Narrow Gauge South

On Saturday I went to Narrow Gauge South near Winchester. I only had time for a brief visit but it was enough to see the superb range of over 30 layouts on show. Highlights for me were the infamous (to 009 modellers at least) Dovey Valley (pictured) - dating back many years and famous from "The Two Ronnies" sketch - and also the new layout from John Thorne "Purbeck". Some of my pictures didn't come out to well but the better ones are published here. The Sussex Downs group were out in force and Mark Holland was showing his layout "Temark Valley", his first ever layout, highly detailed and full of character. Mark is currently working on a new layout based on Welshpool, I can't wait to see it.

UPDATE: Steve Fulljames has published more photos on his site - well worth a look

Work on my layout has been progressing, I have painted the station buildings and am putting together a Metcalf Models factory. I will publish some photos shortly.

Arundel model railway show

Last weekend we had a family trip to Arundel to see the model railway show put on by the Wealden Railway Group. You can see more pictures here. My 15-month old son was having great fun toddling about so apologies of the photo's aren't great but I was trying to stop him destroying people's hard work! Still, he loved the trains. 009 was represented by a couple of excellent micro-layouts (one is pictured above), andthere were several nice layouts in other scales, although a couple had turned up late and were setting up as I left.

My layout is progressing with the station building now complete awaiting painting. I have made a start on the Metcalf Models mill/warehouse card kit that will form the factory. It is a nice kit but it is a long time since I built a card kit, and I'm concerned that the detail and finish (such as the corners of the walls) may not be as good as I'd like. Still they will go together quickly and will only need minimal painting, which given I have spent 2 months on the station building is important if I want to finish the layout anytime soon!