Durham Road TMD followed the standard loco shed conventions that are quite common now we all have too many locomotives.  But this is an excellent example of the genre, especially due to the size, being in ‘O’ gauge, and with good diesel sound.  And also by the sheer number of locomotives.  The fiddle yard is a small traverser, but the table next to it held a long line of locomotives, the estimated total value of which made me slightly weak at the knees.  Although set it north Kent, here we have a ScotRail visitor.

Although set around 1990, the occasional preserved locomotive appeared…

And a steam special…..

Brighton East (EM) is another good example of a Southern Region urban terminus, based on a slightly simplified version of the old Kemp Town station in Brighton.  The compact, low-level, station layout and the tunnel mouth at the end of the station are just like Kemp Town.  The only thing I wasn’t convinced about was the nuclear flask wagon parked by the platforms!  Must have got lost on the way to Dungeness…..

Good to see Friday Bridge again (last seen at the Huntingdon show and also in EM), with its minimum space depiction of the Wisbech and Upwell tramway.

And always good to see the elegant Llangerisech, in 2mm fine scale, set in north-west Wales.  I was interested to see that the LMS 4-4-0 shown below started life as a Union Mills model.

I hadn’t seen Mostyn (in P4) for a number of years, and was delighted to see it still operating, and also extended.  It’s also set in north Wales, but in 1977 and the blue diesel era.  Of note on this layout are the scale speeds based on the BR rule book – an unfitted freight might only travel at 25mph – and the excellent sound.  I recall this being one of the first layouts to use sound effectively, aided by bass speakers under the layout.  Since bass sound is not directional, this made for some really realistic tones as locomotives notched up on the main line.

Saltdean (also near Brighton) goes back to the late 19th century, and the LBSCR in ‘O’.  Some charming models were on display.  I did think that the LBSCR Stroudley ‘Improved Engine Green’ looked a bit orange rather than brown, but that may have been due to the hall lighting.

Harlyn Pier (‘O’) seems to be a regular at shows at the moment, but is always worth a look for some good modelling.  I am also fascinated by that Beattie 2-4-0 well tank….

The enormous SwissPass (HO and HOm) has its baseboards built at 45 degrees, to provide several layers of trains.  It was very impressive, and gave the opportunity to show numerous SBB and Rhb trains.  But I wasn’t really convinced.  I know that the Swiss do some funny things with their railways, but this seemed a step too far.  And there again, it’s all down to personal taste, I guess?

Looking through the show guide, I seem to have missed quite a few layouts.  Perhaps they didn’t catch my eye, perhaps they were standard GWR branch line termini, or perhaps the crowds were too big to get a photograph.  So here are the honourable mentions.

‘Grantham – the Streamliner Years’ models the LNER East Coast mainline at Grantham in 1938, was a fine layout, but I couldn’t be bothered to fight my way through the crowd for a close up look!  TT was represented by Portsea, capturing Portsmouth Harbour in 3rd rail days.  I’ve posted about this layout before, and it is unusual in both gauge and a good fleet of southern electric stock.  And one to watch for the future is Ingatestone, a modern image model in ‘OO’ of this station on the Great Eastern main line.  Under construction by the Model Railway Club, notable is the detailed and scratch built overhead wiring.

Final post of the show next time….