Temark Valley at Sompting Show

Fellow Sussex Downs 009 group member Mark Holland (builder of Spirit of Welshpool) was showing his first layout, Temark Valley, at the Sompting Model Railway Show, so I had volunteered to help out. Mark says that he did everything wrong building this layout - the corners are too tight, gradients too steep, clearances too restricted, the baseboard is large and had to be braced to make it strong enough for exhibitions ... but it is an attractive layout and great fun to operate. The narrow gauge line leaves the yard across the canal from the standard gauge, and one branch dives through a tunnel to a halt, while another winds up to a quarry with interesting shunting challenges!


There was a good selection of layouts at the show in a range of scales and themes, although N-gauge is clearly popular with the organising club. You will find some photos here. This super little layout in 0-16.5 caught my eye, very nicely modelled and just shows what can be done in a compact space. (The builder (Brian Taylor) was also responsible for Pelporro in G-gauge.)


There was even a Thomas layout for the kids to operate, up to 3 at a time. My lad loved it, and spent ages playing!