Expo-NG 2002

Ted Polet

Early in the morning of Friday, 25 October, my twin sons and I met Jan van Mourik on the Harwich ferry, on our way to Expo-NG. Having left our luggage at the hotel around mid-day, we continued under a grey sky towards Tenterden to pay a visit to the Kent & East Sussex Railway. No narrow gauge, but the next best thing. When we arrived at the car park, the train in the platform was a 1950s DMU! Very nice, and it stirred memories of similar units on the Llandudno-Blaenau service in 1967, but it was steam I had come to see. Luckily we were told about another train which was to be steam-hauled. We had a cup of tea in the old bus station in the Tenterden yard, and went outside in the rain to see the train arrive. The Norwegian 2-6-0 roared up the 1 in 50 to the terminus, nearly losing its feet on the level crossing, and came to a halt. The last time I had been there was in the mid-1990s together with Reinier Hendriksen.

Click on the photos to enlarge. All photos © Jan van Mourik 2002, unless stated otherwise.

Left: the Norwegian 2-6-0 puts up a fine show on the stiff grade to Tenterden. Centre: the loco running round. Right: view from the train at the end of the return trip from Bodiam. Darkness falls as the loco tackles the gradient at Tenterden again.

The trip out to Bodiam and back took about two hours, and the nice thing is that here one can see a typical branch line at work as they used to be up to about 1960. It took me back to my teenage holidays to sit in a restored BR MK1, and it rather amused me to see that British passengers older than me had forgotten how to open the doors at stations: pull down the window and use the outside handle!

The next morning we were at the show in Swanley rather early because I know about the queues that build up towards opening time! As usual we weren't disappointed with what the organisers had brought together. I cannot do justice to all the fine layouts that we saw: a small selection of photos by Jan is shown below. More photos by Mick Thornton are on the Society's website under the photographs link.

The best moment of the show for us was when the Reinier Hendriksen Trophy was given to Angus Watkins and his layout Chapel Pill. Angus was very surprised and pleased to be awarded the trophy. An excellent choice with regard to his modelling work and the unusual theme of his layout.

Left: Jan and I, talking to Lee Bryant behind the 009 Society Sales stand. Right: camera at the ready, Jan has a look at the Gairloch & Wester Ross Railway.

Photos: Mick Thornton.

Left: rather larger than 009 is this 1:35 scale French diorama Arue by Fried Lagerwey. Right: overview of Dingle, an excellent piece of work in 00n3 built by members of the Chester MRC. I spent a long time seeing this layout at work.

 The 2002 winner of the Reinier Hendriksen Trophy is Chapel Pill by Angus Watkins. We were very impressed by the ships and the operating coal loader. It was good to talk to Angus and his wife at the stand.

Left: freelance Drake's End by Trevor Giddings (Sussex Downs Group) has the Irish 3ft gauge atmosphere despite being 9mm gauge. A good compromise, and it ran very well during the show. Right: Deer Creek by Dave & Midge Grassing with its fine detail is excellent entertainment. When I was talking to Dave and Midge my boys tried to count the model animals - and failed!

The Gairloch & Wester Ross Railway by Roger Christian and Stan Williams has a continuous run which is unusual in British model railways. Excellent scenery and track. Both Garry Whiting and I brought some rolling stock to the layout: on the right my own CMR loco Atlantic pauses in an atmospheric setting.

Left: a pretty 0-16.5 scene at Vis-en-Artois by Jackie Molinaro from France. Right: Lienz is an Austrian theme in H0e by Tim Ticknell, also featuring a standard gauge electric tramway.

Left: Timmer, a brickworks in 1:35 scale by Otto Schouwstra, featuring his usual sound effects to add to the excellent modelling. Right: Christopher Payne thinks 1:35 isn't big enough. His fine Sutton Wharf scene in 1:25 scale is his latest creation.

Well - we saw it coming on the weather report. It seems I'm a fair target for the weather gods. For the second time in two years, heavy weather came up when we were at Swanley. At the hotel on the Friday night, when Jackie Molinaro came in from a much delayed ferry from France, Christopher Payne told him it was because yours truly had come over again, having been a sailor long ago and stirring up the waves. On Saturday night it was very quiet and raining, and on Sunday morning a severe storm closed down all ferries and many roads. The QE II bridge right behind the hotel at Dartford was closed, and we started phoning around to see what we could do. In the end we were able to book on the tunnel train to Calais. After a wild drive through stormy France and Belgium, we dropped Jan at his home in Bergen op Zoom. Having been fed fried eggs and sandwiches by his wife, we continued home where we arrived a bit exhausted but otherwise in quite a good shape. I may have been a sailor, but next time I come over this time of the year I think I'll stick to the tunnel!