Just back from my first ever visit to Railex and I appear to have picked an absolute classic year.
A first class show overall, congratulations to David and his team for organising and staging it.
Met up with lots of friends both from WT and elsewhere and thoroughly enjoyed myself, I find myself coming away from the show inspired by what I saw with new energy and thoughts for my own modelling endeavours - which is a feeling I don't think I have got from a model railway show that I have attended as a customer for a long time since.
A bit invidious to single out layouts perhaps, different layouts appealed for differing aspects, but here goes with my impressions, sort of in the order I first looked at them:
Leicester South: A magnificent recreation of the late lamented Great Central, plenty of action and good modelling, occasional derailment/hand of god moments but a humdinger nonetheless. Good combination of shunting and main line operation.
Fencehouses: Superb, interesting and original track plan, wonderful scenery including the stupendous viaduct, trains running very smoothly, a showstopper, terrific detail for its size I thought.
St Merryn: Really well modelled and evocative of its subject. Saw a few "gremlins" operation-wise and being hyper picky it all looks a bit too topographically "flat" to my eyes, but real suspension of disbelief well possible and very good display explaining train movements.
Bucks Hill: Breathtaking in many ways, stupendous backscene, very high standard of modelling, I especially liked the "bonus scene" between tunnels with the woodland and village in the background - just lovely. Good operation but slightly let down by signals not being put back at one point, effective DCC sound hardly any hand of God. Some very lovely stock, possibly a bit chocolate box? Fantastic however you look at it.
Heyside: Superb "ensemble piece", best running in the show, very atmospheric "Northern Grit" really well modelled and finished stock and the best working and looking model signals that I think I've ever seen. A real sense of being alongside a real railway watching real trains, great exposition of DCC and sound, I absolutely loved the 8F with rods that clanked as power was taken off, lovely diesels and noises including DMU and pair of Class 20s. I really liked the differing sequences being played out along the layout, shunting, DMU in and out, inspection saloon working, freights into loop - and all done to signals. Brilliant team effort, pretty seamless looking and very impressive operation of layout. Criticisms? Being
hyper picky it would have been nice if the straight track could have been more "transitioned" into the corner curves but given that this is an exhibition layout built and managed by a relatively small group of mortals with a sensible budget it is just bloody marvellous.
Tucking Mill: A great picture, complete with working railway - really effective backscene which places it immediately, very artfully done. Still work in progress and getting better every time I see it. Loved the new light railway rolling stock, it looks better without diseasels!
St Ruth: Really interesting layout, clever staging and nice light (but shame about the shadows on the backscene) definitely one to watch.
Polbrook Gurney: Ludicrously improbable juxtaposition of Colliery and railway line, but who cares, the man's a visual genius and despite its tiny size the whole thing packs a huge visual punch. Brilliant textures and colours and lovely collection of different levels and gradients which just oozes atmosphere. Operation was very good, (aided and abetted by Graham "Muz") coal was clearly being mined and shipped out by train. Being hyper picky I would like to see a bit more "dankness" and suggestion of hanging vegetation etc but then I'm a bit weird like that.
Crumley etc is a masteriece of Paul Windle "Wallace and Gromettishness" a genius and original piece of staging and the trains are good too.
My pictures were truly dreadful and as you can guess I spent most time at Heyside. Purchases were some brass strip for my stretcher bars, some very fine chain from Ambis (thanks to Bob for the heads up) and a set of Collett chucks for my Myford from Simon Dunkley -thank you very much Simon.
A truly grand day out and grand company too - thanks to all involved
Simon
really hacked me off. First-rate show as ever and always worth going. If you've not been before make sure you go next year as you're really missing out.
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Were you car park stewarding at the time? If so, OK, paying punters might have moaned about the car parking (you can't expect any able-bodied person to walk more than 20 metres these days can you? 
but traders.....come on folks.
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