Llanfair and Telford

Last weekend was another busy one. Saturday saw me visiting the Llanfair garden railway show.

My plan was simple - talk to all the trade and as many other people as possible. Oh, and photograph a layout and video stuff.

The show is bigger than you might expect with a couple of sports halls, two squash courts, a side room and stuff in the corridors. Lots and lots to see. Enough to entertain anyone for a day but oddly, the crowds seemed to tail off rapidly at lunch time.

For you dear reader, I tried the local delicacies - Welsh cake and Bara Brith - which were handily packaged together for a quid. The cake was nice, if small, and the Brith tasted like a fruit loaf. Both very nice and I could have enjoyed seconds has I the time. 

As it was, the show passed in a blur of chatting and photography. Sadly, the video was less successful. The main layouts were in a dark hall and nothing much seemed to be running one the crowds lulled.

The reason, I suspect, was the terrific weather. On the way back we made the best of it with a quick stop at the Welshpool and Llanfair railway. Long enough to see a train depart and take a look at the little model railway exhibition in one of the sheds. That and the largest collection of second-hand railway books on sale I've ever seen. There was a days rummaging if you wanted it!

Photos from Llanfair show and railway on Flickr.

Sunday, I was back along some of the same motorway (hello M6) for the Gauge O Guild show at Telford.

This time I was on the hunt for new products and news for BRM. 

Well, there was plenty. My day was spent running between trade stands and the Guild's photo tent. Apart from 20 minutes for lunch and half an hour at that end of the day looking at layouts, I didn't stop from the moment the doors opened until chucking out time. There wasn't even time for cake!

Whisper it quietly, my favourite layout wasn't British.

Laramie engine terminal is a "micro" layout. Well, as micro as you can be when the rolling stock consists of US "Big Boy" locos. One side allows you to look into the engine shed. The other a coaling tower. Operation involved locos lumbering out of the shed, on to the turntable and then off to the fiddle yard. The locos are stunning and nicely weathered. You can't go wrong...

A few layout photos over on Flickr.