Yate Model Railway Exhibition - Saturday, 26th January

[JimG]

Just a short note to advertise our exhibition at the end of the month. Full details are given on our web site....

http://www.sodburyvalemrc.co.uk/_mgxroot/page_10777.html

This is our first year in our new venue at St.Mary's Church in Yate and it has been interesting fitting stands in and around fairly immoveable early Norman (and later) architectural features.

Simon will be there with the Titfield Thunderbolt stand and we have an excellent selection of demonstrators - Gerry Beale, Barry Norman, Gordon and Maggie Gravett and Dave Murdoch. Laurie Griffin will be present, but in his capacity as Club Chairman, so we might occasionally have to find onerous duties for him.

There will be no car parking available adjacent to the venue and the obvious parking place will be the large, free car park at the shopping centre, a short walk away. But be warned that there is a four hour restriction on any stay in this car park and they are quite active in imposing penalties - £40 if you pay up quickly, £80 if you don't.

Jim.

 

[TimC]

Looking forward to the show (actually I'm looking forward to after the show - I might just get back to doing some modelling.....).

The club's new O Gauge layout 'Somerset Lane' will be there, complete with JimG's glorious sectioned good shed complete with cranes. (No pressure Jim )

 

[JimG]

I heard from Pete Llellwyn at C&L last night that he won't be able to attend our exhibition on Saturday. Pete has been quite ill since the New Year, as has some of his staff, so running the company has been quite difficult in that time. He has also been advised to take it very easy for the next two weeks, so exhibition attendance is definitely out. We wish Pete all the best and hope that he gets back in harness as soon as possible.

On a lighter note, the snow threatened overnight has hardly made any impression as I look out this morning, so we don't expect any weather problems to affect us. In fact, Saturday is forecast to be relatively mild - a balmy 6C

Jim.

 

[TimC]

Just found out that Alan Ward will have TWO new railway paintings at the show BOTH local interest for Yate/North Bristol.

 

[JimG]

The view from my back door this morning shows that the heavy rain falling overnight has cleared most of the snow so exhibitors should have a straightforward journey here this morning. the church and hall were cleared and set up yesterday afternoon, so we hope that setting up will go easily. It is forecast to be dry for most of the day, so lest hope that encourages visitors.

Jim.

 

[Bob]

I decided to venture down to the show today and was very impressed with the high standard. Congratulations to JimG and the gang on an extremely enjoyable show. Top class demonstrators, excellent layouts and our favourite railway bookshop with Simon suitably attired for an exhibition in a church. The venue was more spacious than the old one too with car parking a short distance away. Picked up some excellent tips from Gordon Gravett and even managed to pick up some of the paper-coated wire he uses for his trees from a cake-makers shop in nearby Chipping Sodbury. I took my new girlfriend along so she could see what real railway modelling was all about and she was suitably impressed. 10 out of 10 folks!

 

[Simon]

A very nice show, with a positively heavenly setting and efficient and friendly organisation. The exhibits were very good too, I didn't manage any good photographs but this semi OK snap shows the natural realism of Ian Manderson's "Hartburn" layout to good effect I hope.



I had a good chat to Gordon and Maggie about their TV appearance, and caught up with a number of regular friends and exhibition goers. Book sales were buoyant again (I think everyone's had enough of last years prophets of doom telling us all how terrible everything is) and I saw Marc Smith's fantastic "Wales Rails Rain and Steel" for the first time - wow! Roger D6331 was there with Marc and he provided me with a very nice bottle of Brains in return for some dodgy resin bits I'd posted to him a while back. It went very nicely with the spag bol when I got home - thanks Roger!

And I picked up a couple of very nice things from the club's secondhand stall in the morning:



The lever frame (built from a kit?) operates well and possibly moves my idle daydreams about centralised point operation in the garden a step closer to reality but the DVD is a real corker, only produced last year (I think).

My favourite sequences both feature North British 63ers. The first shows shunting and hauling ballast trains at Coleford Junction and through Coleford Station in the Forest of Dean but the real humdinger (for me) is a more or less complete sequence of a short freight arriving at, shunting in and out of and then departing from Charlbury on the old Worse and Worse - absolutely stunning and I've never seen it before either.

And there's a Hymek departing from Aberystwyth too

And tons of Westerns

Simon

 

[Dog Star]

The exhibits were very good too... ...this semi OK snap shows the natural realism of Ian Manderson's "Hartburn" layout to good effect I hope.

Magic, superb, more please.

 

[JimG]

I shot a load of pictures during the day so this is just a few from the bunch.

And just to make people in other parts of the country a bit jealous, we had perfect weather on the day with clear blue skies and sun



....as this picture of the church on the day shows.



Simon setting up in his very own medieval archway in the South transcept.



Barry Norman trying to get some shots of Maurice Hopper's "St.Juliot", with some encouragement from Gordon Gravett.



"Wales, Rails, Rain and Steel" with Marc Smith at the controls



2mm scale "Witney Euston" with the only snow in sight.



"Fryupdale" across the front of the altar.



The clubs own 7mm scale "Somerset Lane" with Paul and Graham operating and the shed of many slates in the left foreground.



Simon actually at work.



Gordon and Maggie Gravett at the other side of the church in the North transcept.



and Gerry Beale at the west end of the church - next to the stone font.

It was our first use of the church as a venue and the day went very well for us, with just short of 6oo people through the door. We had very few problems for our first experience of the church and we hope to be able to use it again for next year, and for subsequent years.

Jim.