Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2009 Part I: The Show...
Every year, in early wintertime, the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham (West Midlands) hosts the National Model Railway Exhibition. The exhibition is organised and operated by the Warley Model Railway Club who, I must say, are marvellous at what they do! Running over two days, the show is, to put it simply...fantastic! The show includes over 300 exhibits, ranging from running layouts to modelling demonstrations and traders. (The largest exhibit will be featured in Part II of this post, don't miss it!). Since our first visit in 2003, we have visited the show every year without fail. In fact, in 2006 & 2008 we exhibited our 'O' Gauge (32mm) LEGO Model Railway, much to the delight of the youngsters(!), and we are booked to exhibit there again in 2010. This year, the show was once again held in the NEC's 'Hall 5' which is an absolutely huge space with endless possibilities. Each day, the show opens at 10am BUT, if you have purchased your ticket in advance then you can go in at 9:30am...just the ticket! (Excuse the pun!). We joined the already massive 'advance' queue at 9:15am and the show soon opened right on time. Once inside, we opted to head to the far side of the hall as the various "bargain hunters" were already filling the nearside stands! Once at the far side, we found a 'Warley regular':- "Stanley Midland", the well-known large-scale which mostly runs live steam...
On shed and raring to go was a beautiful model of a 4-6-2 7P Britannia Class locomotive. This engine (seen above) was a coal-fired example, differing much in terms of operating technique compared to her gas-fired counterparts. Of course the gas-fired engines are easier to operate as there is alot less cleaning down to do! (For example, you don't need to 'ash out' a gas-fired engine!). The owner of this marvellous macine was saying that he starts the fire using parrafin-soaked charcoal on top of which then goes the regular coal. The pacific was soon ready for duty but, much to my surprise, the engine backed off shed BUT, not onto the waiting 8-coach express, onto the adjacent 5-wagon freight train! The engine soon chugged off around the layout with the beautiful smell of burning coal lingering in the air. Great stuff!... 
From the massive live-steam beasts on "Stanley Midland" we took a complete downsizing to 'N' Gauge! The beautiful layout below, though I have forgotten its name (sorry chaps!), boasted long, sweeping main line tracks and lovingly-modelled countryside expanses. Below, a powerful little Great Western 4-6-0 (in BR Colours) sweeps along the mainline with a heavy express...
A layout that really caught my eye was another of the 'biggies': "Western View Engine Shed". This Western-region (how did you guess?!) layout is modelled centrally on a large steam locomotive running shed. However, the main line, served by the shed's locomotives, also runs along the back of the layout allowing full-trains to be seen as well as light engines returning for servicing. The main engine shed area, featuring many locomotives of varying sizes can be seen below. The main line can be seen at the very back of the layout, running along the upper level...
The main line rounded each end of the layout before dissapearing into a tunnel. (The tunnels then led to the Fiddle Yard's of course). Below, a lovely Western 2-4-0 works a 2-coach train away from the engine shed area (seen in the distance)...
Many of the layouts on display were, as usual, huge in terms of both length and width but others were of a more managable size, like the next one I will talk about. This lovely layout, named "Ormsgill", offered a single track line with a passing loop at an island-platform. The platform is then modelled for realism and a tranquil village scene is also included. The little platform also includes working lanterns...a nice touch! One train would wait in the station whilst the other traversed the circuit. From time to time, the two trains swapped duties. Interestingly, the red engine I saw, "Cambrai", is preserved in full-size form which, in this case, is Metre Gauge. (The 'real' "Cambrai" is based at the Irchester Railway Museum but is not currently steamable). A view of the wonderful station area on the "Ormsgill" layout is seen below...
In scale terms, some locomotives were absolutely huge! 45mm gauge locomotives are often massive though the two seen below really caught my eye, as did their massive engine shed! You would need a big loft to make a layout for these beasts to have a "good run" on! These are of course, garden railway machines...
Again, from big to small, "Yes. You are correct! This is an Ironing Board!". I think you'll all agree with me when I say that this is a fabulous little idea and a wonderful little layout. I think the gauge would be too small for me though! Well done to you Sir, my hat off to your great idea...
As well as the layouts on offer, there were many societies including the Severn Valley Railway, Stephenson Locomotive Society, Vintage Trains Limited, The Corris Railway, the Welsh Highland Railway, and many more! Mr Pete Waterman was also there, showing a DVD of his railway "Leamington Spa" (which I was privilaged enough to visit last weekend...see earlier post!). I must admit, I don't think I've ever seen the show so busy! It was absolutely packed from when we arrived and was just as busy when we were leaving! Anyway, thats just a tiny (and I mean tiny...it was a massive show!) of the 2009 National Model Railway Exhibition. Hope you enjoyed it. See Part II of the Warley Post for information on the heaviest exhibit by far!...
Every year, in early wintertime, the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham (West Midlands) hosts the National Model Railway Exhibition. The exhibition is organised and operated by the Warley Model Railway Club who, I must say, are marvellous at what they do! Running over two days, the show is, to put it simply...fantastic! The show includes over 300 exhibits, ranging from running layouts to modelling demonstrations and traders. (The largest exhibit will be featured in Part II of this post, don't miss it!). Since our first visit in 2003, we have visited the show every year without fail. In fact, in 2006 & 2008 we exhibited our 'O' Gauge (32mm) LEGO Model Railway, much to the delight of the youngsters(!), and we are booked to exhibit there again in 2010. This year, the show was once again held in the NEC's 'Hall 5' which is an absolutely huge space with endless possibilities. Each day, the show opens at 10am BUT, if you have purchased your ticket in advance then you can go in at 9:30am...just the ticket! (Excuse the pun!). We joined the already massive 'advance' queue at 9:15am and the show soon opened right on time. Once inside, we opted to head to the far side of the hall as the various "bargain hunters" were already filling the nearside stands! Once at the far side, we found a 'Warley regular':- "Stanley Midland", the well-known large-scale which mostly runs live steam...
On shed and raring to go was a beautiful model of a 4-6-2 7P Britannia Class locomotive. This engine (seen above) was a coal-fired example, differing much in terms of operating technique compared to her gas-fired counterparts. Of course the gas-fired engines are easier to operate as there is alot less cleaning down to do! (For example, you don't need to 'ash out' a gas-fired engine!). The owner of this marvellous macine was saying that he starts the fire using parrafin-soaked charcoal on top of which then goes the regular coal. The pacific was soon ready for duty but, much to my surprise, the engine backed off shed BUT, not onto the waiting 8-coach express, onto the adjacent 5-wagon freight train! The engine soon chugged off around the layout with the beautiful smell of burning coal lingering in the air. Great stuff!... 
From the massive live-steam beasts on "Stanley Midland" we took a complete downsizing to 'N' Gauge! The beautiful layout below, though I have forgotten its name (sorry chaps!), boasted long, sweeping main line tracks and lovingly-modelled countryside expanses. Below, a powerful little Great Western 4-6-0 (in BR Colours) sweeps along the mainline with a heavy express...
A layout that really caught my eye was another of the 'biggies': "Western View Engine Shed". This Western-region (how did you guess?!) layout is modelled centrally on a large steam locomotive running shed. However, the main line, served by the shed's locomotives, also runs along the back of the layout allowing full-trains to be seen as well as light engines returning for servicing. The main engine shed area, featuring many locomotives of varying sizes can be seen below. The main line can be seen at the very back of the layout, running along the upper level...
The main line rounded each end of the layout before dissapearing into a tunnel. (The tunnels then led to the Fiddle Yard's of course). Below, a lovely Western 2-4-0 works a 2-coach train away from the engine shed area (seen in the distance)...
Many of the layouts on display were, as usual, huge in terms of both length and width but others were of a more managable size, like the next one I will talk about. This lovely layout, named "Ormsgill", offered a single track line with a passing loop at an island-platform. The platform is then modelled for realism and a tranquil village scene is also included. The little platform also includes working lanterns...a nice touch! One train would wait in the station whilst the other traversed the circuit. From time to time, the two trains swapped duties. Interestingly, the red engine I saw, "Cambrai", is preserved in full-size form which, in this case, is Metre Gauge. (The 'real' "Cambrai" is based at the Irchester Railway Museum but is not currently steamable). A view of the wonderful station area on the "Ormsgill" layout is seen below...
In scale terms, some locomotives were absolutely huge! 45mm gauge locomotives are often massive though the two seen below really caught my eye, as did their massive engine shed! You would need a big loft to make a layout for these beasts to have a "good run" on! These are of course, garden railway machines...
Again, from big to small, "Yes. You are correct! This is an Ironing Board!". I think you'll all agree with me when I say that this is a fabulous little idea and a wonderful little layout. I think the gauge would be too small for me though! Well done to you Sir, my hat off to your great idea...
As well as the layouts on offer, there were many societies including the Severn Valley Railway, Stephenson Locomotive Society, Vintage Trains Limited, The Corris Railway, the Welsh Highland Railway, and many more! Mr Pete Waterman was also there, showing a DVD of his railway "Leamington Spa" (which I was privilaged enough to visit last weekend...see earlier post!). I must admit, I don't think I've ever seen the show so busy! It was absolutely packed from when we arrived and was just as busy when we were leaving! Anyway, thats just a tiny (and I mean tiny...it was a massive show!) of the 2009 National Model Railway Exhibition. Hope you enjoyed it. See Part II of the Warley Post for information on the heaviest exhibit by far!...
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