The first Cam & Dursley Model Railway Exhibition run by the Wings & Wheels Society Dursley in conjunction with the Gloucester O Guage Guild, was held at Dursley Community Centre on bank holiday Sunday May 26 2024.

The show was a resounding success and was very busy seeing 300 plus public visitors from families to enthusiasts attending throughout the day. All profits from this show will be going to the Great Western Air Ambulance and the Dursley Community Centre Charitable charity trust.

The exhibition was held across 3 rooms and a bar area, show casing working model railway layouts & diorama's (in N/O/OO/16mm narrow gauge), along with trade stands and an O gauge locomotive building demonstration.

The Air Ambulance and Berkeley Vale Railway also had stalls that proved popular with the visiting public.

The show had a part emphasis on local railways and featured a 7mm ( O gauge) fine scale model diorama of Dursley and Berkeley Station circa 1960, a working N gauge layout of Brimscombe that was 24 foot in length.

There was also a working OO Gauge layout of St Phillips Station and Yard in Bristol circa 1940's (from Thornbury Model Railway Club). Also, a stand with local Dursley Branch Line photos and memorabilia was on show along with local rail historian Ian Thomas on hand answering questions about the history of the area’s local railways.

The exhibit hall upstairs featured a very large running O gauge test track layout that was approx 30ft x 18ft, filling a good part of the room.

Another large model railway on show in the downstairs main hall named Dent attracted much public attention, it is modelled on an actual Settle and Carlisle line station and yard.

In fact there was a total of 15 model railway layouts and dioramas of outstanding quality operating throughout the day, made by clubs and individuals from Bristol, Thornbury, Shirehampton, Swindon, and others from further afield such as Ludlow and Tewskesbury. There was also a 'Thomas layout' that could be operated by children and parents on the day, proving to be much fun.

Wings and Wheels Society Dursley and the Gloucester O Gauge Guild would like to thank the exhibitors along with their enthusiasm for the show, including the trade and society stands and the local Community Centre, for making this ground breaking show possible.