BUMPER BRISTOL 2014

If the Friday was anything to go by, the Bristol Exhibition had a bumper attendance this year. By the end of the morning the car parking field only had room left for a few cars. Some 99% of the parking was taken.

Inside it was as good as ever. Plenty of new things on display with good representation of all types of model.

It was good to see that Maurice Turnbull had completed his plate bending machine, and the vertical slotting machine. Hywel Lambert showed a perpetual calendar to be added to one of his clocks which incorporates Leap Years and phases of the moon which has occupied his time while waiting for some modifications to the design of his Harrison RAS regulator project.

It was good to see that the Westland and Yeovil MES has a Tobies project running. A number of models were on show in various stages of completion, and a boiler which is surely the simplest boiler you can get. A full series on building Toby appeared in the early days of MEWS, which is now on the DVD. Toby comes highly recommended as a genuine project for beginners, or those looking for a quickie. The design is in 2.5” gauge but is easily adaptable to 3.5” gauge for those without access to a track in the smaller size.

We also enjoyed seeing a King to Keith Wilson’s design and Nigel Dickinson’s nice example of the Highland Goods 4-6-0 loco.

The Meccano is always a highlight at Bristol. Among many fine exhibits was a London Transport No 9 Routemaster bus. Struck a chord in the editor’s house as Mrs Editor used to commute into London on the No 9.

We enjoyed all the 50 models shown here, and some.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. DOWNLOAD FOR LARGER STILL. OR PLAY SLIDESHOW