Camrail 2012 - such fun!

120720_camrail12_DSC_7341, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

High jinx! I turn my head on Polbrock for just a second and look what happens, an O gauge pannier tank appears!

One of the west of England model railway show highlights has to be Camrail in the beautiful Bradford on Avon. The show is the brainchild of the delightfully ebullient Simon Castens, who to many is better-known as the proprietor of The Titfield Thunderbolt bookshop in nearby Bath, a bookshop dedicated almost exclusively to railway publishing.

The show, whilst certainly not one of the bigger ones in the exhibition calendar certainly has to be one of the friendliest and jolliest as I found much to my delight on what to me was my very first visit. Some shows I get the feeling that the layout operators really don't enjoy themselves too much, but at Camrail the impression of the complete opposite.

Arpund breakfast time yesterday morning being a slightly cheeky mood, I popped my semi-complete Polbrock into the car and after a quick approving text from the 'Southern Railway cream' clad chap in the photo above, ('Head of catering' at Camrail) it was agreed after approval with Mr Castens that I could 'gate crash' the show. To protect the almost innocent we'll call 'The Head of catering' Captain Kernow for this post.

Anyway, enough about my dodgy techniques of getting into shows, Camrail is a 2 day event with the doors opening again today, so if you're in the area or fancy a break from Britain's number one day out of going to B&Q, it's well worth the £4 entry fee. And if peckish, I can highly recommend the fresh cut sarnies and tea served by the above yellow clad gent, though I gather he's dressed in green today, Southern Railway green I hope.

• To see the other snaps I took of some of the layouts that appealed to be, follow this link.
• To find out more about Camrail, click here, or on the poster above.