Last weekend my wife Sarah had a little moan about how she had not had much of a break recently. With my school workload and the recent house move pressures she was becoming very tired due to constantly looking after our 2 year old girl. She, quite clearly, needed a break - a few hours on her own to wind down and have some peace and quiet.

After breaking up for the half term holiday yesterday I promised to take the little one out for a "daddy and daughter" day today. As it happened this weekend has not one, but two local model railway exhibitions and I managed to visit them both today.

The day started at Allestree in Derby. This "trains day" has been running for a number of years. In the past it has been an amateur run event to raise money for the local church. The exhibitors were made up of local enthusiasts who came along and set up their displays on the morning of the show. Many would never exhibit at any other events. That being said the show was always worth a visit with many displays showing off collections of older models providing a sense of nostalga. Almost all had something moving all of the time which was perfect for the children.

This year's event represented a change of organiser. The local "Famous Trains" charity having taken on the event. This change has produced a larger show with two rooms being used this year. The other change saw a few more professional show layouts in attendance. The "Famous Trains" own Darley Factory layout provided plenty of shunting action. David Lenton's "Linton Yard" was a work in progress minimum space diesel model complete with sound fitted locos.

The show had not forgotten its roots. In the original main hall there was once again plenty of vintage displays with Lone Star and Triang models. There was also a G Scale display on the stage with a Toby style tram engine shunting some stock. Once again there was always something moving on many layouts which kept the children thoroughly entertained.

For me it was great to catch up with some friends from the Mickleover club and some exhibitors from last year's Weston show. I have also got to know some Famous Trains members and it was great to chat to some of them, even if I could have landed another modelling job as a result.

After a nice lunch at Allestree we headed over to Sileby in Leicestershire for the annual Syston Model Railway Exhibition. This is always an enjoyable show although parking is often a problem. The signs direct visitors to the car park for the local supermarket, but this is quite small and on a Saturday spaces are like rocking horse manure!! There was already three or four cars circling the car park when I got there. Luckily I managed to park in the nearby housing estate although this meant a five minute walk in the rain.

The show featured 14 layouts with this year's event seeming to be heavily weighted towards the more modern image. Of the 14 layouts, 8 of them represented various periods of the diesel era. This did spoil my enjoyment a little as I am more a steam era 00 gauge modeller. Only 3 layouts represented steam. Of these the 0 gauge model on show was a long way from being finished. The other two were both N gauge meaning there were no layouts to fit my style of modelling. That was disappointing!

Of the layouts that were there I enjoyed Mike Kelly's "Cromer". I have seen this many a time before and always admire the quality of the scenic modelling. It also brings back memories of some recent holidays. Brenton Midland also featured plenty of sound fitted models and had a constant procession of trains. Midchester City also provided the flavour of a inner city terminus station with plenty of DMU's.

The N gauge Nunbrook and Loxley also provided plenty of modern image action on the main line. The branch did provide "something for kids" as a Thomas the tank engine shuffled back and forth with Annie and Clarabel - no wonder my daughter kept dragging me back there!

As for steam models there were two N gauge layouts which provided scenic branch line action. Whatton Parva, based on Tenterden, represented the Colonel Stephens light railways. The pick of layouts for me was "Elmfield" which represented the station in the final years of its life.

The lack of steam era layouts coupled with a tired daughter meant my stay at Sileby was briefer than usual. We left and drove to Quorn and Woodhouse Station on the G.C. Sadly a heavy rain shower along with a 45 minute wait for the final steam hauled train of the day had us heading for home.

And so the "awards"

Best layout (across both events):

3rd Darley Factory (at Allestree) - a rare 00 gauge steam model today. Plenty of Austerity shunting in a well modelled industrial environment.

2nd Cromer (at Sileby) - always a favourite as it is well modelled and brings back good memories.

1st Elmfield (at Sileby) - a tough call, but the fact it was a rare steam model at the show helped. Lovely modelled scenics and accurate shunting in N gauge which is never easy.

Best model loco

Runner Up: An N gauge Stroudley Terrier on the Whatton Parva layout at Sileby. A lovely model of a diminutive loco in a small gauge.

Winner: The 0 gauge Ivatt Class 2 on the unfinished layout at Sileby. I like this class of loco and this model was superb.

Best scenic item

The factory complex on Darley Factory a very large card model.

And the not so good:

The lack of 00 gauge steam at Sileby was very disappointing. Other than that there was nothing "bad" that stood out.

Finally, the humourous:

The motorised "mouse" on a layout at Allestree raised a smile and had my daughter coming back time and time again!