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A pleasant surprise at Eurospoor was the visiting UK based layouts.  I had seen recently seen two of these at UK shows, but it was good to see them flying the flag for UK layouts.  Firstly ‘Warren Lane’.  You’d think that a layout that just shuffled container wagons around would be pretty boring.  But not when there is a working travelling crane loading and unloading the container wagons.  And when one looks at the trains more closely, there are so many different types of wagon and indeed container in use.

I’d also seen ‘Kayreuth’ in recent weeks.  This complex N-gauge German layout is in some ways more ‘European’ than some of the European layouts on display.  Lots of tracks and lots of trains on display – I had to remind myself that we had just travelled on a similar prototype from Schipol to Ultrech.

Last of the UK contingent was Rhydwyn, an O-gauge model of a steel mill, with an explanation of the manufacturing processes being carried out.

Finally today, here are two photos of one of my favourite layouts from the show.  Not from the UK, or indeed UK prototype, but Helenensiel has all the features of a sleepy UK branch line terminus – but I’ve never seen such a model in Z-gauge before.  It’s difficult to tell that it’s ‘Z’ and it ran perfectly.

Today I’ll post some shots of the best European modelling on display.  We start with Gletsch, a HO-m model of the Swiss metre gauge.  There seemed to be little compression of the station area, and the narrow gauge was allowed to sprawl though the landscape.  Most impressive were the rack sections and steep gradients that meant the layout started near head height, the station was normal baseboard level, then the track dropped down near to the floor.  One impressive piece of modelling was the broken water of the mountain torrent parallel to the lower rack section.  I hope this comes out in the photos below.

Next we move to ‘Braggels Baenke’ (reminds me of that old kid’s show, ‘Fraggles Rock).  This is a Dutch steam / early diesel terminus with some delightful modelling.  Modellers in the Netherlands seem to have closest to the UK ‘ethos’ for scale modelling.  I enjoyed the slow shunting movements, the nicely understated scenery, some delightful prototypes, and the working lifting bridge over the canal.

Finally, some O-gauge narrow gauge modelling.  A modular layout with lots of very good structure modelling and even a working rope incline.

Next time, some UK visitors!

Yesterday’s trip to Eurospoor has come and gone.  It was an excellent, but very, very, long day.  It’ll take several blogs to do justice to it all.  In summary….

• 0609: On Earlswood station to catch the first train of the day, three stops to Gatwick.
• 0805: Breakfast and desperately needed coffee in Starbucks at Gatwick (where’s a MacDonald’s when you need one).  Met John and Paul at the gate, and took off by EasyJet to Amsterdam Schipol.
• 10:15: Arrive Schipol and walk straight from airport onto the station concourse.  Like Gatwick but 19 platforms not 7 (I’m reliably informed that Schipol is the main junction in the Netherlands, where four lines meet).
• 10:45:  Having worked out the self-service ticket machine, we only have a three minutes wait for a train to Utrecht.  It’s a yellow and blue NS double deck EMU.  We take the top deck and watch the world go by.  It’s a fast and quiet ride, but I am relieved that it’s not perfect, as there is graffiti sprayed in the entrance lobby.  We pass through a little bit of countryside, but mainly the outer suburbs of Amsterdam.
• 11:30: It’s a bit of a walk in the rain from Utrecht station to the exhibition hall, but we are soon inside and planning the day.  John and Paul opt to go shopping first (surprise, surprise), but I first walk around both halls (one mainly trade, one mainly layouts).  Looking at the trade was very interesting, and I was (as always) tempted to buy a Flying Hamburger (German DMU) and also buy some Dutch stock, but resisted.  I’ll describe the layouts in more detail later.
• 17:00:  Footsore and (in two cases) considerably poorer, we leave the show to walk to ‘Chez Willie’s’, John and Paul’s recommended eating house.
• 17:30: Oh dear, Willie is no longer there.  Chez Willie’s has become a tapas bar.  Still, we eat there anyway and have a tasty, if a little pricey meal.
• 20:00:  Having taken the train back to Schipol, we experience the usual EasyJet end-of-day knock on delay, and our 21:20 flight leaves at 22:00 or so.
• 22:00:  A 45 quick minute flight back from Gatwick, and I miss the last train that stops at Earlswood by 10 minutes.  Thank you EasyJet.  So I take a train to the next station, Redhill, and an SOS to Maxine means that transport home is awaiting.
• 23:00: Arrive home to be greeted by the budgie.
• 23:15: BED.

So to the layouts.  I’ll probably take three or four posts with the photos.  Today, just a few giving a flavour of what was going on.  Then two or three more with some of the best layouts.  Apologies for a few of the photos.  I had to use my old camera, and I think the focussing is going a little strange…. So here we are, in the main hall.  Big by most UK standards.

Of the layouts, there were a number of modular set ups.  Some were ‘boxed’ scenes linked together, and others more generic HO or Marklin HO layouts.  There was often some very good modelling tucked away in these scenes. There was some very good narrow gauge modelling on display.

And some unusual scenes.  Here we have plenty of Z-gauge snow and a touch of broad gauge.

A interesting stand was the ‘A4 challenge’, a series of A4 dioramas, all having some excellent modelling.

Next time, I’ll have a more detailed look at some of the very good layouts on display. And how does it compare with the Stuttgart show?  For the shopper, Eurospoor must be better, with a whole hall of new and second-hand shops (though Honest John had to hunt for the bargains, as prices were generally high).  Stuttgart does seem to have more exhibits from the major manufacturers and more ‘small parts’ stands from specialist suppliers.  The layouts were probably comparable in number and standard, though Eurospoor has more and a much wider variety.  (Stuttgart being, of course, dominated by the N-club modular monstrosity).  Perhaps where Stuttgart does win out is that it is also a social event for the N-club meet.  And in fairness, both are well worth a visit.