I am a firm believer in looking at other scales other than ‘N’.  And I can’t cope with criticisms of exhibitions that moan about, “Not much ‘N’ there.”  Surely, one can take inspiration from any scale or gauge, and they are all trains, aren’t they?

So I was delighted to see that the P4 specialist Scalefour Society were holding an online exhibition.  It was well worth a visit, and most of the exhibits are being held online, with YouTube videos, for anyone who wants to catch up with them.

The site itself is here.

I have selected a few layout videos that I especially enjoyed.

Vincent de Bode’s De Graafstroom is nothing short of brilliant!  I have seen it in the flesh a couple of times, and would happily travel to a show to see it again.  This layout portrays a fictitious narrow gauge (Cape gauge?) tramline which follows the small Dutch river “de Alblas”, modelled in  1947.  Note the moving scenic items, such as the flying stork, the swan, and especially the lovely Dutch sailing barge.  The other videos on the site are also worth a look, including one of how the layout breaks down to travel on a car roof.

Keeping the European theme, Geraint Hughes’ Obbekaer is set on a Danish branchline.  His video is all the more impressive for having been recorded in the lounge on his phone!  I have seen this layout, too, and it’s simple, but interesting, and a welcome break from the traditional GWR branchline.

They say that Hull is virtually Europe, and does have some very Dutch architecture in places.  Mike Knowles ‘Boston Frodsham’ shows modern(ish) image shunting somewhere around the Hull docks.  It is set in 1975-1985 (ish) and is part based on the swing bridge at the entrance to Boston Docks and also the wharf at Frodsham in Cheshire.  Another simple but very attractive layout.

Finally, a large London terminus in the glory days of the LSWR, Southwark Bridge.  There’s about an hour of video available on line, with all the details of designing, building and operating the layout.  I’ve linked to the video on rolling stock, as this includes some beautiful locomotives in full LSWR livery.  Pity I can’t do this in ‘N’….