THERE is plenty on offer this autumn and winter for enthusiasts of vintage Cumbrian transport in all shapes and sizes.

Last weekend saw the 55 th show by the Furness Model Railway Club and among the model railway layouts on show at Barrow Sixth Form College was Brewery Sidings.

It is a fictional beer production site somewhere in South Cumbria, where mill buildings have been coverted to use by the Half Pint Brewery – after the old Lancashire tradition of drinking half pints of beer, known locally as squeakers.

Among the detailed model locomotives, mill engines, boats and planes on show was a three-and-a-half inch scale model of a London, Midland and Scotish Railway live steam locomotive of the Patriot Class.

It was built by Ken Gray and exhibited by Ken Elwood of Carlisle Model Engineering Society.

Many visitors to the exhibition had a ride on the shuttle service provided by Barrow Transport Group - on a preserved double-decker bus from its extensive collection.

The Leyland PD2/40 with Park Royal bodywork was new to Barrow Corporation Transport in October 1958 as part of a batch of 10.

It stayed in Barrow for all its working life and passed into preservation in 1978.

The group – which supports the Barrow Transport Museum Trust - also organises working parties on vintage vehicles and excursions to sites of transport history interest.

Among recent visits has been a tour of the collection of buses, trams and other vehicles at the Wirral Tram Museum, Birkenhead.

You can find out more about membership of the group, which costs £10 per year, by writing to The Membership Secretary, Barrow Transport Group, 15 Kentmere Grove, Morecambe LA4 5UF.

Millom Discovery Centre in the Station Buildings at Millom is hosting a table top sale and swap meet for modellers on Sunday, October 29, from 10am to 3pm.

Enthusiasts and traders in all types of models – such as aero, marine, military and railway - are welcome at the event, which will be open from 10am to 3pm.

Traders pay £4 per table, which includes entry to the museum, and you can find out more by calling 01229 772555.

Organiser John Nixon, who looks after the RAF displays at the museum, said: “With very few model shops in the area and a lot of modellers, we are trying to make this an annual event, if it is successful.”

The museum’s RAF section now includes a large and impressive memorial window to air crew who lost their lives serving at the wartime airfield of RAF Millom.

The next major county show for model railway fans is the Solrail Workington Model Railway Exhibition on November 18 and 19 at the Energus Building, Lillyhall, near Workington.