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Mixed feelings

andyram

Entry posted by andyram

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I think the title of this entry fairly sums up my feelings towards the fourth Weston on Trent Model Railway Exhibition. Throughout the show's short history this year's event has been the hardest to organise. A plethora of layout withdrawals throughout the year resulted in the exhibit list having to be redrawn time and time again. In the months prior to the show we lost both Tom's Shed and Poundland due to the illness of their owners. We also lost Myrton because it had been double booked and an un-named shunting layout due to its owner's work pattern changing. All of these were understandable and unavoidable reasons for withdrawing. Added to these were the loss of three regular traders.

I had just started to think I had covered these when I heard of Frank Collins' illness resulting in the withdrawal of "Steam on the Cambrian" in the week leading up to the show. No complaints there either and I am pleased to hear Frank is out of hospital and recovering at home. Hopefully we will see him next year.

Then there was the layout that withdrew on Thursday night - don't get me started on that one! I have lost a lot of respect for that particular gentleman.

The preparation of Skaleby West for its outing at the show was also fraught with problems. Scenic items never turned up on time and the signal box, purchased from EBay, was sent to my old house because I had forgotten to change my details.

 

With so many issues it was no wonder I was feeling a little sick with nerves when I awoke at 5am on the Saturday morning. I skipped breakfast, loaded the car, and was on the road within 45 minutes. This year I had delegated most of the road signs to the school caretaker so there were less for me to do on the way. As a result I was able to open the school by 6.30am and had Skaleby West unloaded and in-situ before the official 7am opening up time.

Still the problems arose. As I went to open the side gate that leads to the back entrance to the main hall I realised I no longer had a key. The school secretary had borrowed it a few months ago when hers broke. I only use mine once a year so no wonder I forgot! A frantic search and mad few minutes trying various keys finally got the padlock undone. Surely that was the end of the problems. No! Clearly the caretaker had been lax on his gardening duties. The gateway was blocked by several low lying branches from a nearby tree. So my next task was some ad-hoc branch trimming.

At least it was all done for just after 7am when the kitchen staff started to arrive. They brought news that some of the signs were not yet up. Maybe that explained why no one else was there! In the last three years I have had people waiting on the doorstep for me. This year nothing! It was a nervy half hour before people started to arrive. At least they brought news that the signs were finally up!

Skaleby West was the next to cause problems. During the set up I had to re-glue the cottage, garden roller, platform detail and remove some tree foliage which had been lost during the drive to the school. Then as I took the controller out of the bag I found it had lost its wires - and I had left the screw drivers at home. Thanks to Kev Hughes (Up the Line) for the loan of his tools. Once reconnected the extension lead blew a fuse so a replacement was sourced from school stock. This was not helping the stress levels!

 

From then on things did seem to go smoothly. Everyone turned up and were set up on time, with only one layout in the corridor cutting it fine. There were one or two mumblings about our insistence that all cars were moved to an off-site car park before the doors opened, but all responded to the request eventually.

My layout set up was made easier thanks to the offer of help from RMWeb member Andy Sharpe (leopard) who came along before the doors opened. He was a real help and cleaned the track and stocked the layout whilst I distributed lunch passes etc. He then insisted on paying his entry fee (I told him not to!) and went off to look around the show, heading off without having an operating turn - we must sort that next year!!

 

I did manage to have a brief walk around before the doors opened. I must admit I started to feel a lot better. The layouts looked great. After the ups and downs of the week there were 20 layouts - helped by the very late addition, Werrington Road. The owner contacted me on Friday night to offer to come and cover for the lost layouts. I am very appreciative of this.

Down at the entrance hall the raffle was well stocked with plenty of prizes, aided by Denise Hughes (wife of exhibitor Malcolm) who donated two large bags of prizes and a gift for my three year old daughter. The support and kindness of so many people really did take the stress away.

 

As for the show itself - it flew by. We were busy in the morning, slackened off at lunch, with a brief revival in the afternoon. We sold out of bacon cobs, lunches and raffle tickets. I hear the ladies on the door developed a raffle ticket sales pitch which would not have been out of place on an episode of The Apprentice. I knew we must have done well by the steady stream of staff handing over piles of cash to "look after". At one point I had £500 in my back pocket - but I did not consider running away - honest!

As I operated Skaleby West I was busy with so many people coming to say hello and have a chat. It was great. There were many kind words about the show which was nice to hear. The traders all seemed to do well too.

 

In the end we raised £1050 for stocking the school library. This is our best total ever. And so, despite my initial concerns and worries, I can say that it has definitely been worthwhile. I feel very satisfied. But of course it would not be possible without all the staff who worked so tirelessly all day, the exhibitors and traders who supported us this year - some exhibitors even handed back their expenses at the end of the day which was unexpected. Thanks go to all who played their part - I am so appreciative.

 

And so to next year - SATURDAY 12TH NOVEMBER 2016.

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KH1
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Well it would be a thankless task except that here is someone (and I bet there are quite a few more, including your library using pupils), thanking you for doing it! A lovely show and a nice chance to show off which is probably the reason we all do it! Apart from still feeling the effects of our 5am start it was a great day out. Thanks also to whom I now know was Andy Sharpe for helping me set up my layout and cleaning my track as well!

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andyram

Thanks Kev, and thanks for coming again and braving your own 5am start. Up the Line looked (and sounded) superb once again.

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mason

Thanks for having us Andy, a lovely show that was busy all day long, myself and lacey had sore throats from chatting to People all day long.

I even missed my lunch slot due to chatting haha

 

Great facillities and good food and drinks and a nice selection of layouts.

 

Hopefully we can make next year with something new.

 

Thanks again

 

All at Little layouts

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Will J

Hi Andy,

Big thanks again for the invite, a lovely perfectly proportioned show and I'm glad to hear the fundraising side of it went so well. Hopefully one or two of the new books can reflect something of the spirit of the show and include a train or two! Your whole team were excellent hosts, I even managed a bit of Christmas shopping at the talylyn railway stand. The raffle prize of tickets to the donington Grand Prix collection will be much appreciated too!

 

You had a very chatty audience who all showed a great interest in my 3d printed work. It was also nice to be operating next to foster street making up a little n gauge corner.

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paulprice

Expenses, expenses what expenses.

 

Andy can you send me a copy of the exhibition guide for my files?

 

I guess if we want another invite I better get a new layout??????

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paulprice

Did I miss your expenses Paul? Are you wanting to come again??

Yes you missed them but it saved me the job of putting them in the fund for the School library.

 

I think you patrons will be fed up of seeing Foster Street by now.

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paulprice

Yes I can email you a guide. I was offering to forward on the expenses.

Andy all I really want is a copy of the exhibition guide, as mine was "borrowed" on the day by a visitor to the trader stall at the side of the layout.

 

I should have made a bigger contribution to the exhibition coffers on the day, as our attendance at the show meant I could get the cages the operating team cleaned out while they were away playing trains. :) Bless he does not get out much, some would say for good reason :)

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traction
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I can only echo the above.

It just goes to prove that you don't need a massive huge show for everyone to have a great time.

It really did feel like a club show, it was that friendly and relaxed.(although not for the staff that looked after us all day many thanks!)

 

Well done Andy for organising a great show, your pupils can give you a gold star now.

Someone did mention about why it wasn't on for two days!!!!!!!!

 

Look forward to next year if you will have me.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

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andyram

Paul the show guide will be emailed to you sometime this week, it will be a publisher document.

 

Ian. Thanks for the kind words. We will of course welcome you back next year. I heard the comments about a 2 day event, but we are sticking to one day. We do try and make the it as friendly as possible.

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Clive Baker

Great result Andy, lovely friendly show, excellent trade with plenty of rummage boxes containing useful layout sundries. "Up the line" a real star turn. If you ever have problems with cancellations in future years, I'm not far away.

 

All the best

 

Clive Baker

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