Jump to content
 

Nottingham Model Railway Exhibition 17th - 18th March 2018


doctor quinn
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

On behalf of The Elizabethan Railway Society may I thank everyone involved and we certainly enjoyed exhibiting Sutton in Ashfield Town. Special mention must go to the guys clearing the snow from the car park on Sunday morning. It is such a shame that the weather did it's worst at the weekend and so much was out of your hands. The hall was cold in places and seeing exhibitors and traders wrapped up in coats and scarves is not normal and seeing one trader doing power walks round the hall to keep warm made us smile.

 

Brian Hunt

Link to post
Share on other sites

I can only add my thanks for the efforts the exhibition team went to hosting us over the weekend. For a big club show the level of cheerful hospitality was very impressive and I enjoyed the mix of layouts. As impressive as the larger ones were, I do find myself drawn to more compact layouts and Caradon Junction was my favourite.

Thanks again.

Ben.

Link to post
Share on other sites

A 5' layout is about 1.52m...

 Too many show managers allow you 1.3 metres for a 5 foot layout, and expect that to include access space....

 

Les 

(from bitter experience with Furtwangen Ost - a 5 foot layout)

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
As we all know, the hobby is going through changes and these affect trade exhibitors in particular. Nottingham MRS have run the Nottingham East Midlands Model Railway Exhibition for over 30 years and Ian Trivett, our former exhibition manager, built the show up into a major undertaking with around 100 stands. The show aimed to showcase the best in modelling standards and had all the suppliers of specialist bits and pieces to support this. These specialists are becoming fewer as time goes on and the quality of modern RTR items makes their products redundant. Consequently, the club has decided not to hold the Nottingham East Midlands show in its present form and, instead, have a smaller show at another venue in Nottingham.

 

The new show will be known as the Nottingham MRS Spring show and will feature around 6-8 layouts, rather than the 30+ we often featured at the sports stadium. We are still finalising the venue and details, but the show dates will remain as before, the 3rd weekend in March - ie 16&17 March 2019, and the layouts will be to the same high standard.

 


Nottingham MRS would like to thank all our visitors and supporters over the past 30 years and wish them well with their modelling. We look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at our new Spring show.

Link to post
Share on other sites

After the weather this year, the impact on visitor numbers and what must have been a significant hit on the finances of the show, this is perhaps unsurprising. These factors coupled with the issues of the changes in the hobby that the club mention and this is maybe the most significant to date of what could be a number of shows downsizing.

 

It was apparent at Expo EM last week, and to some degree at York, that the nature of the trade support has changed over the past decade or so and the numbers of smaller, specialist suppliers available has diminished. Compare the trade list for Nottingham, York, Expo EM or indeed any other major show today with that of the early 2000s and the differences are stark.

 

Not sure hat the facilities are there nowadays but a return to the Victoria Leisure Centre would bring back memories for those of an age. 

Edited by RANGERS
Link to post
Share on other sites

Sad to hear this news, but totally understandable. I feel that attendances have dwindled since this show left Harvey Hadden due to the building work. It never seems to have recaptured the attendance levels. The weather was a massive factor this year too. I wish the club well with their smaller event. I am sure that it will prove to be a good event, in a different way. In fact, many people have said to me that they prefer smaller and more intimate events where there is time to view each layout and chat to the operators instead of rushing around a bigger show to try and see everything. 

 

I look forward to seeing what Nottingham brings in 2019.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Genuinely sorry to see this and many will wish to thank the Nottingham MRS for many great shows over the past 20 years or so, including the 'difficult' years when the venue was being redeveloped. It's clear a show needs both strong trade support and visitor numbers to be viable and both took a hit this year. I'm sure whatever follows will be as friendly in future years.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I missed this year's show due to the weather, a shame as I'd looked forward to it like most years really, except for the time away from the sports hall where I stayed away after the first time due to too many mobility difficulties. I enjoyed last year's show however a great deal.

 

I think it is potentially a good move to move to a smaller show format and make it more of a skills type of day, but with good quality layouts in attendance too. I wish you well with it and will look to get to next year's show.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What a great shame. 

 

I think I must have attended 90%+ of those last 30 years' shows, and I do expect to continue to do so.

 

However, what concerns me somewhat is the sheer scale of the downsizing,  We all have our favored styles, periods and regions, but while there were 30 or so layouts anyone could be pretty sure of finding half a dozen that were worth spending a long time watching; and therefore justify spending practically the whole day there.  If there really are to be only 6-8, even if they're of good quality then that number is likely to decline to just 1-2 at best.  Locals like me will probably still come, but whether people will travel a fair distance in some numbers like they have done till now to view such a small sample of 'direct interest' to them seems rather doubtful.

 

I suspect I'm not saying anything you haven't thought of, though ...

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

The exhibition scene has been becoming unsustainable for some time. More and more shows and not enough traders to fill them all with decent quality stuff.

 

Something had to give and the weather this year for Nottingham show (which kept me away on the Sunday when I should have been part of the demo team on both days) was a real killer blow.

 

I am sorry that it happened to such a good show and a good bunch of people and I hope that taking this step allows them to regroup from a less risky financial position.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What a great shame. 

 

I think I must have attended 90%+ of those last 30 years' shows, and I do expect to continue to do so.

 

However, what concerns me somewhat is the sheer scale of the downsizing,  We all have our favored styles, periods and regions, but while there were 30 or so layouts anyone could be pretty sure of finding half a dozen that were worth spending a long time watching; and therefore justify spending practically the whole day there.  If there really are to be only 6-8, even if they're of good quality then that number is likely to decline to just 1-2 at best.  Locals like me will probably still come, but whether people will travel a fair distance in some numbers like they have done till now to view such a small sample of 'direct interest' to them seems rather doubtful.

 

I suspect I'm not saying anything you haven't thought of, though ...

The Rochdale MRG went through this transition a few years ago having been messed about by venues and loosing trade support to the bigger commercial shows running around the same date slots. From a 15 layout + paying trade show in a large hall to a 7 layout plus one or two societies and local traders (on a voluntary contribution basis). Yes numbers through the door are lower but so are the overheads and therefore risk. Layout expenses have increased as van hire and fuel costs have risen. Overnight stays in hotels are expensive. Halls are expensive and each are unrecoverable in the event of a slow weekend punter wise. If you lower your cost base you can still make a surplus to re-invest in the club, you can still create a very high standard of show to sell your club and appeal for new members. Rochdale have also found that having less layouts, less traders and less stress has brought the fun factor back into the event and it is much more a social occasion. 

 

I wish Nottingham Well for the future and hope that the new venture is both a success and a fun & rewarding adventure. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Interesting, but sad news.

 

Given the recent resurgence of the Derby show and the current quality of the Lincoln show, now held in Newark, at least there are still some good quality big shows in the area.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Very sad to hear this. My first visit was in 1983 and I've been most years since then either as an exhibitor or a punter. I've always enjoyed it and found it to be a good quality show so thank you to the organisers for all of those shows.

 

Best of wishes with the new format. I will keep my eyes out for news of the location and content of next year's show.

 

Regards, Andy

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure that the facilities are there nowadays but a return to the Victoria Leisure Centre would bring back memories for those of an age.

 

....And not necessarily good ones...

 

The problem with such a location is it is perceived as being in a City Centre, and people in general and in particular the age demographic of show attendees wouldn't necessarily visit such places as often as they did 15 years ago.

 

I don't believe there is such a thing as a perfect venue or even a perfect show as what appears on the surface might be rosy but you never hear of behind the scenes issues or how many voluntary hours goes into a show and whether the attendance was enough to make a profit.

 

Anyone can organise a show, but it must be remembered that Nottingham always used to and I hope will continue to maintain a high standard of layout and trader, often at the expense of the profit sheet as such exhibits often came from further afield and costs were invariably higher.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

We are well served for model rail shows in the East Midlands, with about 4 really good, big shows [guess which...] and a lot of local ones, plus specialist ones. They also come and go, like Midland Railex etc. But Nottingham does deserve a good show, its just the ever-rising costs and it's not a growing market, either for traders or visitors.

 

I worked out that I might go to 12 shows a year, about half being specialist gauge 0 or narrow gauge, either as exhibitor or visitor. Which is almost at sad git levels, especially the next 3 weekends! G0G, 7mm NGA, GCR.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...