10th ANNIVERSARY NEEDHAM MARKET MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION 2017

LOCATION
Needham Market Community Centre.
School St, Needham Market, Ipswich IP6 8BB
(Map of location at end of article)
Sunday, 24th September 2017
10:30am - 4:00pm (last admission 3:30pm).

This year will be their 10th exhibition and will feature layouts in various gauges/scales, trade stands selling new and secondhand rolling stock, societies and our popular hands-on modelling demonstrations.
NEW FOR 2017: FREE ADMISSION for accompanied children.

Admission Fees
Adults £4.00    Concessions £3.00
Children FREE (with paying adult)

We are pleased that we will be joined by Haddon Bank which has featured on the front cover of both Model Rail and Hornby magazines.

Appearing for only the second time is our own layout Weihnachtsstadt (Christmas Town, left), an HO gauge tramway layout depicting several Christmas Markets surrounded by half-timbered buildings, featuring many moving features and internal lighting.

As this will be our 10th anniversary exhibition we are running a competition that a number of model railway clubs are entering. The entries will be judged by the public on the day of the show.

A free car park is available, and we are easily accessible by public transport. Refreshments, light lunches and homemade cake will be served throughout the day.

We look forward to seeing you!

Layouts In Attendance

• Bassington's Garden Centre(OO9 gauge) 
  Inspired by Bressingham Museum in Norwich, by Robin French and Brian Bassington
• Bottrill Street Yard (O) 
  Period Diesel depot in East/North London by Peter Rye
• Grandad's Trains (O) 
  French outline tinplate trains by Norwich MRC
• Haddon Bank (OO) 
  1940s main line by Chelmsford MRC
• Hayling Island (N) 
  Hayling Island Station in the 1960s by Robin French
• Kelvins End (N) 
  by Kelvin Fellingham
• Levingly (OO) 
  Modern image Suffolk branch line by Barry Aldous
• Norfolk Coke & Tar Co. (O) 
  Industrial layout by Kelvin Barnes
• Maldon Market Hill (EM) 
  1950s Essex branch line by Chelmsford MRC
• Questa (On30) 
  New Mexico Mining Layout set in 1952 by Luton MRC
• Shepards Mine (OO9) 
  Slate Mine in the Lake District by Robin French
• Warren Hill (O) 
  BR Eastern Region by Cambridge MRC
• Weihnachsstadt (HO) 
  German Christmas market tramway by One MRC
• Wookery TMD (N) 
  by Mike Woolnough

Traders & Societies

• B & E Models 
  used railway equipment
• B'std Weather 
  weathering demonstrations and services
• Coastal DCC 
  digital/DCC equipment
• Great Eastern Models 
  new and used railway equipment
• Mid Suffolk Light Railway 
  Suffolk's only standard gauge heritage railway
• Mike Britton 
  used railway equipment
• Model Scenery Supplies 
  scenery supplies for realistic landscapes
• Railway Correspondence and Travel Society 
  Britain's leading organisation for people interested in all aspects of railways.
• Scograil 
  new railway equipment
• Wookery Nook Scenics 
  scenic supplies and lighting

NB: We have test tracks for both OO gauge and N gauge, so you can test any purchases before you go home.

How to get there...

By Car
A free car park is available at the venue. To plan your journey, visit Google Maps and use the postcode IP6 8BB, then select "Directions" to find your fastest route.

Needham Market is located between Stowmarket and Ipswich off the main A14 corridor which runs from the Midlands to Felixstowe.

By Rail
Needham Market Community Centre is a short walk from Needham Market Railway Station which will be well signposted on the day.

For travel information, please visit Abelio Greater Anglia.

Needham Market has a regular service that connects with services from Stowmarket, Ipswich, Manningtree, Colchester, London Liverpool St, Diss, Norwich, Felixstowe, Peterborough and Cambridge.

MAP

OO SCALE CLASS T14 "PADDLEBOX" - NuCAST KIT

Nu-CAST MODELS KIT "OO" GAUGE 4-6-0 CLASS T14 [PADDLEBOX] SOUTHERN REGION GREEN No 459. 
DRUMMOND DESIGN CIRCA 1912 
WITHDRAWN DURING 1948.

This excellent model was built from a Nu-Cast kit and is still safely stored in it's original box. Knowing that my late father spent the last 15+ years modelling in O Gauge and stored his considerable OO Gauge away I would make this model at least 20+ years old. And yet it's still in outstanding condition and having also given it a test run was working superbly. 

Great to see that after so much time spent away in a cupboard it needed no more than a light brush down and a test run during which it sprung back into life straight away and has been run around a small test track at low speed, gradually bringing it up for a period of higher speed without trying to overdo it. 

Model still looks great after all this time.

Along with the majority of the collection we had to sell this off to another lucky modeller, but I've got a few left for myself and am going through these to check they run well too. The majority of which are in their original boxes, and safely packaged away.

Nicely detailed inside as well as out.  

I am so proud of his work, it's something I cannot do myself sadly but the memory lives on here and whatever the Scale / Gauge he attempted to build these models show what a great craftsman Dad was. Miss you lots, thanks for everything xx

WEEKEND IN HASTINGS -- INCLUDING HASTINGS CLIFF RAILWAYS

A much needed weekend away, and while I regularly nip down to the south coast it's not Brighton this time around but Hastings. Can't say I've been before, and it's a pleasant change of scenery though, the journey down sees us travel from home to Waterloo and pop over to Waterloo East to catch the Southeastern service to Hastings, via Sevenoaks and Tonbridge. Have regularly travelled down to Sevenoaks and Royal Tunbridge Wells over the years on this line and although not the most scenic of views the journey is swift and very comfortable in my opinion. Arriving in Hastings in a little over an hour and half and only a short walk from the Station down to the sea front. 

Plenty of walking along the coast, could have done with some warmer weather but not out to get a suntan in any case. The is something special about getting to the seaside, the sea air does seem to help me a lot with clearing my mind. Then of course there is the scenery and in particular at couple of Funicular Railways that take visitors up from the seafront to the ruins of Hastings Castle and the Country Park and provide the visitor (on a clear day) with some excellent views out over the English Channel and over to Beachy Head too. 

East Hill Cliff Railway
The more dramatic East Hill Cliff Railway runs a shorter distance of 267 feet at a gradient of 78%, making it the steepest funicular railway in the United Kingdom. Built in 1903 by Hastings Borough Council, the line originally operated on the water balance principle, with the twin towers of the upper station containing the water tanks for this purpose. After modernisation works between 1973 and 1976, the line was converted to electric operation with new cars provided. The railway has two cars, each with a capacity of 16 passengers, and runs on a 5 foot gauge. 

West Hill Cliff Railway
The West Hill Lift retains its original wooden Victorian coaches, and also runs through a tunnel, very unusual for a funicular. The lift's charming lower station is in traffic-free George Street which is full of continental-style cafés, art shops and bookshops. The West Hill itself offers some of the town's most remarkable views, stretching round to Beachy Head in the west and out across the Channel, the busiest sea lane on the world.

The seafront is also home to the Hastings Miniature Railway Opened in 1948, The Railway operates along half a mile of Hastings Old Town seafront between Rock-a-nore and Marine Parade. The railway provides transport between local attractions and museums as well as being a historic pleasure railway. 

Rock-a-Nore station is the main headquarters of the railway, with the locomotive sheds, workshops and storage sheds for the railways rolling stock. It is situated at the east-most end of Hastings Old Town surrounded by the Fisherman and Shipwreck Museums, Aquarium, East Hill Cliff Railway and main Old Town Car Park. 

Hope to return here again sometime, it's quite a nice little place and there are other options that I didn't check out during my time. Not as big and busy as Brighton, but plenty to occupy yourself with and just for a few days away makes a nice change of pace from being stuck at home. Thank you Hastings, it's been emotional.

OLD OAK COMMON DEPOT OPEN DAY

OLD OAK COMMON DEPOT OPEN DAY
Saturday 2nd September 2017

LOCATION
GWR Old Oak Common Depot, 
Old Oak Common Lane, Greater London
NW10 6DZ




OPENING TIMES:  10am  -  4pm
ADMISSION: Tickets in Advance only no purchase on the day. 
Adults £20.00    Children £10.00  Family £45.00

Over 111 years since first servicing trains on 17 March 1906, GWR will unlock the doors of Old Oak Common Depot for members of the public. To celebrate its contribution maintaining the Legends of the Great Western, the depot will hold an open day on Saturday 2 September. I can remember coming here often as a youngster, walking along the canal and looking over the walls at all the activity, that was in the 70s though and much has changed. The last open day I did here they still had the turntable and access was not restricted by the health and safety minefield we have now, back then it was just called "Common Sense". 

On display will be a unique collection of steam, diesel, electric locomotives which have all helped to make the Great Western ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’. In addition, Fun fair rides, staged entertainment, merchandise stalls, children activities, and locomotive naming ceremonies should make it a great day out for the family.

During the depot’s 111-year history, the depot and its dedicated, highly skilled staff have maintained everything from steam era Kings and Castles, to the diesel-powered Westerns and Warships. In 1976 the depot was the maintenance hub in the Western region for the newly introduced High Speed Trains, the iconic trains which changed the face of Intercity travel in the UK.

While the HST fleet still operates today it is soon to be replaced after over 40 years of service by the Hitachi Intercity Express Train, which will provide another step change in passenger experience.

This is a ticketed event. Visitors will not be allowed entry unless able to show a valid ticket. No ticket sales shall be available on the day therefore demand is expected to be high for this unique event.

All proceeds will go to the depot’s chosen charity Place2Be, providing mental health support for children and whose patron is the Duchess of Cambridge.