Last Saturday I drove from Canberra to Sydney to see the Epping Model Railway Exhibition. I wasn't the only one from Canberra who also made the trek - I met up with almost a dozen compatriots at the exhibition in the first hour! Throughout the rest of the day, I chatted with plenty of friends and model railway contacts, including Anton and John from Anton's Trains.
The exhibition had a couple of great layouts. Muskrat Rumble, by Geoff Nott, was one of them. This layout was geographically based in Louisiana (USA) and featured some fantastic scenery, including a detailed forest scene, wharf scene and cotton field scene. The layout had previously featured at the Australian Narrow Gauge Convention in Sydney in April.
The other superb layout, and making it's exhibition debut, was Bowen Creek by Ian Millard and Andrew Campbell. Bowen Creek had a simple track layout, featuring a branch line and crossing loop, fictionally based in the Central West of NSW. The layout was HO fine scale Proto 87 and was superbly displayed, but perhaps a tad on the high side for the handlaid code 55 track to be fully appreciated. Another interesting feature was the use of a single role of material for the back scene, thereby allowing for a seamless and well-painted display.
Other NSW railways layouts that featured included the Epping club's Brunswick Park, Illawarra Model Railway Association's Palden Hill, Nicholls Siding, and the N scale South Creek layout. Stephen Wright exhibited Sydney trams. Layouts of overseas prototypes included the fabulous Enoshima (Japanese), the Brain Teaser US switching (shunting) layout, and the Brooklyn 3am display layout (USA).
I will post some photos from the exhibition during the week when I have my home internet connection up a running, with access to my photos.
And the day wouldn't have been complete without some bargain hunting at the second hand stall (a defining part of the Epping exhibition). All in all, it was a great day.
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