Some more photos from Dave’s latest trip up north. There’s an awful lot of railway history there – after all, it’s one of the areas where railways began – and I haven’t explored a fraction of it all. George Stephenson wuz here, with the Wylam wagonway passing his front door.
Wylam station, with a lovely NER signal box, and a rather useful pub next to the line!
And the Stephenson Railway.
A few more pictures from Allan, this time of the Brockenhurst exhibition. It looked an interesting little show…. First off is the rather long-winded Marley Potts and Witherwack Sidings (BR NE region 1953-63). Lots of interesting modelling here, including a fine overtrack signal box.
Redbridge Wharf is a familiar layout, but always worth another look. They seem to be running it (relatively) modern image for the show.
Beaulieu Road was just a large diorama, but a good place to show off ones trains….
Purbeck – narrow gauge expanded across the peninsula. And some excellent cameo scenes.
Falkirk Road and North Street…
Fareford East.
Lastly, some rather fine trolleybuses…
Back for Sunday’s meeting, with 8½ members (one junior) along. Actually, I think it should be 8¾ the way Lucas is growing…. And plenty of trains on show.
How does this DCC work?
Long and short Southern goods from Chris. The C Class is fitted with sound….
Goods, ancient and modern….
Long trains on the back straight and a busy fiddleyard.
I gave my D&H rake a run out…
You have mail – another mail train from Derek.
DMU’s….
And a variety to finish….
And excellent movies and music from Brian…
Well, I wasn’t there, taking a few well-earned days out down by the seaside in Poole….
But ESNG met, and seven members gathered to drink tea play trains. Allan sent me a few snaps.
I’m told Graham was waving to me. I’m not convinced…..
A few more pictures from Allan of the Model Rail Quest inspired Hastings show. First and foremost, good to see John Brightwell and Alpenbahn (N) on the road again.
I’ve a soft spot for Melin Dolrhyd (OO9). A simple oval of track, but based on a real location. It’s the perfect spot to watch the trains go by (or wait for them to go by in this photo!)
Compass Point (OO9) stands out for the modelling of the coastal scenery.
The Yard (O) is always worth a look, for shunting, and working vehicles and cranes.
A busy terminus at Braemuir (N).
Gilly North’s Staffordshire Potteries (and end loops) in N.
American N with Sarah’s Falls.
And a few of Ian’s Small ‘n’ Working layouts in almost any case imaginable!
Dawn Quest does seem to have a soft spot for novelty layouts. I’d normally ignore them, but Tsuriito (HO) seems to have underwater (in tunnel I think) tracks and real goldfish. Full marks for audacity but I hope it doesn’t catch on. A scale model of the Channel Tunnel for Stuttgart (a scale one, not Derek’s short section!)
A slight novelty layout was Brooklands (O), modelling construction of the banked motor racing track. Really, just an O gauge shunting layout and none the worse for that.
I like Woodbury Wharf (OO9). A very simple one-piece cameo layout, but a good place to watch the trains go by, interesting scenery and a lovely backscene. No joins on a small layout!
Tidworth NSE (OO). Modern image as it was 30 years ago?
Chitterne, a GWR branch in EM.
Sturminster Newton (N).
A quiet moment on Brucklees (OON3). But the Irish narrow gauge was often very quiet!
Swiss mountains (and a busy station) on Griswald (N).
And finally, Brian’s Trains (N and continental.)
I turned down a morning out at this show on Saturday, with a lot to do before going on holiday. It turned out to be a good call, as although it was an excellent show, I got a lot of very useful jobs done during the morning. But Mr Dawes sent me the usual crop of pictures of most of the layouts. He did miss a couple that I’d like to have seen, but that’s my problem!!
First off, a string of photos of Bournemouth West (OO). It’s quite justifiably doing the rounds of two-day shows at the moment (just imagine taking this to a one day exhibition), as it’s a fantastic layout.
I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Great Bardfield (P4), a lovely slice of East Anglia. I liked Allan’s photo of the train with an ex-GER tank engine, with an old GER and an old GCR coach in tow.
Nice modern image N on Shaftesbury Parkway.
Last for today, another familiar layout, Blackmoor, a pleasant slice of Lynton & Barnstable in OO9. I tried building the L&B in OO9 as a teenager, but it failed, as there just wasn’t the commercial support 50 (help, 50) years ago!
All sorts of odds and ends have been happening up in the railway room, with not a lot of room to move around!
Michael has nearly finished his module. Almost all his own work, with advice from dad. Hopefully it will still work after ballast and scenery and be ready for the ESNG open day.
Where I did help was the tree making. The trees I had in the scenery box were pretty nasty. Rather than buy some new ones, I thought it was time to learn how to make trees. A twist of masking tape around the trunk, and a lot of foliage material and they look amazingly better. I couldn’t tell you the species, but that’s a step too far. They are now planted in a small wood on one corner of the module.
Next job, a little rewiring of my end loops, to allow two trains to be held on a loop. The switches are half-hidden by the existing small hill. I tested them today, linked to another module, and something seems a bit wrong. I shall have to have another go at the wiring when my brain is working! I did also replace the tunnel mouth that was damaged coming home from Stuttgart last year.
I have been distracted again by a couple of aircraft kits in 1/48 scale. There are one of my favourite aircraft, a bf-108 from Eduard, in 1936 air race colours, and an Airfix Sea Fury, in Australian navy colours. Both are excellent kits, fitting together with little trouble and little filler needed.
Finally, I am completing a project started under covid lockdown. I half built two N Gauge Society Gresley full brake coaches, but was very unhappy with the results. Recently, Isinglass have started to make LNER coaches in N, 3D printed in resin. I bought a wooded and a steel brake coach, and the end results are pretty good – much better than the NGS one. These kits can have their own chassis, or clip onto Dapol Gresley underframes. The Dapol bogie centres are wrong, but only by a couple of millimetres – frankly you can’t see difference. I still have to finish the decals (from the NGS kit) and glaze them and add the roof.
Next job – some NCI loops (once I get the NClub loops working!)
Moving on, Brighton East is an old friend, but I love the fact that it is instantly recognisable as Brighton. We did wonder how the nuclear flask wagons had got there. Perhaps lost from Dungeness, or perhaps carrying vital supplies for the Sussex County Hospital?
I love Roundtree Sidings, with light rail and a chocolate factory on Tyneside in the 1980’s.
Flintcombe, S&DJR in Dorset in P4. I liked the Morris Men (but only in this scale) and the local hunt crossing the bridge.
Hope-under-Dinmore, GWR and LNWR, again in P4. There were a lot of P4 layouts on display. I rather like this blurring of the edges, rather than the doctrinaire division of modelling standards of the past. There also seems to be a meeting of 2mm finescale and N finescale. After all, they’re all railways and good modelling is good modelling.
And finally, a light railway diorama – part of a full layout booked for the 2026 show.
I had a very pleasant visit looking at some excellent modelling. These specialist exhibitions also seem to be very friendly, and the operators are ready to chat. And I didn’t have to spend any money (except for entry.)
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.
 | Allan Dawes on On my workbench – module… |
| “Stuttgart 202… on Stuttgart 2025 – 4… | |
 | Jonathan Caswell on Stuttgart 2025 – 4… |
 | Chuckster on Brockenhurst show 2025 |
 | snitchthebudgie on Potpourri #1130 |
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