SolRail 2022

I'd been invited to show Tredethy Wharf at SolRail 2022, this is the Working Model Railway Exhibition held in November each year. After dragging the layout out of storage, our house is undergoing some major renovations so the layout was hiding behind stacks of furniture. I set it up in our living room, which had just had a new level floor laid but was still a building site. There were a few things that needed fixing especially one turnout that was not working. Eventually after a little tinkering it sprang into life. All rolling stock was checked and the the whole layout packed and ready to go.

The organising committee had agreed to a have mini Scalefour element as part of the show naming it as Scaleforum Cumberland. This was in one of the side rooms where there was tables laid out for three demonstrators plus room for three small layouts, Tredethy Wharf being one of them. Set up went well during the Friday evening prior to the show  and I managed to have a cheeky meander around the show. It looked like it was to be a exhibition with a good cross section of the hobby and I left with anticipation for the coming two days.

All ready for the next two days

Saturday morning, my trusted helper, Nick Cook, arrived early to find me setting up the rolling stock. All looked good until I tried that pesky turnout that I fixed the day before. Unfortunately it is the preferred turnout used for shunting the wharf sidings. This dramatically reduced our operating to just running trains through the layout. That is until I tested the turnout during the afternoon and it worked...So we did get some shunting of wagons on Saturday, but we were not as fortunate on the Sunday.

The main surprise for me was being awarded The Jim Harkness Memorial Shield. The shield is in memory of the Workington Transport Heritage Trust's Health and Safety Officer who died of cancer in 2009. It is presented to a layout or display which the judge from the organising committee feels is the most deserving.

The Jim Harkness Trophy being proudly displayed

Talk about being gobsmacked and a tad embarrassed but on reflection quite proud that someone within the hobby thought my little effort was deserving of the award.