"Grantham - The Streamliner Years"

[52D]

Shame about the Stafford date id like to see the Layout again after seeing it at Barrow Hill, Ive got a non LNER railway date so wont be able to attend.

[Kestrel]

. . . . . . whilst watching the world go by in a not so busy Skegness!!
oOo
Brian

I thought you had some beached sperm whales to watch at Skeggy.

[LNER4479]

Shame about the Stafford date id like to see the Layout again after seeing it at Barrow Hill, Ive got a non LNER railway date so wont be able to attend.

Nil desperandum - plenty of other dates in the diary for this year and beyond...

[jwealleans]

Just a reminder that one of those dates is this weekend at the REC Farnborough Show in Woking.


The Railway Enthusiasts’ Club

MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION 2016

Woking Leisure Centre
Woking Park
GU22 9BA

Saturday 10th September 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday 11th September 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Layout list

Traders list


Grantham will be there in its current form (enhanced structurally and scenically since the last outing) along with some regular contributors to this forum and some well known figures within the hobby.

[Atlantic 3279]

Bimey! That's this weekend! I must get ready......

[jwealleans]

Bring a brolly, It's raining here.

[earlswood nob]

Morning all (not good as it's drizzling in Surrey)

The Surrey forecast for Saturday is not good. I shall have to travel with a brolly as I'm going by train, as Woking had parking problems.

I hope to see/meet a few of the experts at the show.

Earlswood nob

[drmditch]

And, if you are going, do make sure that you allow enough time for Grantham...... so much to see ... so much work to admire.... so much to be inspired by!

[earlswood nob]

I shall have plenty of time as I shall arrive early and have nothing else planned for the day.

There are no decent pubs near the Leisure Centre to distract me.

When in Woking, I usually have a pint or two at the Herbert Wells in Chertsey Road to the north of the station.

It's a Wetherspoons, which must say something about the quality of the other town pubs.

Earlswood nob

[earlswood nob]

Good morning all

I had a most enjoyable Saturday visiting the Farnborough REC exhibition at Woking.
I went via the branch (Reigate to Guildford), and by the time we left Deepdene, it was full and standing. I remember that Beeching wanted to close the stations west of Reigate, and finish the passenger services along the line.
I was surprised by the number of people queuing to get into the exhibition, which seems to indicate that railway modelling is thriving as a hobby.
I toured the trade stands and bought a book that I wanted at a discount price, before concentrating on the layouts.
The star of the show was Grantham Streamliner Years. It was great watching the amazing variety of locos and stock working a busy station.
I wished I had a notebook with me as it was like a summer Saturday trainspotting at a local junction in the late 1950s.
I was spellbound for long periods, only interrupted by strolls around the hall to exercise my arthritic knees.

Atlantic 3279 can be seen retrieving his stash from below the basboards.

The J54 trying to hide behind a signal post

[All thumbs]

I want to echo Earlswood's comments.

I got to Woking about 3pm-ish and the crowds were beginning to thin - no problem with car parking and no queue at the door. GTSY was undoubtedly the star of the show and I spent most of my time hanging over the guard rail watching the trains go by. I thought having the shed panel and operator outside of the operating oval made for a lot of extra entertainment! Thank you LNER4479 for bringing your train set "darn sarf" and sharing it with us.

If I have an observation, it is to suggest that at future shows you ask that the storage back end is on open view (instead of being hidden behind stand forming the next aisle) so that we mere gawpers can gaze in admiration at the full range of stock available. It was so enjoyable "clocking" many of the 4mm models (locos and stock) that have been featured by their makers on this board.

Inspirational!

[earlswood nob]

Evenin' all

As mentioned above, I didn't have a spotters notebook, but this is what I remember;
Locos & stock that were spotted include:
A1 A3 A4 B4 B16 C1 C2 C12 D1 D10 D11 J1 J6 J10 J11 J39 J52 J54 J69 K3 (GN cab) K4 O2/2 O4 O4rebuilt P2
Silver Jubilee
Coronation
West Riding Limited
Leeds Quint
Clerestorys
Howlden 6 wheelers

Locos that I was surprised I didn't spot:
B2 (but there was one for sale on a trade stand)
B8 C4/5 D6 D7 D9 J3/4 K2 N1 N2 N5 P1 Q1 W1 rebuilt

Thanks to all involved for a great show.

Earlswood nob

[Atlantic 3279]

I'm sure The Chief will thank you himself when he gets time, but as one of the assistants on the layout may I get my thanks in first. I'm glad you were both able to attend and to make yourselves known to us.

That operating position out front for the shed is more than handy at times. With the shed being almost wholly separate from the main layout's interlinked and interlocked electrical circuits that "outstationed" operator can at least carry on playing with locos on shed to provide a degree of entertainment for the public if/when operator mistakes or component malfunctions bring almost everything else to a mysterious dead-stop!

My own feelings on public access to the outside (back) edge of the fiddle yard are mixed. I'm more than happy to have people seeing the stock, but depending on the ability of the show organisers to provide good barriers it could raise questions over the security and safety of stock. The fiddle yard operators could provide a tempting target too for those wanting to ask lots of questions about the layout, and they do have to concentrate and work quickly when the layout is in the full "swing" of operation.

Further thought added later: The back of the layout certainly isn't, in its present condition, arranged to give a tidy appearance to viewers - an additional snag were it to be made accessible. All sorts of empty bags and boxes, tools, coats, other items of clothing, plus covers and packing pieces for the layout in transit reside untidily under the fiddle yard boards too. I doubt if there's room in the very tightly packed layout van for further drapes, screens or barriers to conceal and secure things suitably.

[earlswood nob]

Good morning all

Re viewing the fiddle yard:

I personally enjoyed the trains arriving from the fiddle yard and spotting the locos hauling them, e.g. I found it very interesting when suddenly seeing a B4 emerge with a train.

I found myself looking at the commentary sheets and wondering which loco would be hauling the next scheduled train.
If I had spent time looking at the fiddle yard, I would probably wait for a loco that I wanted to see, and ignore several intervening trains.

It even reminded me of junior schooldays when we used to hurry our teas to rush to a local bridge to see what was hauling the "Cannon Street", which was sometimes a King Arthur.

Earlswood nob

PS apologies for the comparison with SR operation, but I only saw Eastern Region operations on later expeditions to Kings Cross.

[Atlantic 3279]

I thought I'd posted these pictures on here last night, in fact I'm sure I typed up the post, but as it hasn't appeared I obviously made a mistake in my tired state.

Attempt No 2: Aerial views of the LNER's new Woking extension, as opened on Saturday.