top of page

Helmthwaite & Chapel Lane visit to Perth

Helmthwaite and Chapel Lane visits the Highlands

If you ever get the opportunity to attend The Celebration of Model Railways exhibition organised by Perth & District MRC say ‘yes’.

When Stan Moug the Exhibition Manager invited members of St Neots MRC to attend with Helmthwaite and Chapel Lane we were delighted. Some of our brethren thought we

were mad to travel all that way for an exhibition but the Club has taken exhibits to Germany and Holland, so Scotland would be 'easy'.

The white van men (John and David) set off at 7am on Friday 28th June whilst three more operators (Jackie, Chris & Malcolm) used the First Capital Connect service to get from

St Neots and Huntingdon to Peterborough, joining the East Coast Mainline Service for Edinburgh at 08.16am. In effect we all set off at 7am so who would arrive first?

In true Top Gear fashion we sent text message progress reports throughout the day much to the amusement of fellow train passengers.

Check Point Time                   The Train Trio                                    White Van Men

09.45                                 York (We spied Union of South Africa)                                   Dishforth

10.03                                                        Darlington                                                           Scotch Corner

10.47                                  Newcastle upon Tyne (wet and cold)                    On the A66    Over the hills and far away

11.04                                                         Morpeth                                                       M6 just South of Carlisle

11.33                                Just crossed the Royal Border Bridge                                        Gretna

                                                        Lovely views                                                  No wedding plans though!

12.38                                             Just left Edinburgh

13.52                                                 Arrived Perth                                           Queuing to enter the exhibition halls

                                      picked up by Nigel Hart (Guest Operator)

14.05                                      Arrived in our exhibition hall                                Reversing into unloading area

Now that is what I call good timing!

The exhibition itself was very well organised, Stan and his team are really friendly. The only casualty was the Goods Shed which did not travel well, so that needed emergency

repairs back at the hotel on the Friday evening. Our accommodation at Sky Lodge was more than adequate. The Saturday night carvery, open to all exhibitors, traders and

organisers, catered for over one hundred people and was very good value at £5.99 for the standard size main course and, on Friday and Sunday evening the MacDonald Arms

Hotel not only provided excellent food but also supplied a complimentary transfer to and from the hotel.

Overall, we agreed it was a super weekend. Nigel and David who live locally helped out as guest operators, we were well looked after and there was a really good range of exhibits, traders and demonstrations

bottom of page