ADDRESS:
Birchwood High School Sports Hall, Parsonage Lane, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
CM23 5BD
OPENING TIMES:
10.30am - 4.30pm
ADMISSION:
Adults £5.00 Concessions £5.00
Children £2.00 Family £10.00
About the BSRS - Bishop’s Stortford Railway Society was formed in 1969 and draws in members from the town and surrounding area - some coming from as far as Enfield. We meet at The Old Booking Office, Bishop’s Stortford Railway station. There are 2 room; the smaller holds the club’s static 4 track OO gauge layout which is currently being remodelled while the larger doubles as a committee / meeting room for the Thursday talks and the general clubroom.
Tuesdays - 8.00 pm to 10.30 pm is the modelling night with regular attendees covering N, O and OO gauges. Sometimes a discussion night but generally some modelling for members own layouts is done and problems resolved. Parent members sometimes attend with their children to run trains on the permanent OO gauge layout. A friendly informal evening.
2019 EXHIBITION DETAILS
Our sixth year at this enhanced venue. 16+ layouts in main gauges including some vintage from mostly local clubs and ourselves; 7+ trade stands covering new and second hand stock, and modelling materials, 5 society stands and a number of club stands featuring other transport activities our members pursue. Manhattan Grill catering outside plus ride-on engineers track (small additional charge). 2 mins from M11 Junc 8; large free car parks at front and rear (follow signs please).
Layouts attending (Gauge);
Abbey Street S (Above) -- BR(E) late 1950’s early 60’s, East Anglia, Urban setting. Much like Colchester St Botolph’s / Colchester Town station, Abbey Street is a small station nearer to a town centre than the main station and linked to it by a shuttle service. The yard only handles goods, but coal empties from the coal yard further out of town have to come here to run round.
Ballyconnell Road 3mm -- (left). Around 1866 the Irish North Western Railway Company nearly extended the already completed Bundoran line into the important town and port which is Sligo. minerals known as bayrites had been found locally and the route neatly filled a gap in the railway map of Ireland. It formed a far flung outpost of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland since that company's formation in 1876 by merger of the INWR with other local railways. Now it is 1955 and a few tourists and remnants of the mining industry are barely justifying the continued operation of this otherwise local route. All this in 3mm/1ft (1:101.6) scale on 15.75mm gauge to portray the Irish broad gauge of 5 ft 3in. Even though the track gauge may look similar it is not OO! The layout is 7ft 3in. in diameter with storage roads to the rear.
Bascogne HO European model railway.
Beckton N -- (right) Modern image N Gauge layout under the wires a regular on the exhibition circuit and based upon West Coast Mainline operations in the 1989 - 1992 period, is set fictionally somewhere between Penrith and Carlisle.
Buntingford N - (left) is set in the late 1960s, with modellers' licence allowing the branch to linger beyond its actual post-Beeching closure date on the presumption of an upturn in commuter traffic and the prospect of additional freight traffic from the Sainsbury's distribution centre that was opened at Buntingford at around that time. A tremendously well built and detailed layout.
Dawes Lane N -- Multi level modern image layout in N.
East Dunnet -- This O-16.5 layout (originally called Rosie Cider Farm) was a small working diorama of a small farm that produces cider the owner uses trains to move the cider and other goods around and it was all contained within a 30in X 20in baseboard. A new 'extension' saw the small hamlet and station of 'East Dunnet' appear and this increased the size to 60 X 30in. The Rosie Cider Farm main building has now had its working clock added, at last. The side buildings to this main building are new as the old ones did not have the clearance that has now been adopted throughout the complete new build. There is now a 'Wood Yard' with a couple of sidings at the opposite end to the small village of 'East Dunnet'.
Essex Belt Lines HO USA -- (above)
The HO modular layout will feature the modules for Peveral, OH and Peach Meadows, amongst others and will be running a range of prototypical trains representing the USA transition period between steam and diesel operation. Peveral, OH -- The location is roughly Midwest Ohio, and portrays a small town in the 1950’s with a diner, and medium industry. Railroad facilities include a station (or depot) an interlocking tower, water tower, a small passing loop and a lay by track. Peach Meadows -- mainline specification module, incorporating a corner and straight element. The module was known as Peach Bottom, after a real place in Pannsylvania, following the changes it was felt the module no longer represented the real location and the name was changed.
Hope HO Us
Jusabit MPD O
Docklands O - believe this is the Croydon Model Railway Society layout.
Phoenix Junction HO Us
Round Tuit OO
Townsend N -- (N, 1960) Inspired by Dawlish and Teignmouth this GW mainly operated by GW traction and BR stock. Also to be seen are green era diesel traction and DMU's. SR stock is seen also on "diversionary and training route learned" moves which adds further interest.
Nearest Railway Stations:
Stansted Mountfitchet [1.97 miles]
Stansted Airport [3.45 miles]
Elsenham [3.66 miles]
MAP
