Feb 16th 2013 Shepton Mallet show

Yesterday I had an outing up to Shepton Mallet (about 90 miles away) for the Small and Delightful Railway Group show - Narrow Gauge South West.

A friend enquired if I went last - when I didn't know about the show - and the link to a report by Mick's Roving Reporter blogspot and the excellent Photo report.  2012 was the 20th Anniversary and I think that lots of stops had been pulled out to make it an excellent anniversary show.  This year seemed to be not quite such good overall quality and quantity to judge from the photo report, but the show is a victim of its own success and was quite busy, making good viewing difficult.  I suspect Mick the roving reporter had some sort of press pass to get his photo report without lots of people in the way.

That said, I came away with some ideas for inspiration and eye candy, which is the whole point of going.  I managed not to spend too much - although could have handed more over to Steve at Back to Bay 6 but was restrained.  

In no particular order we have...

Barton Ings Railway - a little tile and pipe industrial railway.   I'm certain I've seen this in the magazaines a while ago, and it is clearly G scale.   As with everything at the show it was lovingly modelled with those little bits of detail that mark the great out from the good.  What particular piece of inspiration I took away from this layout though was the drive through Engine shed - apparently there in the prototype.  This will break up a stretch of flat track/siding out int he garden and is something that I can model given my level of skills.

What I think is the G scale national touring layout was there - I've seen it in similar style at the Warwick Show last year.  Few different side details (no skiers for example) but the locos and rolling stock looked very similar.  

The South West (aka Bristol and Gloucester) G scale group was there with a little (automated ?) Tram layout.  The first picture shows the overall figure of 8 whilst the second has the particular ideas that I shall probably be "borrowing".  Expand the picture and you can see the string of "fairly lights" strung between poles, with simple slots cut in tubes to take the wire.  My experience of real life Germany is that at outdoor bars etc then they go in for this bright light atmosphere.  The second one is the simple kiosk marked Ticket Office - which given that I now envisage having a siding with excursion cars, will just help add that extra bit of flavour.   

One of the principles behind Garden Railways would appear to be that if possible don't make the train or track viewable from one location for the entire length of a journey.  On an early railway visit I encountered creative use of Trellis to shield trains.     

   The Pigsty Brewery (and remember my earlier blog on Brewery railways and the book from ebay) showed how a low relief building might be used, which was something I had started to consider, and which reminded me of the Guinness Factory in Dublin.

Next up was not in G scale.   With my somewhat crude hat on then I would say HOe although I suspect the truth is something else.  This was a model based around Hurst Castle but what I could use was the idea of walls with archways in them, and trains and track running through.

Next up in a scale wise 1/25 etc was the Yellow Ridge Uranium Mine.   Lots of mining inspiration and a working ore tippler, although I caught the end of it working and then didn't catch it working again.  Wanted to see how the trucks were held in place but suspect it is just some retaining rods. 

Last up of the larger scale layouts that I took pictures of was the Schmalspur Workstadt Bahn.  I didn't capture the RHB snow blower going round but I found this a useful indication of what could be done as a G scale layout, and was interested in the engine shed and the "double fairlie tram" - based upon an original in Saxony.  

Then we come onto photos that are purely eye candy.   I've had American leanings probably ever since I started this idea, probably only nipped in the bud to some extent by LGB not making much American stuff (at least not that was brand new) and especially not geared locomotives as in Shay, Heisler or Climax.  Bachmann make them but an early forum post warned me of the dangers of running Bachmann Shays (10 or 18 volt, I suspect 10) on LGB 24 volt track power.  End result very likely to be a puff of blue magic smoke.   As always, with hindsight I should just have bought a shay when they were available somewhat cheaply and just had the innards replaced.   

That brings me to Tuscora Mine.  Unfinished as a result of the poor winter and round of viruses and bugs we have had.  Long and thin, and almost a layout in two parts.  This has the promise to be very interesting when finished.   

And final photo was Gamle Carlesberg - literally "Old Carlesberg" but in reality a model of a view of the factory.  I have been here (pre model railway days) and its a good trip from the centre of Oslo.  Off to the far right is the famous elephant gate.     

Here is a much better picture of one of the Porters on the layout.  And this is a close up one of the elephants.  This website from the Danish Tourist authority  has a bit on the history of Carlsberg and more photos of the famous elephant gate (now without trains).