Festival Of Model Tramways - 21 & 22 July 2012

[PLD]

Just realised, this is mentioned in a couple of other threads but doesn't have one of it's own...

The 2012 Festival Of Model Tramways

 

The Festival will be on Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd July 2012 Opening times are 10am to 5pm

At the Museum of Transport, Boyle Street, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, M8 8UW.

Admission: Adult £7, Senior £6, Children (under 16) free if accompanied.

 

 

 

Featuring approximately 20 tramway layouts and 25 display/demonstration/sales stands.

 

There will also be a free heritage shuttle bus service between the Museum, Victoria Station and the Heaton Park Tramway

 

Full details are on the TLRS website.

[PLD]

All in all, an very good show: probably the best tramway show for many years. Tramway modelling has moved on a little in the past few years from the days when on occasions you did wonder if it was a layout you were looking at or the EFE or Corgi trade stand!

 

Highlights in Pictures:

As is often the case, the larger scales tend to concentrate on the vehicles themselves and scenery is minimal/non-existent.

The Manchester Model Tramway Group are regarded as pioneeers and some cars in their fleet are older than me!

 

Greg Marsdens Stockport Trams are some of the most detailed models trams to be seen

 

While 'Tramway Avenue' takes credit for at least providing a basic scenic backdrop

 

In the smaller scales, particularly worthy of mention are:

Peter Whiteley's fleet of Illuminated Blackpool Cars

 

West Porton which included Trolleybuses and a Liverpool Style overhead railway as well as trams

 

and Mark Casson's atmospheric 'Grime Street' as featured on RMWeb

 

But for me some of the highlights were among the layouts from overseas.

 

Werner Jurkowski's unfinished multi-gauge International tram Musuem I have seen before but it was good to see progress and it promisses to be something good when complete.

 

Kreekse Tram Dienst featuread an interesting multi-national collection of trams including modern Blackpool and Machester cars.

 

For me (and judging by the crowds around it many others) the star of the show was Mark van Dijk's Rheinberger Strassenbahn Betriebe. An extensive fully automatic computer controlled gernam city scene which used a souround sound system to provide background noise and tram gongs/bells and effects such as flange-squeal; this had so much detail that you almost forget to watch the trams!

 

Paul