We're now less than 2 weeks away from the exhibition, and things are entering the final stages, before opening the doors to you the public! We've got a great line up of traders & layouts, supported by two great manufacturers of Ready to Run O gauge. We've also got announcements for new products at the exhibition from both of these which we're really excited about!

We've received the tickets for our exhibition today, but you'll have to wait until the saturday of the show to get your eyes on them!
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We're in the process of finalising a bus for the exhibition which will be running between Rawtenstall Station (East Lancs Railway) & the exhibition venue. This will also give you the opportunity to ride the line as-well as visit the exhibition. More details of locos that are out in traffic that weekend will be available from there website. We will also be publishing a full timetable for the bus that'll coincide with the services that they're running.

Alongside finalising everything for the exhibition we're also pleased to announce that Richard from New junction will be attending and following the journey of our first exhibition and all of the antics of the first day of the show!

On-top of him attending the show we've given him a set of tickets to give away to his followers! So keep an eye on his facebook page & youtube channel for further information. These can be found here for facebook and here for is youtube channel.

As we are just over a month away we've been busy working away behind the scenes finalising and preparing everything for our first exhibition.

We've now added a finalised list of traders/exhibitors & societies to our website page, this is obviously all subject to change during the weekend (The Weather playing a major factor)

Details of our planned menu will be released soon, along with a timetable for our shuttle bus which will be running from the East Lancs Railways station at Rawtenstall.

A couple of things that have been asked for is a list of comprehensive directions on how to get to the venue, we've now added this onto our exhibition page which can be found here.

Along side this we plan to be releasing a finalised plan of the floor plan in due course so that you guys can plan your shopping trips! We've also finalised the design of tickets and various other artwork which you'll have to wait until the weekend to see!

We've also been asked about if we are doing weekend tickets. We'd initially planned that we wouldn't be doing but after a long consideration we are pleased to tell you that we will now be offering Weekend Tickets. These will be purchasable on the Saturday of the exhibition and valid for both days for a fee of £10 this will give you a massive saving of £2. If you were to attend both days.

Any other questions please don't hesitate to contact us via the Facebook Page or email us at ; modernimageogauge@gmail.com

We hope to see you soon!

Whilst we've been busy squirrelling away getting ready for our Exhibition which is just over a month away! We are now proud to announce that we'll be teaming up with the newly re-formed 'Rail-Riders'  We've attached a press release from the guys at Rail Riders as to what it has to offer, and what to look forward to! They'll be at hand to answer any questions that you might have! Also keep your eyes peeled for our exclusive Rail-Riders Polos with the MIOG branding on at our show worn by our members! We'd like to take the chance to wish Simon Buxton of Buffer-beam all the best with his new venture!

'Rail Riders is returning

After 29 years away Rail Riders will be returning in February 2020
The owners of Bufferbeam (supplier to preserved railways and locomotive groups) have set up a new company Rail Riders Ltd to bring back the former British Rail children’s club which ran from 1981 to 1991. Bufferbeam has been selling merchandise with the former club logo on for over a year and the feedback about the club generated the idea to bring it back.

Bufferbeams parent company applied for and obtained Trade Mark protection on all Rail Riders logos to insure that the club could retain the original name and the distinctive logo due to the fond memories held by former members.
The new Club will be available to all age groups this time, compared to the original club that was available to 5 to 15 year old children. Rail Riders has already got the cooperation of various Preserved Railways wanting to offer discounts to club members and also various model railway shops and a railway book publisher.
The aim is to make Rail Riders a general Railway club available to everyone and to promote the hobby, in doing so help preserved railways increase ridership and hopefully generate some volunteers for them as well. We hope to get as many railways wanting to be part of the club as well as other railway themed businesses too.
Rail Riders will be bringing back the Rail Riders Express magazine for members of which there will be 4 a year, these will have lots of features and competitions, with the emphasis on making the hobby fun. There will also be a passbook that members will get stamped at various locations participating to encourage ridership or visits at participating outlets and railways.
It is also planned once membership gets to a healthy level that event days will be planned and eventually even railtours.


The original club had at its peak 80,000 member and is fondly remembered, Simon Buxton one of the people bringing the club back was a member of the club in the late 1980’s. While setting up the club, Rail Riders has fond one of the original membership secretaries, Angela and has agreed to give an interview to feature in an addition of the club magazine.
At the moment Rail Riders is having their website built which will feature a members section which will feature events, news, photos, competitions and merchandise. There is a Facebook page open to everyone that is live www.facebook.com/railridersclub and a twitter www.twitter.com/ridersrail


A quote from Simon Buxton “As a lad I can fondly remember going to Rail Riders World at York and watching all the trains on the layout. Getting the famous wall chart with the spaces for the stickers we got from various places that issued them and waiting for the magazine to come through the post. I decided to add the logo to my range of railway images last year and could not believe how many remembered it and the seed was planted to bring the club back, the response since going public with our plans has been fantastic and I see this as a way to bring people together and promote the hobby. We plan to go live with membership in February 2020 and hope old members and people that were too young or not even born would like to join”.'

Whilst we may have slipped off the radar a little we've all been extremely busy getting things prepared for the show. We had two shows that we attended both Doncaster & DEMU, which proved extremely busy with questions and feedback about what we're doing. So if we saw you at either of these shows thank you for making the time to come and speak to us.

We've now fully booked out our venue which means a finalised list of Layouts & Traders will be announced very soon.  Please keep an eye on our Exhibition page which can be found here

Our next intended show will be the Telford Gauge O Guild show. We will be in attendance with a whopping 12ft display full of goodies for you to look at. So don't forget to pop along and say hello!

Finally, our latest and one of our biggest announcement is that we are proud to announce that Heljan will be attending our show in November. The well known manufacturer will be joining the names of Dapol & Easy-build on the list. 

They have also told us they are planning to make an announcement at our show! So thats one think to make sure you coming along to the show and find out what they'll be unveiling!

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 We have today received images from Ben Jones at Heljan, with the painted mockups for the new forthcoming Class 50, Heljan are producing the model in refurbished form and with no less than 7 liveries will be available for purchase. 

Features Include
- Highly detailed exterior model.
- Highly detailed cab interior. 
- Two powerful 5 pole motors with new drive system to enable the grills 
- Directional changing lights (Headlights/Taillights)
- Designed with sound easy fitment of sound.

The product codes for the locos are as below;

HJ4020 English Electric Class 50 -BR Blue £699.00
HJ4021 English Electric Class 50 -BR Blue Large Logo £699.00
HJ4022 English Electric Class 50 -Network South East (Original) £699.00
HJ4023 English Electric Class 50 - Network South East (Revised) £699.00
HJ4024 English Electric Class 50 -GW150 50007 "Sir Edward Elgar" £699.00
HJ4025 English Electric Class 50 -Railfreight 50149 "Defiance" £699.00
HJ4028 English Electric Class 50 - GB Railfreight 50049 "Defiance" £699.00

Alongside this Hattons have commissioned a further two liveries. Which will include the Dutch livery carried by 50015, and also the livery 50008 carried during the end of its working career with BR.

We have been asked by Ben at Heljan if anything strikes your attention as wrong, or any details you notice that are out of place or factually incorrect to point these out. We can't stress enough that if you don't mention it now for us to feed this back theres a high chance they wont be corrected before release.
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Click the images below to enlarge.

While we've been very quiet on the website/Facebook front we've been busy working away behind the scenes getting important things ready for our show in November, we thought it was time for a small update. 

So with the saddening news last weekend of the horrific break in to the Stamford Show, its left us re-assessing our safety and security. We now feel that we have plugged that loop hole and all of our traders/exhibitors have received emails this week regarding this.

We've got two shows that we will be attending in June with our Road-show teams, which are both actually the same weekend. So we've had to split our team in two! 

Weekend of the 1st/2nd of June we will be attending DEMU's annual showcase exhibition which this year is at a new venue in Swadlincote, more details about the show can be found in the link below; 

https://www.demu.org.uk/showcase/showcase-2019
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We felt that this show would make for a good and interesting weekend getting to meet people that perhaps haven't heard of us before now. This also means that the DEMU team will be attending our exhibition which will add another dynamic towards the exhibition, and allow more networking between the two groups.

Our second show that we are attending will be the Doncaster O Gauge Show, on Saturday the 1st June, this is one thats been confirmed for some time now, and we are looking forward to attending and being there to answer for all your modern Image questions and needs. A link below with all the event details is below;

https://www.gauge0guild.com/events/guild_shows.aspx?id=7

Please don't be afraid to approach us with any questions regarding anything Modern Image.

We've also been working away on producing some much anticipated Merchandise, that will hopefully be available for Pre-order very soon priced £14.99 for the Polo shirts, these will feature a unique logo that is very similar to ours but incorporates , We've attached a couple of images for you below. Feel free to contact us via the Facebook page/group or via email to register your interest in these.

I know a lot of you are probably thinking what has this got to do with Modern Image O Gauge, well... We've been asked recently what we could consider to be 'modern image' and the guys have agree'd that we aren't anti steam, and that we would welcome any layout/steam loco that is currently preserved or made it to work on the mainline after the 1968 'BR Farewell to steam' 

Hattons are attending the Alexandra Palace this weekend for the London Festival of Railway Modelling this weekend, and they've taken along with them the first painted samples of there commissioned LNER A3 & A4 loco's and we've attached some photos of 'The Flying Scotsman' below so you can see these fantastic models in there true form.

Hattons have these listed on there website for pre-order now from there website here, with an RRP of £750 they certainly look like they're shaping up to be worth the money!

Northumbrian Painting services have just released a brand new Portable Cabin kit for the 7mm Market, made from an MDF kit. They had these on show at the Kettering show at the weekend and they were flying off the stand to the point where I believe they'd only got the demo one left!

A few details on the kit are below provided by NPS;

'​MDF Kit
O Gauge Porta-cabin
Width - 24cm
Depth - 6cm
Height - 7cm (includes feet risers)

Comes as a comlete kit with acetate for the windows
Door can be open or shut
£15'

These kits are now available for purchase over on there website below;

www.paintinghistory.co.uk

​I've also attached the images provided below so you can see one ready built.

Although it has been very quiet on the exhibition front, we've been busy working away getting all the details refined. We've also been out on the road visiting no less than 4 exhibitions since we launched our show and venture at the beginning of January.

Since our last update we've managed to extend the list of traders further by getting the guys at Easy-build coaches to sign up to the exhibition. They only tend to do Gauge O Guild shows so we see this as a step in the right direction in getting a great list of traders/layouts together for our exhibition.

Also now confirmed to be attending are PRMRP although previously announced on our webpage we've not really made a big deal about them until we had some concrete information from them!. These guys supply a massive amount of different kits for the Modern Image modeller, and we are delighted they have agree'd to attend the show.

Our third and final trader to have confirmed for the show, is Dapol. We are over the moon that the guys at Dapol see our venture as a viable thing to turn up and support. Since making the Class 08 Dapol have made a massive impact on the 7mm Market with there constant stream of Steam/Diesel appearing, especially with there very reasonable price structure on stuff. 

We feel that we are working our way towards getting a solid line up of traders to go alongside our layouts, comments and suggestions are always welcome as to who you'd like to see. We are now trying to finalise our floor plan within the coming couple of months to help continue us adding traders to our lists.

Thats all for now!
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Steve Beattie of SBT Developments has today released a massive gap filler that has been seen since the demise of Just Like the Real Thing, was the Air Tanks for the Class 26/27 that were note-able on the air-braked versions of the Class. 

Taken from SBT Website
'Contains pack of 3 loose resin air tanks and two 3d printed angles to represent the air tank modification to Class 26 and 27 Locomotives.' 

They're priced £7.50 a pack and are available from there website now, so head over and get yours!

https://www.sbtdevelopments.com/product-page/class-26-27-air-tanks?fbclid=IwAR3XKraxK2BXztTYwSsIG4E5KVbI1dmC_ZxdO9zmTL2_PbeesYORFCR711Q

We spent the day at the Kettering Gauge O Guild show, after being invited to help promote our show ahead of the exhibition in November. It was a long drive there and back being up to 3 hours for some of our team. Our trade stand was a constant hive of activity with a steady stream of people popping in to have a chat and see what we were up to. We had a great selection of stock on view to try and give a varied and balanced selection to view, including Chris's 37175 in Colas livery.

It was a venue packed to the rafters with a good selection of traders/manufacturers and full of surprises, and announcements. Dapol, Easybuild just to name a couple;
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Dapol were present with there painted samples of the Class 08's for the next batch due sometime during 2019. The liveries present were Freight-liner Green, Intercity, and 3TG (Trainload Grey). These models were view-able on their trade stand. Along side that they also had a working copy of the 7mm Semaphores which we have been told are due to enter production anytime within the next 2/3 months. These feature working servo's which unlike the early 4mm version of the signals give you the realistic signal bounce when you lower them. We've also been advised that the Class 121/122 DMU's are aiming to be released and into the shops by the end of April. Which for anyone waiting on these they are a bargain at the prices people are advertising them at. Unfortunately there were no samples present at the show.

Easy-build also announced there BR MK1 Metro-Cammell Pullmans and they we're on display also at the show, please see the article below for detailed write up on these!

We've also confirmed our next show to be attending which will be the Gauge O Guild show in Doncaster on the 1st June. We'll update you more on that closer to the time. We've also got a couple of announcements to make over the coming week regarding the exhibition so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Thanks for now the MIOG Team

Today we attended the Gauge O Guilds show at the Kettering conference centre, and there was a great selection of traders/demonstrators in attendance. Whilst there we spotted 'Easy-build' were in attendance at the show and showing off their latest coach kit to be hitting the market soon. These coaches were built in the the 1960's by Metro Cammell based on the original BR MK1 Design for use on Pullman services up and down the country. 

Easy-build have told us today that they intend to have the Kits ready for purchase by the Telford Exhibition at the end of August. We've attached a couple of images of the first sample below. They'll certainly be something to behold! 

Ahead of Model Rail Scotland this coming weekend. Heljan have released an image of there Pre-production Class 33/0  in O gauge. They will be in attendance at the Model Rail Scotland Show this weekend with the Model to see.

A list of all the features and the planned production models are listed below;

Ready to run, the new Class 33. 
Features Include;
• Highly detailed model in 1:43.5. (O Scale) 
• Rotating roof fans. 
• Highly detailed cab interior. 
• Two powerful 5 pole motors. 
• Kinematics. 
• LED 
• Screwlink coupling 
• Directional changing light. 
• Designed with sound installation in mind. 
• Heavyweight model, weighing approximately 3.0 kg.

Heljan Class 33 - Version 2 (1960 - 1980's
HJ3393 BR Original All Green
HJ3394 BR Green with small yellow panels
HJ3395 BR Green with full yellow ends
HJ3395 BR Blue with full yellow ends

Heljan Class 33 - Version 3 (1980's - 2000's

HJ3400 BR Blue with full yellow ends
HJ3401 BR Civil Engineers "Dutch" yellow grey
HJ3402 EWS red / gold numbered as 33030
HJ3403 Network SouthEast numbered 33035
HJ3404 DRS blue un-numbered
HJ3405 Railfreight Construction Sector Grey

RRP is estimated to be around £549.00

Myself and Chris felt it was time we updated you guys on where we are at. Although there isn't really a lot to shout about yet, we've had a really busy month since we launched nearly a month ago. We initially started this idea up as we'd seen plenty of demand for a Modern Image show in the O gauge sector.

Chris came to me asking for help with everything and between us we've both been bitten and drawn into it. (Social life is at an all time low now) People always take exhibitions for granted I think, and until now I never realised how much hard work went into planning and pulling off an exhibition. We launched and the reception for us was just massive. We had over 2000 hits within our first 2 weeks of our website/facebook being live, and we've just continued to grow. When we started we didn't really have a direction that we wanted to take MIOG, other than our aim was to try and put on a show that everyone would want in the diary. We've since added a 'Latest news' section to our website, and we are also working on bringing the people who don't use social media another way to get involved with us in the form of a forum - Keep your eyes peeled for more details on this! Our Gallery will also be getting an update in the not so distant future. If you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see from us or on the website then please contact us via the 'contact us' tab above.

We also started getting ourselves out in the public eye a little bit, and out on the exhibition circuit trying to meet the people that had shown an online interest in the show. Our first show that we attended was the Bristol O gauge show at the end of January, and this was a 1 day event we only sent a small team with our stand. The reception that we received from this show was overwhelming, and the stand was none stop all day, with people coming to chat to us. Whilst there it also allowed us to get out there and chat to traders/manufacturers that hadn't heard of us before that show. 

While we were on a role we also managed to get ourselves in attendance at the Stafford Railway Cricle's exhibition for the first weekend of Feb. This gave us a two day platform in which we could get out there and meet you guys, and also capture the people who are teetering on the edge of the 'should I/Shouldn't I' take the jump from N/00 to O. We had another weekend of amazing reception and I don't think that either me or Chris had a chance to look round the full exhibition over the course of the weekend. We also managed to sign another layout up for the exhibition in the form of Arcadia Pennsylvania, along with a couple more traders. I've now updated our 'Exhibition' page on the website with the relevant traders that have been added to the list. We are still on the hunt for traders/manufacturers to get on board with our exhibition. 

Whilst at Stafford we were approached by the Gauge O Guild, who continued to tell us that they recognised what we had been doing and had heard a-lot about us! Both me and Chris didn't really know what to think at this moment but they could only praise us! And I am pleased to confirm that we are now attending there Kettering Exhibition at the beginning of March with our stand.

The exhibition takes place on the 2nd March, and i'll attach the details below; 

Guild Spring Show 2019 - Kettering
Date:Saturday, 2nd March 2019 10.00am to 4.00pm
Location:Kettering Leisure Village, Thurston Drive, Kettering, NN15 6PB
Price:£5 members, £10 Non-members. Both prices admit 1+partner+2 children

It would be great if we could see any of you there, both me and Chris will be on hand to talk to should you wish to!

I'd also like to take the chance to thank the dedicated teams that we've had at both exhibitions thus far, and who have given up there free time to help us with this venture. I've attached a couple of pics below of our stands from both Bristol & Stafford shows.

Signing out for now.

The MIOG Team
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Previous to our other post regarding the much anticipated Accurascale HUO's they have now landed with them. 

Taken from the Accurascale Facebook
​'These beauties feature full hopper body detail as per prototype, without a false floor, a diecast chassis with compensation and individual numbering and lettering. All for a mere £49.95, making them unbeatable value for O gauge models. What's more, if you go for one of our bundle offers, they get even cheaper! 

Pre-orders will be dispatched from tomorrow and they are now on sale exclusively on our website. We will also have a limited number for sale on our stand at Model Rail Scotland 2019 next weekend!
Place your order today: https://accurascale.co.uk/col…/24-5t-huo-coal-hopper-o-gauge '

Hardys Hobbies which specialises in producing fine-scale figures and accessories for the discerning railway modeller.

They have just released some new 3D Printed Modern Image figures. These are painstakingly scanned from real life people which allow them to give you an extremely accurate model. They are currently expanding on there catalogue which is already up to around 50 figures.  Will a little bit of paint and dedication these can be made into something really special to help populate your layout

We've attached some photos of the new figures below, that have been painted by one of there customers so you get the idea of the finish you can achieve.

They are available to purchase from there website now, so head over to;
 https://hardyshobbies.co.uk/ 

They will now be manufactured with all new Mk1 bogies and correct diameter wheels. Incidentally these will be the bogie and wheel arrangement which will feature on the upcoming Suburban coaches. They will also now be produced with brass bars on the inside of the windows, see below for the most up to date CAD pictures now up on the website. They are expected to arrive into shops by the end of February 2019.

Liveries:

-Blood & Custard
-Chocolate & Cream
-Southern Green
-Blue & Grey (Transfers available for 'Newspapers' or 'Express Mail')
-Maroon
-Departmental (Yellow)
-Departmental (Olive Green)
-Full Blue (Transfers available for 'Newspapers' or 'Express Mail')
-Royal Mail (early)
​-Royal Mail (Later)

More details can be found on the Ellis Clarke website here, Pre-orders are now available also.

Accurscale have recently turned there attention to the O Gauge Market after a successful dabble in the OO market. There first wagon which is destined to be the HOP 24/HUO wagon. These are going to be great value and are due later in February! 

Taken from the Accurascale Facebook
'Our first O gauge project, the HOP 24/HUO hopper wagon is now complete and is making its way from China to our warehouse! We will have them in stock and we will be dispatching orders towards the end of next week! We're very excited to see them come into stock!
Order yours now for delivery to your layout or collection in early February! With an attractive price of £49.95 per wagon, along with some incredible value rake deals and bundles, these promise to be the highly detailed, best value rolling stock items on the O Gauge market, available exclusively from us here at Accurascale'
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If your interested in purchasing these wagon's please head over to their website today and pre-order yours now!

https://accurascale.co.uk/collections/24-5t-huo-coal-hopper-o-gauge

Adding to there growing range of containers. On the heals of the 20ft and soon to be released 30ft Containers Buzz Models will be releasing the 10ft Caboose. As you can see it will be a multi piece kit and will be out of different materials to be you a highly detailed kit.

They stem from the BR days and was designed and introduced as guards refused to travel in the back cab of locos. BR wouldn't supply a brake van for container trains. So to combat it they made this and it was basically a container with a few windows and a chair and desk. The ride was unsprung and terrible so it got pulled rather quick. The real thing resides in the NRM to this day

Price is to be confirmed.