The Cambridge 31A Model Railway Club held their exhibition at a new venue today.
More space, more layouts, more traders and the excellent Cambridge Regional College Cafe for lunch made it a successful ‘upgrade’.
There were two layouts that really stood out for me… Click on a photo for a bigger image
Braughing and Standon, a lovely N gauge layout by Paul Dunn. It’s based on two stations on the former Buntingford branch in Hertfordshire and represents British Railways Eastern Region in around 1963. The layout really creates the feeling of a line running through real countryside and the scenic detailing is excellent (especially considering this is N scale !).
Fen End Pit, in 16mm scale, 32mm gauge (SM32) by David Barham. It represents a 2 foot gauge line serving a gravel pit somewhere between Ely and March in Cambridgeshire. It features a working Ruston dragline that loads skip wagons with real sand. The wagons are propelled by IC locos, including some lovely Simplex locos, to the gravel works at the other end of the layout. It is a good idea, really well executed and the modelling is excellent.
I got some good advice from David Barham (thanks David) and I bumped into several old friends, it was great to talk to you all !
Many thanks to the 31A team an enjoyable exhibition.
Steve's Narrow Gauge Railway Adventure 
Wow, – it’s difficult to believe that the Buntingford branch layout is N gauge and not something larger. A superb piece of railway modelling in every way.
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First time seeing that Braughing and Standon layout. What a lovely thing and such a nicely balanced design!
I like that scene of the railway crossing the farm lane. There’s so much breathing room around each of the scene’s elements and models that openness that is the character of country life more than any other attribute.
Equally, it’s really nice that they included space beyond the end of track in that station. So often, we’re placing a terminal station right on the baseboard’s edge instead of moving it into the scene so the adjacent land can provide a border and some context while keeping the station’s heart where we stand to study the scene.
I adore Fen End Pit. It’s such a unique and fascinating exploration of modelling balancing equally a study in motion and process with some just stunning modeling. Several of those locomotives have been features in Narrow Gauge & Industrial Review magazine articles. Every time I’ve seen this layout I’m reminded of how much of a dream it would be to see it in person—just need to hop across this ocean just outside my door I suppose.
Thanks again for sharing this update and the terrific photos with us.
Chris
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Some nice regional flavour.
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