GBTS 2024 – Roweham

Posted byTrevorPosted inConventions and Train Shows, Great Western Railway in 7mm scale, Influences, Layouts by others, Where to find me
Yes, I packed the GWR waistcoat and breakaway “safety” tie. It seems I can’t escape the Prairies, as I’m shunting some wagons with, appropriately enough, a GWR Prairie (2-6-2) tank engine.

As reported previously on this site, the Great British Train Show 2024 took place at the end of April in the Toronto area. I went – and had a great time.

It was my first trip back to southern Ontario since my wife and I moved west in September, 2020. I was overwhelmed to see so many friends after what had been almost four years of separation. Yes, we had kept in touch via phone, email, and social media – but it’s not the same. There was much hugging.

I’ll write more about the show itself in due course, but I attended in part to help my friend Brian Dickey exhibit Roweham, his wonderful 7mm rendition of a typical Great Western Railway branch line terminal. This is a compact layout – measuring just 16 feet by 16 inches – but it’s beautifully executed and operates flawlessly, making it a wonderful way to spend a rainy weekend.

The water tank and station.
The goods shed. Brian has added little vignettes like this all over the layout, without overcrowding it.

Over the years since I last operated on Roweham, we’ve lost one regular member of the crew and I understand another is getting on in years. Brian has recruited a couple of younger modellers, which is great to see. The next step is getting them to take the plunge on white shirts, GWR six-button waistcoats, and breakaway “safety” ties.

Meantime, in the interests of promoting 7mm British modelling and perhaps sucking in encouraging a few more people to get involved, I handed over the throttle and shunting pole to some friends whenever I could. (Brian was very good about this. Thank you!)

Mark checks the route ahead before the autocoach-equipped passenger train heads back to the junction. A GWR “Flying Banana” diesel railcar would look equally at home on the branch. Hmm…
Stephen uses the pannier tank engine to propel the “Toad” (GWR parlance for a brake van) down to the end of the main track, where he’ll drop it out of the way while switching the goods shed.
Stephen deploys the flashlight-equipped shunter’s pole to unhook the three-link coupling so the brake van can be left at the buffers. In the background, Doug ponders a pearl of wisdom shared by Roweham’s owner, Brian.

Have I encouraged anyone? We’ll see. I tried…

You can read more about Roweham here. One thing you’ll notice if you do is that not much has changed over the six years since I wrote that piece. When I compared the pictures, they gave me a real sense of deja vu.

I’m already looking forward to the next opportunity to spend a weekend with Roweham, and the trip has given me several ideas about how to build my own, GWR-based layout at home. (I’ve shared a fair bit about my enthusiasm for British railways on this site. My Great Way Round page is a good jumping off point to find all of those posts.)

In the end, I decided to not take along any equipment. I’d intended to contribute my recently-completed tram engine, but I’m glad I left it at home: Air Canada was its usual unpleasant self, and I’m sure a DCC-equipped locomotive in my carry-on would’ve caused no end of trouble…

Published by Trevor

Lifelong model railway enthusiast and retired amateur shepherd who trained a border collie to work sheep. Professional writer and editor, with some podcasting and Internet TV presenting work thrown in for good measure.