A bit of a flying visit to the show this year, but enough to find a few interesting things to photograph.
My favourite was this Meccano model of the "Never Stop Railway".
The principle was simple enough - carriages were pulled along by a rotating screw. The pitch of this changed along its length. This allowed the carriage to slow (but not stop) in the station, while speeding up away from it. While I knew a little of the line, chatting to the builder made everything clear. Quite how he managed to bend the bits of metal into suitable forms is still a bit of a mystery though!
Edith is a boat made of cardboard, built in 1914.
Throughout her life, she's been refitted with different propulsion methods (currently a two-cylinder steam engine, but there are some early electric motors displayed) and control systems. And she is still sailing - that must be some sort of record.
In the "things I'd like to build" category, is this 7mm scale, 9mm gauge mine layout.
It's a really attractive and well-modelled scene. Those red sandstone cliffs really look the part. OK< so it's a novelty, the train just runs round and round, but certainly an eye-catching one.
The other model I'd love to have built, is this DeWinton loco in 16mm scale.
Handily, at ME shows, there is normally a sheet explaining the model. The kettle, a standard feature on DeWintons apparently, is the water top-up valve!
Finally, some food I've love to eat. Jacket spuds cooked in the smokebox of a miniature traction engine.
There are more photos from the show, over on my Flickr feed.
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