Back from The Great British Train Show

Well, I made it back from Toronto in one piece though it was a bit dicey. I managed to pick up some strange stomach virus that made Saturday night and the long drive home Sunday awful. My family then got it too, which made this week a real struggle for all of us. On the plus side, the paper map (remember those?) I had purchased of the Brampton area really came in handy as my GPS wasn't working.

On the way there I stopped at my friend Frank's house, and I will likely post some pictures of that visit in the future. 

But all in all, the train show itself was a lot of fun. While there was lots to see in all of the major scales (4.75" gauge), I will only focus on the O scale stuff here.

The first layout that jumped out at me was an extensively scratchbuilt model of the Portsea Island Gas Light Company. Like most British layouts, it had a full display board with information pertaining to the prototype industry which it was based off of. The trackwork and points were all handlaid, and it appeared that most of the rolling stock was either scratchbuilt or constructed from brass kits. It was lovely even in its raw form. I didn't see any trains operating on it though.

It featured an operating open goods van (hopper) unloading machine, though it was static whilst I was there. It looked like he was using popcorn kernels in place of coal for the demonstration, which seemed a good choice as they were cheap and clean.

Some engines under construction showed the amount of work that went into this layout. I am not sure if this was "O scale", proto 1:48, 7mm, or some other designation (in Britain they seem to have a lot of very similar scale/gauge combinations depending on the amount prototype fidelity they aspire for). 

The next O scale layout I ran into was "Roweham", which I have seen previously on Trevor Marshall's excellent blog. Sadly, Trevor wasn't here this year (it was through his blog that I first found out about this show in 2018) but I still enjoyed viewing the layout. 

It operated well despite using prototypical 3-link couplers to connect the cars. Tiny hooks and flashlights were necessary for the shunting operations. Some even call this sort of thing fun!

The layout was studded with lots of details and cameo scenes.

The back scene and tree line helped disguise the narrow depth of the actual layout. They captured the eye but reflected it back towards the layout, instead of drawing it in to focus on backdrop.

It wasn't a complicated track arrangement, but operating at scale speeds (and coupling with all the inherent difficulties it presented) slowed everything down. It didn't feel rushed. It just felt natural. 

One end seemed to focus more on the passenger station, and it captured the rural nature of the lonely station in the middle of the British countryside.

The other end of the layout had a couple of areas for goods wagons to be loaded and unloaded. All in all, this layout was a pleasure to watch in operation.

However, what really caught my eye at the show was the display of nominally O scale wind-up trains. They were set up in a square track and the tables were covered with various engines and pieces of rolling stock. 

The owner would wind up an engine or two and it wound go round the track for perhaps 1-2 loops before requiring another recharge. They went fast, and speed was generally regulated by tying on more cars to add weight. On a typical loop of track under a Christmas tree, I would imagine that it woudl likely either fly off the track or only run for about 30 seconds.

I am not sure how old these trains were but I think they were built around the time of WWII, and their vintage charm and colorful graphics really were quite pleasing. I purchased a few pieces in 2024 when I was last at the show, and I hoped to find some more to add to my collection.

Here was a really cute steamer and some freight cars.

The British love their railway signals, and this layout had a couple too.

From what I understand, Hornby made 3-rail electric trains (similar to Lionel) and I know very little about them. The owner had this book on display and I thumbed through it, but I need to find a copy for myself. There are currently several on Ebay.

I found one vendor with a wind-up train that belonged to his father, but he had no key to wind it up. So, I approached the guy with the clockwork train display and we worked out an arrangement to test the engine on his layout. After finding the right key... which took many attempts as he had about a dozen different sized wind-up keys... it took off! It ran beautifully though it was much too fast for the track without a train behind it so I had to resort to holding it while the wheels spun like crazy.

Satisfied that it worked, and upon being told the price was $25 Canadian ($18 American), I quickly bought it with its tender. Four more coaches cost $20 Canadian each. 

A different seller had an Esso tank wagon and I got that for $30 Canadian. So, a nice train that currently won't run as I need to source a proper wind-up key. But, they are good souvenirs of my trip. 

All in all, I had a great time at the show which was overshadowed by being sick for the rest of the weekend. But, I can't wait to get back in 2028!