LNERandBR

Well, I thought a reduction of points would be a step too far for the FIA. Although, I hope the fine also has to be accounted for within the cost cap. Otherwhise there really is no point to it at all. The loss of windtunnel time is the most damaging to them for next year. An opportunity for other teams to close up on them.

Yeah, feels kind of pointless staying up all night to watch given the championship's are pretty much done. 😪 I mean, a few places may move around below the top spot but that's about it. 🤔

I suppose for Trade it's also case of trying different shows and seeing which work out and which don't. Every Trader's experience will be different depending on what they are selling as well. So one show might be a good earner for one won't be for another. I do think that Show Managers ought to do all they can to help Trade attend their shows. However, they can only do that if they can find savings in their own costs. The question of big layouts with lots of operators being expensive crops up. Has anyone tried sponsorship for transport costs? The nearest my club gets to is borrowing a van so that it's only fuel that is needed for our expenses.

A bit of the frames maybe? The same thing is true of Prince on the Ffestiniog which has physically grown in size over the years as various parts were replaced. However, it's still said to be one of the oldest working steam locomotives.

Plenty of overtaking but it was only when others found the wall or made a mistake. Not a good day to be a F1 world champion.

Personally, I'd prefer to wait until I have a phisical model to look at then use online photos. The images shown are taken at different angles. One looking down at the model whilst the other is looking up at the prototype. That changes the perspective and makes straight comparisons difficult. I feel it's a case of paying your money and making your choice here.

No, I'd rather see them take on a forest rally stage. Somewhere like Finland would do, see if they can keep it on the road whilst blasting though the trees over blind crests 😆 Turning us back from the fringes of going off topic. They apparently have data showing that there isn't just more in person spectators at events with sprint qualifying but also more TV audience too. Sort of makes sense when you think about it. Those with Sky can already watch all the on track action. However, I bet there are many who don't bother with the practice sessions. They now have more reason to tune in on a Friday to watch qualifying. What they need to do is make the sprint more relevant IMO. At the moment it really is just a longer race with a pause.

I agree here. Though I would say disconnecting the wires at the Motor and Pickup end would be a good idea. At least you then know which goes where if the original installer has decided to use different wire colours. Quite why someone would glue it in is byond me, what would you do if you wanted to swap it? Therefore leaveing the decoder in position but unwireing it sounds the easiest way forward.

The normal advice is to ensure a loco works well on DC before adding a DCC decoder. I'd therefore agree that removing the decoders until the chassis runs sweetly is the best way forward there 🙂

Issue there is the potential part. A bigger show will also have mutiple traders selling the same type of thing. Therefore there is competition as people will find the cheaper option if they want something. A well run village hall show would have one teader of each type. If someone wants a second hand loco they'd have the choice of buying one off the only stand there or heading on the internet when they get home. Therefore that stand has 100% of the potential customers even though the number of those customers is lower. Maybe some shows need to reduce the number of traders so each one has a bigger slice of the potential pie? Whilst that sounds bad from a stand rate income point of view. It's likely more sustainable in the longer run.

Nothing wrong with a good discussion. 😁 I think it's clear what works for one show won't always work for another. There are unique situations which require spacific solutions. So, what is common? The issue of finding good quality layouts has to be one. However, how big a problem that is still depends on the spacific show. How many layouts are needed and how big the budget is. Another issue has to be trade. In some ways I think the costs for them need to be reduced. If not, they will reducing the number of shows they attend and some already have. It won't always be the little show missing out either as it depends on the location. Why travel to a big show the other end of the county when you can atrend a smaller show locally. You'd pay less on stand rent, less on fuel, less on accommodation, etc.

Catering is the moneymaker. Even though we have lots of exhibitor lunches to provide over the two days ours at the Boston Show still makes a profit that helps the rest of the event break even. Offering drinks and light refreshments. However, it only does so if you can saff it with volunteers some venus won't allow this or will have their own catering outlets. A hygiene certificate is a must. However, you don't need everyone in the catering area to have one. I forget if there's a certain number or not but I know we have 2 people with certificates and up to 3 other helpers. My understanding is it's an online course but I wasn't involved with organising it.

Yep, it certainly does work for us. Whilst we aim to break even we're indebted to the local layouts which offer to come at a minimum cost. It allows for a small surplus to be made which goes into the clubs coffers. We're very much a small 'grassroots' show, put on by a small club for the enjoyment of all. Really glad to hear that you enjoyed your time at the show. If anyone is wondering, the show is open tomorrow as well, details on our website: http://bostonmrs.50webs.org/Exhibitions.html Unfortunately, that doesn't have a layout or trader list as it got confirmed very late this year due to our Show Manager having to step down due to ill health. Fortunately, we were able to pull together and get the show organised in time.

There really are a few costs which are 'must haves'. Clearly, keeping the Exhibitors happy via lunches and drink is one of these. Being involved with a small village hall club show. The biggest issue is finding different layouts each year which are local. This being important to avoid accommodation costs and to keep fuel expenses down. Conversely, getting a layout invites to shows tends to be difficult if you are new to the hobby. Younger people building layouts are out there but the problem being that they aren't always members of traditional clubs. So, they don't get invited to 'their' club show and that prevents them being found by other exhibition managers.

Free tea and coffee on tap is a must for exhibitors I feel. If it's not going to be free then that needs to be communicated at the time of the booking. You spend a lot of time talking to visitors so having liquid refreshment available is important. I have heard of this and expect it will be down to whichever franchised catering is in place at that venue. In the case that I am thinking of I understand the catering manager was quite put out that exhibitors should have any free sustenance. However, there are ways and means around it and many shows simply don't use the catering outlet for Exhibitors. Mainly by having a 'Exhibitor Only' area where you can only get in if you are an exhibitor and having suitable facilities there. Providing a lunch can be done by delivering packed lunches to exhibitors is another method that's becoming more and more common.

Quite agree, also since when did accomodation include an evening meal? Every show I've done as an exhibitor where I've been put up in a hotel has included breakfast only. You have to find your own evening meal. It's also far easier to just provide a lunch for all. My club's show goes one further and provides lunch to Traders too as being a small village hall show means we can do so. Get the prices right for refreshments and the profit from that pays for the lunches.

With Traders my club show tries to have one of each type. So one selling Second Hand, one with Brand New, etc. We're a small village hall show and normally have around 7 layouts. So keeping the number of trade down like this brings more trade to each one so they are not competeing with each other.

And where exactly would the reserve fuel tank be positioned on these very tightly packaged cars? These are supposed to be the fastest race cars on the planet yet you'd have them lug around another fuel tank and fuel they may or may not use? If anything it swings back to the Safety Car procedures. We need consistency, therefore rather than the open ended and interpretable ruleset we have now they should be outlined in the rules as a 'do A then B then C'. Either that or get a Race Director who applies the rules exactly the same way every time. Like we did with the late Charlie Whiting. We had no issues with Safety Car restarts and the like when he was in charge. He just interpreted the rulebook the same way every time and did so consistently. Once consistency is restored you can then say 'it takes X number of laps to restart the race after an incident has been cleared'. That then tells you that if the safety car is still out with less that that number of laps left you should red flag the race and buy time to finish clearing the incident. You can then restart the race from a rolling start and get a few laps of sprint till the end.

Another way around it, if the Safety Car is out and there are 5 laps left to go then call a red flag and allow a short 5 lap sprint to the end. You can't increase the number of laps as cars are limited to the amount of fuel they carry. Not only by the fact more fuel means more weight but also physical tank size is limited to 110kg. I suspect the longer races like Spa will need nearly that much for the normal race distance let alone a sudden extra 3 laps.

I think it's clear the running of the sport needs to be looked at. The Race Direction needs looking at again as it's too slow now.

Both, increase the longevity of the engine and you reduce how many are needed. That's why the number of parts has been reduced from when the engines were first brought in.

If F1 isn't interesting you then there are plenty of other motorsports out there that could. Leave us to natter about F1 in peace 😆 Back on topic, I will agree that the Power Unit rules aren't working as intended. They are supposed to increase the reliability of the cars but clearly the push for more pace over longevity is too great. If every car in the field has to take additional parts at some point then they should increase the number of allowed parts in a season. Then, if the teams are still breaking that rule then would a better way to dissuade them be a massive fine which should be included within the cost cap?

As lamps are removeable and could technically be swapped between engines. It makes sense that they wouldn't therefore be as dirty as the engine they are currently attached to.

What about fastest lap? Or are you giving that to other drivers to make the maths easier 😆

It's the same everywhere. Many happy people say nothing whilst others don't say much. Meanwhile, those who are unhappy resort to social media to complain about whatever issues they've found. People then respond on those negative posts and push them up the feeds. You get a skewed perspective on things.