Farnham 009 Exhibition

Yesterday afternoon I visited the 009 exhibition put on by the Farnham & District Model Railway Club. Although a bit of a cross-country trek it was worth it for a good dose of 009 layouts, and of course the 009 Society sales stand which allowed me to replenish my stock of kits and projects! Here's a brief round-up of the layouts.

Somewhere in France II - Peter Capon. I'd not seen this layout before and while simple operationally the scenic work is excellent - the scenes really reminiscent of the pictures in Roy Link's book and a lot of attention has been paid to detail, such as in this scene of a ruined town with refugees and sniper. 

No trenches on this layout since the railways ran some distance back from the front, but did service the artillery, and guns are depicted under camouflage nets, with yellow flashes from the muzzles in sync with the ambient soundtrack. Note the mud and splintered tree trunk stumps. Excellent modelling of a really moving subject. 

Some detail of a loaded wagon, again as seen in Roy's book. The wooden props and duck-boards were used in the trenches.

Whimsey - David Harrington. And why not!

Coleford - John Wickes. A popular layout with great scenic work, fantastic trackwork, and real character, 

John also had his small challenge layout. 

Straight and Narrow - Farnham MRC. This is a club modular layout with each module built by different members, several were present filling the length of the hall. Just a couple of shots here showing some of the variety, from another WWI scene...

...To a setting closer to home. Trains ran through all the scenes.

Kaninchenbaul - Ian Morrison, holding up the Continental modelling scene with a rather fun double loop layout and impressive computer control. 

River Crane Mill - John Thorne. John's layouts are always delightful and I'd not seen this one before. It's a wooded scene which makes photography tricky, but here are some featuring interesting stock from John's extensive collection of locos and railcars. 

Ryedown Lane - Patrick Collins. This Colonel Stephens inspired model has a quiet, open feel that captures the atmosphere of his lines perfectly, and is a long-standing favourite of mine. 

Garreg Wen - Matthew Kean. Another atmospheric layout that is on my favourites list, not just for the understated scenic work and 19th century era, but the superbly modelled stock. 

Great to get back to a small narrow gauge show, here's hoping more exhibitions can return to something like normal in the not too distant future.