2 Expos in 2 Weeks

Pendon

Last weekend was my pilgrimage to Pendon. I first visited Pendon when The Dartmore Scene was housed in an old RAF hut nicknamed Marilyn. A purpose built building has long since replaced the hut and I have visited several times to see development of  The Vale Scene (1st photo).

Pendon is not so much an exhibition in the usual sense of club events. It is in fact a museum of miniature landscape with the flagship layout depicting in very fine detail the Vale of White Horse, as it was in the 1930s.

With only four model railway layouts on display one could complete a viewing within a very short time. However, the correct way to appreciate the exhibits, particularly the massive Vale Scene, is to dawdle at each viewing point to fully absorb the fine details. This proved a little difficult with a fidgety seven year old in tow. I have to commend the volunteer museum guides who were very tolerant of this and one gentlemen in particular who developed a rapport with our Grandson helping him to focus on aspects of the exhibits.

Visit Pendon Museum.

BNHMRS Show

This weekend saw my annual visit to The Basingstoke & North Hants Model Railway Show, one of the biggest exhibitions in the south. I could only attend on the Saturday and for a limited time due to other commitments. This, plus it being a crowded event meant I could not fully appreciate the exhibits or find much of what I needed from the trade. On the plus side I did meet friends whom one rarely sees outside such exhibitions and bumped into Chris Nevard who I first met at the Guildford show this year when he stopped by our Thornycroft Sidings exhibit. Chris was at Basingstoke as the guest judge for Best in Show. I don't know which layout he choose but those that stood out for me were:

Watercress Line (N)

A cleverly designed layout that packed in all four stations from the line in a tiered structure to save on space.

Bath Green Park (00)

A truly magnificent recreation to scale of the Midland / Somerset & Dorset terminus station.

Navigation Road (EM)

My personal favourite. British Railways blue diesel era depicting a N.E. London industrial scene (2nd photo). The whole scene looked authentic helped by finescale standards of modelling. There is very little on the web about this layout and a description of it was missing from the show brochure. All I can say is it belongs to the Sarum Finescale Group.