Our first visit to Shildon and the location of the NRM Extension. We arrived on the Friday evening amid
howling wind and pouring rain. Yuk! Just the right weather to unload in (NOT).
We were located on the left side of the stage, sharing the stage with a small OO Gauge layout and a trader.
Plenty of room for all concerned. After setting up and basic testing we made our way to the Travel Inn
where we met up with Martin S-C (Saddletank) who had just recently arrived.
Saturday morning and the final checks before opening when we were joined by EddieF with his trusty computer.
All set up and running when the doors opened to the public. Despite it being only a modest sized exhibition
it was well patronised by the local residents and some not so local residents that had travelled some distance,
including some of the team from the Sunderland Exhibition.
One of the niceties of visiting a number of exhibitions is that you get to meet some of the more colourful
characters of the Model Railway Scene. At this exhibition we met up with Ted Flintoft for the second time.
We first met Ted at Sunderland where he was demonstrating the fine art of making your own trees, here he
was demonstrating the art of making your own buildings from scratch.
A nice variety of layouts at this exhibition covering the usual scales from N up to O and including a OOn9
narrow gauge and an American HO gauge. A good selection of traders also present made the exhibition a
worthwhile visit. We even managed to win a prize in the raffle. TeeHee...
Routes demonstrated included - North West England, Skipton 1920, Alston, Cannock Chase, MidEast, Blackpool
Tramway, Scottish Central and a couple of Martins American routes. Considerable interest was shown for the
soon to be released Scottish Central and in the Blackpool Tramway.
Our thanks to Saddletank and EddieF for joining us demonstrating. Thanks to the organisers for the invitation,
for the superb catering and for an excellent exhibition.
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