A Trip to Scaleforum

This year I joined the Scalefour Society (18.83mm gauge).

Their main show (Scaleforum) is held at Leatherhead in Surrey (about 20 mile south of London).

I particularly wanted to see this show because it included the "1883 Layout Challenge" Final. This was a competition set in 2002 to build a P4 layout within a footprint of 18.83 square feet. Out of some 50 entries; about 25 made it to the show. On top of that; you had a dozen(approx) additional layouts many of which were a high standard. You can get more info' on the Scalefour Society/1883 Layout Challenge in the "Links" section at the end of review.

I stayed in Central London for three days at a half decent hotel(huge breakfasts and a large bath). I must admit to having a love/hate relationship with London. Whilst appreciating the sheer history and spectacle of the place (See Peter Ackroyd's TV series "London"),I find myself repelled with the general atmosphere that you find on the streets themselves. I had planned to visit the show on both days; setting off early doors.

The train from Waterloo takes about 40 minutes to reach Leatherhead. It goes through numerous stations including Clapham Junction which still seems a sprawling place(trainspotters paradise?). I used this holiday as a chance to try out my MP3 player(loaded with 5 hours of music and audio chapters from Lisa Picards "Victorian London").It's a great way to kill time on a long journey though I got some funny looks while searching for it in my rucksack on a London Underground train (July 07th Tube/Bombs still fresh in peoples memory).

I arrived at Leatherhead at 9.00 a.m. and had a stroll through town. The weather on both days was a perfect late Indian Summer(ie..Beer Garden!). The place is very prosperous and this was reflected in the pedestrianised High St. Some nice gabled houses and narrow streets.

I visited the local history museum (closed Sundays) and the curator mentioned the picturesque route to the exhibition venue. This involved crossing the old bridge over the river and walking past "The Running Horse" pub. I reached the Leisure Centre(venue) at 10.30.

The Venue was split over three areas.You entered at first floor level which had a mix of layouts, Society administration, some good demonstration tables(the track building man gave me some very good tips) and a sorry looking bar/catering facility.As the day got hotter I made use of the balcony area overlooking playing fields.

Stairs took you down to GymHall 01 with layouts and quite a few traders. I didn't spend much time here on Sat' as it was a bit of a crush all round. Layouts that caught my eye were Ferring(a LBSCR pre group terminus) and Sheep Pasture (working chain/rope incline layout which may have paid homage to the Cromford Peak railway).

I treated myself at the High Level trade stand: buying a Neilson 0-4-0 Piano Tank. The Exactoscale stand had some nice additions to their trackwork kits.

A corridor took you into Gym/JunkHall 02(otherwise known as The Mole Barn) where the 1883 Challenge layouts were on display.I received my voting slip for the 3 best layouts at the entrance. At this point I retired to the "Running Horse" for a 2 hour lunch in the beer gardens...

I have to admit I found the Challenge layouts fascinating; which is why I concentrate on covering six of the layouts that caught my eye. I spent the bulk of the two days in this part of the show trying to pick up pointers for how I'd like my own (unbuilt) layout to look/operate. This part of the show was reasonably quiet in comparison with the other two areas..which suited me fine. At times during the Sunday the MoleBarn was near empty.

"Coombe Wharf" was a LBSCR harbour branch circa 1900's.It was really well landscaped/painted and had a neat touch in that the backscene was reversible (seascape one side/townscape the other).A really neat touch; was that the backscene could be fixed to front or rear edges of the layout: thus giving two varying operating views.

"Western Road Diesel Depot" (BR 1970's) caught my eye because of the uncluttered appearance and the good looking fuel/maintenance shed(I liked the roof-line on this building).It also looked like it would be fun to operate.

"Woolworth Road"(London 1955 -62) An urban setting were they've squeezed a quart into a pint-pot and still made it look good.I couldn't get the timber trussing on the back end of the coal depot to come out in my photo's.

"Nottingham Goods"(MR 1923) I thought this an excellent use of space(the area on display is only 6 feet).I asked the operator what the capacity of the layout was and I think he said 80 - 100 goods vehicles. The cutaway warehouse is a real scene stealer. Upon reflection: the trackplan gave me an idea for an 1850/60s layout where you could incorporate 4-wheel coaches with shortbase turntables.

"Lower Soudley" (Forest of Dean 1930's) This layout caught my eye for three reasons... Your eyes are caught by the height of the 2 chimney stacks on the layout. The standard of modelling is very good. The layout is shaped like a triangle (which affords some great shots for photographs.)

"Burntisland" (NBR circa 1883) My favourite layout. It won the Challenge Trophy and should appear soon in one of the UK magazines (someone mentioned Young Pig Farmers Weekly. I paid particular attention to this stand on both days; and was impressed by the way the operators answered questions from the public and also how they kept trains moving throughout the two days. Future additions to the layout include the goods ferry ( mention was made of a coffee table on wheels) and the enormous locomotive roundhouse known as "The Shed".

During the show a rumour went round that in an effort to re-enact the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879, one of the operators tipped an entire train onto the floor whilst reversing the fiddle yard. These guys are true showmen!

LINKS...

www.scalefour.org/ (Visit site for more photo's and a retrospective review of the 2005 show).

www.bbc.co.uk/history/program (Info on Peter Acroyds LONDON series for TV)

amazon.com Victorian London (1840 - 1870) by Liza Picard.

Conclusion..Thoroughly enjoyed the show but can't honestly say I'd return next year. For one thing it's unlikely there will be the huge range of layouts on show..Unless the organisers invite everyone back?

Also; the question of distance and cost to get to the show have to be considered (I travelled from Scotland and spent 3 days in London).

My next show is a lot closer: Newcastle in November.

Cheers for now.
Mac.

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