Preston Model Railway Show 2015

I attended the above show with Mark today, and thankfully the weather in the Preston area was at least dry - when I set off from Milnrow it was definitely wet and unpleasant! We arrived about 10:30 expecting to get in more or less straight away - how wrong we were as it took us nearly 10-15 minutes to get in. The show was spread over a sports hall and three smaller rooms, two of which were squash courts!
Two things immediately became apparent; it was both warm and with relatively narrow aisles movement wasn't easy. In fact at times it almost felt claustrophobic - perhaps my maturity makes me less tolerant!
There were a number of good layouts but unfortunately my lack of photographic skill combined with a somewhat shaky stance meant that most of my attempted photos were pathetic except for two, which I include below:-

"Ladeside Diesel Depot" a typical Scottish diesel depot based on Ardrossan in the early 1960s.

"St Marnock Engine Shed" set near Kilmarnock in the early 1960s.
In addition there were two layouts set in LYR days, namely Eccleston and Ogden Fold. The former is fictional but is very much based on prototypical LYR practice. The latter is again a "might have been" and was of interest to me as the reference to Ogden relates to a hamlet within a relatively short distance of Milnrow!
Despite the negative reference to heat and movement I enjoyed the trip out with Mark - especially after my recent spate of decorating - and I was lucky enough to pick up a S/H copy of the book L&NWR Non-Corridor Carriages, which will complement my copy of the LNWR Carriages book!

Thanks Alec. It was a nice day out with Alec (as always ) and there were some interesting layouts to see, but I do agree that with the heat and the crowds, it made it hard work and was feeling a little claustrophobic towards the end, it's interesting to see the pic of the O-gauge steam layout "St Marnock Engine Shed" as it was a popular exhibit and didn't get much chance to see it with the crowds, it is interesting to hear how far they have come with the train sounds in recent years, the class 40 sounds on several layouts being especially impressive.