After a weekend off from show visits I managed to head over to the Nottingham event on Saturday. I really enjoyed this show when I visited for the first time last year and had been looking forward to it all week. (And that had nothing to do with the Rams win over Forest you understand!!)

Perhaps the organisers needed to help fund some new players for the City Ground. I did think that the £8.00 entry fee was quite expensive. I know hiring the hall and bringing in layouts may not be cheap and that the organisers have to cover their costs somehow, but when compared to Stafford which was £7 for three halls and, I reckon, more exhibits it did seem a bit much. The show guide, at £1.50, was also 50p more than the Stafford one! That said, the show was excellent with plenty to see and some fantastic exhibits. I certainly enjoyed it once again and spent a long time there, so maybe I just about got my £8.00's worth.

There were plenty of excellent layouts to see. The Scottish section was superb. Although not a diesel fan I did enjoy the B.R blue era Bannochbrae which ran with DCC sound locos. The scenics certainly brought back memories of my honeymoon in the Highlands of Scotland. Also reminding me of this particular holiday was the N gauge, Loch Oran which was based on the Crianlarich junction which I had travelled through on the way to Fort William. I also enjoyed the steam era Culreach which I think I have seen in the pages of Hornby Magazine.

One layout which I had seen in the magazine was the GWR branch line terminus layout, Potterbourne. This too was excellent and showed just what operation can be realistically crammed into a small space. It ran very well too - unlike some layouts I saw on the day.

My favourite layout, without doubt, was Stoke Summit. A huge model of the location of Mallard's record breaking run. This seemed to attract a huge crowd all day. It is a massive model, very impressive. I managed to squeeze into the crowd at one end of the scenic section, right by the tunnel mouth. Here I could look along the whole length of the layout to the curve under the bridge at the far end, straining to see if a train was approaching, whilst suddenly seeing another emerge from the tunnel beneath me. Above the tunnel a footpath was modelled about at my eyeline. As I stood there a constant stream of Eastern region locos passed by - A1, A3's and A4's on passenger trains, Austerity 2-8-0's on freights, a V2 on a parcels and a K3 on a shorter passenger train. For just a few minutes reality blurred and I got a sense of what trainspotting was like in those days when steam reigned supreme. As someone who was born in the 1970's this may be as close as I will ever get!!! Congrats to the owners and builders of this model. It truely was the highlight of the show for me.

Although my wallet had been lightened considerably on entrance, I still managed to make some purchases. I am not a diesel fan, but I could not resist a Heljan model of the Railbus. This small model will go into the loco roster for my Skaleby West layout. I also picked up some point motors for this model too and a few trees. Now to get on with the modelling!!! Oh and I need to be nice to the wife...Belper in 2 weeks!!!