RailEx 2011

THORNCOMBE RAILEX 2011. 

Pre-event Press Release:

MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION.

Saturday November 5th 2011.

OUR BIGGEST EVENT EVER!

Open 10.00am to 5.00pm.

Thorncombe Village Hall & School – TA20 4NE

15 exhibitors plus trade support, grand raffle, refreshments, Public’s Favourite Exhibit & Chairman’s Choice awards, free parking and disabled access. Adults £3.00. Senior Citizens £2.50. All accompanied children by donation.

New Name – and our biggest event yet!

Following on from last year’s record success, we have secured the use of the Main Hall in the adjacent school in addition to the Village Hall, thus giving us 45% extra floor area to fill with eye catching layouts. In line with this expansion we have changed the name to “Thorncombe RailEx” to reflect this enlarged presence.

This year we have assembled a range of exhibits that encompass all that is best about our wonderful hobby:

“Penrhos” by Dave Spencer, has been featured as “Railway of The Month” in a recent Hornby Magazine.

“Corris 1930” which narrowly missed out on top prize last year, makes a welcome return, now more complete with even better presentation!

“Tank House Sidings” first ever appearance in the UK is small in size, but big on industrial “stygian atmosphere”. The wonderful sound adds the final touch.

“Polpendra”, by Simon Addelsee, has been featured in a recent Model Rail Magazine, and evokes West Country charm in a small scale that anyone could accommodate!

Finally if that is not enough, we have a local celebrity to open proceedings, none other than Steve Flint – Editor of Railway Modeller, a well known rail enthusiast who also takes many of the excellent photographs for the magazine. We are delighted to have him visiting today, I am sure he will bring his camera!

A similar "flavour" but different ingredients:

Regarding the exhibition this year, we have a distinctly similar "flavour" to the range of exhibitors this time. Of course, the major scales are all represented, but we also have no less than TWELVE NEW EXHIBITS that have not previously visited us, covering scales and gauges of O, OO, 3mm, N, 009, and American On30.

We are delighted to have “Stodmarsh” for its whimsical humour, “Colorado River And Pacific” with its arid ambience, and “Bishop Street Yard” for its inner city Hustle and bustle!

Trade Support:

To back this up, we once again have generous support from:

Buffers Model Railways of Colston Cross, Axminster. (One of our two principal sponsors).

Peco from Beer will also be in attendance with dioramas and display boards (showing their latest products).

Aspire Gifts & Models make their first visit with a diverse range of stock, accessories and tools.

Second hand railway items are also to be found courtesy of Rod Saunders.

Finally, Alan Corwood returns with a diverse and interesting range of railwayana, and books.

Grand Raffle:

Hoping to repeat last year’s success is the inclusion of a Grand Raffle. All our trade support and other local shops have kindly donated some superb prizes that should whet the appetite of even the most jaundiced of "rail enthusiasts". Maria at Buffers has very kindly agreed to donate a starter set, and this will surely be a perfect way to get a boy or girl on the “road” to railway modelling.

New this year: “Chairman’s Choice Award”:

As the standard of exhibitors rises year on year we have decided to offer a second award to the exhibit that we feel has the most “scenic quality and atmosphere”. An unenviable task looking at the list below!

Provisional line up of Exhibitors:

Tormouth Quay – (OO scale), Graham Bean.

Bleadon – (O scale), Mervyn Kendall.

Corris 1930 – (OO9 4mm scale), Rod Allcock.

Exverton – (N gauge), Stephen Ash, Nailsea & District MRC.

Stodmarsh – (O scale), Kevin Cartwright.

Park End trams – (OO scale), Bob Pritchard.

Dunkton Coombe – (3mm/ft), Richard Pope.

Egdon Heath Tramway – (OO9), South West OO9 Group.

Tank House Sidings – (OO scale), Keith Foster.

Penrhos – (OO scale), Dave Spencer.

Polpendra – (N gauge), Simon Addelsee.

Bishopsmead - (OO scale), Ted Olney, Bath.

The Head Shunt - (00 Scale), Chris Phillimore.

Colorado River And Pacific – (On30), Mendip NTRAK.

Bishop Street Yard – (OO scale), John Long.

Trade Support:

Peco,

Buffers Model Railways,

Aspire Gifts & Models,

Rod Saunders (second hand & die cast),

Alan Corwood (railwayana & books).

All in all, a great exhibition in the offing! We look forward to seeing you all on the day.

Download the details here.

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Post event press release for Thorncombe Model Rail Exhibition held on 5th Nov 2011

Thorncombe RailEx 2011

“Climbing to the next level”

The annual Thorncombe Model Railway Exhibition organised by Thorncombe Rail Activities Club went ahead on November 5th 2011, and this year being our 11th anniversary it was opened by Steve Flint, Editor of Railway Modeller fame. Steve is well known as a local authority on many things railway related, and has contributed much by way of his excellent photographs to “The Modeller” and other publications.

“Thorncombe RailEx” (as it is now known) was the largest event ever, and public attendance exceeded expectations on the day, despite local road closures and the tragic M5 accident near Taunton. From door receipts we estimate that over 400 people journeyed to see us, making this probably our most successful show ever!

Prize for longest journey to visit us must go to the couple from Cognac in France, although others from Twickenham, Plymouth, Bognor Regis and Lincoln all featured!

Aided by a grand raffle, with many great prizes, the prestigious “Public Favourite exhibit award” – “The Jeff Tennant Memorial Trophy”, and new this year - the “Chairman’s Choice Award”, (with prizes sponsored by Buffers Model Railways), the event had a buzz from the start that continued thereafter.

The new enlarged facilities using the school gymnasium and car park next door worked well, and although we had very good numbers, the extra space meant that a more relaxed atmosphere was achieved. Many people also commented that Thorncombe RailEx continues to be one of the friendliest events around, featuring high quality exhibits, good facilities and excellent value.

Trade support was again provided by PECO of Beer, “Buffers” of Colston Cross, Rod Saunders of Bradninch, and Aspire Gifts & Models of Buckland Newton. They combined to provide a good balanced selection of model railway products and equipment.

A diverse and interesting selection of Railwayana was also on sale courtesy of Alan Corwood, and traders all said it was well worth attending.

Finally, the “Jeff Tennent Memorial Trophy” for the public’s favourite exhibit, was again awarded to Ted Olney of Bath for his “Bishopsmead” layout. “Corris 1930” and “Bleadon” layouts were voted into the runner- up spots. Keith Foster was awarded the “Chairman Choice Award” for best detail, atmosphere and presentation with his superb layout “Tank House Sidings”.

Once the sums have been finalised, TRAC will once again be able to donate a decent amount to rail related charities.

Work is already well underway to make next year’s event as good as this one. Be sure to be there on Saturday November 3rd 2012!

A lovely scene from “Penrhos”, a rural mid Wales backwater full of 1960’s atmosphere. Photo courtesy Hornby Magazine.

Chas May with Steve Flint of “Railway Modeller”, who kindly agreed to open proceedings. Our thanks to you and the team at Peco for your continued support!

Simon Addelsee’s “Polpendra” small but perfectly formed, and an exercise in how to do “N scale” justice. We are all pleased he made it despite the closure of the M5.