I was up early and walked over to New Street station in about 20 minutes. The ticket to Birmingham International cost GBP5 but I had a 33% reduction with my Seniors' Railcard. Once on the escalator at International it was under cover all the way to the Exhibition. The frequent trains were delivering hoards of people as there were two exhibitions as well as the Model Railway one. The others were both larger than this one. The NEC is well practiced in handling large crowds and I moved easily into the show. Those who had purchased tickets, such as me, were allowed in 30 minutes earlier.
The show is enormous. There were a great number of relatively small layouts but many of these depicted a specific station or location in a specific era. One of the most impressive of these was Melton Mowbray but there were many others. It will be easier to use pictures than to try and describe the highlights.
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| Penfold Priory |
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| Penfold Priory |
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| Glyn Valley Tramway - Glynceiriog - locomotive being turned |
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| Portchullin |
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| Old Worcester Quay |
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| Java 1946 |
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| Funicular |
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| Melton Mowbray |
It became pretty crowded and there was a lack of chairs or benches to sit on. There were a large number of food stalls and restaurants as well as a good bar. It was generally possible to find food and get a seat by choosing carefully where and when. There were several full sized exhibits (locomotives and a carriage), the largest being the Patriot, a new build 4-6-0 which is progressing nicely.
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| Corris Railway No. 7 |
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| New Build Patriot |
Click here to see all pictures taken at the Birmingham Model Railway Show:
By about 1500 I was getting tired and decided to return to the room and plan the layouts I want to see tomorrow. I let a stopping train go because it was very crowded and waited for the next train which turned up 8 minutes later. It was a Pendolino from London. Ther were a lot of people waiting to get on and the staff told us to get into the First Class which was empty on a Saturday. Even this became crowded and several people were sitting in the luggage areas.
This evening we decided to eat Indian to try a Balti dish. The meal was good as was the service. However, Balti is not a particularly striking dish although it was pleasant enough.
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