Hi. I enjoy reading these posts very much. I have always liked old toys, maybe because I never had too many as a kid (yes I know start the violins)! A work colleague introduced me to Bowman live steam O gauge a few years ago & since then I have got all 4 locos that Bowman made, plus others, and have had a lot of fun getting them to run well and buying and making suitable rolling stock for them. They need to pull rolling stock as there is no form of speed control other than more/less wagons or reducing the number of working wicks (flames). Lionel 3ft radius track is ideal for the largest Bowman loco and it is compatible with Hornby which is very useful. Yes new Lionel track is available in the UK at Tennents Trains but I prefer to get the older, better made track from the States on eBay. (Rusty track is not a problem for me). I also like the between-wars era American 8 wheel (bogie) rolling stock made by Lionel & American Flyer as well as Hornby.
Live steam is not often seen at exhibitions for a variety of reasons but mainly, I suspect, the "fear factor" on the part of organisers which they explain away by stating insurance or health & safety issues. I built my own demountable exhibition layout and take it to various events, mainly full-size steam shows, toy steam shows and model railway shows run by enlightened organisers. These are 60%/ 40% outside/inside. Needless to say, I am very conscious of running a responsible and safe display and I dress the layout up with tinplate buildings, bridges and tunnels for added interest. Visitors are always entranced to see live steam actually working and it is always worth doing these exhibitions just for the reactions and conversations I have. Apart from messy layouts,it annoys me as a spectator at exhibitions when the person/s running the display totally ignore you.
I will be part of the team running Bowman locos at the Exeter Garden Railway show on the 18th Oct (this month) and the day after I will be operating my layout at the Wimborne O gauge event. A busy Weekend then!
Cheers, Trevor.