☆ SWAG Members Day- SUNDAY 28th APRIL 2024☆

[TimC]

Judith and I had a great day with St Oswalds.  A big thank you to Rob and the gang for an excellent day.  It was good to met up with so many and put faces to names at last.

 

As mentioned above, the quality of exhibits was excellent and the catering was up there with the best on the circuit.

 

 

A great selection indeed including this beauty.

 

 

Well done again guys and I look forward to 2025 SWAG Members Day.

 

[Godfrey Glyn]

Another great day, many thanks to all of you who brought along items to sell and those of you who found something to buy. I think it was a record for takings which means that it all helps to fund the SWAG25 Event. Thanks to our leader I was able to leave the B&B and take photos of some of the beautiful layouts that graced the event today. It was as usual a really special event and all thanks to Captain Kernow for its birth and to Rob for organising SWAG24!

[Godfrey Glyn]

Just two more!

[Dunsignalling]

Congratulations and thanks to all involved in staging yet another excellent day.

 

Commiserations to all unable to attend.

 

Thanks, too, for all the interesting chat with old friends and new acquaintances. 

 

Excellent food for thought and body alike, along with the plentiful seating for when the latter flagged a bit!

 

All that and a couple of useful bargains from the bring-and-buy!

 

Roll on SWAG '25.

 

John

 

 

[Dave 46]

Thanks for an enjoyable visit.

[mudmagnet]

Many thanks to Rob for organising a superb event again!

 

We had a great day, with several favourable comments and sales from my stand, thank you.

 

Need to get on with more progress on my 2mm finescale layout.

[mozzer models]

4 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

Thanks to all involved for an excellent meet up today. Some inspirational modelling on show, together with great woffle and cakes …. Especially the Welsh ones! Didn’t spend too much … just a wagon kit and some plates and bits from @mozzer models. Excellent company for the drive down from @Downendian a bonus! 

Will tell the Boss you liked the Welsh cakes

[bcnPete]

I would like to echo my thanks to Rob and the team for the invite and organising and hosting a fab day including Graham and the catering team 👍🏼
 

First time last year as an observer, this time as an exhibitor and nice to see old faces, meet new ones and see excellent layouts.

 

Thanks to all those who helped out with my lunchtime short circuit (we are thinking heat in the hall!) and David Long for helping set up and run the layout. Thanks also to Marc Smith who leant a hand too 👍🏼

 

Cracking pasty and cakes a plenty!

 

Reflecting on a terrific day over a glass of wine. 
 

Thanks all and hope to be back next year as an observer… 

 

 

 

Pete 

[Phil Bullock]

38 minutes ago, mozzer models said:

Will tell the Boss you liked the Welsh cakes

Ah did wonder if they were yours!! Very nice indeed…

 

2 hours ago, Godfrey Glyn said:

Another great day, many thanks to all of you who brought along items to sell and those of you who found something to buy. I think it was a record for takings which means that it all helps to fund the SWAG25 Event. Thanks to our leader I was able to leave the B&B and take photos of some of the beautiful layouts that graced the event today. It was as usual a really special event and all thanks to Captain Kernow for its birth and to Rob for organising SWAG24!

 

 

Also need to hide that top photo from SWMBO here …. Direct evidence of me handing you hard cash!! 😀

Edited April 28 by Phil Bullock

[St Enodoc]

4 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

Yes, didn't it work the way I did it?

Sorry, I blame incompetence. 

Civil engineers...

[queensquare]

Another excellent SWAG flying the 2mm flag, many thanks to all involved.

As well as bringing along various bits of my Bath project , I also took delivery of Ley Hill built by David Long. Despite being forty years old it’s still a lovely little layout and will now have a new lease of life as part of the 2mm roadshow/demo in the south and south west.

The snaps show a few items of North Somerset Light stock posed on the layout and also David and Phil Copplestone, the latter another previous custodian of the layout.

 

Jerry

 

 

[Sithlord75]

Didn’t realise Ley Hill was still around.  I’ve enjoyed watching it on YouTube a number of times.  Very neat and inspirational.  

[Barry Ten]

Had a great day at SWAG with Paynestown. Many thanks to Rob, Muz and all the organisers and helpers for making such a splendid, welcoming event possible. It was nice to chat to new and old faces and adnire the wonderful layouts. Additional thanks to my two happy helpers Dave and Roger, and to old pal Marc for the photo.

 

 

We also enjoyed an afternoon on the WSR followed by the obligatory excellent curry in Taunton. All in all a thoroughly good weekend! Thanks all and best wishes to those that weren't able to make the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stubby47]

5 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

Had a great day at SWAG with Paynestown. Many thanks to Rob, Muz and all the organisers and helpers for making such a splendid, welcoming event possible. It was nice to chat to new and old faces and adnire the wonderful layouts. Additional thanks to my two happy helpers Dave and Roger, and to old pal Marc for the photo.

 

 

We also enjoyed an afternoon on the WSR followed by the obligatory excellent curry in Taunton. All in all a thoroughly good weekend! Thanks all and best wishes to those that weren't able to make the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think waistcoats should be mandatory next year...

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

 

I think waistcoats should be mandatory next year...

With extra points for wearing the sort of outrageous designs favoured by the more flamboyant snooker-players. I think comedian Jim Davidson referred to these as "no-dads", a reference to the imagined entreaty from a young teen player being forced to wear such a garment "No Dad - don't make me wear it!" 

[cctransuk]

2 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

 

I think waistcoats should be mandatory next year...

 

No chance, moy luvver - fishermen's or cowmen's smocks would be more appropriate for a southwestern event!

 

 

 

CJI.

Edited April 29 by cctransuk

[Paulrhodes]

Thank you to Rob and the team for a great time at SWAG yesterday with Old Parrock. The whole day had a wonderful buzz about it. We met some lovely people and I came away truly inspired by the good chat and inspiring layouts. And then there is the cake of course...

 

Railway modelling is such a great hobby. Everybody has a different approach to layout building and after chatting about all the different ideas yesterday my head was buzzing last night with it all - so many ideas!

 

We're staying in Devon for the week and tomorrow we have tickets for the West somerset Railway - bring it on!

 

 

 

 

[SouthernRegionSteam]

As anyone who's been to this event before knows, it's of course a no-brainer to make a trip across to deepest Somerset to attend the SWAG do. Genuinely the highlight event of my yearly calendar, what makes it even better for me is the chance to spend 6 hours photographing some top-notch layouts via the honour of being chief photographer for SWAG - plus of course being inspired by them and having really great conversations with like-minded modellers.

 

One thing I should admit before I go any further is that I focused on layouts and not general atmosphere (which may be a positive depending on your thought process!). Though I see others have already posted shots of people and wider views of the event - so thank you!

 

In any case, due to the huge volume of photos, I will be sharing one layout at a time - as and when I complete the batch of photos for each layout. As I'm focus stacking each photo (which takes between 20 - 70 photos per finished photo), I took over 4000 photos yesterday! As you can well imagine, it's going to take me a long time to process the photos so please do bear with me as it will be very piecemeal. There may or may not be more photos of each layout, but I will only pick a few of my favourites for each.

 

Layout owners - please feel free to use my photos as you wish - larger photos are available on request. My thanks to you all for being so accommodating, and also for visitors for being so patient: especially with me and my tripod getting in the way constantly!

 

The layouts will appear in the order that I photographed them to make my life a little easier. So without further ado, let's begin...

 

...first up, ' Kyle of Lochalsh':

 

A stunningly tiny but impressive Finescale 2mm layout by @bcnPete. Photos really don't convey just how miniscule this layout is, and it really surprised me just how smooth in operation it was. I particularly loved the misty, faded backscene that added a great sense of depth to a very narrow layout. The high quality of the station building and weathering on the rolling stock also stood out for me, as did the general presentation and unique view from the front into the traverser fiddle yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 29 by SouthernRegionSteam

[Oldddudders]

Thankyou Jamie. We absentees really appreciate your snapper skills!

[Izzy]

12 hours ago, Sithlord75 said:

Didn’t realise Ley Hill was still around.  I’ve enjoyed watching it on YouTube a number of times.  Very neat and inspirational.  

 

Quality modelling like David's never goes out of fashion does it. I keep going back to all the layouts featured on the 2mm association website and looking at both the stills and videos and the also the 2mm Golden Jubilee DVD.

 

Like I guess many others viewing the posted shots I feel rather envious of all those that managed to attend SWAG, as I do the Larkhill events, but I'm grateful to those that share them.

 

Bob

 

 

[NHY 581]

3 hours ago, SouthernRegionSteam said:

As anyone who's been to this event before knows, it's of course a no-brainer to make a trip across to deepest Somerset to attend the SWAG do. Genuinely the highlight event of my yearly calendar, what makes it even better for me is the chance to spend 6 hours photographing some top-notch layouts via the honour of being chief photographer for SWAG - plus of course being inspired by them and having really great conversations with like-minded modellers.

 

One thing I should admit before I go any further is that I focused on layouts and not general atmosphere (which may be a positive depending on your thought process!). Though I see others have already posted shots of people and wider views of the event - so thank you!

 

In any case, due to the huge volume of photos, I will be sharing one layout at a time - as and when I complete the batch of photos for each layout. As I'm focus stacking each photo (which takes between 20 - 70 photos per finished photo), I took over 4000 photos yesterday! As you can well imagine, it's going to take me a long time to process the photos so please do bear with me as it will be very piecemeal. There may or may not be more photos of each layout, but I will only pick a few of my favourites for each.

 

Layout owners - please feel free to use my photos as you wish - larger photos are available on request. My thanks to you all for being so accommodating, and also for visitors for being so patient: especially with me and my tripod getting in the way constantly!

 

The layouts will appear in the order that I photographed them to make my life a little easier. So without further ado, let's begin...

 

...first up, ' Kyle of Lochalsh':

 

A stunningly tiny but impressive Finescale 2mm layout by @bcnPete. Photos really don't convey just how miniscule this layout is, and it really surprised me just how smooth in operation it was. I particularly loved the misty, faded backscene that added a great sense of depth to a very narrow layout. The high quality of the station building and weathering on the rolling stock also stood out for me, as did the general presentation and unique view from the front into the traverser fiddle yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for posting these and all the  images to come, Jamie. The time and effort you put into creating such a wonderful record of the day is very much appreciated by all us. 

 

Rob. 

[bcnPete]

3 hours ago, SouthernRegionSteam said:

 

...first up, ' Kyle of Lochalsh':

 

A stunningly tiny but impressive Finescale 2mm layout by @bcnPete. Photos really don't convey just how miniscule this layout is, and it really surprised me just how smooth in operation it was. I particularly loved the misty, faded backscene that added a great sense of depth to a very narrow layout. The high quality of the station building and weathering on the rolling stock also stood out for me, as did the general presentation and unique view from the front into the traverser fiddle yard.

 

 

Many thanks for your kind words and great photos Jamie - very nice to meet you too yesterday...👍

 

[SouthernRegionSteam]

4 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Thankyou Jamie. We absentees really appreciate your snapper skills!

Many thanks! I love doing it, even if it does take quite a while when it comes to the editing. I'm grateful that people have responded to the photos so well already - especially as there's obviously plenty more to come...
 

1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

Thank you for posting these and all the  images to come, Jamie. The time and effort you put into creating such a wonderful record of the day is very much appreciated by all us. 

 

Rob. 

 

Rob, thank you for yet again putting on a fantastic show. Without you (and others of what I consider the core team) it would not have been the huge success it remains to this day. Coming back from such a great show has really made me itch to get on with the new layout, though it might be a few years out before it gets to a presentable state!

 

1 hour ago, bcnPete said:

Many thanks for your kind words and great photos Jamie - very nice to meet you too yesterday...👍

Likewise - it was great to meet you! It's such a lovely little layout. If you want a download link to the photos, do let me know and I can send a WeTransfer link that will work for 7 days.


OK, so onward! This time it's @rcf's  'Osney Town':

 

 

Another brilliant example of a cameo layout, and in such a small space when considering it's a big scale (7mm)! A wealth of detail and a beautifully balanced scene. Of particular note is the bubbling stream/brook at the front of the layout. Whilst hard to get the camera 'in there', the natural framing of the trees made for some lovely shots. What the layout lacks in operation potential, it certainly makes up for in execution.

 

 

[marc smith]

Well the SWAG day was definitely worth the trip "down south" once again. As ever, the standard of layouts was as good as the standard of cakes and pasties... and that's saying something indeed. It was so nice to catch up with so many old pals - in fact, they are too numerous to mention, without this post becoming way too long to read :)
 

@rcf- it was great to finally see "Osney Town" in-the-flesh, and it looked just as superb as I knew it would. So nice to see you again Rob - and I still can't recall when & where we met (it must have been Taunton Railex?).

@bcnPete - great to meet up again good sir... but I only "helped out" for about 5 minutes... and most of that was chin-wagging! I even managed to dodge an operating session on @Barry Ten's layout. Perhaps I wasn't asked because I wasn't wearing a waistcoat?

 

Great to chat to all my good friends from this forum. I am already looking forward to next years SWAG day. Many many thanks to @NHY 581 and everyone involved in setting up and running the event. As I've said before, several times - this event is better than many shows I have paid to attend. It's the highlight of the modelling calendar IMHO.

Cheers all
 

[rcf]

10 hours ago, SouthernRegionSteam said:

Many thanks! I love doing it, even if it does take quite a while when it comes to the editing. I'm grateful that people have responded to the photos so well already - especially as there's obviously plenty more to come...
 

 

Rob, thank you for yet again putting on a fantastic show. Without you (and others of what I consider the core team) it would not have been the huge success it remains to this day. Coming back from such a great show has really made me itch to get on with the new layout, though it might be a few years out before it gets to a presentable state!

 

Likewise - it was great to meet you! It's such a lovely little layout. If you want a download link to the photos, do let me know and I can send a WeTransfer link that will work for 7 days.


OK, so onward! This time it's @rcf's  'Osney Town':

 

 

Another brilliant example of a cameo layout, and in such a small space when considering it's a big scale (7mm)! A wealth of detail and a beautifully balanced scene. Of particular note is the bubbling stream/brook at the front of the layout. Whilst hard to get the camera 'in there', the natural framing of the trees made for some lovely shots. What the layout lacks in operation potential, it certainly makes up for in execution.

 

 

Hi Jamie,  many thanks for taking these amazing photos of Osney Town, although I'm not sure about the one with the old guy trying to operate it but the rest simply wonderful.

6 minutes ago, marc smith said:

Well the SWAG day was definitely worth the trip "down south" once again. As ever, the standard of layouts was as good as the standard of cakes and pasties... and that's saying something indeed. It was so nice to catch up with so many old pals - in fact, they are too numerous to mention, without this post becoming way too long to read :)
 

@rcf- it was great to finally see "Osney Town" in-the-flesh, and it looked just as superb as I knew it would. So nice to see you again Rob - and I still can't recall when & where we met (it must have been Taunton Railex?).

@bcnPete - great to meet up again good sir... but I only "helped out" for about 5 minutes... and most of that was chin-wagging! I even managed to dodge an operating session on @Barry Ten's layout. Perhaps I wasn't asked because I wasn't wearing a waistcoat?

 

Great to chat to all my good friends from this forum. I am already looking forward to next years SWAG day. Many many thanks to @NHY 581 and everyone involved in setting up and running the event. As I've said before, several times - this event is better than many shows I have paid to attend. It's the highlight of the modelling calendar IMHO.

Cheers all
 

Hi Marc, as you say it was good to met up again and have a chat. I have also been trying to recall our previous meeting and I think it may have been at Barnstaple in 2014 !!

 

Best wishes Rob