SHOW REPORT: World of Railways Virtual Show II

It's the weekend of the second World of Railways Virtual Exhibition, and just like last time, this event was absolutely fantastic. I give a brief run-down of my favourite parts and my own contributions.

Whilst nothing will quite compete with a "real" show, the general atmosphere of the weekend was fun and inspiring. That's a real testament to the good folk at BRM/World of Railways, who put in a lot of hours to not only drum up support and visitors, but also to put plans in place, make content (as well as editing content made by others), upload their and everyone elses' content, and generally put together the practically non-stop event. And let's not forget that the folk at BRM are spending their weekends doing this!

Of course there has to be a massive shout-out to all the other contributors who have also put many hours into providing practical advice, interesting interviews, and excellent layout tours. It really is amazing how much, and how many people have pulled together to bring everyone a show with such rich and diverse content.

"Would you like to be involved?"

Asks the BRM team. The answer is, of course, yes! Despite the hard work and long hours involved in providing multiple videos and other media, the results are always worth it. Unfortunately I ran out of time for one of the video features I had planned (it snowballed into such a complex video!); but fear not, for it will be finished and published in due course. For what it's worth, I think this particular video will be useful for many modellers, and I've seen a lot of questions relating to this subject in recent months on RMweb in particular. I don't really want to give too much away as you can tell... but I think it'll be worth the wait...

...but back to what I did have time to produce, and a major aspect of this revolved around building yet another diorama. Unlike my previous three for BRM, this one is a more managable size, but it's still deceptively complex, and took about 14 days to produce. As always with these dioramas, it's the set-up for filming/photographing every stage that takes up a big portion of the total time.

Above: A sneak peak of part of the diorama. It's based on a culvert replacement scene. The groundwork is not quite as simple as it first appears, the texture and colour was really important and difficult to get right; that also includes the culverts actually...

...all will be revealed... you'll see this diorama featured in a future edition of BRM.

Regardless, it wasn't just practical things that I was able to produce for the BigWORshow, but I was also honoured with having my layout featured. Whilst the main feature was essentially what appeared in the digital edition of BRM last year, I also provided a 7 minute video explaining the philosophy behind the layout. You can watch this below, although Blogger doesn't display these videos very well, so feel free to watch it on my channel instead.

That's not all; I also managed to take some new photos, and as I don't think these got used, I'll display a few of my favourites here:

Above: At the start of the day, the lines' resident locos prepare for their duties. I don't think anyone is in any hurry though; there's not a soul to be seen!

Above: The Andrew Barclay tank has pulled away from its passenger train to take on coal and water. Meanwhile, the Bagnall shunts a trio of flatbeds loaded with various supplies.

Above: With passenger duties done for the day, the Barclay tank sits on shed, whilst the Bagnall brings in a couple of tippers and what looks like a small plate girder for a bridge!

A moment of pride

Something I am chuffed to bits with is that upon listening to the BRM/WoR team in Corwin's excellent Railway Mania Podcast, it's apparent that the layout is very well admired. It's really nice and unexpected to receive so many compliments; and not just for the layout itself. My thanks go out to them all for brightening my week!

My personal highlights

Now, I hate writing this part of my reports into exhibitions because there is very rarely something present that I don't find interesting or inspiring. I've even started to become more and more interested in modern image stuff (just don't tell my dad!). Seriously though, the standard of content is so high, it feels wrong not to mention everything in turn, but I don't think anyone wants to read an essay, and to be honest I don't want to write one!

With that in mind, I'll cautiously pick my five personal highlights:

Blueball Summit - Andrew Bartlett

When you look at photos of Blueball Summit, you assume it's OO gauge, but it's not; it's N gauge. That's probably the thing that amazes me the most. Specifically, I find it so hard to believe that the buildings are 1:148 scale. It blows my mind quite honestly; I struggle to get something half as decent in a scale twice as big!

The other aspect, and I think Andrew explains it well, is that the layout adds interest by making the most of the vertical space. Not many layouts do this, and I can imagine its fantastic watching full-length trains roar across the viaduct and high embankments; a real crowd pleaser I'm sure!

Building a working steam crane - Giles Favell

Thanks to my latest layout plan, this couldn't have come at a better time for me! The depressing part about this is that not only would I never be able to make one, especially in 4mm scale (as I would need), but that Giles makes it look effortless. Watching his radio controlled steam crane pick up, slew, and carry a cable drum from one end of the layout to the other (and with absolute precision) is incredible. His video was also informative, and to say I'm jealous of his skills is an understatement!

Interview with Kernow MRC - Chris Trerise and Graham Muspratt

Yes, even the interviews were incredibly interesting. I'm especially thrilled that Graham has settled so well into his new role as Project Manager; and to hear they have so many projects in the pipeline is nothing short of impressive. Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they come out with.

Ride the Corris Railway Gravity Train - Andy York

I've never been to Wales, which is surprising given that I have a soft spot for narrow gauge railways. I'd love to one day though, and the short virtual ride down the Corris line was a really interesting experience; especially given the valley views, the smooth ride, and the creaking carriage!

Suddenly, we find ourselves being hurled down the line on what can only be described as a hair-raising ride! It certainly looked a bit shaky even on the smoothed footage. And then it swaps to the view of the passengers... oh my! I hope they brought some cushions with them...

(Looks like fun though!)

Heaton Lodge - Simon George

At 196ft long, using 60-70 boxes of track, and built in a timeframe only a couple years longer than it took me to build Sandy Shores, it's hard not to be impressed. The ambition, but more importantly, the consistent and high quality modelling that is on show is... well, there just isn't a suitable superlative!

And then Simon talks about the possibility of adding "mist" and Go-Pro zipline cameras, and potential future public running events... it's nuts, and even though I'm a man who usually prefers small layouts, I absolutely love it!

Bonus

I also want to quickly congratulate James Hilton (Who's locos you see in the photos of Sandy Shores) on his fantastic new venture into producing a RTR loco. Please go and visit his blog for more information of what looks set to be an amazing model by all accounts; and if you're interested in the model, do leave him a comment to help show your support! 

If you missed the exhibition...

...there is another chance to see some of the best content again. Over to the BRM/WoR team:

We’ve pulled together video highlights, with a few extended cuts, and combined the best of layout photography in a special one-off show guide edition.

Priced at just £2.99, the show guide enables you to watch all the great videos that have been shown over the past two days, long after the doors are closed and the pages removed from World of Railways.

And no, they didn't ask me if I could post this! Personally, I think that to have all this content for the price of a normal exhibition is a very fair trade indeed. Don't forget, just like any exhibition, a lot of work goes into it! For more information, including preview images, click here.

So, I think that's about everything for this post. I hope you enjoyed the virtual exhibition as much as I did. Thanks once again to BRM/WoR, and all the contributors for a cracking event. I look forward to the next one!