Report on the 2010 AGM & Show held at Biggleswade on 27th March 2010
Words and photos by Bob Leggett
All photos may be enlarged by clicking or tapping on them. Best viewed full screen!
Despite leaving Alresford early for my 100 mile trip and listening to Tony Blackburn on Smooth Radio it was far from a smooth ride up as sadly I had a flat at Farnham and the RAC had to do their duty.
So I arrived a little late, however with superb help from Paul Chapman (fresh from setting up catenary on Dave White's Layout) we set about getting my Hornby c1978 layout up and running (more later).
The AGM is actually a great show with plenty of layouts and traders and of course the customary excellent refreshments.
I will describe the layouts on show from the top left hand corner.
Richard Bingham had his mammoth Lionel Standard gauge trains from the 30s with a rather neat feature. The trains were operating the points automatically so each time the engine went over the points it change from outer to inner loop and vice versa - very clever. While I was passing a No 1385 2-4-2 was running with three 300 series coaches. LGB figures helped populate the layout
John Hardy had an attractive Hornby and Bing O gauge layout. It was a nice mix and a late 1920s Hornby goods train with nuts and bolt trucks was on the inside circuit while a Bing LNER 0-4-0 +3 coaches was on the outer circuit.
Dave White was running Tri-ang Super 4 with catenary (set up help by Paul Chapman) and probably had the largest band of helpers, It was show time with plenty of NSWR Sydney suburbans running including a ten car train.
At the end of the day Les Martin's APT and Bob Leggett's converted Tri-ang SR 4 CEP. An Arkitex overtrack station made an attractive photo shot.
Paul Draycott was displaying an unusual collection of 00 4-6-2 engines. A Hambling's and two Jamiesons Coronations, a boxed Scalemaster set (late 40's) with a Green loco set plus other locos in Maroon and Blue and a Scalemaster transformer (only one Paul has seen). Also a Steamcraft 'live steam ' A4 was on display. I remember these being advertised and wish I had purchased the Battle of Britain version.
A selection of Graham Farish Merchant Navies completed the display.
Roger White had probably the most scenic layout as he had built a superb gorge on his Marklin HO layout. The cliff edge even had climbers scaling the rocks. Included were continental buildings by various makers including a Kibri Station and a Marklin Engine Shed. Stock running as I passed was TEE set.
Paul Brookes was in the Corner selling and displaying Master Models and also promoting his book on Kemlow.
Pat Hammond had a lovely display of tankers (the club theme) and I was taken by a Tri-ang VR Switcher and 8 Australian made tankers and a Blue Australian Caboose. Most of the other tankers on display were by Bachmann.
Geoff Walker had a very compact (even for TT ) 3' X 2 ' 6'' Tri-ang TT layout that even managed to get in a rare Goods Shed and working turntable. Despite its size Geoff was able to display a large percentage of the UK range.
Opposite Andy Hyelman had a lovely display of continental stock from 000/ n gauge to O gauge and from a variety of makers. I particularly liked a Railroute set and a Linda toys Deltic.
As we come round to the last wall yours truly with considerable help from Paul Chapman (it was arranged in advance!) had set up a Hornby c1978 three part pre formed plastic layout using system 6 track - I have to say this is not good track to deal with and it did cause a few problems, however we had the 1978 catalogue and copied the layout from that and had several locos running well all day.
Bryan Pentland had a two level Bing O gauge display with a large number of named and unnamed Bing buildings. I was particularly impressed with a Station with built in picnic tables. Most of the locos run on DC with permanent magnets.
The smallest layout on display was Paul William's Marx's scenic circular layout which could not have been bigger than 2' square! A real American scene with a diner and station plus telegraph poles with wires - a super little layout.
All the traders were in the hall .as usual a mix day with some doing well and other just enjoying the atmosphere. John Forman noted that accessories and spares did well this year. Hornby Acho was in demand on Elaine Hyelman's stall where I also noticed a Dublo SR Pullman set for £250. Allen Levy and Len Mills were displaying and selling the latest ACE products. Colin Toten had Darstaad products including a Brighton Belle on show and Mike Foster was
promoting ETS.
In the entrance hall Tony Penn and Malcolm Pugh had very busy day at the Bring and Buy table. They hardly had time to see the excellent displays, or eat the great food, or even buy anything from the traders. Starting with the most expensive item sold, this was a Basset Lowke Electric Prince Charles, which changed hands for £325. A Paya collection of electric and steam loco, with coaches sold for £225. A partially made and incomplete DJH O-Gauge LNER Pacific kit sold for £100.
In OO, a Steamcraft live steam Jubilee sold for £210, and Tri-ang series 3 and super 4 track was in demand, although a keenly priced rubber tunnel remained unsold. A large rummage box of spares was rapidly reduced to a thin layer just covering the bottom of the box. A nice Marklin Delta set sold for a bargain price of £20, two excellent Tri-ang catenary sets for £38, and a nice collection of 25 or so Tri-ang service sheets for £15. One vendor had brought a couple of box loads of recent books, and older magazines, which
sold very well, our members, must have very diverse interests.
Nearly everyone bringing items to sell had them priced and labelled which made things a lot easier. It also seems that most members are being realistic in their pricing. In all, over £1400 went through the table, which gives a healthy commission of over £140. This is used for promotion and publicity for the TCS.
The club stand was nearly full with over 120 tankers-always a good choice and I noticed Shell was the most popular company on display.
The refreshments were up to their usual excellent standards and I was able to have a delicious three course lunch and cup of tea for under £4.
Many thanks to the following ladies from the Buffet Bar. Amalia Ramsey, Janice Carpenter, Claire Lahiffe, Jackie Hall and Margaret Fitch
The AGM commence at 2pm and with AOB and the raffle was over by 3pm. Full minutes will appear in the next issue of Train Collector.
A huge thank you to David Ramsey and helpers for setting up the show. Another excellent event.
Bob Leggett
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