I haven't been able to go to many model railway exhibitions this year, but then I found out that Warners, publishers of both Garden Rail and British Railway Modelling, were sponsoring a show up in Settle. And like the bought-and-paid-for company people we are, Amy and I thought we'd best go up there (not least because some of the models for the next batch of BRM practical pieces would need to be collected off the magazines stand). A trip on a soon to be extinct class 158 deposited us, and quite a number of visitors, in the Dales market town. The train had been quite busy, it was almost like Northern should put longer, and more regular, trains on this main line...
The exhibition was a curious one; spread throughout the town, and free to enter all the venues, with eatery options and live music. Typically after weeks of hot weather, it was due to go extremely manky (technical term) that day, but it was merely threatening when we arrived.
The first lot of venues were in the station yard, with a mix of trade and layouts. A lovely bit of TT:120, tempting me very much towards making something in this scale.
Oooh, it's like being in an episode of Grand Designs.
Over to the Victoria Hall (after a lovely brunch at the Naked Man Cafe), where amongst a bit of trade from the likes of Ellis Clarke, and Sheffield Trains, there were some more layouts.
How many points for All The Yellow Trains?
I'll be honest; I didn't get many model shots. Not because the models were boring or poor, far from it. But the individual venues hosting them were small, crowded, and because of the weather, a bit stuffy. I was hard to get decent shots or angles.
A rather impressive test track, with Ribblehead viaduct.
This model is a good opportunity to mention that most of the layouts on show made heavy use of digital technology; some, like this one, were more about the operation by computer than the layout. To be honest that sort of thing left me a little cold, which is a personal thing. I spend almost every day at work operating and maintaining advanced robotics and digital technology, and rather like my model-making analogue. At some point I'll need to embrace the future (well, present), but for now I'm dodging it where I can.
Back onto the station.
We had 20 mins to kill before the train back down the valley (which, because of the frankly stupid timetable Northern insist on, we had to get to avoid a further three hour wait. On an Anglo-Scottish main line!). Luckily the preserved signal box was open.
This might look like a random, arty shot, but there's method in the madness, as it informs an upcoming project for Garden Rail that me and Amy are doing at the moment.
It's traditional, I gather, to post pictures showing off the swag acquired at these exhibitions, and the hundreds of pounds spent on the latest Bachmann locomotives. Working to something of a budget however due to various real-life reasons, we could stretch to a free kit from Metcalfeshire...
...and a dog-eared reproductive copy of the Hornby Book of Trains, because my Techo Fear means I'm more interested in clockwork and tinplate at the moment. Still, it was a few quid for the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Railway Society, so a worthy cause.
All in all, a slightly odd exhibition. Scattered as it was throughout the town, meant it was a bit different to any exhibition I'd been too before, and the muggy, close atmosphere of the day made it a bit stuffy in some of the venues (combined with the heavy rain of the afternoon). That said, it was friendly and welcoming, and it was something a bit different. It will be interesting to see how it develops in the future.
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