Railex 2013

No cake. That's what I remember from Railex 2013.

Others might say it was a terrific show but what I can tell you is that there was no cake available. Worse, the good folks behind the 3mm scale layout Hemlock taunted me with exhibitors cake.

Never mind, it was a terrific show and since the weather outside was sunny I was at least able to take advantage of the ice cream van in the car park.

In the hall, the layouts were terrific. I'd gone with a great big shopping list (mostly fulfilled) and just as long a list of people to chat to (again, mostly done).

For many the star was a 7mm scale layout called "Bucks Hill". It was a most impressive piece of work - simply erecting the model at the show apparently took 8 hours! The backscene is a masterpiece, not just of superb painting but rarely seen perspective modelling. Instead of a simple flat background, the artist responsible added 3D elements both fully and relief modelled.

Sadly, technical problems seemed to plague the model every time I visited so I didn't see much run. Such was the quality of display, this didn't seem to matter to the punters and there was always a huge crowd around it. I think that tells you just how good a model it is. As far as I know, this is to be its one and only appearance at a show - pity as there are a lot of people who would like to see it.

Another layout that appealed was the On30 Mumby Lumber Co. While a very simple layout, at each end there are the most fantastically detailed workshops for the audience to peer in to. On the track, logging trains are cleverly unloaded into the river - or at least into a hole in the river!

You've already seen over the last couple of days Polbrooke Gurney, a little layout I helped out with some rolling stock. Regular coverage on the web and in ModelRail ensured that despite being tiny, the audience didn't overlook it. In fact, I think knowing how much of the modelling has been done made it even more appealing to people who wanted to see how close it was to the photographs they had already seen. Needless to say, there are obviously not enough pictures as the visitors took the time to snap a few more.

Anyway, enough talk, the photos are here. Enjoy!