Report and pics by Bob Leggett
TCS Autumn Gathering
Trinity Church Hall, Leicester Saturday Nov 2nd 2024
Another excellent crowd enjoyed the annual Autumn Train show at Trinity Church Hall, many of whom stayed for the delicious Christmas Lunch cooked by members of the Church.
Many thanks to Ray, Eric, Ian and David from Trinity Church who manned the entrance, which was busy all day.
As you walked in you could not miss the first display, Bryan Pentland's wonderfully colourful Brimtoy, Wells, Chad Valley and Mettoy layout.(Fig 1). There were five circuits with trains running all day with Stations, Engine Sheds and Bridges by all the manufacturers. I did notice a lovely Betal Station which had a very sweet street scene (Fig 2).
Also thanks to Paul Chapman and Paul Williams who helped Bryan set up. Next to Brian, Paul Williams had his own exhibit, a very neat small circular two level Trix Express layout featuring German pre 1975 3-Rail stock (Fig 3). Paul even managed to add overhead pick up.
The bring and buy stall run by Malcolm Pugh with help from John Davidson and David Corbett (Fig 4), had a busy day with sales over £470, with commission and donations £55 was raised for the club. There were no significant individual sales, the highest being a Bassett-Lowke c/w Loco for £45, just a constant stream of £5-£20 items. A big thanks to all three.
Opposite was Dave Angell (Fig 5), selling mostly Tri-ang, Tri-ang Hornby and Hornby and as last years reported excellent sales. I did spot a nice Tri-ang Defender Set for £80 (Fig 6).
It was lovely to see Leon Mills back after a tough time with health issues back in his usual spot (Fig 7), selling ACE 0 Gauge, stock included the new GWR Duke for £475 (Fig 8) and running on the ACE Layout (see later) was a prototype EM1 (Fig 9).
Also selling in the foyer was Luke Whitney selling his late father's (David Collinson) collection of Lionel, Marx and American Flyer (Fig 10), in the passageway organiser Paul Draycott was selling unusual 00 and Dave Bowns selling mainly Hornby-Dublo.
Moving into the small hall we find our Editor Nicholas Oddy selling 0 Gauge and larger models. It was interesting to see four Hornby 0 Gauge SR bogie Coaches on his table, three under £100 (Fig 11), how times have changed!
This year we had a big change with Stewart Rose and David Viewing with their impressive Gauge 1 and 2 Layout taking over the whole side of the room (Fig12), I was very impressed with the layout and spotted a Gauge 2 'Sydney' (Fig 13) and a Henry Greenly 0-4-0 Tank with a 3D Card version alongside as well as an N2 Tank (Fig 14).
On the far wall David Rhodes (Fig 15) was celebrating 'alternative Thomas' and had several makes including Hornby 0 Gauge 'Percy', Eggerbahn 009, Gem Kits and other models some with a tenuous link to Thomas. A fascinating display.
Trading in the hall was Steve Flowers (Fig 16), selling Diecast toys and Transfers.
Eric Large was back with a very interesting and historical TT Layout (Fig 17), all the models on view were made in the late fifties-early sixties by Eames, Taylor and Mckeena (wagons) and Locos by TE Collins (Fig 18 and 19).
As we move into the main hall, in the passageway David Ramsey was selling more of his collection and I found him having a good chat with Gordon Foster, Jonathan Ward and Colin Green (Fig 20).
First table in the hall was Derek Bond (Fig 21) who had an ever increasing selection of 3D spares for sale, these included many for the Minic Motorway and Tri-ang Battlespace range and some of the latest spares were interiors for the Tri-ang Thompson Teak Coaches (Fig 22), as last year, a machine was working well at the show producing more spares.
Alongside Dave White had his excellent Tri-ang Hornby Battlespace layout (Fig 23) with three circuits running military trains all day with an amazing collection of accessories in the middle (Fig 24).
In the corner David Knighton, Jonathan Ward and Colin Green (Fig 25) were celebrating 0 Gauge Ace Trains with a superb layout including a large Canopy Station (Fig 26), as mentioned earlier they were running the excellent EM1 prototype all day.
On the front of the stage Paul Brookes was selling two new books as well as Master Models, Liliput, Kemlow items and two Hugar SR 00 Gauge sets (Fig 27) and collection of Motor Cars and Trailers (Fig 28).
Paul has written a very informative box on the Woodside 00, Rickwood 00 and TT and Clarewood 00 & H0 wooden stations and accessories (Fig 29 and Fig 30) and another book on the Automec Highway Models Diecast Range (Fig 31).
By the main entrance we are greeted by Michael Foster and friends Adam Draycott and Mark Carne (Fig 31a), Michael as usual was selling his recent Books, ETS spares and Christmas Cards,
Opposite Mark Carne was selling a great selection of mainly O Gauge and larger locomotives and accessories. Alongside Tony Penn 'Steptoe's Yard 'was selling cheap and cheerful 00 Gauge Locomotives including a huge quantity of Tri-ang Locos mostly between £10-£20 (Fig 32). Not surprisingly Tony had a very good day.
Next to Tony, Mike and Sam French were selling a massive collection of books (Fig 33) and in the corner David O'Brien (Fig 34) was selling Trix and Peter Corley selling unusual 00 Gauge.
The centre of the room was occupied by the majority of the Traders, Dixon Upcott had an excellent variety of 00 Gauge including five Tri-ang rubber inclines for £50 (Fig 35), Bob Leggett had his usual mix including an early Hornby 00 3-piece vacuum-formed layout for £100 (Fig 36)
Adam and Simon Goodyear were selling a good selection of vintage trains from all gauges and gave Michael Foster a big welcome when he was having a browse (Fig 37). Rob Hampton had a good selection of Lone Star 000, Tri-ang TT and 00 Gauge, Bob Scott with a brief visit from Paul Draycott (Fig 38) had two tables of Dublo Spares and accessories.
One of the many highlights of the show is the wonderful Christmas lunch with all the trimmings (Fig 39) provided by the catering team from the Church, A 3-course meal for £12 was enjoyed by over 60 visitors over two sittings. I was able to have a very enjoyable lunch with fellow Tri-ang Collectors, Dave and Martha McCarthy, Neil Smith and Dave White (Fig 40). We also had Bacon Rolls in the morning, Cakes in the afternoon (Fig 41) and Tea and coffee all day, many thanks to the catering team, Karen Clements, Pav Pall, Ian Draycott, Adam Draycott, Salwa Draycott, Daphne Sargent, Judith Saunders, Mary Starie, Debbie Robinson and Paul and Marilyn Draycott. The show was a great success with many people staying all day.
A Big thank you to Paul Draycott and his family and friends for organising the show. The Church and hall has had their boiler decommissioned and requires a new one other repairs, so if anyone would like to make a donation to assist with the repairs, Paul would be very grateful. Thank you also to all the Exhibitors, Traders and visitors for making it such a great day out.
