I took a drive over to the Midland Railway at Butterley today which is the venue for the Midland Railex exhibition. (Thanks to Frank for mentioning it on
his blog, otherwise the show, like so many things, would have passed me by). Its not a show or railway that I'd been to before, so I was unsure as to what to expect.
Being a fairly large show located at a preserved railway meant that the layouts were spread out over several sheds and there was plenty of full-sized metal to look at. The show had a military theme, several military vehicles where on display, along with owners in appropiate dress, and a lot of the layouts had a military theme.
Turning up at Butterly station itself, the only way into the event apparently, I bought a ticket and took the train to Swanwick (nice Sulzer power) where the bulk of the exhibits were located. Within 15 minutes of arriving I'd bought two books and got told off for being on the wrong side of the fence photographing wagons, a roll of red and white striped tape soon came out after that...
Highlights for me were watching a 1952 Ruston & Hornsby oil engine powering a generator in the Static Power shed (which sounded fantastic, I could have happily recorded it), seeing some of the restored MR wooden 4 wheel coaches, finally getting to see Franks superb 'Steam on the Cambrian' which I've long admired, and watching Leighton Buzzard's Baldwin pulling the newly restored Ashover carraige. The let-down, which is purely my own fault, was not seeing a large chunk of the model railway exhibition by missing out the diesel shed. Quite how I managed that it I'm not sure... I also spent time chatting to friends old and new.
Anyway, here's an admittedly rather odd selection of photos of the full-sized stuff (I didn't photograph any layouts);
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| I was rather taken with this new build 0-4-2 wing tank. |
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| A fork-lift truck museum, who'd have thought it! |
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| Baldwin, Ashover coach and an ex-WD bogie dropside. |
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| A symphony of rust. |
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| Duff duffs. |
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| Heavy engineering in the Princess Royal shed. |
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| A pair of standard gauge Motor Rails photographed from the footbridge. |
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| Nice chunky Hudswell Clarke. |
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| A polished Peckett. |
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| A study in dilapidation. |
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| Possibly a Fordson(?) tractor conversion. |
A most enjoyable day (despite missing a fair portion of the show). I shall return.
Paul.
Nice to see you yesterday Paul, been a long time since our last meeting.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, it was a good show, one that I always enjoy both as visitor and exhibitor.
I was wondering why that red& white tape appeared all of a sudden! now I know.
Nice to see you to Frank, and I've wanted to see 'Steam on the Cambrian' for a while now. I'll make a point of returning for next years show, but arriving much earlier. I was a bit put off going in the morning as I left Buxton in horizontal rain, which thankfully didn't follow me down!
DeleteYes, the tape was my doing, well there weren't any signs telling me not to stand next to the narrow gauge line photographing ICI hoppers! But there's always one idiot, and yesterday it was me!
Sounds like an excellent day. I really do like the shows that mix models and full sized railways. Barrow Hill Live in September should be similar (although I think slightly smaller scale).
ReplyDeleteI went to the first Barow Hill Live, and really enjoyed it, but haven't been since for some reason. I'll have to try and make it to this years show.
DeleteI also like the mix of full-size and model, many years ago I helped out on a trade stand at the Amberley Museum railway gala, these days though its too far to travel.
I've been to the last two Barrow Hill Live events. Last year the layouts and full size locos were better but there was almost no trade (just a couple of second hand stalls) possibly as it didn't have a big sponsor after Model Rail magazine pulled out. This year it looks as if it is a BRM sponsored event so hopefully more trade. I'll probably be there on the Saturday as I can go door to door via the railway, which gets tricky on a Sunday.
DeleteI think Warners/BRM are trying for world domination. Its a shame because BRM is utter shite, like the bastard offspring of Model Rail and Hello!.
DeleteIts in my diary now anyway.
Yeah, BRM really has gone downhill. Annoyingly I subscribed at a point when I thought the articles were better than Model Rail and the others. Then it went through a transformation and yes I agreean acurate description. "bastard of offspring of Model Rail and Hello!" seems
DeleteNow my coffee is all over the workbench after reading that :-) You have nailed it, though, BRM is crap. Along with all the other mags who have to pander to box-openers, time wasters and folk with no attention span. The Railway Modeller made a mess of my last article,editing it until it didn't make sense and reducing the photos to postage stamps (almost). It seems that you can't have an opinion of any sort when writing for a mainstream magazine for fear of frightening the readers timid sensibilities. Anyway, this looks a great venue and I like the look of the Peckett and the rusty portable. I will try and be there next year.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that I'm not alone in my opinion of BRM! Thats a shame about your Muddler article, I didn't read it (I rarely buy anything other than the MRJ and the Review nowadays). I did once consider writing articles for possible publication, but it does seem to be a lot of effort for little return.
DeleteYes, the venue was great, loads to see, possibly worth visiting over a couple of days.
Oh ! you certainly aren't alone when it comes to giving an honest opinion about BRM Paul, it's not even fit to wipe your **** on! Having dumped the Modeller along with the rest of the kids comics I make do with MRJ and the Scalefour News. Iain sums up the mainstream mags perfectly.
ReplyDeleteBRM could have the best content from the finest modellers and writers, but the layout and style serve only to make the magazine unreadable.
DeleteBring back Morill!