A TRANSPORT world in miniature can be seen at Barrow Sixth Form College at the weekend.

The 57th model railway and transport exhibition is being held by Barrow Model Railway Club this Saturday and Sunday, from 10am to 5pm.

To mark the event, we are taking a look at pictures from The Mail’s archive taken in the 1990s when the show was a regular Easter feature at Forum 28.

This weekend’s show has railway layouts, traders, model engineering, aircraft and ship displays.

There is also a free shuttle bus service from the town hall and railway station to the college show venue.

Thomas the Tank Engine proved especially popular at the Easter 1991 exhibition - as youngster were invited to take the controls.

The youngest of his drivers was Sarah Martin, aged 12, who received a signed certificate.

Teenage brothers scooped three out of the 10 prizes on offer.

Chris Thexton, 15, won trophies for his Furness slate quarry and desert train dioramas while brother Kieran, 19, won the Cumbria Tourist Board Shield with a rural railway.

The Mail, on April 2, noted: "A tiny Furness layout,built by Gordon Russell, Harry Wright, John Threlfall and Stephen Burns, took four years to build, three nights a week.

"Every building was hand made from photographs and measurements taken from the original, or from archives."

An April 1993 show at Forum 28 saw the debut of a Swiss layout by the Barrow club.

The Mail, noted: "The group's 70 members spent thousands of hours of leisure time to create the imaginary village of Oberfriendhof, complete with ski lift and a railway station.

"Young and old looked on spellbound as the tiny trains popped in and out of tunnels and waved their way through sidings."

Among the other exhibitors was one from Ashford in Kent.

Among exhibitors at the Easter 1994 show was the North Holderness Light Railway built by members of the Glaxo Club model railway section.

The Mail, on April 4, noted: "There were layouts and exhibits from all over the north as well as a display of Post Office vehicles showing the history of postal services throughout Britain from horse drawn vans to balloons."