An Aside At Axminster 1

It was on the way to church yesterday that passenger Chris (elderly, wheelchair driver and one-leg amputee) announced that he would not be coming back to Seaton with the fbbs, but going to a Model Railway Exhibition at Axminster Station. 

fbb was intrigued but cautious as Chris (also very deaf) has been known to get the wrong end of the stick, or, more likely, not even recognise the stick in the first place.

But Edith (elderly but a very ambulant ex nurse) was taking him and confirmed the details.

So after the service, the fbbs went as well.

They arrived at 1045 to see the station caff open and doing a not-yet roaring trade ...

... with the platform buzzin' with a jolly throng. Even the mere was thayor!

He did not seem overly excited by the displays,  one of which was a one foot to 12 inches scale sweetshop!

The event was being coordinated by the providers of ...

... which began life as a small exhibition in an unopen shop in the centre of Axminster. This shop based mini-exhibition is running special events during the school summer hols.

Something different for the kiddies? 

For a small and fledgling organisation, the exhibition was OK but, understandably, did not match the much bigger efforts in Exeter for example. 

There was one stall selling unwanted model railway stuff, but it was all so unwanted that fbb passed by.

There were three layouts under the platform canopy; one a small but exquisitely detailed end-to-end model ...

... complete with sound fitted diesels chuntering away happily.

Is that a female type woman operating the trains - SHOCK HORROR; they'll be playing football professionally next!

There were two very small N gauge displays ...

... which were "tail chasers" but with some nicely curated scenery. 

Then as fbb gazed idly at the sweets, he noticed that the  station toilets on platform 1 were OPEN.

Not only that, but the waiting room cum booking hall was also OPEN. 

But, thought fbb, Axminster station buildings are closed on Sundays.

Congrats to whoever persuaded Gerald to come in on his day off and open up.

The waiting room was packed with small layouts and people trying to look at them! One display was a simplified Axminster station on a typical model railway oval.

The station building, old footbridge and signal box were delightfully modelled as was the goods yard located where the car park now exists. There were even some Axminster town buildings on the rather cuboid hillside!

The other layouts inside were mainly for the kiddies, but the publicity had invited parents to bring their offspring in the hope that a new and constructive hobby might replace phones and the internet for some of the tedium of the six weeks away from the halls of academe.

Sadly, everyone in sight was "mature".

Now if only fbb had completed that circle of track and display of 70 tank wagons from 1938 to the present day, he could have bored the pants off the visitors for hours!

As fbb wandered around he was accosted by a man with a badge and baggy shorts who advised him to go to the pub.

Clever name, eh?

It turned out that this was not an invite for a beer "on the house" ("on the station"???) but a timely reminder that there were some more exhibits in the pub.

So this blog will go there tomorrow.

Scantily Clad - An Encore

Presumably there is a rule that fake pictures of train accidents on-line MUST be accompanied by a scantily clad female of the species. The young lady above has, apparently, been made topless by the events as they unfold.

Absolute drivel, of course!

But it is not only train crashes ...

... and this time there are two of them!

One of them is in a pose exactly the same as a "scantily clad" recently pictured running from a railway happening.

Rest assured, fbb is not (yet?) becoming a slightly "strange" old man, but is amazed at the "creative" nonsense that editors will invoke in their efforts to attract readers and thus advertisers who will then pay them much fine dollars.

Crazy!

Bargain Of The Week

10800 was a one-off experimental loco, designed by the LMS but not completed until BR days.

Drivers used to call it "the wonder engine" because every day they wondered whether it would start!

It often didn't!!

But a reduction from £253 to £100 for the model is a real bargain - IF you want a loco for your layout that was (a) a failure and (b) a loco that nobody much has ever heard of!

PLEASE NOTE: Whitby will return on WEDNESDAY.

 Next Axminster pub blog : Wed 30 July