Chris M

Until the range increases dramatically TT:120 will be very much a train set scale; it won't be possible to build a serious model railway for the foreseeable future. I still haven't got over the Dawlish layout running nothing but LNER pacifics. Could have been a good layout if they had done it in N and used suitable stock. The HSTs and 50s will improve that layout no end but that layout will still only have two classes of relevant motive power and there doesn't appear to be anything else suitable in the planning stages. You just can't make a proper model railway from the stock announced so far. TT:120 remains ideal for train sets though. It will be interesting to see whether other manufacturers bring out any locos. It would be a big risk but it could just be a good move.

Surely not to cyclists though.....

But the rules of the road don't apply to cyclists.

So how do electric cars get on through fords and floods? I guess everything is nicely sealed so they are ok.

The hope and intention is that Warley at Statfold will be an annual event. October was the traditional time for the Warley show. The NEC bumped us back to November because of other bigger shows they had at the time.

And I’m sure members of Warley club will be Stafford either helping or as paying visitors. Stafford exhibition is quite probably the biggest club run event in the country and always well worth a visit.

? Sorry I don’t understand this. If it’s referring to me I have mentioned that I am a member of Warley club many times over a many years in various threads.

As a long term member of Warley club and therefore likely to be biased in favour of Warley I have to say that I always thought the layouts at GETS were good quality. I rate GETS as a very good show. I'm told that, in order to avoid any overcrowding, there will be a limit to the number of tickets available each day for Warley at Statfold. No doubt more details will emerge later on this.

They have private functions there as well. You could get married there if you wanted.

Great modelling. I will pass the photos over to the layout team.

Before I went to Statfold Barn last April I had absolutely no intention of building an 009 layout, not even the slightest itch. Some time last year I started coming up with plans for an 009 layout and now Warley club is building an 009 layout to my design. I am or course very much part of the team building this layout. Maybe the Statfold Barn visit provided inspiration for my change of direction. I might start a thread about the layout build.

I would agree it is not the best weekend but it was the only one available at Statfold Barn this year. Next year's date will almost certainly be better from this point of view. I know GETS and Farnham are great shows as I have visited and exhibited at both of them. I am sad that I will inevitably miss GETS this year but I am really looking forward to spending the weekend at Statfold Barn. It will be my second weekend there as I am exhibiting at the April Statfold Barn model railway exhibition. I don't think layouts for the Warley at Statfold exhibition will be a problem as there are plenty of high quality layouts around. Traders could be more of a problem but I'm told the emphasis will be on attracting the smaller specialist trade stand; the kind that generally could not do the NEC. I have not seen many of those smaller specialists at GETS so hopefully getting the right traders will not be a major issue either. As the proposal to put on this exhibition was only finalised during last week nobody will have been invited yet. I know there are a number of club members working hard on who to invite at the moment. I know I am not taking my Dawlish Warren layout as it was at the NEC last year and will be at Statfold Barn in April. That's more than enough!

I’m also building an 009 layout . I must be more of a fan of narrow gauge than I thought.

The clash with GETS is not a good thing. I normally visit GETS but the date we have was the only free weekend available at Statfold Barn. They are two quite different shows though. If I wasn’t involved I would probably go to one on the Saturday and the other on the Sunday. Personally I would expect there to be two model railway shows at Statfold each year. They are 6 months apart and as a visitor I would happily go to both. In fact I am going to both as I am taking my layout to the April show. I’m not really a narrow gauge fan but I do love Statfold Barn Railway.

Just released to the press. The Warley Model Railway Club has teamed up with the Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust Ltd to hold a brand new railway modelling showcase event at the Trust’s Statfold Country Park venue near Tamworth, Staffordshire. Branded as Warley at Statfold the event is planned for the weekend of the 12 & 13 October 2024 and entry tickets will include an exciting new-look model railway exhibition, full access to the Museum’s locomotive and stock collection, unlimited train rides on both the 2' and 12½" gauge railways and the chance for visiting families to enjoy numerous children’s themed attractions also on the site. The exhibition is to be hosted by the Warley MRC and will see up to 30 quality layouts displayed across a variety of scales and gauges, along with a choice selection of specialist retail trade stands and manufacturers. A revamped programme of modelling demonstrations is also being formulated that will reflect the emerging techniques, technologies and demographics of today’s modern and diverse hobby. Statfold has the largest collections of narrow gauge locomotives in the country, all of which will be open to view in the adjacent museum, or in action on any one of the outdoor railway circuits where visitors can hop-on and hop-off the full size trains as they loop through and around the beautiful country park setting. Warley MRC Exhibition Manager Nigel Smith said; “This new and inspiring venture is not just the old Warley National Model Railway Show reloaded. It’s about the club and our associated charity moving forward within the dynamics of this ever- popular hobby. By joining forces with the people at Statfold, we can mitigate those daunting factors which resulted in the winding up of our NEC event, and continue the club’s endeavours and charitable aims to promote the benefits and merits of railway modelling to the wider public. All-in-all this will make for a splendid and invigorating day out for established enthusiasts and family groups alike.” The Statfold venue has ample on-site free parking. A free connecting bus service to and from Tamworth railway station and the town centre will be provided for those travelling by public transport. Catering services will also available, situated at various locations within the country park. Further details will be available in due course via the Statfold Country Park web site: https://www.statfold.com/ and the Warley MRC show web site: https://thewarleyshow.co.uk/ Or by emailing the club on: warleymrccio@gmail.com Warley Model Railway Club, Unit 1F, Pearsall Drive, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 2RA Registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Charity No: 1153792

Love it! One can't help feeling there may be a couple of minor heath & safety issues.

They are all toy trains really. Everyone will have their own set of wants to class their layout as a model railway. Nobody is right or wrong, just different opinions which are all equally valid. Everyone should do whatever makes them happy and nobody should criticise them. having said that here are my criteria for a model railway:- 1 Rail sides must be painted. Shiny bright rail sides really does mean train set. 2. Weathered stock. Unweathered stock straight out of the box just looks plasticky and so train set. 3. Buffer details added. Locos on proper model railways have hoses and couplings on the front buffer beams. Train sets have holes in the buffer beams. 4. Reasonably believable train formations. Too many train sets at exhibitions feature a diesel hauling brightly coloured seven plank coal wagons. I’m all for folk doing whatever they want in the privacy of their own home but that sort of thing should never be seen in public. 5. This may be a tad controversial. A train set is where tracks have been laid on a flat board and scenery built around it. A proper model railway recognises that land is never absolutely level (except for the workers houses at Swindon) and land height is often lower than the level of the track. It appears to me that most train set builders are members of the flat earth society. Well that’s how I judge things. Others will have different criteria and that is fine by me. I would never say anyone doing any of the above is wrong , they just have different equally valid criteria. The most important thing is to enjoy what you are doing.

In the UK the "normal" situation is as follows:- Trade exhibitors pay for their space at a rate determined by the exhibition manager or team. Sometimes trade exhibitors can have free drinks at a show Layout exhibitors get re-imbursed for fuel and van hire (if required) . Layout exhibitors are also usually provided with free tea & coffee (often made by themselves in a designated room) and lunch. Lunch can vary from a sandwich through mini fish & chips to a cooked meal. Warley provided a cooked meal at the NEC and Taunton club provide a voucher which goes a long way towards the excellent meals cooked by the catering staff at their venue. Where overnight accommodation is required a hotel is provided complete with breakfast. Layout exhibitors pay for their own evening meal and any incidental food etc. Some layout exhibitors will not want expenses if they think the show is for a good cause. Club layouts going to other clubs shows will work on the same basis as individuals. The costs of the layout operators will be covered but no donation to the club is expected. Sometimes one club provides stewards for another club's exhibition and the exhibiting club may make a donation to the club that helped out in this way. The above is the way it mostly works but are not hard rules. I know of one show where they do not provide food or drinks to layout exhibitors. I don't like this so the last time I was invited there I said no thank you. Some layout exhibitors have tried to charge a lot on their expenses, for instance wanting 45p per mile for their car. If that happens they will not be invited again. Quite a few exhibition managers state a mileage rate which makes fuel costs clearer but I would often want less than that to cover my actual fuel costs. The above arrangements seem to be quite equitable to me.

I would expect that Key and Warners need to make a profit on every show because they are businesses and profit is what keeps a business going in the long term. A club can afford to just scrape an excess of income over expenditure and be happy whereas a business must get a reasonable return on any investment. Businesses do have professional people who are organising exhibitions all the time which will help them put on a show that is highly cost effective.

A problem for exhibition managers is that exhibitors have very variable wants and needs. This year we are going to one exhibition where the layout operators are happily paying the cost of van hire ourselves. We decided we wanted to go to that exhibition and we also wanted to support the organisation putting on the show so why not? Conversely I have turned down an invitation to a commercially run show this year simply because they don't provide a lunch or even a cup of tea to exhibitors. I have been to this show before and ramped up my expenses to cover tea and lunch but this time I couldn't be bothered - its their loss. This sort of illustrates that the way a show looks after its exhibitors is likely to have an affect on the quality of the show. An exhibition not arranging accommodation should be expected to put some layout exhibitors off attending. On the other hand it would be preferred by me. Maybe, as suggested above, exhibition managers should offer the two options - arranged accommodation or an accommodation allowance. Could be best of both worlds for all concerned.

I don't know where the £35 came from but that would equate to £70 per night for a twin room which is usually within Premier Inn and Travelodge prices if you book early. Just checking prices for my next exhibition (where I don't need a hotel) Travelodge would be £81 for two people in one room for two nights excluding breakfast but Travelodge would be £130 for the exhibition after that. Overall £35 per person per night could well be about right but might be a bit under if you include a full breakfast. If you do a lot of exhibitions it will be swings and roundabouts. If I was taking a layout with just one other operator I would probably go for a room each and pay the extra. I reckon that would cost about the same or maybe a little bit less than going for two single rooms via the exhibition manager.

Last time I tried to book a number of rooms the price went up because the hotel was so busy. It was only busy because I was about to book a lot of rooms. I thought a block booking would make it cheaper rather than more expensive. Haven’t used that hotel again.

In amongst all the various chats there was a revelation that Model World Live would give layout exhibitors from afar an allowance for accommodation rather than book it for them. At first was a bit surprised and thought it was a bit poor. Having thought about it I reckon it’s the way to go for all exhibitions. Going back into the early history of exhibitions club members would provide their spare rooms for visiting layout owners. Things then became more sophisticated and clubs started to book hotel rooms for visiting exhibitors. This was back in the 1970s well before it was possible to view and book accommodation on line. Now it is of course very easy to book accommodation anywhere in the world online. Nowadays the idea of having the host club book rooms looks rather old fashioned. We all have different aspirations for our hotel quality and what accommodation we need. For instance I am very happy to pay extra for my friend and I to have a single room each rather than share a twin. On other occasions our wives might decide to come with us so we need two doubles. Sometimes, if I am say 70-80 miles from home I might decide to drive home rather than spend the weekend away. What’s worse is that a fair few exhibitors change their minds as to what they want to do. So, on reflection I think giving exhibitors a basic allowance and letting them fend for themselves is a good thing and I fully support such a change. It is also one less job for the organising club. It is a job that can become quite a challenge when there are lots of last minute changes. It may mean that layout exhibitors end up being a few pounds out of pocket based on their own choice but then going taking a layout to an exhibition always costs the owner a few bob anyway. The only thing I would miss is all the exhibitors being together over breakfast. just wondering what others think.