THE Christmas show - Manchester 2 & 3 December 2017!

[allegheny1600]

Christmas is coming!

For many railway modellers Christmas means a trip to
Manchester. With just 150 days until THE Christmas Model
Railway Show opens, the Manchester Model Railway Society is
proud to reveal today the line up of layouts and other
attractions for this popular exhibition. The exhibition will again
be held in the comfortable and well appointed surroundings of
the Barnes Wallis building on the University of Manchester’s
northern campus, a mere 250m from Piccadilly Station. It
remains the ONLY model rail exhibition to be held in the centre
of a major UK city.

The exhibition caters for the whole family. As well as an impressive selection
of high quality layouts, most of which have featured in the specialist modelling
press, there will be a number of activities for children, a wide and varied range
of traders, demonstrations of modelling techniques and other, less common,
attractions.
Exhibition coordinator, Philip Sweet said:
“We try to be innovative. Last year we hosted a film première, this
year we have an art exhibition. We are showcasing the work of
talented local transport artist Roger Markland, whose paintings of
railway scenes are highly regarded. There will also be a small display
of material linked to Sir William Stanier, Chief Mechanical Engineer of
the LMS who was our Honorary President for 27 years.
Our unique city centre location makes it easy for visitors to reach us
from all over the country. We have one of the most comfortable
venues on the exhibition circuit, and we are flattered that over 6% of
last year’s visitors travelled in excess of 100 miles to attend. We are
also proud that 75% of our visitors used public transport to attend
the exhibition – including 53% by train!
It’s not just the visitors who travel a long way, this year there are
layouts from as far afield as Cornwall, Surrey, Somerset, and
Cambridgeshire, so there is a rich variety of layouts which are rarely
seen in the north of England.”

The Society website contains details and pictures of all the layouts, and much
more information about the exhibition. www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition
To be kept informed of developments as the Exhibition takes shape, join
our mailing list by emailing: exhibition@mmrs.co.uk

 

[allegheny1600]

Full Steam Ahead!

Preparations for THE Christmas Model Railway Show are
running smoothly as the Manchester Model Railway Society
prepares for the 82nd public exhibition in its 92 year history.
The exhibition will again be held in the comfortable and well
appointed surroundings of the Barnes Wallis building, less than
3 minutes walk from Piccadilly Station.

The exhibition will feature some of the best finescale layouts in the country,
most of which have appeared in the pages of the various specialist modelling
magazines in the last two years. The layouts represent railways in Denmark,
France, Ireland and the USA as well as the UK, and vary in size from 1/148
scale to 1/36 scale. There will also be some static exhibits in the larger 1/16
scale.
As well as the layouts, there will be hands-on activities for both children and
adults and a wide range of traders eager to sell both specialist modelling
supplies and presents for Christmas.
The comfortable venue, with its easy access by public transport and close
proximity to the celebrated Manchester Christmas Street Markets, make it
an ideal pre-Christmas trip for all the family – especially as children are
admitted free.

The exhibition is open on Saturday 2nd (10:00-17:30) and Sunday 3rd
December (10:00-16:30).
Admission is £9 on the door, but reduced price
advanced tickets will be available on-line from 1st September.

The Society website contains details and pictures of all the layouts, and much
more information about the many other attractions at the exhibition.
www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition

To be kept informed of developments as the Exhibition takes shape, join
our mailing list by emailing: exhibition@mmrs.co.uk

 

[Brian Wainwright]

Looks a really tempting line-up this year. I might try Sunday to avoid the Saturday morning rugby scrum.

 

[allegheny1600]

Hi All,
Advance tickets are now on sale here: THE Christmas Model Railway Show - Manchester 2017!

Please see website for details of traders: Traders2017 - Manchester Model Railway Society

And layouts booked: Layouts2017 - Manchester Model Railway Society

It’s sure to be a great show.
John.

 

[allegheny1600]

Annascaul (OOn3, 4mm=1ft, 12mm gauge)



Photo (c) Paul Titmuss

Annascaul (Abhainn an Scail) is a station on the 3ft gauge Tralee & Dingle Light Railway, County Kerry, which opened in 1891 to passengers and goods traffic. Spring 1939 saw the end of passenger trains and the daily goods was discontinued in 1946. This left the once monthly cattle trains as the only source of revenue and these services came to an end in June 1953.

The station was one of two intermediate passing places on the railway. Collecting information for the model has not proved to be as easy as first anticipated and new facts are still coming to light. Lots of photos were taken here by railfans but buildings were obscured by stock and steam and the infrastructure was definitely not of prime concern.

Four trains run representing the T & D. Watch out for others though from Irish lines, the Isle of Man and even French metre gauge.

 

[oldravendale]

Wow! Up until about ten years ago - maybe a bit more - we used to go to the South West of Ireland quite often and there are plenty of traces of the T & D to be seen, together with some infrastructure. That model really appears to capture the character. In fact I seem to remember that, at Annascaul there remained a level crossing gate and bridge abutments over a small river, but in the absence of my photos taken at the time (I wonder where they are?) I can't confirm. There was also a pub, I think at Castlegregory, which had a collection of interesting photos of the railway on the walls, which I religiously copied. But I've lost those too! Such a shame that the railway didn't survive for another 15 or 20 years as it would have been a great tourist railway in glorious scenery. Sadly the short bit that has been resurrected near Tralee (although now I seem to remember subsequently closed again) was not in the most wonderful situation.

Steph may remember that we also found more than traces of the Great Southern and Western on the road to Valentia in the form of a pretty well uninterrupted track bed, signal boxes and signals. I wonder if they are still there?

Holidays there sadly ceased after a year when we had three weeks of almost solid rain. Maybe it's time to go back.

Brian

 

[allegheny1600]

Thanks, Brian!
I'm glad you like it, it sounds very much like it is time to give the Emerald Isle another go! It's certainly somewhere I'd love to visit, don't know why I never have.
Cheers,
John.

 

[allegheny1600]

Banbury (N scale, 2mm=1ft, 9mm gauge)

CC Ian Lampkin

Banbury station lies on a busy cross-country route between Birmingham and Didcot, where it joins the Great Western Mainline. The Chiltern Railways mainline towards London Marylebone diverges a few miles South at Aynho Junction. There is a lot of freight traffic, mainly container s to and from Southampton. Chiltern Trains operate the majority of passenger services but Cross Country trains have two an hour each way and First Great Western have a local service that terminates at Banbury. Until January 2011 there were Wrexham and Shropshire loco hauled passenger trains. Chiltern Trains have now introduced loco hauled trains on weekdays between London and Birmingham.

CC Ian Lampkin

Peco fine-scale code 55 track has been used with SEEP solenoids to operate the turnouts. All buildings have been scratch built from plastic sheet and are as close to scale as can be from scaling from photographs. Great use of Google maps and Google Streets has been made to check proportions and locations of buildings relative to each other. Rolling stock and locomotives have been detailed and are from manufacturers such as Graham Farish and Dapol.

Control is via Digitrax Digital Command Control. Turnouts are also controlled via stationary decoders. To control both the trains and turnouts, we use iPods and iPhones running an app called Wi Throttle. This then communicates with the DCC system via a wireless router connected to a laptop that runs the free software JMRI. The laptop is connected to the DCC command station using an interface called Loco Buffer. Touchscreen PC’s are used for the track plan and turnout control and showing their status.

 

[Steph Dale]

Such a shame that the railway didn't survive for another 15 or 20 years as it would have been a great tourist railway in glorious scenery.

You say that, but the Waterford-Wexford line has been closed for over a year now. It's beautiful (I was over there last summer) and would make a lovely ride as well as prime means of transport, especially if it ran through from Rosslare, but it appears no-one has considered it's use as a tourist railway. Just a lack of vision I guess.

I remember all the other stuff too, especially the pub at Castlegregory. Deffo time to go back.

Sorry for the ongoing diversion. Taxi! Airport, please...

Steph

 

[allegheny1600]

International Rail in Manchester!

With just 8 weeks until THE Christmas Model Railway Show
opens, the Manchester Model Railway Society is delighted to
announce that it has been chosen by the Italian company
JellyModels for the launch of its product range in the UK.
Despite its name, the company is a manufacturer of very rigid
high precision specialist models!

JellyModels is just one of over twenty specialist traders who will be attending
the event but the stars of the show, as always, will be the visiting model railway
layouts. Most of the layouts have appeared in the national modelling press
recently, so the exhibition offers a great chance to see some of the best model
railways in the country at a comfortable and convenient venue.

The exhibition caters for the whole family. As well as an impressive selection
of high quality layouts, there will be a number of activities for children, a wide
and varied range of traders, demonstrations of modelling techniques and
other, less common, attractions.

Exhibition coordinator, Philip Sweet said:
“The choice of THE Christmas Model Railway Show for this product launch
reflects the reputation for innovation, and the continuing high regard with
which the Manchester Model Railway Society is held. I think we were also
chosen because our exhibition is a very friendly, family show in
comfortable surroundings which is very easy to get to. Our excellent
transport links – we’re about 250m from Piccadilly station meant that 6%
of our visitors last year travelled over 100 miles to see us and 75% of our
visitors used public transport.”

In addition to the models and traders, this year’s exhibition will feature
the work of talented local transport artist Roger Markland, whose
paintings of railway scenes are highly regarded, and a small display of
material linked to Sir William Stanier, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the
LMS who was the Society’s Honorary President for 27 years.

Children are admitted free and advance tickets are now on sale from the
Society’s website. As last year, there are activities for children, including the
chance to win a complete model railway set!

The exhibition opens on Saturday 2nd December at 10am (though advance
ticket holders will be admitted earlier) and continues on Sunday 3rd, at the
comfortable and well-appointed surroundings of the Barnes Wallis building on
the University of Manchester’s northern campus on Sackville Street. It remains
the ONLY model rail exhibition to be held in the centre of a major UK city.

The Society website contains details and pictures of all the layouts and much
more information about the exhibition. www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition

To be kept informed of developments as the Exhibition takes shape, join
our mailing list by emailing: exhibition@mmrs.co.uk

 

[allegheny1600]

Bridgwater S&DJR (O gauge, 7mm=1ft)

CC Tony Wright

The line from Bridgwater to Edington was opened on 21 July 1890, being built by an independent company, the Bridgwater Railway Co. It had been ‘independent’ in name only having been promoted and operated as an extension to the S&DJR system. The station building was built of local brick and had the appearance of an LSWR design. It stood at right angles to the two-bay island platform, upon which a canopy was built covering over half its length. The goods yard, complete with shed, had ample facilities to handle many commodities including coal, bricks, tiles and livestock. A single road engine shed of brick construction was also built, together with a 50ft turntable in front of its entrance. The shed, although extended in 1898 to accommodate two locomotives, was not used to stable locomotives overnight and was subsequently leased to the Co-op in 1928 for use as a store.

CC Tony Wright

Until 1942 there was a 48 chain (1056 yd) extension from the cattle dock that swung through 180o to provide access to the brickworks and wharf facilities and the east bank of the river Parrett. The station was renamed Bridgwater North in 1949 when it came under British Railways ownership, to avoid confusion with the larger Great Western Railway (GWR) station in the town. When the line to Edington was finally closed in 1954 a new spur was laid from the S&D yard to connect it to the GWR docks branch. The goods yard remained in use until 7 July 1962 and the docks branch finally closed on 2 January 1967.

The station is modelled in the summer of 1904. Further information about Bridgwater can be found at

Bridgwater (S&DJR)

 

[allegheny1600]

Also, this same weekend and worth a look;
What's On - Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester
“The Christmas Cracker” a good looking swapmeet at the Museum of Transport, with free heritage bus from Manchester Victoria railway station.

Camden Shed 1B (O gauge, 7mm=1ft)

Camden MPD! For railway enthusiasts, the very name invokes nostalgic memories of this fascinating place. What boy (or even father) could resist peering out of the window of a passing train to see what was ‘on shed’ that day. Although not particularly large, being the dedicated Motive Power Depot for London’s Euston station, it was one of the few places that top link express locomotives of the LNWR, the LMS or even the early British Railways, could be seen in abundance and in close proximity to one another. Often a smokey place, it was nevertheless a thrill for locospotters to watch the non-stop action from the nearby bridge or if one was so lucky, enjoy a visit to this hall of giants.

cc unknown.

The model shown represents the northwest end of the MPD where most of the action could be witnessed. Locomotives still facing south, enter the depot from the engine line at the left-hand side and proceed tender first, to the turntable. After turning, which takes 11/2 minutes, engines reverse back past the water tank to the coaling plant. After coaling, engines pass behind the shed and workshop to the ash plant where the fire would be cleaned and waste ash discarded into skips for loading into wagons for disposal. Beyond the ashplant, locomotives proceed to the headshunt and approach the rear of the depot, chimney-first and now facing northwards, ready for cleaning and minor servicing work before preparation for their next duty. Engines requiring more serious attention are directed into the workshop behind the shed.

All engines worked to ‘diagrams’ which determined their duty usage from day to day between servicing and so it is on the model. The clock shows the time of day and the relevant portion of the Depot Schedule based upon the actual requirements of the LMS Autumn 1947 timetable is displayed alongside the shed so that the onlooker may follow events. Depending upon circumstances, the clock may be stopped or speeded up. As in real life, ‘spotters’ must wait to see which locomotive is allotted to each service.

The period represented is loosely from 1935 to 1947 in order to display the several liveries which LMS locomotives carried before Nationalisation. In real life, few streamliners retained their colourful livery to be seen alongside locomotives of the same class in the 1946 lined black livery.

 

[oldravendale]

That's a layout I'd like to see. I visited Camden shed twice, but took no photos - it was so crowded that getting a decent angle was difficult, and after all, there were so many sheds around London at the time why potentially waste film when easier options were available elsewhere?

Brian

 

[allegheny1600]

Thanks, Brian!
I hope it's not too crowded for you but I suspect it could be quite busy around this one! Evoking the memories for many people, perhaps?
Cheers,
John.

 

[allegheny1600]

Camel Quay (OO, 4mm=1ft, 16.5mm gauge)

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cc Ray Wilton

Camel Quay is a typical North Cornwall ex-LSWR station on the River Camel that could have been on the Rock-Delabole Railway had it been built. The station, with its station building, goods shed, and signal box, bears a resemblance to Padstow on the opposite side of the river. There are local pull-push passenger services and trains from Exeter and Waterloo including a portion of the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’. The quay, with its sidings, sustains a small coaster carrying china clay brought down from the local quarry in wagons and a small local fishing fleet. The High Street has a traditional public house, railway hotel and a few shops served by the local Bedford OB bus service to surrounding towns and villages. The era depicted is of the early/late BR period with typical examples of the BWT, O2, M7, T9, ‘N’ and Class 22 locos with ‘Carmine & Cream’ and BR(S) Green/Crimson coaching stock.
The layout is DCC controlled and all Locos are sound fitted

Cirencester (M&SWJR) (P4, 4mm=1ft, 18.83mm gauge)

(c) Dave Barrett

This station in Cirencester should not be confused with the GWR terminus on the other side of town. It lay on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway running between Andover and Andoversford and linked the north and Midlands to the south coast, in particular, the docks at Southampton.
Running through a mainly rural area, local traffic did not become significant, but as a through line it developed an important use during wartime and for military manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain, providing a vital link for the movement of supplies and men. During peacetime, the link to the docks provided income from seasonal fruit and vegetable traffic and to service the port and ships.
The lack of income meant the company was unable to afford sufficient stock to maintain the service during peacetime let alone during wartime and they were frequently forced to borrow from other companies. They were loaned locomotives and coaches by the GWR, MR and the LSWR. During military activity, a great variety of stock could appear providing me with a great excuse for modelling almost anything I fancy.

(c) Dave Barrett

Cirencester was the workshop location for building and maintaining the company’s stock. These are under construction and they will sit behind the main station buildings. To the north, towards Cheltenham, the line is double tracked but to the south, only a single line existed. There seem to have been many changes to the track layout, with most plans that I have seen having the access to the siding behind the signal box and the works and goods shed combined, however, there is evidence that at one time there were two separate links and this is the configuration I have modelled.
I have tried to date the line at around 1919 which justifies a variety of stock from other companies as well as the MSWJR itself and include some extra unusual movements.

 

[allegheny1600]

Just to confirm some changes;
Glenngarry the funicular railway layout has had to withdraw due to illness and is now replaced by:

Campbell’s Quarry (16mm scale R/C)

(c) Phil Parker

(c) Phil Parker

Also, on the traders front, unfortunately, C&L models will not be able to attend either.

 

[allegheny1600]

Franklin (On2, 1/48th scale, 1/2in gauge)

Franklin is the latest part of my foray into North American narrow gauge modelling, and is the portable terminus of a small 2ft gauge branch line up the Kettle River valley. At home, this feeds into my 220ft long 3ft gauge mainline depicting narrow gauge operation in the Rockies of British Columbia.
This new section is based on the 2ft lines in Maine, USA, and was originally inspired by the exquisite Bachmann models of the typical Maine Forney tank engines. The station is mainly based on Bridgton, on the Bridgton & Saco River Railroad, but some of the buildings are from the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, both in Maine.

(c) Bob Harper

I agonised for some time as to whether I should stick with the Bachmann 00 track gauge of 16.5mm, or re-build the locos and stock to true 2ft gauge, and the masochist in me finally won. Built to American ¼ inch to the foot scale, ie 1/48th, the track is all handbuilt to ½ inch gauge. Some of the locos are re-gauged Bachmann, whilst the rest are brass imports from the Far East. Most of the rolling stock are now kit or scratch-built models of genuine Maine vehicles, with the correct long, narrow, and “hunkered-down” look of the prototype.
Operation is from the front of the layout, and uses the Lenz DCC system with sound and lights in the locos.I have just moved up a technical notch, and can control the trains wirelessly using an App on my i-pad.

Glaisden (EM, 4mm=1ft, 18.2mm gauge)

Glaisden depicts a fictitious station on the Calder Valley main line in the early 1960’s. Research into the design of stations, buildings and structures from around the West Yorkshire area has led to the island platform concept being based on Elland while the station buildings are based on Heckmondwike (L&Y). The goods shed and coal drops come from Halifax and the track plan is an amalgamation of features from Elland, Ossett and others.

Structures are from a number of materials, including plastic, MDF, brass and plaster, some of which may not be that obvious when painted.
The locos and rolling stock are a mixture of modified ready to run, kit built and scratch built and belong to those helping to operate the layout as well as myself. Some are typical of the 1960’s Calder Valley scene, while some rely on a bit of modellers license, for which I hope we will be forgiven.

Hawthorn Dene (N scale, 2mm=1ft, 9mm gauge)

This N-gauge layout represents the North Eastern Region’s Durham Coast mainline, somewhere around Easington in the late steam/green diesel period. The old Hawthorn Dene Colliery no longer winds coal. Its winding gear has been removed and the shafts fitted with fans. The washery and screens are still in use, mainly preparing household coal for merchants and for the nearby landsale yard. Waste is still sent to be tipped on the beach, both by conveyor belt and aerial ropeway.

(c) Andy York, (BRM)

Colliery locos bring empties from the exchange sidings to the South for weighing and taking on to the screens, while full wagons are removed from the screens , weighed, and taken either to the exchange sidings or North to the Hawthorn complex. Meanwhile the main line sees a procession of expresses, local passenger, fitted goods and coal trains, which seem not to disturb the inhabitants of the pigeon lofts on the bank.
Buildings are typical of the area. The underbridge is based on the one at Easington Colliery- the different parapets are a result of a partial rebuild, possibly following a derailment.

 

[allegheny1600]

Sadly, Obbekaer has had to withdraw due to health reasons.
Philip Sweet, the shows co-ordinator has arranged with Chris Mackenzie (of Timpdon and Ffuglen fame) to bring his diorama of Manod Quarry in its place.
Since the vacant space is next door to Roger Markland's art exhibition, it was thought to be interesting to have a model based on how the National Gallery protected its paintings from bomb damage during WWII. Chris volunteered to bring his other diorama, Duffield Bank, and a few other bits and pieces to fill the gap. Both dioramas are to 1/12 scale and 50mm track gauge.

 

[adrian]

Well I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the show - although I'll be honest I didn't get to see much of the show but from what I did see it looked good.

Whilst picking up the latest copy of Narrow Gauge Review (Magazine - Narrow Gauge and Industrial Review) from "Bill Hudson" I unfortunately spotted a copy of the Gloucester Midland Lines (Gloucester Midland Lines Part 1: North) so the credit card took another hit.

The main reason for the enjoyment was the privilege of being allowed to help out with operating St. Ruth. I turned up just before the show started (thanks to a 20 minute delay on the trains!) and was handed a controller, a 2 minute briefing and then given the responsibility of running the trains in and out of the station. It was utterly engrossing and everything just worked, it was well planned and the system was intuitive. Before I knew it it was lunchtime. I think the controller had to be prised out of my hands! Towards the end of the day my LNWR rail motor got it's first public appearance working the branch line shuttle a couple of times. I was mightily relieved that it acquitted itself, unfortunately I was having too much fun to get the camera out. So no photos I'm afraid but my thanks to the owners who let a couple of newbies loose on their pride and joy - it really was a memorable day.

 

[allegheny1600]

Hi Adrian,
Glad you enjoyed the show, I certainly was impressed by St. Ruth! It's quite stunning, I don't know how you guys can manage to work in so small a scale, I really don't!
I have to say, the atmosphere at the show was very pleasant, much less "rushed" than other big shows and this made it very enjoyable indeed.
Cheers,
John.