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Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2018 - 24th and 25th November


Liam
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At two o'clock today yes, but who knows what there will be tomorrow - I don't think they put everything out at once but there wasn't as much as last year and a lack of crowding as well.

 

Yeah i got in pretty early and there was nothing at all of note on the Bachmann Sales stand - asked about 47s and 37s and they produced one at £120 - politely declined.

Thank goodness for Kernow Model Centre and their bargains - one happy bunny !!

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Yeah i got in pretty early and there was nothing at all of note on the Bachmann Sales stand - asked about 47s and 37s and they produced one at £120 - politely declined.

Thank goodness for Kernow Model Centre and their bargains - one happy bunny !!

Either you were stood next to me then at Kernow or you were not the only person seeking 47s today.

 

Ya hear that Hattons, there are not enough 47s, what can do you about it...........

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Seems to be a step change with Warley - once it was what had been released now its what has been announced (on top on what has already been announced and not yet released). Bit worried by the RHDR loco, does that mean Hornby are going to decorate an A3 as one with a large driver in the cab and announce it as the 2019 Club Model :jester:

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Seems to be a step change with Warley - once it was what had been released now its what has been announced (on top on what has already been announced and not yet released). Bit worried by the RHDR loco, does that mean Hornby are going to decorate an A3 as one with a large driver in the cab and announce it as the 2019 Club Model :jester:

If they did make a change to accommodate modellers doing the 15" it would be a useful move. A big help would be mounting all the gubbins in the tender the other way around so the down slope is towards the front not the back. Also swap bodies to be made available.

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There was a piece by the Warley organisers in RM a couple of years ago stating that unless new volunteers came forwards to help organise the show, the current organisers would have to call it a day at some point in the next few years as it's such an event to organise (I can appreciate that as my own show is much smaller but the most I can put on).

 

I don't know whether it would be possible to transition to a situation where national groups/umbrella bodies (Gauge O Guild, 009 Society, CMRA etc) or even manufacturers/publishers could be given an area of the Hall and a budget and asked to fill it with layouts, although of course that still wouldn't help much with trade stands etc. 

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Wow!

What a day!

 

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been to Warley before, as a visitor or a trader (I just never had the time)

But we had a great first day.

Lots of great chat, brilliant customers and some nice complements on our stand.

 

Now for day 2...

 

Please drop by and say hello if you are around

 

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Edited by Trains4U
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Had an excellent day yesterday after an annoying start. I was travelling from abroad so booked my travel arrangements online, NEC discount Pendolino from London timed to arrive just before the early opening. Then went to the Warley site to book my show ticket, paid for it then realised there was no download facility. So I ended up queuing at the collections desk, having first been misdirected into the cash buyer’s line. The nice NEC lady apologised, but the final result was I lost most of the half hour early entry, and was £2 down before I even got in the door, having been charged a ‘facility fee’ by The Ticket Factory for booking online. The volunteers of the Warley club do a fantastic job organising this huge show, but no download tickets in this day and age, is not really acceptable.

Whine over. Some marvellous layouts, well positioned by subject/gauge, great trade selection and despite the false start, I managed to ‘recoup’ most of my costs by ’investing’ in a couple of bargain locos and a raft of bits and pieces for my thoughtfully modest rucksack.

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Very busy day yesterday. The free UPDates on the DEMU stand went within a couple of hours. Though someone did help themselves to the proof copy of the next issue (complete with my sharpie marker corrections scrawled all over it!) which was on the stand for members to have a look at, not the end of the world as I'm going to get another produced now anyway, but still annoying!

 

Didn't buy much as didn't get alot of time to go around the show. Will do that today as much as possible.

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There was a piece by the Warley organisers in RM a couple of years ago stating that unless new volunteers came forwards to help organise the show, the current organisers would have to call it a day at some point in the next few years as it's such an event to organise (I can appreciate that as my own show is much smaller but the most I can put on).

 

I don't know whether it would be possible to transition to a situation where national groups/umbrella bodies (Gauge O Guild, 009 Society, CMRA etc) or even manufacturers/publishers could be given an area of the Hall and a budget and asked to fill it with layouts, although of course that still wouldn't help much with trade stands etc. 

Not just Warley Club. Groups with  a tradition of a volunteer workforce across many areas of society are finding that those younger than the current doers have a different lifestyle and don't/aren't able to volunteer. I know from my own daughters situations this is not down to laziness etc., but social changes, shift patterns, the seven day working week etc. However, it doesn't help those groups and organisations that have established an operating model based on free labour input to reconsider a revised business model where tasks may have to be bought in commercially or as a half-way house pay the volunteers an honorarium. Our own society (SLS) is about to enter our 110th year, what worked for the Edwardian social scene is not how we can work in the C21.

Edited by john new
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I think yesterday was the first visit where I actually managed to get to the end of the day feeling I hadn't had enough time and sure that I missed some layouts. In previous years I've always reached a bit of a point of boredom and had to do a second walk round of the layouts to get to closing time! :)

 

I bagged an S15 from the Bluebell Railway stand for a bargin, and also managed to get some Hawksworth all Thirds which I missed out on when they came out years ago. Not a bad day then. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't much progress to show on the Rails/Dapol Terrier, but as long as they get it right, I'll live with the wait.

Edited by Ian J.
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Is there even going to be a Warley show at the NEC in five years time?

I don't think anyone knows the answer to that. So far as I can remember all of those who organised the first show (and are still alive) are still giving many hours of their time for free to organise the show today.

I can say that the date for 2019 is fixed and the deposit for the hall has been paid.

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Hi everyone,

It’s my first visit to the Warley show today. Thanks for the tip about downloading the floor plan. Has anyone got any recommendations for must-see attractions this year for a newbie?

Ian

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Not just Warley Club. Groups with  a tradition of a volunteer workforce across many areas of society are finding that those younger than the current doers have a different lifestyle and don't/aren't able to volunteer. I know from my own daughters situations this is not down to laziness etc., but social changes, shift patterns, the seven day working week etc. However, it doesn't help those groups and organisations that have established an operating model based on free labour input to reconsider a revised business model where tasks may have to be bought in commercially or as a half-way house pay the volunteers an honorarium. Our own society (SLS) is about to enter our 110th year, what worked for the Edwardian social scene is not how we can work in the C21.

I have noticed the same with sports clubs. Nowadays people go for pay'n'play, whereas in the place we lived 30 years ago our tennis club needed a better clubhouse so we cut the back off the old one and built a new bar, kitchen and shower rooms. It needed extra power so we hired a JCB and dug a trench from the road. 12 of us pulled in the new gas and water pipes and electricity cable, put in a duct with a new phone cable and built a brick cublcle at each end for the utilities to install the meters and connect to our side. We had architects, surveyors, solicitors and time-served tradesmen who directed everything and looked after the legal/technical aspects for free. Nowadays it's difficult to get members to sweep the court at the end of play but they don't want to pay a realistic membership fee to cover the true cost of running the facilities.

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Well braved another visit.

Watching Sidmouth but nothing moving yet again.

Always the same with this lot.

Damn finescale layouts, maybe that's why Warley played it safe this year and only invited a handful of them ( 1x 2mm, 3x EM, 2x P4, 1x S7 ).

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Another couple of layouts visited and there is a conspiracy to stop me seeing running trains. Sutton in Ashfield has the personnel but they're fiddling with something, having a chat to one another or on their mobile.

Have a chat with them directly rather than taking to the internet to display your capacity to grumble about individual layouts as you make your way around the show. Alternatively tell us about all the ones that are running well that you haven't mentioned between any that may have an issue.

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I enjoyed watching the cultural intersection between us lot and the comic con crowd in the food court.

 

If I do Warley next year I might go dressed as the Fat Controller or someother comic themed railway character. Best of both worlds !

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I don't think anyone knows the answer to that. So far as I can remember all of those who organised the first show (and are still alive) are still giving many hours of their time for free to organise the show today.

I can say that the date for 2019 is fixed and the deposit for the hall has been paid.

Nigel Smith stepped down as Chairman of the Gauge 0 Guild to take over as Warley show manager. He is hugely experienced in managing big model rail events and it looks like he will be developing a new team to run Warley so you could draw quite a lot of confidence from that.

 

Who is going to run the GOG in future is quite another matter since the President has also stepped down amid an unhealthy amount of toxicity surrounding the Guild forum. New leadership required there methinks.

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