Harrogate Day Out: The Harrogate Model Show...
Hi everyone. Well; what a long day it has been; there was high mileage thats for sure! Today I was invited by my friend Dave and his family to go along to the National Model Engineering Exhibition, held in Harrogate, Yorkshire. I jumped at the chance as I had never been to the show before; on account of what a long drive it is! (And it is; it really is!). I arrived at Dave's house at 7:50am and, after a quick chat we made our way in Dave's Brother's car for the long drive to Yorkshire. "Everyone in?" and off we went. We took the standard route; along the M6 to Junction 2, along the M69 before joining the M1 for the duration of the journey, past Sheffield and beyond. We arrived at the Harrogate Show just after 11am and, after parking the car, made our way to the entrance to buy our tickets. Once inside we walked directly into the Trade Hall, firstly visiting the well-known locomotive seller, "Station Road Steam", at their stand. I must admit you could easily write your Christmas list on Station Road's stand alone! (There was a very nice 5" model of the unique Black 5, "George Stephenson", priced at just over £14000 that really caught my eye...Dear Santa!). We then moved into the Exhibition Hall where various club's & societies, specialising in many different modes of transport, were exhibiting. There were countless fabulously-built models on show and, below, I'll give you a low-down on my Top 5(!)...
Firstly, my favourite of the entire show; a beautiful 7.25" gauge of the Ffestiniog Railway 0-4-0STT "Blanche". The locomotive, coupled to a very sizeable tender with lots of leg-room and extra padding, was beautifully finished and looked mechanically fantastic! If I had to chose one locomotive, just one, to take home that day, it would have been this one! This lovely 0-4-0 was displayed on the '7.25" Society' stand and was by far my favourite, just need to persuade the owner to let me have it(!). Well done Sir or Madam, you have a wonderful locomotive. NEXT, in at No2 we have a locomotive that I had never seen in the flesh before this show, a 5" Gauge 0-6-0 'Metre Maid'. These substantial 0-6-0s were built to the Sweet Pea design but with an extra axle to theoretically give better adhesion and extra power; the Hackworth valve-gear again being used for easy maintainence. However, the cab's are smaller and the firebox looks particularly oversized within it. Never the less, it is a fabulous design and very visually-pleasing. This owner is clearly a good builder and keeps his locomotive in superb condition...
The Hackworth-Valve Gear is seen below. If you look at the running-block on the centre-axle you can see vast resemblence's between the Sweet Pea. The extra-axle is simply connecting by a single, extra connecting rod. The mechanical lubricator can also been seen, just above the right-leader. As you can see, the finish is perfect and I have no doubt that this engine would run like 'a well-oiled sewing machine'...
So, a fabulous 'Metre-Maid'. There were two in the show, that I saw, but this one had to be the favourite...it was great! Coming in an admirable 3rd place is this lovely 5" Gauge Eastern 0-8-0 freight engine. Resembling a T2-class, this 0-8-0 looked massively powerful and like it would suit any club as a society-haulage loco for passenger trains. Its very unusual indeed to see freight locomotives in these gauges so, in reality, it was a joy to see this one...
Coming in at 4th is this fantastically detailed 0-4-0 'Darjeeling B Class', modelled on the little locomotives which continue to work on the DHR in India to this day. Finished in Darjeeling Railway Blue and wearing the name "Conrad", this little 3.5" loco was a joy to see...
Detailed much? Check out the cab controls. The Gauge Glass protectors were a particularly nice touch, let alone the tiny, tiny bottle of Brasso on the warming plate! How cool is that?!...
All in all, the 'Darjeeling B' was a fabulous little model, obviously detailed by a very skilled engineer. Finally, in 5th place, a 7.25" Diesel locomotive. "A Diesel?!" you say? "Yes...A Diesel!". I know its very unlike me to put pictures or descriptions of diesel loco's on here but this one was just a sight for sore eyes...just look at the size of it! For a 7.25" loco this thing was just massive and I have no doubt that any railway could use this engine for any work, no matter what the load. Driven on all 6 axles, this thing must be monstrously powerful, let alone all the creature comforts that is has to offer; such as an all over cab, padded seat, headlights and windows! How can you moan with comfort like this, and on 7.25" too! The only thing I would have changed is the leg-room. Looking inside it looked as if someone of my height (6ft 1") would find it a little uncomfortable sitting in it all day long but at the same time, being able to sit in something this size on a gauge as small as 7.25" can't be bad! Well done to whoever built this, its fantastic...
Unfortunately there seemed to be some thieves about. The owner of this Sweet Pea was speechless when he returned to his stand to find his boiler gone! "They'll nick anything these days!"...
(PS-The above is only a joke!). This Sweet Pea was by no means a victim and was very well built all over. Once the boiler is in I'm sure that this lovely 0-4-0 will be in steam and running in no time! All in all, I found the Harrogate Show to be a fantastic one, offering exhibits including planes, trains and automobiles of all different shapes, types, sizes and scales. Outside, there were at least 8 live steam traction engines/steam lorries, busily making their way around the site, much to the delight of visitors. I must admit, it was nice to see something in steam, though I haven't included any pics on this blog, simply to save space! After leaving the show, at about 3pm, we were off to a local man's house where a fantastic 7.25" Garden Railway and Museum was to be found (see next post). Thanks for reading everyone. Evening All...
Hi everyone. Well; what a long day it has been; there was high mileage thats for sure! Today I was invited by my friend Dave and his family to go along to the National Model Engineering Exhibition, held in Harrogate, Yorkshire. I jumped at the chance as I had never been to the show before; on account of what a long drive it is! (And it is; it really is!). I arrived at Dave's house at 7:50am and, after a quick chat we made our way in Dave's Brother's car for the long drive to Yorkshire. "Everyone in?" and off we went. We took the standard route; along the M6 to Junction 2, along the M69 before joining the M1 for the duration of the journey, past Sheffield and beyond. We arrived at the Harrogate Show just after 11am and, after parking the car, made our way to the entrance to buy our tickets. Once inside we walked directly into the Trade Hall, firstly visiting the well-known locomotive seller, "Station Road Steam", at their stand. I must admit you could easily write your Christmas list on Station Road's stand alone! (There was a very nice 5" model of the unique Black 5, "George Stephenson", priced at just over £14000 that really caught my eye...Dear Santa!). We then moved into the Exhibition Hall where various club's & societies, specialising in many different modes of transport, were exhibiting. There were countless fabulously-built models on show and, below, I'll give you a low-down on my Top 5(!)...
Firstly, my favourite of the entire show; a beautiful 7.25" gauge of the Ffestiniog Railway 0-4-0STT "Blanche". The locomotive, coupled to a very sizeable tender with lots of leg-room and extra padding, was beautifully finished and looked mechanically fantastic! If I had to chose one locomotive, just one, to take home that day, it would have been this one! This lovely 0-4-0 was displayed on the '7.25" Society' stand and was by far my favourite, just need to persuade the owner to let me have it(!). Well done Sir or Madam, you have a wonderful locomotive. NEXT, in at No2 we have a locomotive that I had never seen in the flesh before this show, a 5" Gauge 0-6-0 'Metre Maid'. These substantial 0-6-0s were built to the Sweet Pea design but with an extra axle to theoretically give better adhesion and extra power; the Hackworth valve-gear again being used for easy maintainence. However, the cab's are smaller and the firebox looks particularly oversized within it. Never the less, it is a fabulous design and very visually-pleasing. This owner is clearly a good builder and keeps his locomotive in superb condition...
The Hackworth-Valve Gear is seen below. If you look at the running-block on the centre-axle you can see vast resemblence's between the Sweet Pea. The extra-axle is simply connecting by a single, extra connecting rod. The mechanical lubricator can also been seen, just above the right-leader. As you can see, the finish is perfect and I have no doubt that this engine would run like 'a well-oiled sewing machine'...
So, a fabulous 'Metre-Maid'. There were two in the show, that I saw, but this one had to be the favourite...it was great! Coming in an admirable 3rd place is this lovely 5" Gauge Eastern 0-8-0 freight engine. Resembling a T2-class, this 0-8-0 looked massively powerful and like it would suit any club as a society-haulage loco for passenger trains. Its very unusual indeed to see freight locomotives in these gauges so, in reality, it was a joy to see this one...
Coming in at 4th is this fantastically detailed 0-4-0 'Darjeeling B Class', modelled on the little locomotives which continue to work on the DHR in India to this day. Finished in Darjeeling Railway Blue and wearing the name "Conrad", this little 3.5" loco was a joy to see...
Detailed much? Check out the cab controls. The Gauge Glass protectors were a particularly nice touch, let alone the tiny, tiny bottle of Brasso on the warming plate! How cool is that?!...
All in all, the 'Darjeeling B' was a fabulous little model, obviously detailed by a very skilled engineer. Finally, in 5th place, a 7.25" Diesel locomotive. "A Diesel?!" you say? "Yes...A Diesel!". I know its very unlike me to put pictures or descriptions of diesel loco's on here but this one was just a sight for sore eyes...just look at the size of it! For a 7.25" loco this thing was just massive and I have no doubt that any railway could use this engine for any work, no matter what the load. Driven on all 6 axles, this thing must be monstrously powerful, let alone all the creature comforts that is has to offer; such as an all over cab, padded seat, headlights and windows! How can you moan with comfort like this, and on 7.25" too! The only thing I would have changed is the leg-room. Looking inside it looked as if someone of my height (6ft 1") would find it a little uncomfortable sitting in it all day long but at the same time, being able to sit in something this size on a gauge as small as 7.25" can't be bad! Well done to whoever built this, its fantastic...
Unfortunately there seemed to be some thieves about. The owner of this Sweet Pea was speechless when he returned to his stand to find his boiler gone! "They'll nick anything these days!"...
(PS-The above is only a joke!). This Sweet Pea was by no means a victim and was very well built all over. Once the boiler is in I'm sure that this lovely 0-4-0 will be in steam and running in no time! All in all, I found the Harrogate Show to be a fantastic one, offering exhibits including planes, trains and automobiles of all different shapes, types, sizes and scales. Outside, there were at least 8 live steam traction engines/steam lorries, busily making their way around the site, much to the delight of visitors. I must admit, it was nice to see something in steam, though I haven't included any pics on this blog, simply to save space! After leaving the show, at about 3pm, we were off to a local man's house where a fantastic 7.25" Garden Railway and Museum was to be found (see next post). Thanks for reading everyone. Evening All...
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