A model railway exhibition is to return after last year’s cancellation due to coronavirus.
Workington Model Railway Exhibition will see no restrictions or special requirements in place for visitors other than to provide a contact phone number or email address for Track and Trace, which will only be used if somebody who attends subsequently tests positive.
Ten Layouts have been booked to attend, several of them with a very local interest. Maryport is presented by Bill Moon, of Workington, and is based on his memories of times past, when he used to sit and watch the trains.
Cockermouth COVID-19 is another new layout from Andrew Holland, who lives at Lowca. As the name suggests it was built during the first COVID lockdown using bits and pieces from around the house.
The main board is an old door. Recycling at its best. To increase the operational interest some of the sidings have been replaced, on the model, that were removed many years before the period being modelled.
Port Solway is a large layout, built by members of the Newcastle Model Railway Club. It is a ‘might have been’ layout that brings together the North Eastern Railway, who extended their line from Carlisle to the coast, and they allowed the Maryport & Carlisle Railway running powers to add operational interest.
Nearly all of the stock is scratch or kit built to Scalefour standards. Recently added is a rake of chaldron wagons, which were the first type to be used to move coal from the collieries to the coast.
Graham Morfoot, from Spalding, is making a welcome return with another of his layouts, Ellasweet Beet Factory. As the name suggests it is all about the sugar beet industry, that is prevalent in the east of the country, showing how this essential foodstuff was moved from the fields to the customer.
Two more regular attendees are Les Nehrlich, from Preston, with Upper Cwmtwych, an ‘N’ gauge layout showing an emergency servicing and refuelling depot for diesel locomotives.
Terry Tasker, from Southport, brings Wulstanton Road, another ‘N’ gauge minimum space layout, showing what you can make in a small space, that has lots of operational interest being run in the period between the 1990s and today.
Another regular attendee is Marc Dobson, from Dalton-in-Furness. A large ‘O’ gauge layout that just seems to have ‘grown’ over the years as more stock has been
built or acquired.
To add some more variety Ray O’Neill, from Workington, brings an American switching layout, Franklin Falls NH. Ray likes to spend time shunting freight cars (goods wagons in English) and uses cards to decide which one will go to where, on the layout. No two sequences are the same as a result.
After trying to persuade him to bring a layout, for some time, Ian Blenkinsop, from Seaton, has agreed to bring one of his layouts, again a small one, called South Galleons. It is described as a ‘pastiche of Deptford in the 1950s.
Finally, Brian Irwin will bring some of his Garden Railway models indoors to show how easy they are to run.
The event is supported by a group of trade stands that will be able to provide almost anything the modeller needs. One of which is coming all the way from Bognor Regis. To help individuals get the most from their models, demonstrators ‘showing you how to’ will be on hand.
If it is making a layout from scratch using fine-scale track, weathering your models, building kits or models from scratch then somebody will be able to help.
The venue is served by regular bus services from Workington and Whitehaven railway stations, using Service No 29. On Saturday, via Lillyhall, it stops right outside the Energus building. Sunday there is a 20-minute walk from Harrington Road.
At the Energus building, Blackwood Road, Lillyhall, Workington, CA14 4JW, there will be free car parking and refreshments.
The exhibition will be open from 10am until 5pm on November 20 and from 10am until 4pm on November 21.
Admission costs have been held for the ninth year at £5 for adults with accompanied children free. Also included is a free programme listing everything on display while stocks last.
