Not travelling meant I could get to the Spalding Model Railway Exhibition for the first time since moving out this way.
I have to say it was quite a good show, though I didn't spend that long inside, a feat achieved by deliberately avoiding the trade stands. To be honest when a show has Pempoul and Gresley beat in the list of layouts you know it is going to be quite good.
Gresley Beat isn't my kind of layout, but remains a real crowd pleaser and you can see why.
The usual cliched Pempoul shots
I think this is Eastwood Vermont. The layout lighting defeated all the white balance settings on my XE-1
Foston Mills
Tony Hill's 16mm Melin Llechi
Saltdean
Bodmin
Red Hook Bay
Clay Cross
Black Road, 7mm track powered live steam
Ogden Fold
Fen Drove
Damn and blast! I really enjoyed the last Spalding show I went to and The Gravetts were there too, with Ditchling Green, a much better layout than Pempoul, a scene I find about as interesting as any run down French village. But the rest of those layouts looked to be a cut above the rest usually seen at a show these days. And it's one show I can get to without too much fuss. Damn, damn, damn! Sometimes there is a good reason NOT to be kicked off forums.....but only sometimes!
ReplyDeleteI like the village end of Pempoul
DeleteAs usual I've tried hard to find relatively flattering shots of some of the layouts, and I'm always aware of my own bias. I know Fen Drove is popular, for instance, but struggled to enjoy it.
Once again there were too many N gauge layouts with visible tight radius curves, and too many modern image layouts with bright light everywhere despite it being daylight.
Oh I automatically tune out of modern image and N gauge, as I also do with OO9 which I hate. But there still seemed to be some good stuff there.
ReplyDeleteA great set of photos, which I spotted on Flickr. You have more than done justice to the show. I wish I had seen Tony Hill's 16mm slate mill layout, I like "Rough Pup" and that could well be Pen Garret!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ian. I'm always surprised that I get quite decent shots at exhibitions given how crowded they are and how little elbow room you get. As so often white balance was a major issue with some layouts - to the degree it was noticeable with the naked eye and not just the camera sensor. Tony's line was a challenge with the amount of shadow at the front. In an ideal world I would probably have merged a couple of exposures to cope with the dynamic range.
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