As normal, we start off with a view across the main hall

And here is a view of the hall from the other end!

One of the nice things about these small group events is that there is room to browse the full selection of the fantastic 009 Society Sales without feeling as if you have been in a rugby scrum, which may be the case at one of the large shows.

I've included this view of Nigel Lawton's stand as a representative view of the specialist trade support that consider it worth supporting an event such as this.

An example of Nigel Lawton's products - exquisite miniature engineering in 009 scale.

Sussex Downs member Robert Kaczmarczyk asked me to take "proper photos" of his superbly built Meridian WD Light Railways Baldwin petrol-mechanical loco to support an article that he is composing on painting techniques for 009 News. Here is my attempt.

And here is another view of Robert's Baldwin. A superb model and I was quite pleased with the snap as well, considering that it was taken on a table in the refreshment area in poor light!

To provide some hope for those 009 modellers who have had problems sourcing suitable N gauge 0-4-0 chassis recently, Garry Whiting brought this exquisite little 009 loco that he has made using the Tomix "Percy" loco from the Thomas the Tank range as a basis.

Smallest layout in the show! Phil Savage brought his award winning micro-layout Tuppenny Handley, built into a cheese tub and mounted on the top of a wine bottle. The inside rail is a 2 pence piece and yes, the locomotive does work!

One of 3 highly detailed and attractive "Pizza" layouts shown by Trevor Giddings. This one, Hozhof, is in HOz scale - 6.5mm gauge.

A slightly larger pizza layout by Trevor Giddings, but no less detailed, is "Downton", an animated English setting in the Edwardian era of the first decade of the 20th century

If the steam railmotor at Trevor Giddings' 009 Downton looks familiar it is because it started as a Backwoods Otavi Railway unit, from German South West Africa (Namibia), with the small difference that Trevor has incorporated tram skirts and a modified front end.

The 3rd Pizza layout exhibited by Trevor Giddings was this little HOn30 example, entitled "Herbert's Crossing"

A close up view of the subtle improvements made to the Egger wild west loco at Trevor Giddings' HOn30 Herbert's Crossing.

Dave Marshall showed his "work in progress" Wickhambreux Road, an 009 model of a station on the Canterbury Light Railway in Kent. Dave was caught by the camera here either in conversation with somebody off-camera, or in the throes of a terminal seizure. I suspect it was the conversation option as I saw him later in the day and he appeared to be OK.....

A modified Roco HOe diesel on Dave Marshall's Wickhambreux Road. Some subtle changes have transformed this little engine into quite a chunky and powerful looking 009 locomotive.

A splendid steam railmotor, modified from the old Egger German steam railcar by Trevor Giddings.

Another flight of imagineering fancy by Trevor Giddings. I can spot the Hunslet heritage and believe there are parts from both Beddgelert and Linda/Blanche kits in this 0-10-0ST. Can anyone confirm the ingredients of this exotic and powerful engine?

Mark and Phoebe Holland with Mark's new under-construction W&LLR inspired "Spirit of Welshpool", a very apt name for this very attractive growing layout based upon the pre-preservation era and now dismantled original terminus and its approach in Welshpool town.

Spirit of Welshpool - an attractive 009 layout under construction by Mark Holland

Mark Holland's under-construction 009 layout Spirit of Welshpool. It will be a cracker when it is complete!

An attempt at an atmospheric shot at the terminus of Mark Holland's Spirit of Welshpool. Only partially successful because I did not have time to properly set the scene up and relied on the auto features in the camera instead of using maximum aperture settings like I should have done in a properly posed photo!

An even more ambitious attempt than the previous photo. I tried to get under the canopy here and was partially successful, but the shot suffers from a lamentable lack of field-depth due to me having the camera on full auto settings instead of aperture priority and a careful manual focus.

We saw Stephen Sullivan's latest "toy" - 3mm gauge "T scale", in the Beds & Bucks open day collection in January. Instead here is Stephen, with his fellow Beds & Bucks colleague, David Gander, helping with the complications of running a double-track oval layout with no points. A real dodgy looking pair of coves if you ask me, I wouldn't chance allowing either of them to be let loose unsupervised.

Stephen Sullivan and David Gander showed this A1 models brass body kit that fits directly onto the Bachman N gauge diesel loco.

And now for something completely different! Laurie Maunder is enjoying a diversion into Gn15 scale with this wonderfully exotic Rowland Emmett-inspired Much Pottering and Flakey Bottom layout

Laurie Maunder's Much Pottering and Flakey Bottom in Gn15 scale.

At Laurie Maunder's Gn15 Much Pottering and Flakey Bottom, even the station is a self-propelled train! It runs on 61mm gauge tracks!

Chris O'Donoghue with his micro-layout Wills Walled Nursery, which was built as a competition entry for Expo NG a couple of years ago.

Some of the fine detail in Chris O'Donoghue's Wills Walled Nursery. The little petrol loco is built onto an Arnold kof chassis and is a model of a prototype that operated a watercress farm line in Bere Regis, Dorset.

Phil Savage with his "work in progress" Darjeeling to Ghum, which he designed on the flight home from a visit to the real Himalaya and Darjeeling Railway. It will be fabulous when it is finished!

This view of Phil Savage's Darjeeling to Ghum in 009 shows the loops and spirals, all actual models from the prototype, to advantage. This layout is definitely NOT from the "flat earth society" baseboard genre!

Phil Savage has two Backwoods North British class B locos under construction. Meanwhile, services on the Darjeeling to Ghum line are maintained by this very finely detailed and improved model built from a Langley kit by Stephen Sullivan. Note the outside frame conversion to the basic Arnold 0-6-0 chassis.

The Sussex Downs Group display case. A model design for other groups to copy? The display case itself, which is getting quite old now, was originally made by David Burleigh when he was publicity officer of the 009 Society. After it was passed across to the Sussex Downs Group, they enhanced it with the fine little "animated diorama", or "large pizza" layout that sits underneath the original cabinet.

A glimpse inside the display case showing models by several members of the Sussex Downs Group, and some that you may remember reading about in Railway Modeller several years ago! I still think your TT Jinty-bash is a super model, Tim!

One of several trains that circled the Sussex Downs display during the day. This 40 year-old Jouef Decauville 0-4-0T loco, owned by Tim Sanderson, is hauling a workman's train that Phil Savage built and described in 009 News February 2009 issue.

Awngate, a very neat and attractive layout that Michael Campbell has been working hard on recently and is now approaching completion. It resides in his dining room at home, so it needs to be neat to keep the domestic authorities happy!

Micahael Campbell's Awngate is a freelance 009 layout, but is inspired by the standard gauge Wantage Tramway. This train exudes "tramway atmosphere"

I think this view displays the "Wantage Tramway atmosphere" that Michael Campbell has built into his new layout, Awngate very well.

A Peckett 0-6-0ST, Chivers body kit on a Minitrix dock tank chassis , on Michael Campbell's 009 Awngate.

Michael Campbell's innovative fiddle yard cassette system, made from electrical cable ducting, obtainable from DIY stores.

The host group showed Wharf Cut, part of their well known 009 multi-configuration Upsands Downs and Evaleight Railway

I did take a closer macro-shot of the canal seen here on the Sussex Downs, 009 Wharf Cut layout, but the very realistically modelled surface scum on the canal water could have easily been mistaken for thick dust by lay-people, so I omitted the shot!

An exquisite little 0-4-0ST that I believe is one of the old Brian Clarke kits, waddles its way across the viaduct on the Sussex Downs Group's Wharf Cut

The Camera Van. Simon Wilson has built a TV camera and transmitter into this van on the Sussex Downs Group 009 Wharf Cut layout. The picture was transmitted to a receiver and monitor mounted above the layout and a very good quality of rail-level live viewing was obtained

Not a train in sight! A rather nice piece of scenery on the Sussex Downs Group Wharf Cut 009 layout.

A railcar built by Tim Sanderson from the diecast Lledo Days Gone bus, pauses at Gryndene Halt on the Sussex Down's Group Wharf Cut layout.

This rather exotic 1930's railcar, by Martin Collins of the Sussex Downs Group, features a cut-down Springside whitemetal bus, with a scratch-built trailer powered by a Kato "shorty" bogie chassis.

A very well detailed Hunslet 0-6-4ST "Beddgelert", by Martin Collins paused at Wharf Cut station on the Sussex Downs Group layout.

The Sussex Downs Group Upsands Downs and Evaleight Railway is notable for some very good scenic work, as in this very realistic little quarry scene

More scenic excellence on the Sussex Downs Group Wharf Cut layout.

A good view of the same scene as the previous photo, showing the worth of simple but very well posed figures in excellently modelled scenery.

This little roadworks scene on the Sussex Downs Group 009 Wharf Cut layout features a steamroller that moves up and down, powered by a car windscreen wiper mechanism under the baseboard.