Exeter Model Railway Exhibition
I must apologise in advance for the brevity of this account, as my time at the event was limited to just one day. Nonetheless, it was a it was still a great day with a lot on content for people.
A good strong team was present formed of Chris, Nick, George, Val & Dave P, Adrian, Andrew and myself. This show being local to Adrian it was nice to see him and catch up.
The team arrived the day before to set up. The venue, the Matford centre, which is really a cow shed, required a thorough clear-out just before we could moved in. Thankfully, we were at the back of the show away from the smells.
For me the day began early morning was still dark when and I set off on the first Elizabeth line train from Canary Wharf for Paddington and then onwards to Exeter on GWR. By the the time I arrived with Andrew (Thanks once again for the lift from St Davids.) the stage was set with locos already in steam and we were ready for the shows commencement.
As the gates opened, it became fairly busy, and we had a nice flow of people who were eager to engage and experience 00LS on the outer-loop. With a lot of people enjoying the roadshow, and a very good weekend for the club shop it made for a nice successful show.
The day's highlight, without a doubt, was the unveiling of Dave P's Royal Scott. This exquisite locomotive, making its first public appearance. It gathered quite a lot discussion between Dave, myself and George over the what name/number it should be. Below, I've included a video of the Royal Scott in action. It is running very nicely here with Andrews Purple A4 and a club Dwight.
It was also good to see Nick playing with his latest toy, a new Hornby 2007 Prince of Wales with smoke generator. This got onto the club layout with his handy briefcase of controllers. It was nice to see how easy this to go around with his phone as he used the TXS system. This looks great behind his latest creation of the improved Hornby railroad teaks, which, made a debut at the show, and took a lot of admiration from many people.
Also, sticking to the topic of bluetooth control, a first for me was seeing Dave P'S Bluetooth Bittern. This was an regular A4 that Dave has taken and made to be controlled via bluetooth to a smartphone It was an amazing experience to see the level of the control I could get form the system, and the quick and small response you could make to it to gain the finest control. It was a pleasure to drive and thanks once again for giving me the chance to drive it.
As always the time flew by, and before i knew it it was show close and it was our time for dinner at the thyme nearby. Everyone had a lovely meal and a pleasurable time. It was then time for me to make my way back to London. Thanks for all who attended for making such a great event and for Val P for organising such a successful show.