Selkent

I am going to present a report to a Steam Heritage line and would love the following input from railway modelers, of which I am one. I would like to know the answer to the following questions, as many heritage lines, local steam railways has paid staff and volunteers. You may have a few steam railways within an easy drive of some of you on here. The question is how come you don't volunteer or want to volunteer on them. Is your passion, model railways and recreating an era or actual steam & modern locos. I found this in flying as a pilot, lots of plane spotters love aircraft but never thought about having a go flying one. If you as model railway fans, had the chance to work on real engines, track, signals and infrastructure as a hobby, would you? and could you? Of course some may volunteer already, it is RM's who don't I am interesting in getting feedback from Also how many of you have ever actually driven a steam or diesel locomotive, and if not why not and do you have the desire to do so. Would any of you ever consider a working holiday on a heritage railway where a new skill can be taught or a skill you have could be used. Of course every steam railway has its steam buffs and photographers, but again many of these don't actually want to get their hands dirty or be part of the actual operation of a railway. Could it be a age thing, ie lots of jobs particular to engineering and line infrastructure do require a bit of agility and fitness. I know these seem odd questions to ask but there is a valid reason and ways to attract more volunteers to real steam railways.

The lovely Shannon who usually runs the admission area at our shows and who many of our regular exhibitors know has a model photoshoot this Sunday for a teen magazine so she cant help us. So we seek someone from 9.30am to 2.30pm who is based near to Sevenoaks or can get there with ease, to be the second person running the entry desk. You will get £50 which we ask that you give us a invoice for on the day plus you get lunch and of course free entry after your shift to enjoy the show. Must be over 18 and friendly and able to deal with cash. Please text me on 07946 904208 if interested and can make this Sunday.

We have another trader join us today, MODELUX of Guildford make bespoke N and 00 Kit buildings

Just added two extra layouts Rixtimmin and Kingsnorth both N gauge plus an extra trader Sudbury Models who doesn't usually come this far south and will be their debut show with us. Remember pre book discounted tickets are available until midnight on the Sat before the show and gets yyou in 15 mins before official opening time see .www.modelrailwayexhibition.com

I will answer that question after the show when I count the number of traders asking for a receipt for their liquid lunch for business expenses lol I know the Batcombe lot like a drink, my advice for a laugh come about 3pm and see some avoidable train crashes on that layout

Updated the layout attendee list to include the N Gauge Rixtimmin. Good train service into Sevenoaks and Bat & Ball that day, so think about leaving car at home as the real ales on offer are: Summer Pearle from Westerham 3.8% Route 53 from Headcorn, half French and half Kent hops and a gorgeous red ale Spirit of Kent from Westerham 4% Coffn'Toff Porter 5.8% Gluten free IPA alco free Wheat Beer and also free lager One Tree Hill Real cider 5% made from local Lewisham apples collected from gardens and a hit at all festivals trains from London Bridge, Orpington, Charing Cross, Ramsgate, Beckenham, Catford, and Ashford and Hastings and stations inbetween Bat and Ball is slightly nearer then Sevenoaks BR although the latter is a easy straight walk about 950 yards and Bat and Ball 800 yards. Phillip Ford will also have a small selection of commissioned wagons fro sale along with of course The Wagon Yard who have an amazing selection of new wagons not yet seen on the exhibition trade circuit. Also the Soutwark MRC pre owned stand always has lots of good stuff, little tip if you ask for Ray who may be running the stall when not operating the clubs layout and use the code 'I am a friend of Dorothy' you might get a discount.

Weds 3rd July at The Ale Bar, 443 New Cross Road, New Cross, London, SE14 6TA starts 6.30pm (2 mins from new cross BR and on bus routes 53, 453 and 177) all welcome and now a proven popular monthly event. Selection of real ales and normal pub prices. There is a 009 and N gauge layout built into the bar area.

We have space for a 10/12ft layout due to a cancellation at this years Sevenoaks show on Sunday 7th July. This is a well attended show with 18/20 layouts and 16 trade stands plus a real ale and cider bar. If interested can you email selkentmrc@gmail.com. we would love if you are new to exhibiting and this is your first, we of course will accept smaller layouts

totally agree but that is only good if you have off street parking as cant keep a trailer on a public road unless attached to a motor car or van

Not sure if this is the right place, but we are sellinng our exhibition layout van, which held three layouts at once, been converted in rear to shelves and been a great work horse for last 4 years. We are looking £400 and good points although high mileage it onlt has done about 600 to 1000 miles each year for past 4 years and had a new clutch two years ago. Bad points is MOT expired this month, rear loading door only locks from inside and exhurst although not blowing will need work. Starts first time and cheap to run, I think we pay £320 insurance a year and good mileage return. External could do with removing tape marks from posters we put up on it advertising exhibitions we were at. At one stage we had a second shelve above giving even more storage space and easy to add the third shelf. We also have the side panel area which we used to carry our tables and athough you cant see it, there is a big running stock storage area to the front. Works out lots cheaper then hiring a van each weekend and I think you will need to spend a couple of hunred to get through MOT or know about exhusts welding. We have put it up on autotrader for more then this, but nice if it went to a model rail exhibitor as that what it has been used for. It is in SE London/Kent. email me at selkentmrc@gmail.com or call 07946 904208

We have a cancelled layout so have space for a layout around 10ft to 12ft, if you'd like to attend please call me on 07946 904208

Now in it's 5th year, 20 layouts and 22 quality traders including debut trader THE WAGON YARD who have commissioned a number of wagons OO and N gauge from Peco and Dapol. Free parking and only 800 yards from Sevenoaks BR. Nice onsite cafe plus real ale and cider bar with a selection of Kentish Real ales on sale. Picture shows one of the limited edition commissioned wagons, large selection to chose from from 1920's to present from The Wagon Yard Discounted pre booked tickets are on sale which also gets you into the show 15 mins before official opening time. see www.modelrailwayexhibition.com Come and see Batcombe and the crew who built it, all were featured in 'James May's The Trouble with Hornby' Once car park full, there is free parking on all the roads around the venue ADULTS £6 or £4.95 pre booked Over 65 and 16 and under £5 or £3.95 pre booked Family £15 one adult and three kids or two adults and two kids or £12 pre booked (Under 2 FREE) Sun 7th July 2019 SEVENOAKS MODEL RAILWAY SHOW SEVENOAKS PRIMARY SCHOOL Bradbourne Park Road Sevenoaks Kent TN13 3LB Layouts Include Kingsnorth N Batcombe OO Dudley Road OO St Peters OO Dawes Lane N War & Peace OO Fordham 0 St Mellion OO Dover Train Ferry N Nonnington Quay OO Titanic Dock OO Cecily Bridge OO Load of Balls Small & Working N Silksby Road OO9 Siwood OO9 Arnold Lyne OO Drive Your Own N Knuddelstein N Apple Valley G Rixtimmin N Motocross 1:35 TRADERS INCLUDE Kent Garden Rail Harrison Brown Mike Pett Andy Lynch Models U Drive Allwheels Southwark MRC Preloved Peter Hollands Falconwood Books 00 Gauge Assc Rail Russia Holidays The Wagon Yard Sudbury Models Modelux

Next one is held on Weds 22nd May from 6pm at THE ALE BAR, 443 New Cross Road, London, SE14 6TA. 2 mins from New Cross BR and on bus routes 53, 453 and 177. This popular monthly event is open to all and arranged by Selkent MRG. There are two built in 009 and N gauge small layouts (feel free to run locos on them). All welcome and there is a fine selection of Kent real ales , draft carfty lager and gluten free beer. Great place to come and sit and talk trains over a pint venue www.thealebar.com

This is an established yearly show with good attendance and excellent trade support. If you fancy exhibiting please contact selkentmrc@gmail.com. Maybe you have just built your first exhibition layout and want to show it. We have four spaces left at max 14ft long, or more if smaller layouts. Date is Sunday 7th July Did we mention our show also has a real ale and cider bar serving Kent ales. We been getting between 500 and 600 come along each year

Next one will be this Monday 15th April in New Cross, London from 7pm (zone 2) and next to new cross BR and has now been running for over 2 years. Starts 6.30pm until late usual lots will be there, event open to everyone, and great chance to come along and talk model railway over a pint. Colin and DOGA lot will be there who featured on the recent BBC 'Hornby Documentary' There is a small No gauge layout in the bar. 4 real ales from Kent on tap and local real cider plus vegan and gluten free bitter. Really nice night On bus routes 53. 453 and 177 cycle rack outside and free parking outside from 7pm and free on side streets all day. The Ale Bar 443 New Cross Road New Cross London SE14 6TA www.thealebar.com

I was approached very early on before filming by the production company with the premis that the series will be all about why the public and model railway fans are turning their backs on Hornby and their customer base. After watching both episodes it did seem Hornby had more of a say on content and direction and it less of a independant documentry commisioned by the BBC. I know that hours of filming was done speaking to many end users of Hornby products, of this three hours of filming done at our social drinkies night we run for model railway fans at my venue each month in London I watched loads of very well informed and some loyal and some not so loyal Hornby customers give hours of reasons why they look at Bachmann, Peco and other products over Hornby. A great interview by someone I observed just spoke about the plastic station platform which has been churned out since the 1970's by Hornby and still churned out at a expensive end user rate, while other companies use the latest laser cut designs at a cheaper end price, and the lack of excitment around Hornby products and innovation. The time with Gerald in Episode 1 and the comments about many being on the end of the spectrum was I thought actually very lackluster TV. I liked James May and used comments which were very James May and was based on what he was presented before him in the final edit and came across cynical enough to know Hornby were not controlling that aspect of the programme. I know Gerald and he is a fine and commited railway modeller as are the Batcombe guys, but even then some of the younger members of Batcombe were not interviewed and I for one know that while the tv crew were interviewing older men at my venue, all the time there was a 18 year old female, sitting quietly in the corner, who attends model rail shows, helps with the running of layouts, helps out at shows and more importantly is turning out to be a very good model maker and made during the interviews an amazing small model of Stevenson Rocket with just bluetac, they simply ignored her. No mention of how Hornby have in recent years tried to shaft retailers with their buy direct policy, or their grab it Saturday sales which undercut the price sold to retailers thus flooding the resale market. Even the fight between Rails and Hornby, really! Rails is a large customer of Hornby, so how many now would have visited Rails website after the airing of the show and been able to mail order Hornby products if the wish to. Why no images of the Bachmann stands, and other true rivals to Hornby. Here is the model railway modeller and layout helper who they didnt interview

Monday 18th March in New Cross in London Usual groups will there including Colin and Paul from ep 1 of James May The trouble with Hornby. Great socail drinkies night all welcome. Starts 7pm The Ale Bar, 443 New Cross Road, New Cross, SE14 6TA 2 mins from New Cross BR and on bus routes 53, 453 and 177 we havew a great selection of real ales on tap, plus a built in N gauge and 009 gauge layout in the bar area

The DOGA meeting for London and South will be held this Sat 9th Feb at The London Theatre, 443 New Cross Road, London, SE14 6TA buses 453, 53 and 177 run past the venue, free parking behind the venue and they are 2 mins from New Cross BR (zone 2) and 5 mins from Deptford Bridge DLR. There are also cycle racks outside. The venue has tea/ coffee, sandwiches and also a fully stocked bar serving cask ales. 10.30am to 3pm All welcome, lots of great advice and chance to meet the members of this popular UK and worldwide group.

The DOGA meeting for London and South will be held this Sat 9th Feb at The London Theatre, 443 New Cross Road, London, SE14 6TA buses 453, 53 and 177 run past the venue, free parking behind the venue and they are 2 mins from New Cross BR (zone 2) and 5 mins from Deptford Bridge DLR. There are also cycle racks outside. The venue has tea/ coffee, sandwiches and also a fully stocked bar serving cask ales. 10.30am to 3pm All welcome, lots of great advice and chance to meet the members of this popular UK and worldwide group.

This popular social night for those who want to get together over a pint of real ale and talk model railways will be next held on Weds 13th Feb from 7pm to late Vneue is : The London Theatre and Ale Bar, 443 New Cross Road, New Cross, London, SE14 6TA bus 453, 177 and 453 run outside and we are 2 mins from New Cross BR (zone 2) The venue has it's own built in 009 layout plus a small N gauge, so feel free to bring something of that scale to run. Open to everyone, usual local clubs turn up and very friendly bunch.

Weds 16th Jan Our monthly model rail social drinkies night will be having their 'pi^! up' I mean social drinkies night from 7pm. All welcome Held as usual at THE LONDON THEATRE, 443 New Cross Road, New Cross, London, SE14 6TA from 7pm to really late. 2 mins from New Cross BR and on bus routes 53, 453 and 177 Cheap bar with Meantime lager, cask ales and we have the whole venue just for us. Usual suspects will be there Great night to come and talk model railways and some times it kicks off big time.

As you can see I can't spell 'model' in the title. lol