Looking back, it was 2015 when I last visited this show.  Although still at the same location, it’s grown considerably since then, now being spread between three buildings of the college, and sometimes on two floors.  A nice feature of the show was the way layouts were, where possible, grouped together – for example there was a floor of 2mm and N gauge layouts, though some others were spread elsewhere.

I’m getting ahead of myself – Mr Dawes and Mr Atfield were going to the show, so I tagged along.  It was a bit of a journey, as Google told us part of the M25 was closed (it wasn’t) and it then took us to a small car park rather than the real college building.  A short queue to get in, and although the show entrance was £15, this was not unreasonable considering the number of very good layouts.  It was a bit of a scrum in places, but that’s a successful show for you.  The only complaint was the catering, with massive queues that we gave a miss to, but that’s a function of the college, not the club.

And it was a delightful day for a trip into the Chilterns.  I think that we saw between 30 and 40 Red Kites circling above roads and towns.  Wonderful to see, as 50 years ago, one would head for west Wales to see the handful left in the UK.  And back to railways!  I’ve got several posts worth of photos, and I’ll start, as usual, with a few especial favourites.

Midholme (N) is just 6ft long and models a typical station on the single track section of the Somerset and Dorset near Bath.  A compact model (with fiddle yard looped behind) that looks far larger than it really is.

Always good to see Nick and Königshafen (N) on the road.  He always seems to have added a few new bits and pieces to the layout.  And even better, we may have negotiated the loan of an N-club end loop for exhibitions later in the year.

The Royal Albert Bridge (N) is as fine a piece of engineering as the original.  I think I last saw this layout under construction – good to see it nearly complete.

A real favourite was Llawryglyn (EM), modelling the Cambrian in pre-grouping days.  A typical Cambrian twig-off-a-branch and I doubt whether it would have ever seen two trains in the station at one time – or even two a day!  I especially enjoyed the period locomotives and rolling stock.  Realistic sheep, too….

Finally for today, the magnificent Bath Green Park (OO) modelling the last quarter-mile into the old Somerset and Dorset terminus, including the station, loco shed, and just part of the extensive goods yards.  That’s something like 60′ of layout….