5050 Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I think you'll find we have already agreed that next years loco will be made of cake. All we need now is to decide on a prototype and how much I'm going to enjoy trying to eat the rivets faster than people can count them. How about Princess VICTORIA? (There was one named that - wasn't there? Or am I losing it - again ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Huw Griffiths Posted December 4, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 4, 2015 Too big can also manifest itself in the personal approach by the host club. Welcome on arrival, offered a brew, offered help with unloading, shown exactly where to set up, friendly natter about he set up and invite to a social. I've noted over many shows that the bigger and more commercial a show gets, the more these little touches are forgotten as limited manpower is needed on other duties. My personal preference is therefore the smaller shows and I enjoy these far more. Since it's not exactly unknown for lunchtime "meetings" to be held in Wetherspoons, I'd imagine that some people might prefer to be offered a Special Brew on arrival - followed by a few more "nourishing beverages". As for the "smaller shows", I seem to recall a very good one - held in some venue, pretty close to a rugby stadium, on the outskirts of Coventry. Unfortunately, it clashed with some other events - and the place ended up looking like a ghost town - so that was the end of that. I suppose the advantage of exhibiting over just visiting is that we have our space behind the layout to retreat to when it does get crowded. Probably not the largest of spaces - and there's the distinct disadvantage of still being visible to a number of visitors. Perhaps a loco made of cake? That would be a great centrepiece! Presumably put together by the team who did that Skoda advert the other year? Hmm, a centrepiece loco made of spam. I don't think that'd work. But maybe a stand selling spam fritters. In view of how Andy's probably tearing his hair out trying to ensure that this site stays a "spam free zone" - and administrators of a number of forum sites are looking for ways of ensuring that the stuff (and the originating "bots") get well and truly fried - I think it might be best to give that stuff a miss. As Marie Antoinette is my culinary hero I'll vote for a cake centrepiece. Did she actually get to eat the stuff - or just tell peasants to eat it? Whatever the score, (to paraphrase Ted Allen), she got "Chopped". Too right about the Spam. I think you'll find we have already agreed that next years loco will be made of cake. All we need now is to decide on a prototype and how much I'm going to enjoy trying to eat the rivets faster than people can count them. If you're looking for rivets, might I suggest a class 142 Pacer? Wait a second - you're looking for a loco, or at least a train - which puts paid to that idea. I'm proud! Is there an "Impossible to mark" trophy? Seriously though, I didn't get to see the show other than grabbing an (excellent) burger each day, but then being on the stand chatting to people is what I'm there for. For two days, almost without exception, I spent the time talking to enthusiastic people about Ruston Quays and model making in general. Everyone was nice and friendly. They all seemed to be having a good time. If that was you - thank you for dropping by the BRM stand. If I'm honest, it does the ego good when people say they are following a series of articles and having a go. After all, that's the point of writing them! We also had loads of good feedback about the magazine and especially the DVD which lots of people commented on. When I'm in the studio again (next week) it inspires me to do the best I can as it's great to know people are watching and enjoying it. Some even asked me where my Elf hat was... :-) Ho! Ho! Ho! I suspect that the "impossible to mark" trophy will appear in about a month's time - when various people on this site try to decide which they prefer from a number of completely different locos, railcars, trams and whatever else, in the "build a loco challenge". I just hope that people put their personal prototype preferences aside for long enough to vote for the "best" models - even if they're of prototypes they don't particularly care for. Saying that, most people round here seem pretty fair-minded, so I'm sure that nobody needs to worry on that score. As I commented to you on Saturday, I'm looking forward to reading about how various people have gone about designing and building their models - what techniques they've tried (hopefully some of these techniques being innovative - or at least new to them) - what short cuts they might have discovered - what items they've managed to repurpose - whether they'd do things the same way on future models - stuff like that. When it comes to "doing the ego good", there should be an amazing "boost" on offer to whoever wins the RMweb challenges - knowing that other people rate their work - perhaps also seeing their work in a magazine, or seeing one of their models on display on the Warners stand at "Ally Pally". As for future RMweb challenges - future chances for good modellers to get such an ego boost - I wonder if plans might be afoot to capitalise on the new links with magazines like Narrow Gauge World. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but I reckon that "build something that runs on NG track" could be an interesting idea for a future RMweb challenge. Well, it's either that or a "finish them up" challenge, in a similar vein to one currently running on railroad-line.com. Wait a minute - this is railway modelling we're talking about here - such a concept would never catch on! Huw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 If you're looking for rivets, might I suggest a class 142 Pacer? Wait a second - you're looking for a loco, or at least a train - which puts paid to that idea. Good job it was (is) sponsored by Squires Tools then, imagine if a newspaper sponsored it! Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisf Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Huw, I think that Spams was referring to tea when he mentioned a brew. Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brittannia Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 And you weren't getting whacked in the midriff by a HUGE rucksack! how tall are you? I usually get hit on the chin! { I do mean by a rucksack ] , Honest! Shorty Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardS Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 There were cakes? That you see proves that a show can be too big because I never saw any (but I did at Wycrail, hic ...burp ... ) I have to concur, I saw no cakes. Perhaps this is something a tie up with the Good Food Show could resolve next year? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted December 4, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 4, 2015 I have to concur, I saw no cakes. Perhaps this is something a tie up with the Good Food Show could resolve next year? I had a large pack of McVities choc digestives on my demo stand, but I was too busy talking to eat them.... Never mind have a look round the rest of the show. Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted December 5, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 5, 2015 We were forced to eat all our cake to make way for purchases This is my one concern of having cake waiting at the show, I might overfill the van and not have room for essential purchases. Oh well I suppose on the Sunday I don't really need the operators any more so that frees up a seat in the front Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Did she actually get to eat the stuff - or just tell peasants to eat it? Neither: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted December 5, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 5, 2015 Reluctant to admit this but I was given two pieces of date and walnut cake, which happens to be my very favourite, by a club member whose full identity must, for security reasons remain anonymous. Both slices were excellent. As usual the host club looked after us very well and although it doesn't have the personal touch of a smaller show I do think, considering the sheer scale of the thing, they do pretty well. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the show though I was starting to run out of voice toward the end. I was on my own for much of the time as Kim was co-opted onto the kiddies free kit building stand but we did get an hour or so on Sunday afternoon to look round as my old mate Dave from the Gascupboard model shop sat in for me. We will be back next year. Jerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr.king Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I never got any date and walnut cake! Such cake, from home, was a vital supplement and one of the few luxuries when I was existing off my own cooking as a student back in the early eighties. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I can understand people who find the show/NEC offputting due to the size of it and how many people attend, etc. I find it difficult for reasons of mobility and being lower down in a mobility scooter seeing some layouts is hard (too many sadly assume everyone will be standing, understandably i guess, but it is what it is) due to a number of factors (crowds, especialy on the Saturday). None of these points are unique to the Warley show, and in fact I find ally pally to be much worse for it usually at times. However for the NEC in general, Warley is quite quiet compared to many other shows. Try going to Comicon on a Saturday in a mobilty scooter, without priority entry tickets it'd be almost impossible, people not looking at all where they're going as well makes it worse and the isles being narrower for the stands. That and some stands being on raised platforms that make it impossible to get to with a wheelchair/scooter (Gadget Show Live was guilty of this a lot too from experience). These last two points are two that Warley does well however as stands/layouts are accessible in terms of being level and the isles are generally fairly wide between stands and layouts, etc. I don't usually go to Warley on a Saturday, but did this year due to having a weekend ticket (Comicon not being same weekend made that possible) for a change so I did shopping and running (well, wheeling...) around having a general nose at stuff and Sunday was much more laid back with more time spent chatting with people and watching layouts (ones I could get near at least). Warley is one of the shows I usually attend each year (the NEC being so close to where I live helps with that too!), and I on the whole enjoy it a lot, this year probably being one of the best really in many respects. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted December 5, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 5, 2015 Hello all, The man behind Nelevation is Allen Pearson, who is a 2mm and N gauge modeller and responsible for the Ribblehead layout seen recently in Model Rail magazine. His fiddle yard wasn't big enough, and he lacked space, so he came up with the Nelevator. Not wishing to nitpick but the idea of a vertical fiddle yard was to the best of my knowledge, suggested by Iain Rice in one of his track planning books way back in the last century. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Not wishing to nitpick but the idea of a vertical fiddle yard was to the best of my knowledge, suggested by Iain Rice in one of his track planning books way back in the last century. I thought the same, I recalled an article on something like Railway Modeller many years ago when I came across the stand. The difference is in the implementation/control I think though, Nelevation being a much more sophisticated and clean looking item in comparison to what I recall of the article. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 There's an article on it in the latest MERG journal too - it was a joint project between the layout owner (Allen Pearson) and a friend of his (Richard Farrar) who is a former electronics engineer. Irrespective of whether or not Iain Rice had the idea first, he doesn't sell them! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted December 5, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 5, 2015 There's an article on it in the latest MERG journal too - it was a joint project between the layout owner (Allen Pearson) and a friend of his (Richard Farrar) who is a former electronics engineer. Irrespective of whether or not Iain Rice had the idea first, he doesn't sell them!. I've just read the article in the MERG journal and though I didn't understand some of the electronic speak it is a good read. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David41283 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I've just read the article in the MERG journal and though I didn't understand some of the electronic speak it is a good read. Jamie I agree wholeheartedly on two counts. It was an excellent, heartwarming article about the chap getting back into his interests after a nasty accident. I am also glad to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't understand nearly all of what MERG sends me! David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted December 5, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 5, 2015 There's an article on it in the latest MERG journal too - it was a joint project between the layout owner (Allen Pearson) and a friend of his (Richard Farrar) who is a former electronics engineer. Irrespective of whether or not Iain Rice had the idea first, he doesn't sell them! No, he doesn't. Iain's sketches were of a much cruder device, and as Kelly has pointed out, the commercial offering is a much more sophisticated device It is good to see someone has taken the initiative to create something which in all probability is beyond the average N gauge modellers engineering abilities. But all I am asking is that in this thread, acknowledgement is given to the originator of the idea, especially as it has been previously published in some of his many works. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Patriot87003 Posted December 7, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2015 I went to Warley on Saturday and enjoyed the exhibition. I totally missed this news/announcement of the PECO OHLE that is shown on the MREmag article. Does anyone have any more details or information? I remember a few years ago that PECO announced they would develop a range of OO OHLE but it seemed to go quiet after the introduction of Dapol's OHLE. I've got the answer to my question .. and it's good news for modellers of UK OHLE! I contacted PECO direct to ask about the OHLE seen at Warley and they kindly replied to say that they are planning to develop and release a 'robust and quality' catenary system in conjuction with Sommerfeldt for OO modellers with further details to be published in the February edition of the Railway Modeller. Fantastic news! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaGrange Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Some of you may have noticed the GoPro camera stuck on/near O'Connell Street Tramway 1949, here is our video Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Huw Griffiths Posted December 10, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2015 I contacted PECO direct to ask about the OHLE seen at Warley and they kindly replied to say that they are planning to develop and release a 'robust and quality' catenary system in conjuction with Sommerfeldt for OO modellers with further details to be published in the February edition of the Railway Modeller. Sounds very interesting. I'd quite like it if they were also to produce a guide to OHLE (and how to install it on a model railway) - like the Sommerfeldt one, but written in clear English. Whatever the score, if Sommerfeldt are involved, I could see the quality being high - but I can't see the stuff being cheap. I wonder how long it will be before we also see a range of, ready-to-fit, 4mm scale, pantographs to go with the OHLE - or will it be a case of adapting the "nearest" HO scale item. On a separate but related note, when I saw the RM 2016 Annual, I found the article about Peco models that never made it onto model shop shelves rather interesting. In particular, I was interested to see a test build of a traverser - something which might have come in useful on some depot themed layouts. I wonder if they're ever likely to release this one - and, if so, how long the deck would be (and could it be lengthened / shortened). I guess I'll never find out. Huw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted December 12, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 12, 2015 The show is just about put to bed. Thanks to the volunteers who make it happen, the layout crews, the traders and societies for making the show happen. Despite the assertions of some on here and elsewhere the show doesn't use paid volunteers wevdo use NEC electricians to set out the major electrics, Stand fitters to build the shell schemes for trade and societies and that's about it. One of our volunteers has sadly died yesterday. Despite being very unwell he was at the show from Friday morning to sunday helping out. He will be missed. John Coulter rest in peace. Baz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted December 12, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2015 Baz, thanks I hope it was a success for the club coffers. And thank you John and all the volunteers for making the exhibitors weekend easy and fun. I hope John enjoyed himself and is playing with his ultimate dream model railway now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted December 12, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2015 No, he doesn't. Iain's sketches were of a much cruder device, and as Kelly has pointed out, the commercial offering is a much more sophisticated device It is good to see someone has taken the initiative to create something which in all probability is beyond the average N gauge modellers engineering abilities. But all I am asking is that in this thread, acknowledgement is given to the originator of the idea, especially as it has been previously published in some of his many works. To be fair vertical fiddle yards or traversers of various designs have been featured in the magazines for many years; I am sure I have seen such articles dating from the 40s and 50s and probabaly before. Anyone can have an idea and produce a sketch - it's getting a design to actually work reliably and then getting it to market at a reasonable cost that in my view is the real achievement. cheers Ben A. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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