CRAIG WEATHERLEY reports from this local show, weekend 29th & 30th June 2019.
You may have seen my article earlier in the year about the Bluebell Railway Branch Line Weekend. While that show was about real-sized trains, this one is about their model counterparts.
A number of layouts ranging from N to O attended the show and the exhibitors were positioned all around Sheffield Park station and Horsted Keynes stations. I had an exhibit of my own; a 3½" gauge live steam Merchant Navy loco in BR Blue which was built by my Grandad and took him 16 years to complete. As luck would have it, we were right next to the Gaugemaster stand in the new maintenance shed at Sheffield Park.
I had a good wander around the show - here are some of my favourite layouts which were on display:
Newchapel Junction is a privately-owned O Scale layout. It depicts a railway somewhere in the post-grouping period near Yeovil where the Southern and Great Western Railway areas met.
This OO Scale motive power depot was built by the East Grinstead Model Railway Club, and had a lot of BR locomotives on show.
More modern locomotives could be seen on Dorking Town, an N Scale layout built by the Dorking and District Model Railway Club. The depicted stock is drawn from nationalisation through to today.
Now some pictures of the real thing...
The newly finished Standard Class 4MT tank engine 80151. This locomotive has had a complete overhaul.
Q Class No.30541 being loaded at Sheffield Park.
No.73082 'Camelot' shunting back to the yard to be re-loaded.
SE&CR Class 01 pushing coaches back into Sheffield Park.
The Terrier 'Stepney', one of the Bluebell Railway's first locomotives, celebrates its 144th birthday.