I’m a bit late writing this as I was ill for most of the beginning of the week as a result of the days exertions.
As per usual I went along with my friend Natalie, who graciously did all of the driving (again). This year we went on the Sunday (26th) and I had pre-booked the tickets this time around too, taking advantage of the subscription offer for British Railway Modelling magazine (3 free issues, with BRM Annual 2012 free), which gave an extra £1 off the tickets (for a total of £2 off of each ticket).
We got there without much hassle just after 9:3am, finding a parking spot right next to a waiting shuttle bus, which with my health was great, as the thought of walking up the hill at Alexandra Palace was not something I would of liked!
I took advantage of being there early with few crowds about to go look at Liverpool Lime Street, as this was one I was keen to see and knew it would pull a big crowd around it. I took the chance to take some photos of it at this time too. I then had a quick wander round, catching up with a few people I’d not seen for a while, or new faces from RMweb.
I had intended to buy several items from South East Finecast and Replica Railways. I got what I was looking for from both traders, having a chance to have a chat and catch up with Mick and Dave of South East Finecast, who are always friendly at shows.
Purchases were:
- Metropolitan Brake van kit (South East Finecast whitemetal)
- LT 10ton 3 plank wagon (South East Finecast whitemetal)
- Parts to build the bodies for a 4EPB – BR Mk1 Suburban coach bodies, MLV cab – (Replica Railways)
- Card kits of LT Q stock and Acton Shunter L11 (Street Level Models)
The Met. brake van and LT 3 plank wagon will be used as a first foray into whitemetal kits (reminds me I need to get some suitable superglue and epoxy glue sometime) and useful for West Cromwell Road.
The BR Mk1 Suburban bodies and MLV cabs will allow me to follow the 4EPB conversion guide on Replica Railways’ website. This is just for the bodies at present, no glazing or interior or chassis/underframes and bogies. This is to spread the cost and not have a huge pile of parts that might get lost as it might take me a while to finish this project! Once the bodies are done, then I can look to do the finer details and underframes gradually. I might be tempted after that to do a 2EPB/2HAL/2HAP, depending upon how it goes.
The card kits hopefully should be useful again for West Cromwell Road, I already have a kit of L131 to make up, so a few to do! It was good to speak to the proprietor of Street Level models, as we’d been in correspondence via RMweb last year about Lillie Bridge depot when I was planning it as a diorama for entry into the RMweb/Model Rail diorama challenge (which was won in the end by a magnificent scrap yard diorama incidentally).
The day seemed to go by pretty fast I found, I found taking the time to sit and rest was well spent watching the first talk in the BRM theatre (modelling buildings, models and scratch building).
Highlights of the day were Liverpool Lime Street, Fell End Pit and Leighton Buzzard I felt.
In all a very tiring, but worthwhile day. I kind of felt I needed both days to fully take in all that was on offer, even though it felt there was less there this year. That may be because the layouts and stands were better spaced out, lowering the effects of queues around them as a result. It might also be because of Sunday typically has a lower attendance than the Saturday at such shows however.
This show is the last for a short while that I’ll be attending and after 3 shows in 3 weeks, I think I need the rest. I’m not sure what the next planned show is at present.
Photos from the show:
Model Railway Musings by D827 Kelly 
The Bw Nürnberg photo is interesting, since that layout was featured in #88 of Model Trains International.