Sunday 19 November 2023

Brighton show 2023

Yesterday I visited the Brighton show, a small club show in a community centre. Small as I think there were only six layouts excluding the "vintage" Triang (which I do), strangely layouts seemed to be outnumbered by club and association stands and the club sales stand seemed bigger than any layout. The layouts were nice though, and the venue seemed crowded with families which has to be a good thing. At a time when some clubs have not resumed regular shows, it's good to see Brighton are able to, even if it is small and local. 


Orestone Quay (OO) I have seen before but always happy to see again, not many standard gauge layouts manage to cram this much character and colour as well as operation into a relatively small space. 


That street and quayside is beautifully modelled. 


I've also seen Portsea before and think this one is worth seeing again too. It's a loose copy of Portsmouth town and harbour stations in the unusual scale of TT, very nicely modelled and the harbour station is instantly recognisable as Portsmouth. 


EMUs and 3rd rail electric isn't really my thing, but I do like the layout. 


Holly Bank Grove (OO) is an engine shed scene with not much room for scenery although what was modelled was done well, including the track, and the varied weathering of the stock added to the realism.  


Lakeside depicts California in HO, a little different and nicely modelled including some unusal detailing (see the chain gang). Conversely, the locos here could have done with a little weathing, but I liked seeing some unusual locos such as this Heisler. 


Not strictly one of the listed layouts but Andy Knights had this micro layout on a demonstration stand, which people could have a go at operating. Nothing fancy here, but a small simple layout that anyone can have at home, which is always good to show at an exhibition.

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