Barrie-Allandale
2008 Model Train Show

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The 2008 Barrie Train Show was quite the event! SMRC club members arrived late in the day on Friday, and then found out we had to be out of the building by 4:00. We unloaded the trailer, and with 20 minutes remaining we managed to get all the modules up on their legs and clamped together. I think that's a record. Another 3 hours Saturday morning, and everything was up and running. We're getting better at setup.

The venue for this years show was very interesting. The show took place in a large greenhouse just outside of Barrie. While most shows take place in artificially lit exhibition halls, mother nature provided the light for this show. It was very different to see the modules under the natural light! Saturday was a bright sunny day, and the combination of the sunlight and the dense crowds of show visitors soon turned the room into a sauna. Everyone chuckled to see Mr. Karen running trains with his sunglasses on. By 4:30, the sun had set and everyone was soon donning their jackets as the temperature dropped noticeably.

Sunday was a rainy day, which presented new challenges. We had a few open top Tim Horton water towers installed on the layout to catch all the drips from the roof. Not a problem for the buildings intended purpose, but a bit of a problem for model railroad scenery. The trains carried on none the less.

Here are some photos of the event:

The SMRC N Scale Layout (early Sunday morning before the show opened)

The Layout - West End

The Layout - East End - Showing the Dave Karen Branchline and the N Scale portable layout

Here is a photo of a new transition module from the main loop to the DKB. Not quite finished yet, but almost there. This was the first time it has been used, and it worked perfectly as intended.

The Erin Mills Club layout, complete with former SNRC club member George Klem

The Lego layout

Fred had twice the room for his G Scale empire this year, and he filled it with lots of trains!

View of the layout area showing the size of the greenhouse that was available.

More modular layouts.  The Muskoka Model Railroad Club N Scale layout is in the foreground.

The Barrie club modular layout.

Another view showing the size of the layout room.

One of the vendor halls.  Vendors were also located around the perimeter of the Layout Room.

Part of the SMRC Crew, keeping an eye on things.

All the photos on this page have been resized to 640X480.  Full size photos are available by contacting Trevor at