Wednesday, 27 October 2021

19 October 2019, M5-M50 Narrow Gauge Modellers Exhibition, Corse & Staunton village hall. Catching Up Report 12 of 15

A rare treat for me that the very next weekend from my visit to the Christchurch MRX, I found that I had a free Saturday and the M5-M50 NG Modellers event was taking place. As the last one of these Group events that I had got to this year was the SWOONS, way back in January, I decided to take the opportunity to make the journey up from home in Dorset to the venue, north of Gloucester and almost exactly 100 miles. Well worth the effort. The very good balance and variety of scales covered, from 009 to Gn15 was the best that I can remember in a local/regional area group village hall type event such as this, as well as the splendid quality of the modelling, excellent refreshment service and the presence of both 009 Society and 7mm NG Association sales stands. Very well done to the M5-M50 Group organising team indeed!




Sunday, 24 October 2021

12 October 2019, Tarrant Valley Railway and other NG Layouts at the Christchurch MRC exhibition. Catching Up Report 11 of 15

As 2019 continued, my free time became very restricted, so after the visit to Exeter back in June, I was not able to get to any more events during the summer. However when I learned that the Wimborne Railway Society were bringing their famous Tarrant Valley Railway, which I had not seen for quite a while, in October to the Christchurch MRC exhibition in Bournemouth, just 20 miles or so from my home, I managed to free myself up for a couple of hours, knowing that I couldn’t get to ExpoNG this year and this might be the last opportunity to get to a show with a NG presence for quite a while. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that there were also 3 other 009 layouts at the show and although I only had time for a brief visit to each of them, I’ve managed to include a few photos of these as well as the Tarrant Valley. Click on the link below and enjoy!




29 June 2019, Narrow Gauge Layouts at the Exeter MRX - Catching Up. Late Report 10 of 15

2019 was rather bare for me in terms of being able to attend events so when I found that on the last Saturday in June I had a rare free day and the Exeter MRX was on, I decided to get over to Devonshire, 2 hours drive from home for me, and catch up with the SWOONS (South West 009 Society group), who take over the entrance area of the large hall and run a narrow gauge exhibition within the exhibition! I don’t often go to major model railway shows but I’ve managed to visit this one 3 times and it is indeed a very good mainstream show, held in the indoor cattle market. If you are in this part of the world in June then I thoroughly recommend a visit to the Matford Centre, you won’t regret it!

A splendid event, well organised and good facilities; overall it was a great way to spend a summer Saturday and re-connect with narrow gauge modelling friends from the SWOONS Group.




Friday, 22 October 2021

30 March 2019, The Narrow Gauge Show & 009 Society AGM, Rainford, Merseyside - Catching Up. Late Report 9 of 15

2019 heralded the 5th 009 Society AGM & NG show organised by Stan Williams and his team, and the 4th one in biennial sequence, so all regular attenders had by now got used to what to expect for the event! Just the one venue this year in the regular Parish Hall, where everyone attending managed to be crammed in amongst layouts, traders, refreshments and of course the famous Rainford Cakes! The AGM meeting itself was more than a bit of a squash, but that thankfully resulted in it being completed fairly promptly so we could all get back to the important business of admiring the layouts and enjoying mutual interest fellowship. Another excellent day out in Merseyside and for myself, well worth the 500 mile round trip and 18 hour day! Due to the limited time available because of the AGM, I did find myself having to hurry along quite a lot, so I had to make a decision to keep the time in front of layouts down, take some photos and move on; if it was a layout that has been featured regularly before, then I did not linger, so if your own layout is a well known one, but has only received scant coverage, then I apologise, this is the reason, nothing to do with favouritism or anything! I hope you all enjoy the photo album.





Monday, 18 October 2021

12 January 2019, Ilton, Somerset. SWOONS Members Open Day – Catching Up. Late Report 8 of 15

Having not been able to get to the SWOONS do in 2018, first one I’d missed for many a year, I was determined to make it for the 13th South West 009 Soc Group open day at Ilton, somewhere west of Yeovil on the Somerset Levels this time, and I’m very pleased that I did because it was another memorable day out amongst friends and the fellow-afflicted NG modelling enthusiasts who had travelled from near and far to take part in the fellowship of the Tardis that is the Merryfield Village Hall and to have first dibs of the year at the wonderful 009 Soc Sales Tables! It’s only a small place, but Geoff Bowyer and his fellow SWOONS members know how to fill it with examples of quality modelling and still find room for a hundred or so to come and enjoy the delights! As ever, Matt and Maria Gicquel travelled from their Devon Railway Centre to lock themselves in the kitchen and provide cakes and of course, hot Oggies, all day. Much appreciation!




Friday, 15 October 2021

01 December 2018, Colehill near Wimborne, Wessex NG Modellers Open Day - Catching Up, Late Report 7 of 15

This little gathering in the first week of December has become a regular end of year get together with a chance to make some last minute Christmas purchases from the well stocked 009 Soc sales tables, see some great narrow gauge modelling and enjoy like minded fellowship in a totally informal and friendly atmosphere. This was the 7th occasion and, like the previous ones, attracted visitors from near and as far away as the West Midlands as well as those enthusiasts who brought layouts along, notably Jim and Lyn Owers from the Isle of Wight and Bob Vaughan from Watford, just to share the day with modelling friends and colleagues. For a change I managed to overlook taking any photos of the 009 Society sales stand, but I can assure all that it was there! Overall, a splendid pre-Christmas get together was enjoyed!





Wednesday, 13 October 2021

27 October 2018 - Expo Narrow Gauge, Swanley, Catching Up, Late Report 6 of 15

End of October, getting cold and wet, clocks going back to wintertime and it is once again time for ExpoNG! Having not being able to get there for the first time in many years in 2017, I was determined to make it to Swanley this year and I’m glad I did as, not only was it a very good event, but sadly, it was also my last one as I couldn’t get to the next year’s event in 2019 and as it turned out, that was the final ExpoNG for the foreseeable future for a number of reasons, including the, at the time, unforeseen Covid pandemic and lockdowns. ExpoNG might return in the future but many don’t think it will be in the same format as we had all become used to at the White Oak Leisure Centre.

This 2018 event featured two anniversaries – the 35th ExpoNG and the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich & District NG Railway Society, who are the organisers of the show. Fitting then that the Dave Brewer Challenge this year was to be a difficult one, in producing a working layout in a space of only 50cm x 35cm. Eight skilled modellers rose to the challenge and their excellent results are covered in Part 3 of this report.

I would have normally made a report of a large event such as this into 2 Parts, but to make it easier for me to put it together, and hopefully for you to view the photos and captions, I have put it into 3 Parts of approximately 50 photos each. When you have finished viewing one of the parts, click on the main “back arrow” top left of your screen to get back to the blog page and then click on the link to get to the next Part you want to view, or to scroll down to another report. I hope that is clear enough, I’ve no doubt that I will be told quick enough if it isn’t!

PART 1



PART 2




Friday, 1 October 2021

14 October 2018, Museum of Transport at the Christchurch MRC Exhibition, Catching Up, Late Report 5 of 15

 After NG South in April, I was unable to attend any further events until later in the year when I learned that Robin Ogden would be bringing his 4mm scale Museum of Transport to the Christchurch MRC exhibition in Bournemouth, which is only about 45 minutes from where I lived. I determined that I had to do whatever it took to get to see it, which I’m pleased to report that I did manage to do so.

I have struggled to find the best way to present this report as much of this splendid layout describes itself very adequately through the images, so I decided that photo captions would be left out unless it seemed necessary to add supplementary information in some cases and that I would as far as possible restrict the words without rambling off into general comments!

Robin made a comprehensive description of the layout in the exhibition programme and I can’t improve on that, so here is the introduction to The Museum of Transport, extracted from Robin Ogden’s own words:

Situated in a coastal town somewhere in England, the former dock area is ideally placed to display the many different aspects of our transport, industrial and maritime heritage.

Railway exhibits are housed in a purpose-built gallery where may be found historic and unusual locomotives, carriages, signals and other artefacts associated with a century and a half of railways in the British Isles. A self-service cafeteria is open in the railway gallery. The building is glass fronted with the roof removed for maximum visibility.


4mm electric tramcars operate on a double track around part of the layout that also includes the road gallery housing an extensive collection of classic motor vehicles and the tramway depot. A miniature railway (based on N gauge) operates around this area and beyond. A diesel railcar or a standard gauge tank locomotive & brake van operates to and from the engine sheds alongside the dockside line, crossing over the two branch docks by a working bascule bridge and a swing bridge. The line runs the entire length of the layout (approximately 20 feet).

In the first dock is moored a freelance passenger steamer, St Olaf and a retired coastal lightship based on the Spurn Light. In the second dock are a steam paddle-tug, a Clyde Puffer and a smaller vessel, whilst at the other end of the layout a dry dock is home to a model of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company’s former passenger and mail ship, RMS Scillonian.

The front part of the layout offers an area available for varied displays: bus rallies, military vehicle displays, classic vehicle rallies etc as well as home to a scale model RAF Lancaster bomber. A visiting brass band plays a selection of melodies and there is a hot air balloon for visitors to be elevated to 200 (scale) feet to enjoy overall views of the museum.

High time to visit the photo report:

Click HERE to view the Photo Album for this Report