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Back to Uckfield for the rest of the layouts.

Sherton Abbas in finescale ‘0’ is a delightful model, with some excellent modelling,  Yes, it’s a GWR branchline, but it’s set in the Edwardian era, when the GWR was less standardised and generally more interesting than its later years.  Definitely a show highlight!

More ‘0’ gauge, but Irish 5’3″ gauge, a scaled 36.75mm…

Newton Heath works, including ‘0’ and ‘0-16.5’ won the Wild Swan Cameo competition in 2019….

Whilst Clearwater Harbour is just On30, somewhere in North America….

Great Bardfield, in P4, is set in deepest Essex, home of light railways such as the Colne Valley….

Which leaves another GWR branch line, but another very special one.  Modbury is in 2mm finescale and again set in Edwardian days.  There’s some interesting trackwork here, as Ian Smith has modelled some of the track as Brunel’s Baulk Road – it may have been broad gauge at one time.  Another show highlight here, inspiring me to try harder!

The fiddle yard turntables were especially useful to see, with the clever latches at the end.  Lovely rolling stock, as well, especially the coaches.

So, that’s the Uckfield show.  I’m not sure where I’ll try next.  Perhaps Tolworth, as I usually find that a good show and it seems to be going ahead.  We’ll see….

I took my life in my hands and visited my first model railway exhibition since covid this afternoon.  Uckfield is one of my favourite shows, so I slipped down there on Sunday afternoon, hoping (reasonably successfully) to miss the crush.

In the end I visited for 45 minutes or so. Enough time to see everything, and chat to a few people that I knew, before it all seemed a bit too crowded.  As always a good show and some excellent layouts. My only criticism was not the show, but the punters. When there are numerous signs politely requesting mask wearing when moving around the hall, why are so many people ignoring it? I’m sure most of them weren’t exempt, just rude and bl**dy minded!  Still, it was great to get back to a show after 18 months or so, but I shall be selective which ones I go to this autumn.

But what about the trains, they said!

We start with Marmagne, a French branch line in H0.  An attractive scene made even better by those wonderful French railcars.  I love the ones with the driver sitting in the roof!

Great to see Graham Bridge exhibiting Southwark Bridge.  A lovely London terminus in ‘N’, and Graham has obviously used lockdown to add some more EMU’s.

Into the main hall, and Axebridge in 00-9.

One of the show highlights was John Greenwood’s 2mm layout.  He has a grand plan to model the western end of the Southern Railway, including Wenfordbridge, Bodmin, Boscarne, Wadebridge and Padstow.  Wadebridge, and the close to complete Padstow, made the trip from his loft to Uckfield.

I’ve seen Wadebridge before, but it bears another close look.  Some lovely scratch built locos are in the engine shed – especially the 2-4-0T Beattie well tank and the 4-4-0 T9.

Padstow is very clever, with the line laid out to loop around the estuary to include the long girder bridge and link up to Wadebridge.

I liked Llawryglyn in EM, a bucolic part of the Cambrian Railway somewhere near Machynlleth.

A less bucolic part of Wales is shown in Llandowdno (00), somewhere in north Wales in BR days and close to closure.

Finally for today, Horsethief Bridge in ‘N’.  American modelling at its best – and simplest – with long trains travelling very slowly at scale speeds through the countryside.  It took about five minutes for a train to travel from one end of the layout to the other – it’s a big layout, but that’s still a crawl!

More layouts next post.