Banrail 2010

I hadn't planned to go to Banbury with a layout this year. However a freind had had to drop out for personal reasons, and I was planning to go as a punter, and Flockburgh needed to be set up for testing before our trip to Folkestone. Well, there was a nice flat space going begging and it was just as easy to set up there rather than disturbing the living room. This way we get the diesel paid for an free entry too !

A quick phone call to the organiser on Friday evening led to us being on the road at half eight on Sunday morning with a car full of train set.

Setting up we were pleased to be on the stage in the main hall. It's a nice dark spot so the model looks at its best. Getting up there is through a side door and past a broken piano so may be not everyone finds their way, but some certainly did.

Local shows can be a bit of a mixed bag and this was no different. The crowd wasn't huge but we spent most of the day chatting to people. In fact the gassbagging was better than many a larger event - maybe the enthusiasts were replaced by humans for the day !

On the cake front (I know that's what you all care about) I can report that the chocolate cake came in suitably large slices but ran out by lunchtime. It wasn't perhaps as moist as I like (the lemon drizzle was suffered in the same way) but perfectly acceptable and much better than a recent House of Fraiser muffin I encountered.

Trade wise there was a lot of RTR and second hand. But there were gems too. I picked up the Wiro kit for example and have some very interesting scenic stuff to show as well in a few days.


At the end of the day we'd well and truly tested the layout. Apart from a dry joint and one modification to a locomotive, everything went very well. We had a pleasant day and are now ready for the new exhibition season.