KNARESBOROUGH PLAYMOBIL EXHIBITION 2012, TRAINS AND BEACH

[playmo1989]

great trains gordon 

[Sir Gareth]

Hi Gordon,

Nice lay-out, the children that visited obviously enjoyed it.

Garry.

[playmofire]

Thank you all for your kind comments; they are much appreciated.

Other things have got in the way of posting here recently, but here goes with some detail photos and another video.  Although most of what you see on the train display came from my collection, other Playmofriends also contributed, notably Damo, Mark and Elaine, so I'll post these items first where they can be clearly separated out because they are a display in themselves and then have a closer at the railway and other bits from my collection.  Unfortunately, I found a lot of the photos were blurred or fuzzy (poor light and a telephoto setting on the lens), so there aren't as many as I would have liked to have shown.

So we start with Damo who provided two Steck houses and also the great gymkhana and farm display.

A general view of the farm from a distance to start with:



And then a shot of the gymkhana and the row of cottages in the background.  Damo provided the green one...



... and sitting outside it taking it easy is Fred while Maisie goes off to do some shopping:



And this is where she's heading, to the farmers' market to buy fresh veg:



and fish:



The gymkhana is popular with the horse and pony set...



...and in between competing some of the youngsters are enjoying a hayride:

[playmofire]

As well as being heavily involved in organising the exhibition and setting up the display tables and creating his own displays, Mark also contributed a riverside cafe to the railway scene.  Here it is:







As you can see in the first picture, there's a bit more of the farm scene, plus a nature reserve I put in to fill the corner (by this time in setting up, it was getting late and also difficult to reach the empty spaces.  Overall, however, it was probably as well that there were open spaces as otherwise people might have got "lost" with too much to see.)  Here's a close-up of the nature reserve.  Although there wasn't a competiition to "spot the stag", lots of people enjoyed doing so, although it was variouly identified as a reindeer, a moose or a caribou!



(The stag is just peering round the right hand side of the fir tree in front of the two big fir trees at the back

[playmofire]

You may have spotted the fire brigade in the video, so here are some photos of it in action.  The Victorian park fence was kindly loaned by Elaine who was very pleased to collect it at the end still complete and without any of the railings cut or bent by the rescue operation.

A general shot (the new rescue tender is being used, btw):



A more detailed shot showing how the boy is being supported by an air bag (much easier than four fire crew holding him up by the legs and arms!)



Two more detail views to end this post with:





As well as the fire brigade, the police and ambulance service were also in attendance; you can see more of them on the video in the final post of this series.

[conniefrere]

  Great pictures! Especially the one with the kid and his head stuck between the bars of that fence.

[playmofire]

Now some detail photos of the railway itself;again, not as many as I had hoped because of technical problems, but more can be seen in the video later on.

At one end there was a small custom station scene with a booking office/waiting area for the passengers.  (There was a larger version at the other end, but there are no photos of it, unless someone else took some successfully.)



Here's the platform view of it:



(There is a small Orthodox monastery near the station, hence the monk standing behind the milk crates waiting for a train.)

There is also a goods shed at the station for handling freight traffic with a crane for loading and unloading the goods:





Steam engines need water, so this end of the line has a water tower so the water tanks on the locos can be filled up when necessary:



Damo provided another Steck house, one being renovated, no doubt with an eye on the commuter market:



Lastly at this end of the railway, work is taking place to upgrade the goods yard for handling more traffic:

[playmofire]

At the other end there was a bigger custom station using the arch from the 4300 station; you can see it in the video.  Meanwhile, here are some detail photos:

It was a busy day for passengers with people asking questions about train times...



...young lovers meeting...



...and people arriving for holidays:



In addition, there were waggons to load with produce from the farm:



but still time to give the station cat a stroke:

[playmofire]

The railway is the Seaport to Beachtown Coastal Railway and for most of the way it runs within sight of the beach and the sea.

At one end, there is an area with an ice cream seller...



...and donkey rides:



There's also a lifeguard lookout here as it is popular with swimmers...



...surfers...



...and sailors:





A rescue boat is stationed there:



There's also a telescope so visitors can watch the local shipping go by:



I'm ending here, but I'll post more tomorrow.

[Pynedor]

Wow, the details in the display are certainly awesome! I liked the farmers' market and the fishmonger the most!