The last weekend in October again, and this time
literally the last day and everyone who has Narrow Gauge railway modelling in
their blood who is able to is, or should be, on their way to Swanley in Kent
for the annual fest of all that is best in the hobby. ExpoNG is thought by some
to be a NG modelling trade show with a few layouts scattered between the
traders; well I counted 23 layouts and this didn’t include some that were on
trade stands, so I don’t think that charge holds any water nowadays, not this
year certainly! Once again, it was a fantastic day out amongst about 700 like
minded people and as far as I know everyone enjoyed themselves immensely, I
certainly did. Long distance award this year went to Yoshiya Kobayashi and
friends, who came all the way from Japan just to be there.
There was so much to see that I have had to
split this report into 2 parts, as I did in both 2013 and 2014. More splendid
layouts to see, in a variety of scales and a variety of sizes, plus an extended
collection of photos of the largest layout at the show. The Sussex Downs Group
Evaleight Light Railway was assembled in its entirety for what we have been
told was positively the last appearance in this form. Modules of this layout
will be seen at shows again, but not the whole railway as it takes such a lot
of manpower, time and transport to get it from A to B, so I thought it totally
appropriate to take a larger than usual number of photos to give a tour of the
system as a souvenir of appreciation to the Sussex Downs Group for a layout
that has entertained for many years.
