Yesterday, Sue and I attended the first day of the two-day Erith Model Railway Society’s annual exhibition. It was held at the Harris Garrard Academy in Thanesneas, Bexley, and ran from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
The Erith Model Railway Society's logo. It depicts Invicta, the twenith steam locomotive built by Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was built in 1829 and hauled the furst passenger-carrying train on the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway on 30th May 1830. She was withdrawn from service in 1839, and eventually placed in storage at the Ashford Works of the South Eastern Railway... and thus became the first preserved locomotive in the world. She was restored in 1892, and from 1906 until 1977 she was on display in Canterbury. Invicta was cosmetically restored for a second time in 1977 and now resides in a specially-built museum in Whitstable, Kent.
Compared to most local wargame shows, I felt that it was about the came size as – for example – Cavalier at The Angel Centre, Tonbridge but that the attendance was greater. The site used is a secondary school, and there was plenty of on-site parking. The various exhibits and trade stands were spread over the school’s central atrium area and the surrounding classrooms, and the school’s cafeteria was open and provide somewhere to buy refreshments and somewhere to sit.
There were eighty-nine exhibitors and traders, with most of the former being club layouts ranging in scale from O-gauge to OO9-gauge. Many of the traders were selling various ranges of new and second-hand model locomotives, rolling stock, and accessories, and I resisted the temptation to buy several cheap bits that I saw on sale and restricted my purchases to some laser-cut OO-scale garden shed kits (I got four for £6.00) and some precision glue dispensing bottles.
The entrance fee was £10.00 each and I felt that it was well worth it. I will certainly consider going next year if I can … and I picked up flyers for three future model railway exhibition that will be held in Kent later this year.
Some of my regular blog readers might be asking themselves why I didn’t take any photographs at the exhibition. The answer is very simple: it was just too crowded to be able to do so. Some of the exhibits and trade stands had two or three ranks of people trying to see what was on offer, and an elderly man with mobility issues (me, in other words!) needs space to stand and – if possible – brace themselves so that they can use their camera. As it was, I was almost knocked over a couple of times by people who were not looking where they were going and had one of my walking sticks knocked out of my hand by an enthusiastic small child who was running from one exhibit to another.
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