Warley Show 2014

I visited the Warley Show at Birmingham NEC today, it was much easier to get to from Leamington compared to London and although the show seemed smaller than in previous years there was still an excellent turnout of traders and layouts.

Sadly with the Signal Box having closed there wasn't the usual selection of new US bargains, but I did find several traders with used HO stock, some of it very expensive but there were some bargains to be had here and there.

There was a good spread of US layouts, including 'Grain and Beer' by the AMRL (American Model Railroaders of Luxembourg) and the NMRA stand was in attendance as usual.


'Colorado Bluff'
An interesting layout, mostly running older rtr stock by Bachmann and Lifelike.  The emphasis was definitely more on running fun than authenticity. :)

'Great Western Railroad'
A freelanced logging railroad with a very nicely detailed winter theme.  Lots of small scenes to reward the onlookers.

'La Rochelle Engine Terminal'
Another very nicely detailed layout, but a little less interesting to watch as it was focused on light engine movements in and around a roundhouse and turntable yard.
 

'Silver Pine Creek'
Another nicely detailed layout, this one was deliberately built very low to allow younger spectators to have a good view, and allow the rest of us to see the very intricate street scenes from an aerial vantage point.  This layout is currently for sale.
 

'Grain and Beer'
A very detailed layout with hundreds of working lights and a custom built enclosure to keep the light levels down.  The spectator barrier was a little too far back on this one so it was difficult to get a good look at the details in amongst the brewery buildings.
 

There were also some very nicely detailed British Outline layouts that caught my eye including 'Clarendon' which featured a very convincing station forecourt and a custom glass roof.

 

'Glenuig' was a very nicely detailed West Highland layout which took me straight back to my childhood, with the BR blue class 26's hauling provisions away from the quay.
 

'Avyn-A-Llyin' A beautifully detailed layout with a really convincing beach scene and pier area.  The waves on the shore were fantastic.
 

Here are a few shots of the trade stands.  There were many bargains to be had, but also a few traders who seemed to be confusing the prices of new items and secondhand!

 

I picked up a very nice Kato F40PH fitted with DCC and Sound, although I had to resist the matching passenger cars as I'm on a tight budget after the house move!

I also bought three secondhand Kadee short wheelbase cars for my HO Rock Island layout 'Godinez' these kadee models really are beautifully detailed and will fit right in on the layout with some weathering being the only detail needed.

Warley Show - NEC Birmingham

This weekend is the 45th National Model Railway Exhibition, being held at the NEC in Birmingham, I took the train up to spend the day at the show.

I attended last year so I knew what to expect, and the show did not disappoint, with over 85 layouts in all scales and over 150 trade stands.

I bought my ticket online so I was able to get into the hall early and have a quick look round the traders for bargains, as usual The Signal Box had a big pile of reduced US outline stock and I picked up a Walthers flexi-van and an Atlas RS36, there wasn't much else of note on any of the stands, and some of the second hand HO was obscenely overpriced (badly repainted blue box locos for £40 on one stand!).

I spent the rest of the day looking at the layouts, and there were plenty of great models to look at, including several US layouts.

 

Burlington Central - Perth MRC - N Scale

 

 

Union Pass - Leeds MRS - N Scale

 

 

Four Corners - Warley MRC - HO Scale

 

 

Roundhouse - Ian Lamplin - Ho Scale

There were several non-US layouts that caught my eye, I've included some pictures of them below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a couple of layouts that really stood out in terms of presentation, including two that used a very large surround in order to focus the viewers attention on the scene.

 

Veldhoven 1935 - Modelspoor - HO Scale

(Viewed through a picture frame)

 

 

 

 

The Blue Tram - Loek Bronkhorst - HO Scale

(Constantly changing day/night lighting cycle)

 

 

 

Cliffhanger - John de Frayssinet - 009 Scale

(Impossible to get close to all day, crowds three deep admiring

the wall of cliff and trees that almost touched the floor)

 

As for purchases, there were slim pickings for second-hand, and the few second hand US locos that were in evidence were overpriced, so although I spent a lot of time hunting around, I didn't find much worth buying.

 

Other than LSWR and Macs Models there weren't many US seller, and no bargains other than the usual Signal Box sale.  I picked up a couple of low priced specials from them including an Atlas RS36 which I hope will be suitable to fill the empty roster on my Rock Island layout.

 

 

 

Atlas RS36 - Brand New but no outer box

 
I also picked up this Walthers Flexi-Van IV set, brand new with 70% off from Signal Box, a really beautiful wagon which is probably a little too early for my era but I couldn't resist such a great looking piece of intermodal equipment.