Lincoln Garden Railway Show

25^th. / 26^th. February 2006

Lawns Visitor Centre Lincoln

The Visitor Centre was right in the city centre and easy to find. Admission to the show was £4 for adults with discounts for families. All proceeds were going to local charities supporting disabled children. Parking was pay and display at the Visitor Centre and there were plenty of spaces.

The stands were well laid out and there was plenty of room to move about easily. A few chairs would have been helpful particularly by the tea bar. This incidentally served the best bacon roll I have had for a long time.

Further refreshments were available in a café just outside.

There was a good selection of stands covering most aspects of the hobby. The usual gang were there Bay Models, Back to Bay6, and Chalk Garden Railway. I had to buy the new signals on the Pendlebury Model Stand. Modeltown also seem to have had some new characters to their ever growing collection.  Busybodies and Lineside Delights added their unique touch to.  Atropos, I.P.Engineering, Imp models and Sidelines also had some interesting items on their stands. Locobox did have a very nice blue Afikaan

Garrett on display alongside lots of other of those bits and pieces we need from time to time. Other traders included Tuxcraft, Brian James and Tony Green all with a good selection of items.

There were some good bargains to be had if you looked around as prices were very competitive and I could not resist buying the new LGB Heidi from Martins Models. A stand always worth checking out at these shows.

There was a large bookstall and Dave’s Videos along with PM Videos for those who like to read about and watch railways.

For the children there was the wonderful and all action Walt’s Playmobil

Layout.

 I never get tired of watching this layout and the sheer enjoyment that children get from getting there hands on this railway. I think Walt gets   more pleasure than the kids sometimes. He also had the only seating available for his small customers. The Pennygillan Mine went bang and the East Midlands Area group, who produced their layout at short notice, had a runaway black cat on their layout.

Another layout worth looking at if you get the chance is Rowland’s Lodge from the North Wales Group. I am told it keeps getting bigger and bigger.

After a good rummage around the show I went off to wander round Lincoln with its Castle and Cathedral and its steep hills. All in all a good day out.

Roger Palmer 2006.