Expo EM

A suggestion took me to Expo EM on Sunday (a bit of a jump from Saturday's DD show which was very much geared toward young families and suffered as a result from 'other events'). The usual high quality of exhibits with only a couple of meh layouts. The above caught my eye: Surrey Arms is I suppose Minories plus and the above shot shows the whole thing. Beautifully executed though with that typical finescale 'clean' look. The thing that let it down was the operation which should have been quite slick, but wasn't. The FY is longer than the layout, which is a no, no as far as I'm concerned, but also uses cassettes, which while good for some things are clumsy and not suited to a layout with four entry/exit points where the cassettes have to be lifted over each other. I can't help thinking that a simple sector plate or ladder yard with some sort of loco release may have been a better move, especially with the given space.

The above shot of Black Lion Crossing shows only a tiny part of what is a large-ish layout which is just about perfect. Great scenery and stunning stock and I believe got a deserved best in show.

Show: 9.5/10 Catering: a typical leisure centre 5/10. They're just not geared up for the anorak brigade who want chips and sandwiches.