Larger Scale Show 2013

Some shows require a day trip, others quite a bit less. My feelings toward the Larger Scale model railway show were that a couple of hours would be enough. Planning to back in time to make some lunch, I bunged a potato in the oven on a low heat and headed off.

The show is 10 minutes drive from my home and most of this took place in light snow. The car park was being organised by freezing stewards carefully parking people on the edges of the roadways so they didn't have both wheels in the soggy grass.

Inside, the exhibition centre was nicely full. First up there was an O gauge foreign layout and beyond this the Gauge 1 test track. The air was thick with meths and steam - always a good sign.

Wandering around, I managed to press my MREmag.com card (first results) into a few hands and had a few useful chats with people behind the stands. It seems there are many good things on the way in the garden railway world. That's in addition to some very good things already crying out for the attention of my wallet. The GER J65 starter kit from Barrett Engineering is now available in electric form for a very reasonable £375. I'm sure one of you would like to buy one for me...

There was some top scratchbuilding on display. The little Simplex G class at the top of this post is a gem. Powered by a Romford Bulldog motor and with both axles driven through a simple set of bevel gears, it runs on wagon wheels and is built to 16mm the foot scale. I look at this sort of model and realise that I could do this, even the engineering bit (probably). What's more, I am really in the mood for a scratchbuilt railway project right now. Not an oddball diesel perhaps, but it is inspirational.

Not everything is within my grasp. Looking at a live steam loco "in the brass", I realise that I'd need to learn a lot of engineering to achieve anything similar. It doesn't mean I can't enjoy it though.

"Larger scale" means O gauge and bigger. I particularly enjoyed Glen Fiddich, not the drink, the layout. Saved from the skip, it's a very attractive model with a lovely distillery at one end. On another model, whose name escapes me, there was a lovely P Class. It's owner couldn't recall the maker, which is probably a good thing as I don't need another loco right now. It would work well on Clayhanger Yard though...

Anyway, a good time was had. Fortunatly I like my jacket spuds good and crispy.

Photos from the Larger Scale Show