WIGAN 2017 Saturday 30th September & Sunday 1st October

[Eaton]

 

PLEASE NOTE SLIGHT CHANGE OF DATE

[Eaton]

[

Edited July 15, 2017 by Eaton

[Eaton]

[[

Edited July 26, 2017 by Eaton

[Eaton]

 

Over the coming weeks we shall attempt to wet your appetite by showing 'Tasters' of layouts that will be appearing at WIGAN 2017. 

The photograph above features Simon Howard's 'WAINTHROP BRIDGE' which should feel completely at home in Wigan being as it is a 'Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway' layout set in the 1920's, albeit more Yorkshire than Lancashire. However I am sure that some of the locomotives and rolling stock must have run through Wigan.

 

Things to Note: This year we have a vintage bus provided by The Transport Museum in St. Helens running from Wigan North Western Railway Station and the Exhibition at Robin Park.

Also our ADVANCE TICKET facility available through our website www.wiganfrm.com is now in operation and tickets are now £8, a reduction of £1 on last years price. 

Lastly please be aware of the slight change of date, we are a week earlier than normal, SATURDAY 30th SEPTEMBER & SUNDAY 1st OCTOBER.

[APOLLO]

Catering - Whose the Pie supplier ?

 

Brit15

[Mr.S.corn78]

EXHIBITION TASTER 1.jpg

 

Over the coming weeks we shall attempt to wet your appetite by showing 'Tasters' of layouts that will be appearing at WIGAN 2017. 

The photograph above features Simon Howard's 'WAINTHROP BRIDGE' which should feel completely at home in Wigan being as it is a 'Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway' layout set in the 1920's, albeit more Yorkshire than Lancashire. However I am sure that some of the locomotives and rolling stock must have run through Wigan.

 [/b].

More than you would know Eaton, more than you would know.

 

Honoured to listed as the first taster layout and looking forward to the show as always.

 

Cheers

Simon

[Eaton]

 

WIGAN 2017 will be the fiftieth model railway exhibition held in Wigan. Much has changed in the intervening years, changes to the organising body from the Wigan & District Model Railway Society to the Wigan Finescale Railway Modellers, inevitably changes in personnel and considerable changes both within the hobby and within the exhibition scene.

Back in the late 60's, early 70's a Hornby 'Flying Scotsman' would cost you £3 19s 6p, but as with many things in life you got what you paid for and it certainly seemed that the pricing policy was centred around an eleven year old boy's pocket money. The major manufacturers were in a dilemma as to where to pitch their products and ended up producing locos that fell halfway between a toy and a model. Hence serious modellers relied on detail kits to upgrade the ready to run (and sometimes it struggled to do that) or resorted to the whitemetal kit. How this has changed. Now the latest ready to run offerings are on a par with the best professionally built locos retailed at a fraction of the price. Certainly serious models but at no longer pocket money prices. Interestingly there is still a school of thought that thinks that quality can be obtained cheaply.

Exhibitions have also changed. I can remember when it was a reciprocal arrangement whereby one club would bring their layouts to another clubs exhibition and visa versa. I have the Guidebook from our 1969 exhibition, cost one shilling and it lists 22 exhibits of which 10 were layouts and 6 were traders. I would think the financial risk was not very high and neither were the overheads as all of the layouts were local and two from within the club. Certainly no hotel accommodation, minimal catering, little insurance and low transport costs. I well remember the formula whereby the trade stand rentals covered the cost of the layouts and the admission revenue paid for the venue and almost guaranteed a reasonable surplus.

Now we are in business mode as the financial risk is considerable and a surplus far from guaranteed. I also remember the days when an increase in visitor numbers could be predicted with a considerable degree of certainty. The eleven year old boy would drag his whole family along to an exhibition. To the young of today model railways are far from 'cool' as there are now many other pastimes that are clamouring for their short attention spans. In my opinion far to many are passive rather than requiring hands on involvement. Many youngsters will not know the joy to be derived from making. 

We now organise a large exhibition of 32 layouts and 40+ traders and it is not easy and certainly not a means to a goldmine. Financial prudence is certainly the name of the game and has a direct impact on the layouts that we can afford to invite and this is not the position we wish to be in. We are also a non-profit making company so all our surplus is invested in the subsequent years exhibition. The reverse is also true that should we make a loss we would be in serious trouble and the following years exhibition would be severely curtailed. Happily we have never made a loss but the position we wish to be in is that if we see a quality layout we can invite it to Wigan, regardless of where it comes from or how many operators need hotel accommodation. It is this that makes holding the exhibition worthwhile, we are not in it to just survive.

Six years ago we increased our admission to £10. For two years it was bliss, we had the freedom to invite anybody and we produced quality exhibitions with many layouts previously not seen in the North West. During those six years our overheads have dramatically increased whilst the admission has stayed the same. Realistically we should be charging £12 and that would still not return us to the 2011 situation. The conundrum is that we need to either increase the ticket price or increase the number of visitors. Word of mouth has always been the most effective means of publicity and we would ask all those who have supported us over those 50 years to spread the word. Every extra visitor will improve next years exhibition and that is a promise.

 

Exhibition Taster No. 2 on its way shortly.   

[Eaton]

 

This is GWEEK NORTH QUAY which rather emphasises the point I made in the previous post concerning what we hope to continually bring to Wigan. It is a model of the narrow gauge railway that used to run through the valley of the Helston River. This most unusual prototype was constructed by the members of the Helston & Falmouth Model Railway Club to O Gauge standards but on 16.5mm track. It is beautifully modelled and has not been seen previously in the North West.

We can only thank the layout builders for making the long journey to Wigan from deepest Cornwall which is a trek by anybody's standards.

[Eaton]

 

Our latest taster is Peter Clark's O Gauge Train Maintenance Depot set in the late 1980's to early 1990's. It is based upon facilities found on Network South East. A section of the mainline has also been modelled which includes several little cameos that require careful searching before all are located. An ideal task for our younger visitors.

 

Nearer the Exhibition date I will try and get details of both the Vintage Bus and the timetable. All I know at the moment is that because of the traffic congestion around Wigan North Western Station it will not be allowed to hang around.

 

Advance Tickets (and they are worth having as you become an authorised queue jumper) are now on sale via our website and are cheaper than last year.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Eaton

[Eaton]

 

For those visitors who like layouts featuring scenery on the Grand Scale we have Macclesfield Model Railway Group's ON30 layout 'Purgatory Peak'. This American mining layout set in the 1930's is truly epic featuring a stunning mountain landscape together with those idiosyncratic locomotives so beloved by those western companies. If it is atmosphere that you are looking for the 'Purgatory Peak' will be your kind of layout.  

[Eaton]

Please note the LAYOUT LIST now stands at 31, 'Ludlow' having withdrawn. Those like myself who were looking forward to seeing this layout should not despair as it is rebooked for a subsequent Exhibition.

[Eaton]

 

 

The latest TASTER features Bob Harper's 'Maristow' set in deepest Devon on the north bank of the River Tamar. In the Edwardian period in which the layout is set, 1904, the locomotives of the Great Western Railway were magnificent machines and Bob's layout certainly emphasises this aspect of our railway history. The locomotive featured in the photograph is 3256 'Guinevere' a member of the 3252 Class referred to as 'Dukes'. It was built in August 1895 and is resplendent in it's fully lined livery with all brasswork highly polished.

This layout features rolling stock of an amazingly high standard and is well worth travelling to Wigan to see!

[Eaton]

 

Our latest Taster features the Normanton & Pontefract Model Railway Society's N gauge layout 'Great Burden'. This layout has everything, a canal, a quarry with its own narrow gauge railway and a junction with a riverside oil depot as well as lots of main line traffic as the layout depict a section of the East-West main line on the Yorkshire side of the Pennines. 

The locomotive and rolling stock reflect the late steam to early diesel period so there is lots of variety and lots to look at.

Another layout not to be missed.

 

We also have an addition to the Traders list as Pennine Models will be with us.

[t-b-g]

Wigan is always one of my favourite shows in the exhibition diary and one of the few that I regularly travel a long distance to see.

 

I hope to do the same this year and I am looking forward to it.

 

I will just pass on what little thing that crossed my mind. I can't see any P4,  S7 or 2mm finescale layouts, so the "finescale" versions of the main scales are represented by just one EM gauge layout.

 

That is not to say that there isn't a superb collection of high quality layouts. It is  just an observation from a finescale enthusiast.

[Eaton]

An update regarding our Trade Support. ITT Diecast has been added to the list.

[Eaton]

 

Our TASTER No. 7 features a project undertaken by our colleagues from the Wirral FRM as an interim project between the retirement of 'Widnes Vine Yard' and the next 'big project'. 'Newhaven' was purchased as a running layout but has been extensively reinterpreted including both converting to DCC and turning the layout from an inside L shape into an outside L making it a bit more exhibition friendly. To all intents and purposes it will be a 'new' layout when it makes it's first appearance a Wigan. As with everything the  'Wirral Lads' undertake it will be well worth a look and is yet another reason to visit Wigan 2017.

 

A few reminders, please note the slight change of date, Saturday 30th September & Sunday 1st October and Advance Tickets are now available through our website www. wiganfrm.com and of course accompanied children are as always FREE.  

[Eaton]

 

Our TASTER No. 8 is a stretch of the electrified West Coast Main Line mid way between Preston and Wigan. As the photograph shows the Overhead Line Equipment and the working Colour light signals are well modelled. This layout has been constructed by Preston & District Model Railway Club and we are very pleased to welcome it to Wigan 2017.

 

As a previous poster has mentioned we are a little short of the finescale element this year as the P4 and 2mm Finescale are notable by their absence. Obviously this was not our original intention and we have had a number of layout that we had previously invited who for one reason or another were unable to attend. Some years these things are unavoidable. But as the poster admits there are still so fine layouts on view.

 

Looking through the Guidebook mock up I also note that we have a number of layouts of localities in the area. Euxton Junction, Coppell, Glazebrook,

Chester Northgate Shed and Poulton-Le- Fylde are all within easy travelling distance of the Exhibition venue. Some years unusual things happen.

[Eaton]

 

Our 9th Taster comes all the way from Ayrshire and is an O Gauge masterpiece featuring some truly magnificent locomotives. A diesel depot has been fitted since the last time I saw 'St. Marnock' so I suspect we will see a little more diesel traction. All of the locomotives are sound chipped and some of the steam examples have smoke units as the layout is DCC operated. Yet another layout that will repay close inspection.

 

We also have a team of able demonstrators, notable amongst them will be renowned Locomotive Constructor Tony Wright who will be running his clinic for problematic engines. If you have a dodgy runner bring it to Tony for his advise and assistance. Also present is Geoff Kent, an expert in constructing almost anything from Platikard. He is an acknowledged master of his craft and is, like Tony, very willing to pass on his knowledge and experience.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Eaton

[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]

Just a quick heads up, according to Wigan Athlwtic Web site, they are due to play Walsall at home at 15.00 on Satutday 30th September.

This means there will be parking restrictions.

As always i am looking firward to coming over from Skelmersdale

[Eaton]

 

Taster No. 10 is a photograph supplied to us by Kevin Cartwright of his N gauge layout 'Brixham Bay'. The superb photographs I have seen show it to be something of a scenic masterpiece faithfully recreating the location and fully exploiting the 2mm scale.

This seems to be another layout that may repay careful looking and another reason to make the trip to Wigan.

[Eaton]

 

Exhibition Taster No. 11 is a photo supplied to us by Steve Saxby of his layout 'Axmouth'. As is easily seen in the photo it features operation on the Southern Railway in the 1930's prior to World War 2. Although it is a small layout being only scenically 6' it does illustrate what can be achieved when space is limited. It is based upon the terminus at Seaton in Devon, although a mirror image. It has a main platform, bay, engine shed and goods yard.

It is often said that railway modellers never have enough space and the space issue is a perennial problem. However 'Axmouth' proves that with research and careful thought an awful lot can be achieved within tight confines that neither inhibit the scenic development or restrict the operation.

[Eaton]

Please note that Exhibition Taster No. 10 'Brixham Bay' is a feature layout in October's British Railway Modelling.

[MarkSG]

Can anyone give me an idea of what the parking will be like on the Saturday?

I'm planning to come to the exhibition for the first time in several years (the first time since I moved down south to Worcestershire), as I'll be in the area for another reason and it seems like a good opportunity to drop in again. But it also means I'll have no choice about which day I visit - when I used to live closer, I'd always pick the other day if one of them clashed with a footy match at the DW, but this time I'll have to suck it up as I won't be around on the Sunday.

 

If I get there early enough, am I still reasonably likely to get parked? If so, how early is early enough? If not, what's the best alternative?

[Eaton]

 

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! Exhibition Taster No.12 is Pen-y-Graig built to a scale of 5mm to 1 foot with a track gauge of 12mm. I would suspect that the builder, Barrie Johnson doesn't purchase many ready to run models.

This is a narrow gauge line serving the slate and mineral industries in the area. It features a working incline and as one would expect all the rolling stock is either scratch or kit built. A feature of the layout is how well the dilapidated nature of the site has been faithfully replicated

Edited September 18, 2017 by Eaton

[Eaton]

 

TASTER No13 features 'Lincoln Central' which is large OO layout based upon British Railways practice between 1957 and 1971. However I have not included it  because of the variety of rolling stock that you might see but because of the buildings, and in particular the Great Northern Hotel. It is  modelling of the highest standard. I have included a photograph of the prototype, taken sometime in the 60's judging by the Sunbeam Talbot in the foreground so that a comparison can be made to the model. Who needs trains to run when there are building like these?

 

Sam asks me to post that the last day for the receipt of requests for Advance Tickets is MONDAY 25th SEPTEMBER. They cost £8, including the free Guidebook and gain you early entry into the Exhibition. They are available through our website at www.wiganfrm.co.uk

 

Regarding CAR PARKING, there is a football match on Saturday directly across the road, kick off 3pm. This means that there will be no free car parking, certainly in the afternoon and probably all day. It will get very busy between 2 and 3pm in the afternoon and again from 4.45 until 5.30 so travelling to and fro during those times are to be avoided. It will have quietened by the time the exhibition closes at 5.30. There will also be a lull from 3 until 4.30 when the match is being played.

On Sunday the large car parks further along Loire Drive should be free.

Wigan Council now view every potential parking place within the Borough as a source of revenue and are aggressively placing meters in every conceivable space. Within a very short time the concept of free parking in Wigan will be but a distant memory. Please be aware that we as a group have absolutely no control over the parking arrangement in the locality of the Sports Centre (if only we did) but we are sure that both The Centre's management and indeed Wigan Council would be very pleased to hear your opinion. Sadly your opinions would be wasted upon us as we have absolutely no influence until the next round of elections.   

Edited September 24, 2017 by Eaton