Sunday, March 24, 2024

Ally Pally 2024

The London Festival of Railway Modelling took place last weekend, and as usual, I spent the weekend on my feet, talking to anyone and everyone. I've heard suggestions of 6000 visitors on Saturday, and they all seemed to want to ask questions!

So, my exploration was pretty limited, but there were some cracking layouts to be seen. 

The first one I spotted, partly because it it's displayed higher than most, and nicely, brightly lit, was Tramlink. This is a very modern scene and there's no hint of the steam era.

The Royal Albert Bridge is apparently part of a Great Model Railway Challenge layout - and it's a fantastic model. Once that quayside is complete, I'll defintely be chansing it to photograph for a magazine feature. 

The Yard is O16.5, industrial, and full of operating features. I'd love to have the skill to produce something like this, but the engineering is beyond me. It's very much worth a look if you get the chance to see it at a show. 

And finally, the best pair of Lego layouts I've ever seen. Better still, they could be driven, using what I think are Scalextric controllers, by the public. I should say "the kids" but I had a go, and so did my boss!

These are just four of my favourites, but there were plenty more. Tradewise, the show is a bit box-shifter heavy, but that's the consequence of a London venue pushing the prices up. There was plenty of variety though, and the prices on second-hand items were considered by many to be more reasonable than normal. I picked up a Tri-ang wagon to match the giraffe cars for £6, which is definitely a good deal. 

One complaint - that floor is HARD - I certainly knew about it by mid afternoon! But it's well worth it for all the chat. If you came along, thanks very much, I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did.

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