The Trainwest Model Railway Exhibition celebrated the 200th birthday of Brunel with a spectacular birthday cake blazing with 200 candles.

The show at the Olympiad Leisure Centre, Chippenham, drew a record attendance of nearly 3,000 people, and the big birthday cake proved a popular highlight. This was the exhibition's 13th year, and the last time it will take place in Chippenham because of rises in hall hire charges as well as a shortage of car parking and refreshment facilities.

The event had 25 model railway layouts from all over the country and model rail enthusiasts had plenty of miniature landscapes to admire.

A special feature was continental layouts, with scale reproductions of railways in Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Organiser Geoff Endacott said the Alpine layouts were particularly interesting with some excellent mountain scenery and trains following spiral tracks to ascend the mountain heights. As well as the layouts, visitors toured a market place, with more than 60 stalls selling model railway goods.

The event culminated on Sunday when Mr Endacott and three helpers lit the 200 candles on a cake, iced with the words: Happy Birthday Isambard Kingdom Brunel.