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Britfest 2017 - A Celebration of British Modelling

MATT LOVELL reports back from our first Britfest Event.

The 18th of June was a very special day for us here at Gaugemaster. Not only was it Father's Day, but it was also our first-ever showcase of British modelling; Britfest.

Much like our other in house shows like the continental Bahnfest and our G Scale Day (not to mention our biennial Open Weekend - Ed) we had lots to see including layouts, demonstrations and pre-production items on show. Throughout the day we had lots of visitors attending the show including regulars and people from Hampshire, Surrey, London, and even as far as Oxfordshire.

There were four layouts on display for visitors to view.

Circleton Village

Just inside the entrance to our shop was a small layout called Circleton Village.

A small N Scale layout built on a camping table, it is easily portable and from chatting to the owner it is always a popular layout at all the shows he exhibits it at.

It is made up of a single track oval with a passing loop in the station area, and a few sidings for locomotive and wagon storage.

The buildings on the layout are mostly Kestrel Kits which are easy to construct and with a small bit of weathering can really bring a layout to life. The layout is powered by a small single-track controller which is more than capable for a small layout like this.

Brighthampton

The second layout on display was a Modern Image station-scene built in N Scale, called Brighthampton. This layout is based an end of the line terminus positioned between Hampshire and London.

The layout is a true shelf layout measuring just 6ft by 1ft including the fiddle yard. After chatting to the owner Ollie the layout is best described as a shunting puzzle for passenger stock. It features lots of sidings for storage of coaches and wagons.

The buildings are mostly scratch built and kit bashed which are nicely weathered and really give off a modern era feel.

This layout features lots of details from typical trackside objects to the Network Rail men in orange suits by the lineside.

The lamps on the station are made by Trainsave which are great value lamps which look great on any layout.

The third rail is made from strips of T-shaped plastic from Plastruct glued to the sleepers and then weathered with the rest of the track. All in all a great layout to have at the show with lots of detail and modelling knowledge from the owner.

Brown and Stickwell

The third layout at the show was built by Gaugemaster's resident Narrow Gauge modeller Martin. This layout is part of a module called Brown and Stickwell Treacle Works, and has appeared at other shows all over the county including Amberley, Horsham and Chichester.

The layout is a single track oval with a large passing loop at the front. This allows for whole trains to be stored while another is running around the circuit. It also features a Shuttle Unit which creates the illusion of a busy factory scene with a locomotive driving from one building to the other.

One of the buildings is fitted with a Real Fire Effect from Train Tech which simulates a fire in the boiler.

Dunkenby Station

The last layout which was being demonstrated was a small village station called Dunkenby Station. This layout was also operated by Martin.

The layout is a simple oval but features lots of details such as hand-built buildings and detailed weathering on the track. A simple yet effective layout.

Everything Else

Other attractions at the show included a digital demonstration using the Gaugemaster DCC layout.

This showed off lots of aspects of DCC control including the new Train Tech Sensor Signals (which can be used on analogue layouts as well). The layout was controlled by the Z21 system from Roco and we ran a sound version of the Adams Radial from Oxford Rail.

It also included and N Gauge set up using Kato track, a Graham Farish locomotive and Dapol coaches fitted with lightbars.

James from our shop staff providing scenic demonstrations on our shop layout, which is being renovated at the moment.

Adding depth to a flat field by adding layers of static grass to a grass mat.

He also showed how to add extra details to a Fordhampton Farmhouse such as bushes and shrubs on the front of the building.

James added detail to the Fordhampton Nursery using hedges and plants from the Gaugemaster Scenics range.

He also created a very narrow country lane which we have all seen during various drives around the country side. This road is just wide enough for one car to drive through let alone passing an oncoming vehicle.

Sneak Peeks

As mentioned previously we had a few pre-production samples sent to us by Dapol including the O Scale Jinty, Pannier Tank and 08 locomotives and also the OO Scale Auto-coaches due for release later this year.

All in all, a great show and one I’m sure that will be repeated next year.

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