Nailsea & District Model Railway Club Exhibition 2023 - Sunday 26th March 2023

With a planned engagement cancelled due to the weather, I was free to drive over to Nailsea, for a visit to this exhibition. I had never visited a show here before - tbh I dont enjoy driving from home, over towards South Bristol and the airport - so it was all very new. Oh - and Im not keen on school exhibitions! so this was either going to be a thumbs up or thumbs down show.
I am pleased to say, I found it very entertaining and a real joy. There was a great mix of layouts and a small selection of interesting traders and societies.
For the record, these are the layouts on show:
Depot de Camion : An N gauge layout based on European railways practice.
Moos : An HO layout, again based on European railways.
Burdock : An N gauge roundy roundy layout that features some lovely scenery. Steam and diesel from the transitional period on British Railways feature.
Blackmoor : Layout based on Blackmoor Gate station on the Lynton & Barnstaple railway, modelled in 4mm scale, OO9 narrow gauge.
Dairy Wharf : A 4mm scale micro layout, set in a wharfside setting. The trains shuttle back and forth under computer control.
Fareford Depot : a 4mm scale OO gauge diesel maintenance depot layout, which is still under construction. The layout is dcc control with locos featuring dcc sound.
Winter in France 1914-1918 : A World War 1 scene modelled in 4mm scale. As with many of these layouts, the layout features narrow gauge trains which through scenery which really captures the mood and harshness of the front line.
Severn Lane : A 4mm scale, but EM gauge layout of an early BR diesel depot and wagon works. Again, dcc sound features in the locomotives, adding that extra dimension to the scene.
Pont Harri : 4mm scale OO gauge branchline terminus, featuring early BR rolling stock. Again, the scenery is delightful and the operation, first class.
Fintonagh : Irish narrow gauge in 7mm scale. Despite seeing this layout at a few shows over the years, I love to see the quirky rolling stock and am always seeing new bits of detail Ive not spotted before.
Rolvenden : 4mm scale P4 scale layout of the Kent & East Sussex Railway station. More great modelling, highlighting many of the sights of a past Kent landscape.
Avyn-A-Llyin : 4mm scale OO9 narrow gauge set around a coastal location. All the little cameos make this layout something quite special, especially the large beach scene.
Cog Road : An O gauge 7mm scale GWR branchline terminus. The Signalman has a healthy vegetable patch on the go and the cottage at the end of the platform has some bloomin' marvellous flowers in its garden.
Ozjusko Stari - Croatian railways in 7mm O gauge comes to North Somerset! This micro layout features many scratchbuilt structures and adapted ready to run rolling stock, which has been repainted or weathered or both! The layout was built by my old mate PJS or "Stan" to his friends and is one of a few micros that he has built, featuring different European subjects.
Temple Wagon works - another 7mm scale O gauge micro layout - this one being a micro micro layout! A popular subject for micro layouts, the wagon works allows the operator to shuffle wagons around endlessly, with the ubiquitous "gronk" (or class 08 if you like).
Tellindalloch in Autumn - a 4mm scale OO gauge layout. Setting in stunning Autumnal scenery, the subject is a Scottish branchline station. Rolling stock from the transitional BR period features.
My apologies to the exhibitors of Ashton Meadows on completely overlooking your micro layout.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the show, there being many new layouts that I hadnt seen before, and it was great to catch up with current and former railway industry colleagues.
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stay safe and best wishes to you all,
Iain