Last Saturday I drove over to Bracknell to visit the Spring expoEM.  I have never insisted on exhibitions having any ‘N’ gauge, so an excellent show like this an easy drive away was a must.  There were some very good layouts on show – some of which I’d seen before.  I was struck by the quality of the scenics around the actual trains; fine scale in all aspects.

I’ve a couple of posts worth of photos.  We’ll start with the smallest layout on show, Sheepcroft.  A simple goods only shunting layout, it also shows what can be done in EM in a limited space on a limited budget.

On to the delightfully named Splott, the P4 visitor.  It is a fictional layout, but there is a place called Splott in Cardiff.  Who’d have guessed (without Google maps.)  It models a small yard serving a steel works (remember those?) in the late 1980’s.  I love the night time gloom of the lighting, that may of course just model a normal Cardiff day!

Iain Rice’s last, great, cameo layout, Longwood Edge, has been doing the rounds, and I was pleased that it seemed to be running really well at the show.  In the past there have been a lot of gremlins, that reminded me of an ESNG club night.

More P4 with Market Bosworth on the LNWR.  The cattle pens look a bit clean to me.  I’m sure that even the LNWR didn’t polish them like that!!!  The rail motor seems to have escaped from Longwood Edge next door.

Grimesthorpe featured some historic EM stock built by the late Sid Stubbs in the 1950’s and 60’s.  All to 18.0mm gauge, rather than 18.2mm, an early and alternative EM standard.

Tiverton models this GWR junction in the 1930’s and is one of the layout that (almost) makes me model the GWR.  Note the forest of wonderful semaphore signals.

Last for today, Jane’s Creek.  I’ve seen it at a lot of shows recently, and it’s a wonderful piece of work, especially all those sailing boats.