Adelaide Model Railway Exhibition 2026

Last weekend I attended the Adelaide Model Railway Exhibition at the Adelaide Showgrounds. It is a three day event over the King's Birthday holiday weekend. This was my third annual visit; the first at the Showgrounds instead of the greyhound track venue from previous years. The Showgrounds are much easier to get to by public transport and offered a better overall environment for the exhibitors and visitors. Outside (besides the roller derby in the hall next door) were three food vendors and plenty of tables and seating. I hope the exhibition can stay at the Showgrounds next year.

There was a good balance of layouts and commercial vendors at this exhibition - neither overpowered the other which was a good set up. The exhibition also had a substantial second hand stall that had a solid throughput all day Saturday when I was there.

Here are several layouts that caught my eye at the exhibition but the clear standout was Terowie North (HO scale) from the Adelaide Modellers' Group. The layout is based on the actual location of Terowie (with some compromises), 230 kilometres north of Adelaide, during the 1950s and 1960s. 

Another excellent South Australian prototype layout was Wilkins (HO scale), a fictional location in mid-north South Australia, showing a more contemporary period of operation. The layout is from the SARMA club.

Borderline (HO scale) was another fictional town, not surprisingly located on the border of South Australia and Victoria. The layout features operations from the 1980s and showcases locos and rolling stock from that period, as well as a beautiful steam tourist train.

Port Elliot (HO scale) was another well presented South Australian layout based on the actual town and the Strand in the 1950/60s period. It was very nicely modelled.

Strathburn (HO scale), set in the Adelaide hills in the mid-1980s, had plenty of train action in a very well detailed scenic environment. The layout is now owned by Junction Hobbies in Adelaide.

Turning to a smaller layout, we have Oakland Junction (HO scale). This layout has plenty to see and shows what can be achieved without excessive cost. The buildings are made from card and other recycled materials.

In 7mm scale, and all the way from Canberra, was the layout Glasson. This layout is based on a western NSW branch terminus (fictional) but featured trains from both NSW and South Australia at the exhibition. This layout has an emphasis on shunting and shows what can be achieved with quality modelling in a larger scale. In addition, one member of the group had his collection of hand-built South Australian steam locos on display which generated a huge amount of interest over the weekend.

Another Australian layout was the HO scale Brigadoon. This layout features long diesel-led trains in a section of the prototypical Avon Valley in Western Australia between Cutting No. 1 and No.2 on this standard gauge line.

I was pleased to see the well-travelled exhibition layout Maryborough (HO scale) at this exhibition. This magnificent Victorian prototype layout has been around for several years now but it is always a fascinating layout to view time and time again. One cannot but marvel at the station building.

Turning now to 4mm scale, we had the delightful Spirsby LNER layout showcasing 1930s England. I loved this layout! The station and surrounding yard and buildings were superb. The layout is based on the actual track plan for the ex-Great Northern Railway branch terminus of Spilsby, Lincolnshire. Most of the locos and rolling stock are built from kits and I must say, they ran reliably well whenever I stopped by.

An interesting HO scale 009 gauge layout was Milltown. The layout featured (not surprisingly) a timber mill which is a beautiful piece of modelling. Milltown is set in the early 1900s, built with plenty of inspiration from photos and plans of similar trains and surrounds from around Australia. A feature of the construction of this layout is the use of Knauf foam board out of which scenery was carved and finished with finishing plaster, gap filler, paint, dirt, sticks, dried plants, and static grass effects.

Animas Canyon (On30) is based on the Rio Grande & Southern Railroad in the USA. Although a fictional location, the layout is modelled using original photos and plans of the prototype.

A very large N scale layout, Planes of Fame, from the South Australian N Gauge Society was very impressive. The layout featured a number of planes and helicopters, as well as trains, with plenty of visual interest including aircraft hangars, cargo distribution warehouses, a NASCAR raceway, and a drive-in movie theatre (ah, those were the days!). Interestingly (or confusingly??), the centre track is DC powered but the front and rear tracks are run via DCC.

As always, I very much enjoyed my trip to the exhibition (and to Adelaide for the few days I was there). Make sure you consider attending next year's Adelaide Exhibition as it is well worth a visit.

The return of Armchair Modeller Down Under

It has been a long time between drinks, as they say. Armchair Modeller Down Under, or more specifically yours truly, pretty much lost enthusiasm for the blog and the hobby for some time. There wasn't one single reason for this loss of interest; just a general concoction of many things as I wrestled my way through the last couple of years of my job (finally retiring last year) and working out what to prioritise moving forward.

That's not to say I didn't participate in model railways in this period. I went to a few exhibitions and attended the NMRA Australasian Convention last year in Brisbane which was very good. However, I was not really active and the layout itself was left pretty much as baseboard central as it had been for a number of years. That said, the layout was (and is) operational but it's just that it didn't see much action and it certainly didn't receive any beautification.

All that said, there were some sparks. First, it was AP (of Border District fame) at the NMRA Convention last year; firstly with his presentation and then a short operating session on his home layout. I would have liked to have stayed longer but there were other layouts to visit. AP was supportive and encouraging to get back into the layout and also to start blogging again. And Craig Mackie (and his layout) just abounds with positivity and enthusiasm. 

Then there was Les F. from Adelaide, and Bob Stack, Rob Nesbitt and Stephe Jitts who all, in their own way, got me back on track as it were to at least start thinking about my layout and getting back on the iron horse. In addition, the weekly modelling session (that's not a fashion statement, by the way) at David Low's with a small group of keen modellers has also spurred both interest and activity (chipping non-sound NSW diesel locos mostly) for the previously moribund layout.

And today, I received in the mail the latest AMRM with a feature article in which a previous Armchair Modeller Down Under blog post that mentioned my use of a traverser was cited - thank you for that Phil Nadin! Hard to believe I started building my traverser for my long-ago "Winmar" layout way back in 2009! Here's a couple of photos of it under construction and later dismantled.

 The baseboard frame was wood with lengths of aluminium bolted together for rigidity. I used computer server racks as the mechanism for the traverser as they were strong enough to support and slide out the heavy MDF board (which was used because it's very flat) with twelve tracks (and trains) on top

And as for the current layout, well the last six months have been very interesting. I decided (for reasons that may become clear in future blog posts) to ditch my US themed double-deck layout and go back to good ol' New South Wales Railways...with a twist. More on that next time.

Suffice to say, the following picture shows that the layout is in transition. I guess this gives me plenty of scope to move forward both physically with the "new" layout and talking about it (and other things) on this blog. 

 

 

So back into the blog writer's chair to see how far we might get to now. And that, good people, is where we are at.