I cannot believe it has been over a year since I last posted in this blog. The story of the 2016 Weston on Trent Model Railway show has been told in its own thread in the exhibitions section of RMWeb. It was a big success, breaking all records with the most layouts ever in attendance and raising over £1000 for school funds. On that day posters were already up around the school advertising the 2017 event. I was already thinking about layout bookings and was, in my mind, thinking about 2018, 2019 and beyond. Then all went quiet! Why?

This academic year has been the most difficult of my entire teaching career. A large number of negative circumstances, none of which are my own doing, have made my working life very difficult. This has contributed to excessively long working days, illness and a huge reduction in job satisfaction. To be fair many of these aspects were in place at the time of the last show but I had battled through it. Since December I have been actively seeking new employment whether that be a promotion into school leadership or a teaching post elsewhere. This has meant that I had put the show firmly to the back of my mind. Throughout the early part of this year it was described as "on hold" and "unlikely to happen". In May I took the decision to resign my post and I will officially leave the school at the end of this term. Where am I going? At present I have no idea. I am continuing to seek employment and have signed to a supply teaching agency so that I can continue to earn from September. At present I have a couple of other job irons in the fire. It is a scary time, but also quite exciting. The decision has eased the huge stress that had been mounting up throughout the year and was threatening my health, my well being and my marriage.

But...and this is where the title of this thread comes in. It has nothing to do with my booked tickets to see the mighty Queen and Adam Lambert perform in December. The Show Must Go On!!!
Once my resignation had been announced to the staff I had a couple of my regular helpers persuade me that we really ought to stick to the advertised 2017 date. They also were keen to do the show again. After all a £1000 a year is not to be sniffed at!!! Despite the money I was surprised that these non-railway modelling ladies wanted to repeat the show, and did not want to take the opportunity of an extra day of pre-Christmas shopping. But they actually enjoy the show and the friendly, pleasant people who frequent our little event. And so their persuasions have worked.

The Show Must Go On!!!

I have agreed (not that I took too much persuading) to organise the event for 2017. Will it be my swansong? My final act for the school? Time will tell. At present I have agreed for this year, and this year only. The future of the event will depend on several factors:
a) its success this year and the money raised.
b) how workable it is for me to organise when I am no longer on the staff
c) my working situation post 2017.

And so I now have a challenge. When the show was originally conceived way back in 2012, I managed to throw it together in just nine months. Then it was brand new, with nothing to live up to. Now we have a reputation, and from what I understand, it is a very good one. I have just 5 months to put together an event that is up there with our previous offerings. No pressure there then!
So far - all of our traders have agreed to return and we have assembled approximately 10 - 12 layouts. We need more of these. The search is on and not a lot of time to find them. I am therefore throwing myself towards the good people of RMWeb to help. You helped to make this show what it is. At every event over 50% of the layouts have come from the good people of this website. Can anyone help us?

The Show Must Go On!!!!

THE DATE IS

SATURDAY 11TH NOVEMBER

(edited to include the date)