Welcome back to the channel!
This week we pay a visit to Wessex Narrow Gauge Modellers, Narrow Gauge South show, held at the Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh, on Saturday 27th April 2024.
I haven't been to many specifically narrow gauge shows previously, but as I am currently building a OO9 narrow gauge layout of my own, I've decided to attend a few.
This film doesn't feature every layout that was on show, just my highlights. Some of the layouts have featured in other videos I've done and some quite recently.
Here is a rundown of what you can see in the film:
Bryn-Y-Felin by Matthew Kean - the layout is an attempt to capture the look of the old Welsh Highland Railway in North Wales. Beddgelert provides the inspiration for the station and it is modelled in 4mm scale.
Ryedown Lane by Patrick Collins - Inspired by the light railways of Colonel Holman F. Stephens, this OO9 layout (4mm scale on 9mm gauge track) is set in the 1930's.
Kurseong by John Crane - Another OO9 layout, but this time we travel to far off India for inspiration. The layout is a reasonably accurate portrayal (The guidebooks description) of this Darjeeling Himalayan Railway station and surroundings. The layout is dcc controlled.
Tarrant Valley Railway by Stuart Webb - a OO9 layout based on the little known narrow gauge line in Dorset. Linking with the Somerset & Dorset line at Spetisbury, this railway served local village communities to the East of Blandford. The railway closed at the start of World War 2.
Clearwater Harbour by Stephen Waterfield - An American On30 (1/48 scale on 16.5mm track) layout. The main reason for the lines existence was to transport Iron Ore to the harbour, but passenger traffic links the nearby town with a coastal steamer service. The layout is dcc controlled and features sound fitted locomotives.
Tan-y-llyn by Steve Flay - is a Welsh layout, loosely based on some aspects of the Ffestiniog Railway. I particularly liked the mountainous scenery, the tunnels and rural nature of its setting. Unusually, the small fiddle yard, is situated at the front of the layout.
Sandy Shores by Jamie Warne - Another OO9 layout and another I really enjoyed - purely because of the very different nature of the layout. Set somewhere on the sand dunes of the South Coast in the early 1950's - or is it the modern day? - the layout captures that quirky feel of places like Dungeness (I know that's shingle) where shanty houses stand on windswept shores. Excellent!
Hobbs Row Halt by Bob Vaughan - a small micro layout in OO9, that was born out of the builders test track for locomotives. Add some scenery and a chocolate box cottage and hey presto! The layout featured in Hornby Magazine a few years ago.
Hawkridge by Chris Mould - another OO9 layout, based on a terminus station and loco yard, of a narrow gauge line in North Devon. The layout is still in the process of construction.
Castle Caereinion by Martyn Harrison - the station featured is on the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway and is portrayed as it was shortly after the line shut in 1956 and in the early preservation years. The builder has handbuilt the track and used the layout to experiment with different scenic techniques.
Gweithdy Dyffryn by Derek Harris - O14 is 7mm scale on 14mm gauge track. The model is of a Welsh slate quarry. The wagons have double flanged wheels, which the layout builder took up the challenge to replicate.
East Quay by John Niblett - A OO9 layout which was mainly built using free and cheaply available materials - to some degree, an exercise in recycling! The Demerara Aggregate traffic is delivered by standard gauge train to a loading facility, where it is transhipped to the narrow gauge line of the Gutterborne Vale Tramway and then decanted into the hold of a waiting boat!
Lastly - despite it being the first layout seen in the film! - Cezanne by Ian Pollock - A revolvable, circular layout, where a single, 12mm gauge track, runs around the edge of the layout. Modelled in 3.5mm scale, the layout has 2 very different scenes - Cote de Cezanne is a rural scene and Cezanne Ville is a town scene. The French railcar is dcc sound fitted.
I hope you enjoy this film. My apologies if you were looking for one of the layouts I haven't featured here. There were so many and only a certain amount of time to get around. As I said earlier, some have featured in my previous films - 1 in particular, more than once.
best wishes to you all and don't forget - please comment, like and share. If you don't already, subscribe to the channel and you will get to see new material, as soon as its out.
Iain