Steam in Beds
Over the years it has become the custom for the Beds. Area Group to put on an exhibition with the aim of bringing the delights of narrow gauge railways and the 16mm modelling thereof to a wider audience.
“Steam in Beds”, as the event was christened, became a bi-annual feature of our calendar and took the form of a full public exhibition with 16mm traders and a good handful of layouts. In its earlier years this took place at the Parkside hall in Ampthill, which was an ideal size for our needs.
An enforced move of club meetings due to closure of Ridgmont village hall and the loss of our trailer used to transport the layout, combined with news that the Ampthill hall was to be re-developed, led to thoughts about bringing the event “in house” and running the exhibition in all available rooms in our (then) new meeting venue in Leighton Buzzard. This had advantages but space was also more limited, therefore the event transformed into more of an Association running day, still retaining as many traders and layouts as we could squeeze in, but at the same time remaining open to the public to attend as an exhibition. With the growing enthusiasm for the event, (both traders and visitors were coming from far and wide), and the question “can we come again next year ?” being voiced by many, it was decided to make it an annual fixture.
The formula worked so well for us that we decided to continue after another enforced change of premises, albeit missing 2009 whilst we settled in to our new home. 2010 saw the resurrection of SIB in Eaton Bray village hall, and despite being slightly more restricted on space, everything went well and the feedback was extremely encouraging.
Steam in Beds — Saturday 22 November 2025
Once again, the Beds Area Group will be holding this popular show at:
Eaton Bray Village Hall
Church Lane
Eaton Bray (Nr Dunstable)
LU6 2DJ
Doors open at 10.00am and close at 4.00pm
Admission Adults £6.00 accompanied children under 16 free.
Wheelchair access to all areas, but unfortunately not to the layout on the stage.
Free parking with some reserved slots for the disabled.
Refreshments available all day.
All major credit cards accepted.
Traders present are as follows:
| Trenarren Models | Plateway Models |
| Timpdon Models | Coach & Wagon Works |
| Anything Narrow Gauge | Jons People |
| Bootlane Works | Adrian Kempster Models |
| Rail Print | Black Cat Bridges |
| Brandbright | R C Trains |
| John Sutton Models | Bole Laser Craft |
16mm Layouts
Award winning Ridgmont and Prayle Grove or Eaton Downs
Member to Member Sales
This year we will be able to accept credit/debit cards to purchase items from Member to Member sales. Please read the attachments below.
M2M Sales Conditions
M2M Card Policy
M2M Sales Form
M2M Sales Form, deceased member