Watford Exhibition 6th May 2017

[tug60069]

South West Herts MRS presents its annual model railway exhibition at Queens School, Aldenham Road, Bushey Watford WD23 2TY on 6th May 2017

A variety of scales and gauges from Z to O. Over 20 layouts. Trade support, refreshments, free parking, wheelchair access throughout.  See www.southwesthertsmrs.org.uk for list of layouts and traders.

[George Woodcock]

Hello

 

     A little Bank holiday bump for this show and also to say that John, Richard and I will be there with 'Towcester'

 

                                                                                        Cheers

 

                                                                                                     George

[Fixerbob]

Ely & District's Ramsey is Striped and packed ready for this Saturday. The expectation is that it will be a good show !     Of course, if one of the two cars carrying it is in gets lost...

[hayfield]

I did not go this year but went to Billericay show, which is pretty much the same as was the Chelmsford show a few months back. You cannot compare these shows to the likes of Railex etc, especially the one day shows. For a start the economics are completely different, but the general public love them. Chelmsford was a bigger show and better supported, but a couple of hours entertainment

 

There was not much at the Billericay show that interested me, as the main focus was N/2mm finescale, and not too much in the traders department. On the plus side I learnt a lot more about DCC after listening to conversations with a demonstrator, there was a chap building 2 mm Finetracks track and a display of live steam locos

 

To be quite honest these small shows are the backbone of the hobby where far more public attend and enjoy them, I will be off to both Bracknel and Railex over the next 3 weeks, but this quality of show are both rare and specialist

[tug60069]

A big thank you to all the exhibitors, traders, members and visiting helpers that made the exhibition a success.  Thanks also to the modellers and public who attended - we received many positive comments.  The exhibition aims to ensure that a number of the layouts have been covered in the national magazines and this year was no different, so we hope visitors enjoyed seeing 'in the flesh' some of the layouts that they have seen on paper.

[TEAMYAKIMA]

First and last time of attending this show today.  In my opinion only a handful of the layouts were of excellent quality (e.g. Lambourn) . Some were good or fairly average and some were downright dire and should not be allowed anywhere near an exhibition.  I read that there were to be twenty 'high quality' layouts. A rather liberal interpretation appears to have been used here!  One 'layout' was actually some photos, a track plan and a very small board with some points thereon.  The 'layout' was in the planning stage and hasn't actually been built!

 

Speaking as someone who was exhibiting at that show I think your comments are a little harsh. It is a local show for local people. It had a selection of layouts across the spectrum and the entrance was £6 - seemed reasonable value to me.

[hayfield]

I did not go to the show this year, but it was £1 dearer than the one I went to, possibly with twice the number of layouts and if like previous 3/4 times the number of traders. Now I am not complaining but the majority of visitors are either the public with their children or non finescale modellers.

 

I know some of the members as they had the hut next to ours, they are a group of dedicated modellers who model within their wants and abilities. The finances are totally different to the society and finescale shows which mostly show over 2 days. And in the past one of the better of the local shows, normally having a good mix of scales and traders

 

Also with these local shows they normally set up and take down in the day of the show, this limits the number of large layouts and the distance travelled by the exhibitors. At Watford Finescale show the traders and layouts set up on the Friday night and the club quite often had to pay for hotel accommodation for 2 nights for half of the layouts, plus the transport costs incurred (mileage, hire van costs etc). The finances are totally different. That is not to say finescale layouts do not go to these smaller shows, but tend to be both local and on the smaller size.

 

Catering is one of the best earners for these shows, which the larger shows miss out on, as the larger venues have their own catering arrangements. If someone has a high quality layout to show, I am certain the organisers would love to have it. But its horses for courses. As I said the Billericay group seem to be more into N/2 mm scale, does not stop me enjoying them, just as I admired the engineering of the live steam locos. Another group may be into 7 mm or narrow gauge, most of all they need to satisfy the majority of their visitors first, knowing West Herts I expect they did this admirably, as did the Billericay group 

 

I am off to Bracknell this weekend, if its anything like Scaleforum I will be happy. But I bet there will be a few harsh critics in the audience

Edited May 8, 2017 by hayfield

[Horsetan]

.....It is a local show for local people. ....

 

"There's nothing for you here!"

 

[hayfield]

"There's nothing for you here!"

 

 

 

Ivan

 

That's where you are wrong, a couple of years ago from the West Herts show I got an unmade Craftsman small tank loco with wheels and motor for under £30, there is another stall there selling spares which I also have had the odd little gem from.  

 

Having said this I have had a few cheap bits from both Railex and Alley Palley. So all shows can be a source of good buy's, keep them peeled. Plus I learnt a bit more about DCC at the weekend for free (well the entrance price)

[TEAMYAKIMA]

A local show for local people?  It wasn't advertised as such.  The main point which I was really trying to make was that the show would apparently contain over twenty 'high quality' layouts. Too many exhibition managers use the word 'quality' in their advertising without giving any thought as to the true meaning of the word. There were some high quality layouts at this show.  Sadly, others could not be described as such.

 

Might I suggest if anyone wants to attend a show that they don't know (especially if it's a fair distance to travel) that they do their research - possibly by asking opinions on RMweb before they decide to go.

Edited May 9, 2017 by TEAMYAKIMA

[lmsforever]

Went with two mates who are coming back to the hobby and they both enjoyed our visit they each found layouts that clicked for them and had a good few hours.Perhaps the trade was a bit samey but the small stand selling figures and trees was worth the visit for me,Addison Park is always worth a look and good to chat with the operators who I had not seen for a while.This is a good show for locals and modelers entertaining layouts the trade could be tweeked and bacon butties could be put on the menu thanks for a good few hours.

[hayfield]

Went with two mates who are coming back to the hobby and they both enjoyed our visit they each found layouts that clicked for them and had a good few hours.Perhaps the trade was a bit samey but the small stand selling figures and trees was worth the visit for me,Addison Park is always worth a look and good to chat with the operators who I had not seen for a while.This is a good show for locals and modelers entertaining layouts the trade could be tweeked and bacon butties could be put on the menu thanks for a good few hours.

 

 

Dont know about bacon butties this year, but always been there in the past, especially first thing. Could they have sold out?  Good to hear your friends enjoyed it

[Miker]

First and last time of attending this show today.  In my opinion only a handful of the layouts were of excellent quality (e.g. Lambourn) . Some were good or fairly average and some were downright dire and should not be allowed anywhere near an exhibition.  I read that there were to be twenty 'high quality' layouts. A rather liberal interpretation appears to have been used here!  One 'layout' was actually some photos, a track plan and a very small board with some points thereon.  The 'layout' was in the planning stage and hasn't actually been built! The refreshments were rather limited in choice but the filled rolls were good. 

 

High I exhibited the OBB layout Klapping , I am tagged in the programme as a member. I was a member of the club for around 23 years and can remember a time when we nearly folded due to the natural die off of older members and people moving away. I have seen the club numbers drop to nearly nothing over the years. I left around 6 years ago  to exhibit my 3 Exhibition quality layouts ( Michaelerplatz - was best in show at Thornbury  a few years ago - it was also best in show at Southwold last year) Ruhestand Weg a dual gauge OBB branch line and Klapping an electrified truncated branch with a diesel feeder) - I re-joined the club 2 months ago and I found an invigorated club with multiple new projects and existing popular layouts . You are right to say the show was not a Fine-scale emporium - but I have exhibited all over the country and  have attended the Fine-scale and the ordinary Exhibitions. At a lot of the Fine-scale events you see layouts where the quality of the layouts is stunning ...but not a lot happens - the people who attend themselves are quality modellers but with very few family groups... The organisers of the local events have a far smaller budget to play with, any surplus we make goes straight into covering things like rental/upkeep of the club hut (ours is an old army hut built just after WW2) , electrics /heating  and anything left goes towards the development of layouts and skills of the members.. Remember the crux of the issue is the membership of the clubs is the life blood of the hobby  and currently we have very few younger members most are 50  plus... We have to appeal to the general public... and what the want to see is trains running , the children these days are more invigorated by on-line stuff and currently as a hobby we are losing  touch with this generation; which in itself is a major issue.( I will not bang on  about that). So our exhibition team had to book (a) Layouts which represented a wide spectrum of modelling (b) Traders who could support the general modelling © Layouts that we could afford - we would love to bring some of the really top quality layouts along - but a lot will NOT do  one day shows (d)  Layouts that could go up/come down within a couple of hours - we have access to the school on Friday evening from 17.30- but we have to clear chairs/move tables/ set up electrics/check plus sockets/do the Health &Safety checks and ensure there is soap/loo rolls and the disabled toilets are accessible ( on this occasion the latter was an issue  due to a ball cock failure- so we had to make alternative  arrangements). We had road signage to go up (and take down after the event) , car parking too. We had to be out of the venue by 19.00 the show shut at 16.30....

As I said I exhibit all over the country myself and have been to events where the quality of the events has been let down by a multitude of things - I felt we did a good job, the public got value for money and overall both they and us had a great time - we are looking forward to next years  show in May  and we also do an event in October at a different venue where we have our latest projects on view, together with some of the club members layouts.

[hayfield]

Miker

 

You hit the nail on the head, these local shows are aimed quite rightly for the general public. These are the people who pay the entrance fee, many are interested in model railways and take the opportunity to buy the odd item, if the club relied on finescale modellers coming the show would run at a loss. That is not to say finescale modellers don't go to these shows, they do and they do exhibit.  And don't forget far more RTR bought than kits, we need these folk to fund the new models

[TEAMYAKIMA]

Again, this is not in any way a criticism of the SW Herts show, but perhaps looking at the list of traders attending a show might give a better idea of the target market of the organisers.

 

If all the traders listed at a show are all selling etched brass kits, high end DCC and 7mm sprung buffers then that would be a clue that that particular show is aimed at the serious experienced modeller.

 

On the other hand if most of the traders are selling secondhand RTR then that would say to me that families and locals looking for a couple of hours entertainment were the target market.

[hayfield]

Again, this is not in any way a criticism of the SW Herts show, but perhaps looking at the list of traders attending a show might give a better idea of the target market of the organisers.

 

If all the traders listed at a show are all selling etched brass kits, high end DCC and 7mm sprung buffers then that would be a clue that that particular show is aimed at the serious experienced modeller.

 

On the other hand if most of the traders are selling secondhand RTR then that would say to me that families and locals looking for a couple of hours entertainment were the target market.

 

 

You are not going to get the specialist traders to this type of show, unless its either a local trader and or member / friend of a member. No disrespect to the show but would a specialist trader make any money going to a show of this type. West Herts is a well run show aimed at its target audience to allow it to fund its existance

 

But most finescale modellers are happy to support shows in their area, bonus is quite often on either the clubs trade stand or a s/h trader may have the odd gem at a decent price