Fairlight Works

Official blog of the High Weald Light Railway (1977) Co. Ltd.

ExpoNG 2009 – loco parade

009 exhibition expong model-railways narrow-gauge new-products photos

One of the best things about ExpoNG (and other narrow gauge shows) is that it’s not just about the layouts. People tend to bring odd bits and pieces they’ve been working on for display cases, or just to show friends. Here are a few that I spotted on Saturday.

009 locos by Rob Kaczmarczyk

My friend Rob Kaczmarczyk from the Sussex Downs group of the OO9 Society is a bit handy with an airbrush. Some of his wonderfully finished locos were on display in the Society showcase; on the left is a modified Golden Arrow kit for the Bowaters fireless loco Victor, on the right an example of the Meridian Models Baldwin gas-mechanical.

Revised Parkside Dundas 'Blanche'

Also in the OO9 showcase were examples of the reissued Parkside Dundas kit for the Penrhyn/Ffestiniog Hunslets Blanche, Linda and Charles. This is Blanche in Ffestiniog condition, modelling the new outside framed ready-to-run chassis they come with.

Mallet loco on St Jean sur Mer

On a slightly larger scale, this G scale Mallet was posed on top of the fiddle yard of the fantastic St Jean sur Mer.

16mm scale Darjeeling Himalayan B class

Sticking with the larger scales, a 16mm:ft live steam Darjeeling Himalayan B class posed on the stand of the 16mm Scale Association. The amount of detail added shows that live steam locos don’t just have to be functional.

AW-250 prototype

Back to 4mm scale, Bernard Taylor brought a prototype of his freelance kit for an Armstrong-Whitworth 250hp diesel mechanical. This is designed to fit on the chassis of the new Graham Farish class 08, and is a very boxy, purposeful looking machine. It spent most of the day parked in a siding on Dunbracken, where it attracted a lot of favourable comment.

The Landy

Finally, and please forgive the indulgence, but this is a little something I’ve been working on myself. An OO9 interpretation of the Statfold Land Rover, using an Airfix kit on a Kato chassis. This has proven to be a simple and cheap project, totalling under £25 so far, and with a few more details and a paint job it will be finished. It’s seen here having a run late in the day on Stephen Sullivan’s Holbeach Estates Railway.