Large Scale Model Railway Show

Warwickshire Exhibition Centre

14/15th. April 2007.

Although I personally feel that this show is overpriced at £7. 50 per adult. It does have plenty of free easy accessible free parking and there is plenty going on. There are nearly 40 stands and thirteen layouts of varying gauges.

This is the show to get to grips with all those little bits and bobs you need to complete your railway. Everything was there from glue and paint to precision engineered wheels and parts. Tools and a whole stand devoted to batteries. Sometimes shows can concentrate  to much on the boxed railway stock and leave one a little frustrated because you hoped to be able to see something different and to pick up an odd bit here and there that never seems to be in the shops.

Trying to cram in so much action into one hall did lead to some stalls being very cramped looking and clearly unable to show their full range of items that you would normally expect to see and organisers should try to balance quantity with quality of space. Some stalls looked jammed with only one or two people at them.

Luckily  space was made available for the layouts with Whiteleaf from the Buckinghamshire Garden Railway Society probably the largest down to Red |Rocks Railroad by M Swannell the smallest but each having its own perspective on the world of railway modelling. It was difficult to choose my favourite layout because they were all so varied and unique in their own way from the vintage years of Hornby and the classic tinplate trains in gauge one to the thundering Garratts of Ttarrag shed. In the end my layout of the show was tied between Hampton End (G scale) by  D.Gillard.with its beautiful quayside and Seabury Town  (O Gauge) by Mike Renwick because of its working dioramas that added that spice of realism to the railway and fascinated the younger visitors.

There was a display from Bekonscot Model Village and Railway and if you have not visited this railway in Beaconsfield you are certainly missing out. It is a great place for adults and children and the scenes they have set up combine a model village, with plenty of trains running round and  they still  manage to maintain  all this in a beautiful garden setting.

Avid Reader and Tee publishing offered a range of books etc to suit those interested in reading and learning more about railways. George Turner was there with his ever increasing range of model boats and figures in different gauges. I do like my model barge I bought from him several years ago although Jaws (my rather large Koi) did manage to snaffle the helmsman and dragged him into the depths of the pond leaving only his arm on the tiller.

I wish the Stoneleigh caterers would take a trip to this exhibition centre to see how catering should be done. The food was varied and good served by friendly staff who seemed to manage to serve people very quickly and efficiently and their assistants who cleared the tables to allow a very fast turnaround so everyone seemed to be able to get a seat. Well done!

All in all a good show shame about the entrance fee!

 A personal view from Rambling Roger. 2007.