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There was plenty to look at outside of the model exhibits (that include a deputation from the West Sussex N Gauge Group in a different building from us.)

The museum has a short length of 2′ narrow gauge line in operation, with two locomotives from Welsh slate quarries.  I was very taken with ‘Jerry M’, as I remember it appearing as a drawing in the long lamented ‘Model Railway News’ sometimes in the 1960’s.  I was into narrow gauge then, and wondered how difficult it would be to scratch build a model in O-16.5 scale.

Also on shed was this little Plymouth shunter….

And a second steam locomotive….

The carriages are an interesting museum piece in themselves, coming from the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway.  Wikipedia tells me that….

The Tunnel Railway was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge underground railway in Ramsgate, Kent, England.  Following the restructuring of railway lines in Ramsgate in 1926, the section of line between Broadstairs and Ramsgate Harbour including a tunnel to the seafront at Ramsgate was abandoned. The narrow-gauge Tunnel Railway was opened within the disused tunnel in 1936 to connect tourist attractions and shops near Ramsgate harbour with the new railway main line at Dumpton Park.

Except for its two stations—one at each end of the tunnel—the line ran entirely underground. The line was built in less than three months, and on its completion in 1936 was one of the shortest independent railway lines in the country. It was open for only three years before being converted to a major air-raid shelter during World War II. After the war’s end, it was not included in the 1948 nationalisation of British railways but remained in private hands.

Passenger numbers fell during the 1960s, and the line became economically unviable. Following a train crash in 1965, the owners closed the line at the end of September that year. The tunnel still exists, but no trace remains of either of the two stations.

Elsewhere there was plenty of steam, with stationary engines….

Traction engines and road rollers….

And large scale models of the traction engines….

Lots to look at and a most enjoyable weekend – if rather hard work!

Finally, here’s Allan’s video of the four trains running before I got there on Sunday – including the famous pink wagons!

And as I have (at last) worked out how to get files from Facebook to Youtube, here’s a little clip of the engines from a Swiss paddle steamer, from Allan & Ron’s holiday.

Well, we’re back from Hollycombe, and absolutely cream-crackered!  It was a fun weekend that lived up to it’s advertising:

It is with much excitment that we will see the model weekend return to Hollycombe in late summer. The weekend will have something for everyone, whether you are a die hard modeller or just looking for a fun day out. Across the weekend there will be all manner of models including miniature steam engines of various scales, model boats, fairground models, model tanks and there will even be a WW2 French Village battle each afternoon. There will be model railways and our historic steam powered fairground will be operating as usual. This is one of the biggest and busiest events on our calendar so make sure to come along and marvel at all of the wonderful sights.

The weather held, apart from one short shower, and the ESNG layout behaved itself.  Plenty of interest from punters, and so good to see lots of kids taking an interest rather than elderly men in anoraks.  (There were some of those as well.)

We were located in the storeroom and paint shop.  Rather dusty, but not as oily as the Bluebell Railway show!  Saturday was Japanese bullet day, as Paul brought along a selection of his trains.  I ran my Kato Penn Central set for six hours, and it wasn’t even warm at the end of the afternoon.

A 3×2 modular set up made a large layout.

Derek’s Junction and Goonhilly radomes made an interesting diversion.  We forgot two things on the day – I forgot the bridge for the fiddle yard with the track numbers on it to help operate the points.  Derek forgot the scenic inset for the junction – so we covered it with flyers for NGSE 2020.  Amazingly, some people took them (but we didn’t sell any ESNG wagons.)

Two generations of South-East travel…

Sunday and Allan’s silver (or rusty) bullets on the move.

A pink blur….  Allan claims that there is a prototype for this?????

On the Sunday, we had an ‘OO’ loco shed layout opposite us, with some fine commercial models on display, and lots of little cameo scenes around the layout.

On Saturday, these large fairground models were there.

The rest of the shed was full of fairground models, some to a very high standard.

Like this fine merry-go-round.

The real steam-powered prototype was giving rides outside.

Next post, I’ll have a few pictures of the railway and traction engines outside.

This weekend ESNG are exhibiting our modular layout at the Hollycombe Working Steam Museum model weekend, near Liphook, Hampshire.  Should be a lot of fun, especially if the weather holds and we escape running trains for a bit to explore the site!

It is with much excitment that we will see the model weekend return to Hollycombe in late summer. The weekend will have something for everyone, whether you are a die hard modeller or just looking for a fun day out. Across the weekend there will be all manner of models including miniature steam engines of various scales, model boats, fairground models, model tanks and there will even be a WW2 French Village battle each afternoon. There will be model railways and our historic steam powered fairground will be operating as usual. This is one of the biggest and busiest events on our calendar so make sure to come along and marvel at all of the wonderful sights.

Much as I like trains, model making of all kinds is interesting.  I’m not sure about the WW2 French Village Battle – sounds like an average ESNG club night to me?  And lots of live steam of all descriptions on site!