Phil's Workbench: Railex 2012

Monday, May 28, 2012

Railex 2012

Railex is the last significant shopping opportunity of the model railway season before the summer fallow period. This year it was also a rare opportunity to see three layouts whose blogs I follow, next to each other. These being, Albion Yard, Brewhouse Quay and Bron Hebog.

Arriving on the Sunday just over half an hour before the doors opened, we parked near the hall on a bit of lumpy grass. Tickets purchased we joined the odd juxtaposition of model makers and gym bunnies in the entrance. They sweated it out on torture machines, we just stood there. Neither side was a credit to the fashion industry.

Inside, the hall is pleasant, reasonably airy and well lit. The aisles were wide enough and getting about not a problem. Although not a large show, it's well worth the money (£7.50, no concessions for the coffin dodgers) as the quality is high on both the layout and trade side.

Wandering around, I picked up all of my short shopping list with ease including a couple of goodies that I hadn't planned for. There were interesting conversations to be had, some of which I can't mention here, with interesting people. I did manage to make a joke about show accommodation being not as good as Basingstoke to the guy I though was the Basingstoke exhibition manager, only to realise a few minutes later that he was from Ukfield. People who run toy train shows are starting to look the same. Or at least they give me the same "are you mad" look when I talk to them.

I'm not going to pick favorites here as there were several layouts I'd like to build. More to the point, there were several items of rolling stock I want to have a crack at. Every time I walked past the Gauge 3 stand I coveted their resin-bodied wagons. The crane on Canada Road appeals too - detailed Triang which has been with the builder since he was a kid and now takes pride of place on his finescale model, albeit with a few modifications.