Flaxfield
Western Thunderer
SWAG'26, aka RmWeb Members day is booked for
Sunday, 19th April 2026.
To confirm.............
10AM- 4PM , Sunday 19th April 2026
Where
Staplegrove Village Hall,
214 Staplegrove Road,
Taunton.
TA2 6AL
The event is held on the ground floor of the village hall only and is fully accessible.
************PLEASE NOTE***********
IF TRAVELLING BY CAR, REMEMBER, THERE IS LIMITED PARKING AT THE HALL ITSELF.
THE VENUE SITS WITHIN A RESIDENTIAL AREA SO PLEASE PARK WITH DUE CONSIDERATION TO LOCAL RESIDENTS.
So, how does the day look ? Well, it looks a little like this............
LAYOUTS.
Sandy Shores 4mm/009, Jamie Warne.
This splendid layout is a returnee to SWAG so if you missed it the first time, now's your chance to feast your eyes. Sandy Shores is a fictional place on the South Coast – where nothing happens with any sense of urgency, and the sun is always shining. In this dream scenario, I live in a converted railway carriage that’s nestled in the dunes; metres from a charming narrow-gauge railway with sun-bleached and very shabby, minimalistic facilities! There’s nothing like being by the sea…
Osney Quay-7mm Rob Foster.
This is another lovely layout from Rob, Osney Quay, is not so much a layout but more a picture from the builder’s imagination of a deserted and almost forgotten quay somewhere at the end of the line........and a long way from Paddington.
Any similarity to Bude Quay in Cornwall is purely coincidental. Basically O Gauge in a very small space, a working diorama with much to occupy and inspire the visitor.
Rye Sands -4mm/00. Will Lloyd.
Will brings us his delightful South Eastern cameo layout which will feature stock ranging from the 1900s to the 1920s. Rye Sands is far from the glamorous image that the SECR sought to promote, and yet is representative of a number of desolate coastal branches operated by the company. The layout takes cues from Hastings, Folkestone, Dungeness, and of course Rye Harbour, and compresses them into a compact, 4mm cameo, ideally suited to simple shunting operations.
Navyport. 4mm/00+009 Stu Hilton.
This year, Stu takes a break from the demonstrating table and presents Navyport, his 00/009 layout. Navyport' is heavily inspired by parts of HMS Drake, and HMNB Devonport Dockyard in general, with a little of Defence Munitions Plymouth at Ernesettle. It's an Inglenook, with a shunting loop, and a transfer facility to load the standard gauge wagons on to the narrow gauge transporters.
Coombe Town 4mm/00- Dom Roe.
Many of us have watch Dom bring Coombe Town to fruition over the years. Now is our chance to see it out and about. Dom tells us that the town of Coombe resides in darkest Somerset, setbin the late 50s, the station remains the lifeblood of local business with a regular assortment of passenger and freight laden panniers (amongst other locomotion) bumbling into view.
Keyhaven-4mm/00. Mark Forest.
Originally built by Andy York as an entry in a RMweb layout build challenge. Keyhaven appeared in the August 2012 BRM and depicts an Isle of Wight rail ferry embarkation point at Keyhaven in Hampshire. Much has been done to recommission this layout, including tracking down parts of it such as the structures.
Crooked House 4mm/00 Chris Tooth
The Crooked House is inspired by the industrial railways of the Earl of Dudley, a subject matter close to the late Andy York’s heart. Built in just 5 months as a tribute to Yorkie by the Staffordshire Finescale Group with significant input from many fine folk from RMweb. Appearing at SWAG a year after we commemorated his sad loss in March 2025.
Bradstock 7mm. Mike Baker.
The second of our 7mm offerings, Mike bringscalong Bradstock, his lovely 1960s, Western Region loco shed. Bradstock is a small sub shed on the Western Region of B.R. Mike is deliberately vague regarding the exact location, and despite having an allocation of only two locos, you can expect to see a variety of engines calling at the depot from the nearby junction for servicing and turning.
Edwards Farm AKA Operation king Edward -4mm EM/009. Martyn Mullender.
Another regular demonstrator at SWAG, Martyn presents Edwards Farm which is the fourth part of the Upbech trilogy. Inspired by the Lincolnshire potato railways, there is a farm yard with sidings in 009. Alongside is a pair of standard gauge sidings where farm produce can be sent to the nearby junction and along the Upbech branch. 009 stock has a Colonel Stephens element to it while the standard gauge is M&GN inspired, this is the era of fuel rationing. The layout is in fact two micro layouts joined together.
Nancarrow Junction S Scale. Maurice Hopper.
Last seen at SWAG with Trevor Nunn's East Lynn Quay, Maurice now brings along his own creation in S Scale, Nancarrow Junction.
Eight years in the making, Nancarrow started life as another layout to carry to exhibitions on public transport. However, the layout has been lengthened and widened since then.
There is no place called Nancarrow Junction but if there were it might have something to do with the Bodmin and Wadebridge Rly. The name comes from the producer of the many BBC radio plays listened to while working on the layout; Marion Nancarrow.
The layout was inspired by walks along the Camel Trail and a couple of old photos of the ‘railway in the woods.’ Set in those rather innocent days before WW1, we can expect to see some lovely pre- groupery shuffling about the place.
DEMONSTRATORS.
Once again we have a selection of specialists to entertain and advise on really cool stuff.
Jerry Clifford flys the 2mm Society flag once more and will have also have with him a delightful small layout in the form of Ley Hill, which I personally find absolutely exquisite.
Simon Castens will no doubt bring us a selection of Big Boys Toys in Gauge 1 as operated on his garden railway at his country seat. There may also be a bit of Wild Swannery as well but that's entirely up to him.
Corbs returns to SWAG'26. Once again we have no idea what he's doing, but he has a table. I'll be as surprised as you are but what ever it is, it will be fun.
Phil Parker will once again have a selection of his builds as featured in BRM to hand......well, if his hand is not full of cake that is.
The Goodies.
Dave, Al and Roger will be bringing along a selection of small layouts ( and I mean small !). So, if you think you haven't got room for a layout, think again. There will be plenty of hints and tips from these three so ask away.
CATERING DEPARTMENT.
Our crack catering team, in the form of Peter, aka and Graham will once be on hand to serve up a veritable feast of delights. The usual pasties, scratch built cakeage, cups of tea and coffee along with the usual smorgasbord of biscuits and Welsh cakes will feature.
All we ask is if possible, please bring your own mug to help keep the amount of washing up to a minimum and prevent the catering team’s little pinkies from drying out. (Costs a fortune in moisturiser for them otherwise)
Profit from all sales on the day will go towards supporting future SWAGs with the excess being donated to charity.
Please note- Catering purchases can be made with either cash or card.
BRING AND BUY.
Once again our highly trained Retail Executives, Godfrey and Aidan will be running the Bring and Buy stall to their usual unparalleled, highly efficient standard.
Exhibitors and visitors are encouraged to raid those 'roundtoit' shelves and cupboards and offer those little nuggets for sale. Remember, 10% of the selling price will be payable to support future SWAGS.
CAN WE ASK THAT ANYONE WISHING TO SELL ITEMS ON THE DAY DOWNLOADS AND COMPLETES THE RELEVANT FORM, PRIOR TO ATTENDING.
☆Please note.......purchases can be made either by cash or card..☆
TRADERS.
Please give some thought to anything you might want to be able to pick up from the traders on the day. Please consider contacting them prior to the weekend and arrange to collect on the day.
Lord and Butler.
Peter will be along with a good cross section of items from the shop, both new and some previously loved nuggets.
247 Developments.
Brian, a long time supporter of the event and will have his usual selection of hard to find detailing parts, etched products along with his ever expanding range of 3D prints.
Mudmagnet Models.
Another long time supporter of SWAG, Richard returns and brings with him his range of 3D printed essentials to add that little bit of extra detail to your layouts. However, a quick look at his website reveals Richard is more than a dab hand at 3D printing. Have a look to see what else he offers.
Blacksmith Models.
This year, we welcome Mark with his ongoing rejuvenation of the old Blacksmith Models range of etched kits plus a few bits and bobs of his own.
ADMIN
☆☆☆THIS IS STILL A FREE TO ENTER EVENT☆☆☆
Yep, this is still a free to enter members day. However, there are running costs associated with the event which are getting increasingly challenging to meet.
To help with this, there'll be suitably labelled receptacles dotted about the hall.
PLEASE donate a few coins into these at your discretion, you'll be helping to ensure we can maintain the funding to guarantee the continuation of this event. Once again future events will be funded by way of the catering, a percentage from the sales in the bring and buy department and , yes, any donations made.
We will still see a post event donation made to charity but the priority remains to safeguard the event itself.
LOUD SHIRTS
As ever, these are DEFINITELY encouraged.
Wear your worst* !
*not Wurst. That's something entirely different and the sort of thing that's best left to the German Railways Society.
So that's it for now**.
As in other years, there are still a few things to finalise and I'll update this thread with any developments as and when.
**Other than correcting any of the inevitable c*ck ups hiding within the above.
So, make a note.
Sunday 19th April 2026
We look forward to seeing you there.
Rob.
