of buildings and train paraphernalia.
No effort was spared in creating realistic detail in these miniatures. Hand detailing and ‘weathering’ add to the realism. Four miles of railroad track was contained on a board only three by five feet. An electronically coupled tape recorder supplied the sounds and an actual photographic mountain panoramic surrounded the scene. I don’t recommend these expensive model trains for children with the one exception they’re great for the child in you!
looks Great! Love it!
Kenneth Thank you for your comments and the kind remarks contained therin I am pleased you like the efforts of my wife Ann and myself Actually Ann models in Z Gauge like yourself and has 3 small Z gauge layouts that she exhibits all over the UK and this year she is taking a layout to Utrecht in Holland to what is the largest model railway show in Europe Best Regards Brian Silby
hi i don’t have any lay outs i was on line asking questione try ing to sell this set i have i live in oklahoma ,okmulgee is the town usa i will get them back down from the attic and write down all info you might knowhow much i should ask for the set. thanks sorry i havn’t checked my e-mail regular. ron
oh your lay outs are the best!! i’ve seen!!ron