Andover Modelex - 2nd & 3rd September 2017

[nickwood]

Andover Model Railway Club are pleased to announce their Annual 2 day exhibition MODELEX 2017 on;
 
Saturday 2nd September 2016 10:00am to 5:00pm
Sunday 3rd September 2016 10:00am to 4:00pm

JOHN HANSON SCHOOL, FLORAL WAY, ANDOVER, HANTS SP10 3PB
John Hanson School is a wheelchair friendly venue
For further details and directions see www.amrc.hampshire.org.uk
 
QUALITY LAYOUTS IN VARIOUS SCALES AND GAUGES
EXTENSIVE TRADE SUPPORT
DEMONSTRATIONS
REFRESHMENTS
FREE PARKING
 
Details of Layouts attending so far:
 
2mm scale

MERG Demo Layout                    

Melton Mowbray North

Freshwater

Grovedale

 

3mm scale
Ashbrook

 

3.5 mm scale

Tilley Yard South

Salz OBB

San Maria Gandia

 

4mm scale

Hooper's Aggregates

Mortenhampstead

Cramdin Yard

Pwllheli

Marsh Junction

Canal Street

Garreg Wen (009)

 

7mm scale

Weyhill Road

The end of the line

Wyevern Wharfe

St Martin's Wharf

 

 
Other

Merg TVAG                                                       - MERG Society, Thames Valley Group

South Hants Model Auto Club                         - Competition cars, lorries and vans by SHMAC

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway                       - Society Stand by the Thames Valley Support Group

AMRC Club Stand                                           - Club stand, info and secondhand items for sale

Weathering Demo & questions                        - Demonstration by Mick Bonwick

Modelling Card Buildings                                - Demonstration by John Barrett

Coach Building                                                 - Demonstration

Andover and District Model Engineering Society - Society Stand by ADMES

A Garden Centre                                            - Andover Dolls House and Miniatures Club

 

Traders

 

Coastal DCC                                                   - DCC equipment and advice

Andover Sales AMRC                                     - New and used models

AAR Models                                                    - Vehicles in all scales

Brian's Trains                                                  - Secondhand trains and books

Keith's Model railways                                   - Secondhand Railways

JB's Model World                                           - Storage systems, cases, paints

Kytes Lights                                                    - Lighting for all models

Neil Cresswell                                                 - New and used models

ABC Model Railways                                      -American, British and Continental Models

Brunswick Railways                                       - Precision paints, adhesives etc

Andy Lynch Railways                                      - Pre-owned Model Railway equipment

Smith & Sons                                                  - Books

Amberley Services                                         - Tools and 0 gauge items

Wessex Wagons                                              - 4mm wagons
Brian James                                                    - N gauge model railways

 

 

Andover Model Railway Club is proud to support Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance http://www.hiowaa.org

Edited July 27, 2017 by nickwood

[Robatron86]

I am looking forward to this show a great deal.

[eldavo]

I ought to think about digging Cramdin out from under the pile of junk in my workshop sometime soon. Look forward to a couple of days playing trains.

 

Cheers

Dave

[Robatron86]

I ought to think about digging Cramdin out from under the pile of junk in my workshop sometime soon. Look forward to a couple of days playing trains.

Cheers

Dave

I look forward to seeing Cramdin in the flesh. Massive inspiration when I read the thread on the other place. Edited June 21, 2017 by Robatron86

[PhilH]

I look forward to seeing Cramdin in the flesh. Massive inspiration when I read the thread on the other place.

And the best ever fun to play with!

[nickwood]

List of Traders amended.

[nickwood]

Layout listing amended

 

The owner of Williton will now be bringing Mortenhampstead.

Looking forward to the exhibitors and traders arriving to set up tomorrow. Always an exciting part of any exhibition.

Edited August 31, 2017 by nickwood

[298]

We (298 plus family) managed to call in on the way back from a week at the coast, and thought it was an excellent show (although several of the layouts mentioned probably made that decision easier for me and more bearable for the others). The HO scale layouts in particular stood out, and the parking, facilities, and general ambience were first rate. I hopoe tomorrow and the show in general is a success.

[nickwood]

We (298 plus family) managed to call in on the way back from a week at the coast, and thought it was an excellent show (although several of the layouts mentioned probably made that decision easier for me and more bearable for the others). The HO scale layouts in particular stood out, and the parking, facilities, and general ambience were first rate. I hopoe tomorrow and the show in general is a success.

 

Thank you, we're pleased you and your family enjoyed the show. Numbers were down on Saturday last year probably due to the good weather more than anything else. Hoping for better attendances today.

 

I agree that the Spanish, American and Austrian HO offerings are all superb layouts.

[jimmer]

Popped up this morning for our annual trip to Andover show. As always well organised, friendly exhibitors, welcoming club members and a good selection of inspirational layouts. Seemed to be a lot of youngsters there today which is great to see.Many thanks as always for a thoroughly enjoyable trip.

[nickwood]

Thank you Jimmer, we are very pleased to hear that you had a good day.

[Robatron86]

I had a wonderful weekend. Thank you to the club and all the helpers for putting on a great show.

 

Plenty of lovely layouts to look at and plenty of good trade support too.

[nickwood]

I had a wonderful weekend. Thank you to the club and all the helpers for putting on a great show.

 

Plenty of lovely layouts to look at and plenty of good trade support too.

 

That's appreciated. Hope you can come back and bring Waukegan Harbor and Marine before too long.

[Eddies Mate]

I've been going to this show for about 5 or 6 years now, since I moved to the area, and I'm sorry to say that in my opinion it's got worse over the last few years.

 

You used to be able to get a good meal, even bacon sarnies if you arrived early enough, and hot food around dinner time, now you can't, all there is on offer is bread rolls, and a slice of cake and a cup of luke warm tea.

 

If you take away the obvious two club stands selling second hand gear, then the number of traders must have fallen too, I counted 13 this year, and not all of those were selling rolling stock, coupled with a poor variety of layouts, and some that have been doing the rounds for a fair time, this years show for me was disappointing, very little modern era, a lot of OO. in various codes which made it all look samey ?  Too many large layouts as well, the one Hoptons Aggregates was very long, but it was all happening at one end, the rest of the layout was a bit of a side show.

 

After going there its no surprise that didn't bother to post up what would be at the show on the UKMS website, I shall do a lot more research before I attend next years, the shows at Basingstoke and Eastleigh cost about the same to get in, and IMO are ten times better.

[Jaeson]

I have to agree. I was once the chairman and exhibition Manager of this club. I visited On saturday On the train from north norfolk and i must Say apart from a few layouts and meeting old freinds i was a bit dissapointed how it was generaly. No wow factor. It should now just be a one day show in my opion. Traders will not continue to go if they keep getting a poor return, as they Pay to go. And people get paid to play trains!

Jaeson

Edited September 8, 2017 by Jaeson

[PhilH]

Where's Eddie? Is he going to have a first post whinge too?

[Graham Walters]

For various reasons I refuse to comment, but the general feeling I've had from customers in the shop is mixed, the majority seem to think there have been better shows at Andover.

[298]

Where's Eddie? Is he going to have a first post whinge too?

He's probably fallen through all the holes in his Mate's argument...

[Eddies Mate]

Ah so this is post elitist forum, the more posts you have, the more weight

 

Where's Eddie? Is he going to have a first post whinge too?

 

 

He's probably fallen through all the holes in his Mate's argument...

 

Ah so this is a post elitist forum, at what number of posts do you have to have to have a valid point to express ?

 

Or is it against forum rules to comment on an exhibition before you have made a certain number of posts ?

[298]

Ah so this is a post elitist forum, at what number of posts do you have to have to have a valid point to express ?

 

Or is it against forum rules to comment on an exhibition before you have made a certain number of posts ?

You have to admit that someone who lurks for so long or joins specifically to post a criticism might create the impression that they have an ulterior motive...

 

This was my first visit to the Andover Show and a long time since I've been to one in the area, and I can only assume that locals have been positively spoilt in the past with the quality of the shows.

[PhilH]

Ah so this is post elitist forum, the more posts you have, the more weight

 

 

 

 

Ah so this is a post elitist forum, at what number of posts do you have to have to have a valid point to express ?

 

Or is it against forum rules to comment on an exhibition before you have made a certain number of posts ?

 

 

I was just wondering what Eddie had to say about it....

[Mick Bonwick]

Until fairly recently my visits to model railway shows were limited to a couple a year. My needs were satisfied by what I saw (and bought) at those shows.

 

This has changed and I now visit significantly more, as a demonstrator, a layout operator and paying member of the public. Not all at the same time, you understand.

 

The effort involved in organising any model railway show must be immense and is not something that I would ever want to get involved in. I value my sanity. On the assumption that a forum can be used for people to state their views and then be prepared for others to agree or disagree, then I have some things to say about this particular exhibition. This is not my first post on RMweb, as the observant amongst my readers will notice, so feel safe from criticism on that count.

 

No show will ever satisfy everybody and there will always be something that does not agree with individuals' ideas of what they should be getting for their money. If I had gone to this show as a member of the paying public I would not have expected to be able to buy a hot meal. It's a school, and they're not known for their ability to cater for meal provision outside school term dates. I would have expected to be able to buy refreshments and, in fact, that's what I did albeit as a demonstrator. I was provided with sandwiches as part of the demonstrating task, but I'm greedy and wanted more. I have to say that the lemon drizzle cake stopped me dribbling for a while, at least until I went to get my second piece.

 

Towards the end of the first afternoon the number of visitors dwindled, as you'd expect at any exhibition I think, that has certainly been the case at the few I've attended. I therefore took the opportunity to have a walk around and look at layouts, traders and society stands. What I found was a well balanced array of layouts from small to large, excellent to good, and well presented to only just good enough. There were not too many traders, but I have since discovered that no less than three of these cancelled within the last week or so of the exhibition, and that is not something that I would expect to be covered by any exhibition manager or his team. That would not have altered my view at the time though - not many traders. Hindsight - ain't it wonderful? Oh, and if anybody reading this wanted to have me demonstrating to them and found I wasn't there when they wanted me to be, I'm sorry if I let you down. But it's not my fault - you should have come earlier! Some people just walked past 'my' table without a second glance and that's good because they weren't there to talked at. They just wanted to look at trains, buy some more stock, keep the children entertained ( I don't believe in the use of words pertaining to the offspring of goats ), meet friends and generally pass their leisure time in a convivial atmosphere.

 

There, I've had my say. Now I'm waiting for all the criticism. I know there'll be some.

 

Oh, there's more. I'm going next year, too.

[dasatcopthorne]

Until fairly recently my visits to model railway shows were limited to a couple a year. My needs were satisfied by what I saw (and bought) at those shows.

 

This has changed and I now visit significantly more, as a demonstrator, a layout operator and paying member of the public. Not all at the same time, you understand.

 

The effort involved in organising any model railway show must be immense and is not something that I would ever want to get involved in. I value my sanity. On the assumption that a forum can be used for people to state their views and then be prepared for others to agree or disagree, then I have some things to say about this particular exhibition. This is not my first post on RMweb, as the observant amongst my readers will notice, so feel safe from criticism on that count.

 

No show will ever satisfy everybody and there will always be something that does not agree with individuals' ideas of what they should be getting for their money. If I had gone to this show as a member of the paying public I would not have expected to be able to buy a hot meal. It's a school, and they're not known for their ability to cater for meal provision outside school term dates. I would have expected to be able to buy refreshments and, in fact, that's what I did albeit as a demonstrator. I was provided with sandwiches as part of the demonstrating task, but I'm greedy and wanted more. I have to say that the lemon drizzle cake stopped me dribbling for a while, at least until I went to get my second piece.

 

Towards the end of the first afternoon the number of visitors dwindled, as you'd expect at any exhibition I think, that has certainly been the case at the few I've attended. I therefore took the opportunity to have a walk around and look at layouts, traders and society stands. What I found was a well balanced array of layouts from small to large, excellent to good, and well presented to only just good enough. There were not too many traders, but I have since discovered that no less than three of these cancelled within the last week or so of the exhibition, and that is not something that I would expect to be covered by any exhibition manager or his team. That would not have altered my view at the time though - not many traders. Hindsight - ain't it wonderful? Oh, and if anybody reading this wanted to have me demonstrating to them and found I wasn't there when they wanted me to be, I'm sorry if I let you down. But it's not my fault - you should have come earlier! Some people just walked past 'my' table without a second glance and that's good because they weren't there to talked at. They just wanted to look at trains, buy some more stock, keep the children entertained ( I don't believe in the use of words pertaining to the offspring of goats ), meet friends and generally pass their leisure time in a convivial atmosphere.

 

There, I've had my say. Now I'm waiting for all the criticism. I know there'll be some.

 

Oh, there's more. I'm going next year, too.

 

So basically, what you are saying is that unless someone attends early, they might not see your demonstration.

 

Just in case I come across you at a show and want to have a look at what you are doing, please could you let me know the latest time I can expect you to be at your table?

 

Cheers

 

Dave

Edited September 11, 2017 by dasatcopthorne

[Mick Bonwick]

So basically, what you are saying is that unless someone attends early, they might not see your demonstration.

 

Just in case I come across you at a show and want to have a look at what you are doing, please could you let me know the latest time I can expect you to be at your table?

 

Cheers

 

Dave

 

You could take it that way, yes. You could also think to yourself that I might have a strange sense of humour and make my RMweb posts amusing to read and to be taken lightly. I might not be very good at that, though.

 

In reality I can be found at my demonstrating table nearly all the time. If I leave the table for any reason (and I expect you know what the main ones will be) there will be a note explaining why in plain view of all who care to look.

[Eddies Mate]

Until fairly recently my visits to model railway shows were limited to a couple a year. My needs were satisfied by what I saw (and bought) at those shows.

 

This has changed and I now visit significantly more, as a demonstrator, a layout operator and paying member of the public. Not all at the same time, you understand.

 

The effort involved in organising any model railway show must be immense and is not something that I would ever want to get involved in. I value my sanity. On the assumption that a forum can be used for people to state their views and then be prepared for others to agree or disagree, then I have some things to say about this particular exhibition. This is not my first post on RMweb, as the observant amongst my readers will notice, so feel safe from criticism on that count.

 

No show will ever satisfy everybody and there will always be something that does not agree with individuals' ideas of what they should be getting for their money. If I had gone to this show as a member of the paying public I would not have expected to be able to buy a hot meal. It's a school, and they're not known for their ability to cater for meal provision outside school term dates. I would have expected to be able to buy refreshments and, in fact, that's what I did albeit as a demonstrator. I was provided with sandwiches as part of the demonstrating task, but I'm greedy and wanted more. I have to say that the lemon drizzle cake stopped me dribbling for a while, at least until I went to get my second piece.

 

Towards the end of the first afternoon the number of visitors dwindled, as you'd expect at any exhibition I think, that has certainly been the case at the few I've attended. I therefore took the opportunity to have a walk around and look at layouts, traders and society stands. What I found was a well balanced array of layouts from small to large, excellent to good, and well presented to only just good enough. There were not too many traders, but I have since discovered that no less than three of these cancelled within the last week or so of the exhibition, and that is not something that I would expect to be covered by any exhibition manager or his team. That would not have altered my view at the time though - not many traders. Hindsight - ain't it wonderful? Oh, and if anybody reading this wanted to have me demonstrating to them and found I wasn't there when they wanted me to be, I'm sorry if I let you down. But it's not my fault - you should have come earlier! Some people just walked past 'my' table without a second glance and that's good because they weren't there to talked at. They just wanted to look at trains, buy some more stock, keep the children entertained ( I don't believe in the use of words pertaining to the offspring of goats ), meet friends and generally pass their leisure time in a convivial atmosphere.

 

There, I've had my say. Now I'm waiting for all the criticism. I know there'll be some.

 

Oh, there's more. I'm going next year, too.

 

Up until about three years ago ?  this venue as I stated served hot food at what was genreally accepted as dinner time, and as previously stated it also did bacon rolls for early arrivals, that for some reason has disappeared, even though this show has been held on the same weekend for as long as I have been going.

 

If you go the show at Barton Peverill College ( Janaryish I think) you can get hot food in the college canteen virtually all day on both days, visiting the Wessex N gague show last year, they also had hot food on offer, so it's not a rare thing.

 

I would envisage that as a 'demonstrator' you are paid to go and demonstrate, whereas traders have to pay, it is they who make the show as diversified as you claim, without them there is no money to pay the demonstrators and layout owners. If traders cancel a couple of weeks before the event or fail to turn up, then there must be good reason, perhaps they failed to make a profit last year at the same show, I know this to be true of one because I actually contacted him a couple of weeks prior to the show to order some stuff and collect it at the show.