Set off to what has been a very good event in the past later than originally planned.
Getting to Hillingdon by car for about 11am and getting new S Stock on the Metropolitan line to Rayners Lane. All great till we (Natalie was with me) got to the depot and found a long queue.
I need a walking stick and waiting over 30 minutes standing in a queue left me very sore and tired. Was not happy with what seemed a poorly thought out entry system, had never been this bad before! Had to sit and rest I utter agony for an hour as a result 😥
Hopefully next year, we’ll be able to get the pre-booking organised and avoid having to wait in a queue. Equally hopefully the staff will think of ways to allieviate the problem of the queues.
That mishap aside, the rest of the day was very pleasant and enjoyable I felt.
There seemed to be less there this year than previous years, which was a shame, but LT and tram modelling is perhaps a bit more of a niche subject.
There were several good layouts in attendance, including Croxley Depot, London Road and Minories. There was also a lovely 5″ gauge exhibition on display too, with a couple of very nice Met Bo-Bo’s on display. In that size they truely are impressive!
There was also a rather impressive lego train setup, featuring both Southern Railway types and London Underground stock.
I didn’t spend much money, only getting a selection of photos that featured LT panniers or Lillie Bridge, and a card few odds and sods.
I did take the time to have a chat with the proprietier of Kingsway Models about their Ealing Common depot and Bexleyheath Trolleybus/Bus garage kits. The Earling Common depot kit will be useable on West Cromwell Road to represent the electric car sheds at Lillie Bridge (it isn’t exactly correct, but close enough for me liking). The Bexleyheath garage kit would be useful to do a diorama of where I used to walk/bus past most days as a kid, at least some day….
I took the opportunity as well to test my Samsung Galaxy S2 phone out, testing its ability as a camera and for taking HD video. The photos will end up on flickr eventually.
Whilst there I also took the opportunity to take a few photos of Ealing Common Depot‘s frontage for reference. The small size of the phone’s camera sensor allowing me to take some photos unobstructed by the fencing.
The day was very tiring, but very much worthwhile. Looking forward to next year’s event now.
Next up is the Nottingham Model Railway Exhibition this coming weekend. It was a great show last year and I am rather looking forward to it.
After that is Alexandra Palace for the London Festival of Model Railways on the 24th/25th March. It was good last year, if very crowded (to be expected sadly!).
Some photos from the Saturday:
Model Railway Musings by D827 Kelly 