The Woolwich Model Railway Show took place at the nearby Shrewsbury House on Sunday 15th December. It was organised by Dawn Quest (a journalist and TV producer), who has a YouTube channel and website devoted to railway modelling.
Sue and I were very lucky in that I was able to park in one of the three onsite disabled parking bays, which meant that we were almost right outside the front door. It cost a total of £7.00 to get in as we are over 60-years-old and I am disabled.
The following photographs give some idea of the range of layouts that were on display, including two built by Dawn Quest.
This impressive layout used almost entirely 3D printed buildings, rolling stock, vehicles etc.
This simple oval and siding layout depicted a British First World War casualty clearing station and hospital.
The LadyKillers (00)
This is Dawn Quest's second and newest exhibition layout. It is based on the location of the 1955 film of that name.
Gamma Silo Rotatory (On30/O)
Brief Encounter (00)
This was Dawn Quest's first exhibition layout. It is in monochrome ... just as the original 1945 film was.
Hengist Road (00)
Little Narrow (00)
Asham Cement Works (009)
Staffordshire Potteries (N)
The exhibitor also had a small, circular, festive layout on show.
Four Feather Falls (Triple O)
I always wanted a Lone Star Treble O Electric train set when I was a young teenager ... but it was not to be.
Tsurlito Japanese layout in a fish tank (HO)
This layout gave the impression that the train was actually going though the water!
Round Trees OO
The exhibitor also had a small additional layout ('The Lady Killed Her') on show.
Volkes Vest HOe
Thomas Tank Engine & Friends (1)
These models were featured in the original 'Thomas the Tank Engine' TV series.
D-Ikea Kato diorama (N)
These wonderful modules were all created on IKEA cork mats.
There were also a number of 'model railways in a case' layouts on show.
Due to to light conditions in the venue and the crowds (I was jostled a lot, particularly by small children who were anxious to see the exhibits), the quality of some of the photographs are not as good as I would have hoped.
Looks like a fantastic show Bob. So much modelling skill and ingenuity!
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteThe standard of modelling skills on show was outstanding.
The module terrain made with IKEA cork tiles certainly gave me some ideas.
All the best,
Bob
Great show!
ReplyDeleteI'm familiar with Dawn Quest and her YouTube-channel. She's an excellent modeller, and I'm particular impressed by 'Brief Encounter'. I've only seen the technique used on some few smaller dioramas before, but not on an entire layout!
I also like Plug Street and the idea that's a lot of the items on the layout is 3D-printed. I think there was a lot of lovely layouts on the show!
Thanks for Sharing, Bob!!
Roger,
DeleteDawn was at the show ... but she was surrounded by fans and I therefore had no opportunity to speak to her. I suspect the 'grumpy cameraman' was also there, but I did not spot him.
The standard of modelling was excellent, and the use of 3D printing seems to have become more prevalent than it was even a couple of years ago. I noticed that several traders had 3D printed items on sale, and 'The Lady Killed Her' layout had a copy of Dawn's 'LadyKillers' house as its centerpiece.
All the best,
Bob
Superb looking show Bob, some top notch modelling skills on show, love the Thomas one!!
ReplyDeleteDonnie McGibbon,
DeleteIt was a small but very high quality show ... and the 'Thomas' models were superb, even though the Fat Controller (Sir Topham Hatt) looked a bit too much like me when I'm in my Masonic Morning Dress!
All the best,
Bob
Bob - Wow - one could spend hours, just looking...
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteVery true ...if you don't mind young children standing in front of you all of the time, jumping up and down with excitement, parents with backpacks that take up twice as much space as anyone else and turning round without warning and knocking you sideways, and men with cameras that have telephoto lenses standing right in front of a layout and taking about ten minutes to take each photo!
Do I sound bitter? Probably ... but this happened at almost every exhibit and it was very tiring and exasperating. In addition, I almost got knocked over several times by people who were not looking where they were going, which was very worrying for me as if I go over, I cannot get up and I'm likely to get injured and end up in hospital again.
That said, what I did see was very, very impressive.
All the best,
Bob
I salute the modelling skills and patience of model railroaders.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteTheir output is very impressive ... and I picked up several good ideas for terrain-making.
All the best,
Bob
Mark Man of TIN blog says: Thanks for sharing. Lots of small layouts for inspiration including Inglenook and Pizzabox layouts. The IKEA cork mats idea reminded me a little of the American retirement railroad modellers set up of each contributing a square section - interesting community / modelling group idea https://sidetracked2017blog.wordpress.com/2023/10/13/community-modular-railways-us-railroad-modelling-and-retirement-homes/
ReplyDeleteMark, Man of TIN,
DeleteI came away with lots of ideas for modular layouts ... and doing one with other retired people has many advantages for all of those involved.
I understand that there are several internationally and nationally recognised modular standards, and I know that in the UK TrainTrax are working with Kato to produce a standard hexagonal modular system. (https://traintrax.co.uk/hex-trak-module-kits)
From my point of view, going modular has several advantages, the first of which is storage. The baseboard of my current layout is half of a pasting table and I can just about lift it on and off my worktable. When not in use, it is stored vertically against one of the walls in my toy/wargame room. If I had modules I could store them on shelves or in small, stackable boxes.
All the best,
Bob
Fun, interesting, excellent, ingenious modelling work.
ReplyDeleteFitz-Badger,
DeleteWargamers could learn a lot about modelling from railway modellers.
All the best,
Bob
That looks like a great afternoon of toys, trains and modeling. My family has visited several Lego venues and they usually have a section devoted to the host city. The one in Boston was impressive as if has Fenway Baseball Stadium, the Dome on the MIT campus and several other landmarks all done, of course , in Lego
ReplyDeleteIf you get the chance to visit one, I recommend it.
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteI was a bit old for Lego when it became widely available in the UK, but I have several friends who are seriously into Lego. One if them has built a model of a Saturn V rocket, RMS Titanic, a working miniature piano, and is currently building an electric guitar. Truly awesome modelling!
All the best,
Bob
Those are just amazing, I wouldn't have thought it was possible to do model rail layouts based on films, but there you go.
ReplyDeleteMartin Rapier,
DeleteThe chap who built the Plug Street layout and I were discussing the possibility of building a section of the Hejaz railway so that it could include the attack from the film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.
All the best,
Bob
Wow, plenty of inspirational layouts there Bob! Just a shame that like many wargames shows, you got jostled when trying to have a good look. Manners maketh man and all that...
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteIt was much more crowded than most wargame shows … and the number of backpacks was astonishing. People did apologise, which is at least an improvement on the general behaviour I’ve observed at some of the larger wargame shows.
All the best,
Bob