DEMU SHOWCASE 2018 June 2nd/3rd Burton on Trent Town Hall

[RFS]

The only layout i walked straight past was the long one in the Lingen Room. Far to many DCC sound locos on full whack all trying to drown each other out. I like DCC sound but that was not pleasant at all. Turn a few off chaps please.

 

 

Yes totally agree.  Just a load of diesels basically idling.  Whilst I was there they experienced a couple of DCC shorts and all the sound stopped instantly, but all too briefly. It was a that point you realized how loud it was - and pointless if you can't hear individual locos.  

[Marcoblanco]

Congratulations to the DEMU "production team" for a great exhibition. Yes it was a little warm, but us Brits always whinge about the weather'

 

Only when i cant breath..!!

[Clive Mortimore]

If I have to listen to Mick Bryan one more time pontificating about the glowing posts about his new layout “ Deadpool 2” in the pub I’m going to phone the Samaritans........

And someone had the cheek to post a picture of the tee shirt from the p*** and Moan Everything Club on my face book page.... :whistle:

Edited June 3, 2018 by Clive Mortimore

[Clive Mortimore]

Cant make DEMU today guys, another Heart Attack scare yesterday and Blues and Twos into Burton Hospital. Oh well maybe next year.

Worse excuse ever to get out of buying me a George a cuppa.

 

I hope you are well Andy.

[Clive Mortimore]

Ok I suppose you can tell I am posting that I am home now after a great weekend help my mate Dave on Friday Bridge. It ran the best it has run at a show this weekend so for those who thought the tiny layout up in the corner in the sauna room wasn't worth viewing, you missed out.

 

I think all of the exhibitors owe John, Stu and Robin a big thank you for keeping the tea room stocked and clean. Cheers guys.

[Bungus the Fogeyman]

Must admit, and Cath made this point too, that Stu Davies put in some sterling work gophering on Saturday! Well done mate! And well done to the organising team. Another excellent and convivial weekend!

 

Disgusting of Market Harborough

[Lochnagar]

Yes totally agree.  Just a load of diesels basically idling.  Whilst I was there they experienced a couple of DCC shorts and all the sound stopped instantly, but all too briefly. It was a that point you realized how loud it was - and pointless if you can't hear individual locos.  

 

Absolutely read my mind, I heard a few others saying this aswell. Nice layout spoilt by a cloud of noise. Sound has to be kept realistic or it simply turns into a big nondescript noise and you can't actually hear any particular loco. Rather like white noise. In reality most locos would have been switched off which would allow you to concentrate on what was actually moving. On a layout of that size you can easily have a few locos idling on depot no worries at all, which is also realistic, just not everything! 

 

I enjoyed the show, lots of interest in our MMRG limited edition models but I have to say it felt quiet apart from Saturday morning, and my stand sales figures were way down..almost a quarter of previous years. I spent a lot more than I took in..haha. 

 

Look forward to next years, hopefully with a few more specialist traders IMHO. Good show. 

[Clive Mortimore]

Must admit, and Cath made this point too, that Stu Davies put in some sterling work gophering on Saturday! Well done mate! And well done to the organising team. Another excellent and convivial weekend!

 

Disgusting of Market Harborough

Oi You

 

There's me biging up your layout and no thanks.....as Nick said looks like I am going to be made redundant :cry:

Edited June 3, 2018 by Clive Mortimore

[Mark Forrest]

Had a very enjoyable weekend at Showcase with Fryers Lane, many thanks to the organising team for the invite and for putting on such a good show.

[ELTEL]

A big thank you to all the DEMU team from the Stafford team who operated Oil Drum Lane which ran well all weekend.

 

The experiment of running Green Diesels on Sunday afternoon also seemed to go down well with the team and visitors and fellow operators and traders.

 

A great weekend enjoyed by us all

 

Thanks

 

Terry

[Carl BR]

Well that was one great weekend of fun for the Alderford team and it was good to get to play with my layout again after an 18 month break.

A massive well done to John and the rest of the DEMU showcase team for organising a top class show and it felt such an honour to have Alderford be among such top quality layouts.

All of the positive comments on this board and at the show about Alderford are much appreciated and attending this show has generated 4 - 5 other potential show invites over the next few years.

Edited June 3, 2018 by Carl BR

[PJ10]

Showcase is one of only a few exhibitions that I normally plan on attending each year. That said I had a serious think last night whether I'd attend today. Well I'm very glad I got myself out of bed early and drove the 2 1/2 hrs to Burton. Another excellent show with several wonderful layouts. And my wallet is a few pounds lighter.

 

Of special note were Fryers Lane and Oil Drum Lane where I enjoyed not just the layouts but very nice chats with the operators - hope I didn't bore/distract you too much. Longcarse West is a layout that I'd wanted to see for a while and it didn't disappoint. And Mick's Deadman's Lane and Cav's Burton are really well done. Seeing Dunrobin Castle "in the flesh" has got me looking forward to mine arriving. I was also able to chat to the Gentleman on the Dapol stand about the Turbot wagon and inspect one of the samples. Looking forward to their arrival later this year as well.

 

Thanks to the organisers and catering staff. See you next year.

 

PJ10

[bbishop]

Yes totally agree.  Just a load of diesels basically idling.  Whilst I was there they experienced a couple of DCC shorts and all the sound stopped instantly, but all too briefly. It was a that point you realized how loud it was - and pointless if you can't hear individual locos.  

 

Ebsworth Street?

 

B

[Rivercider]

Absolutely read my mind, I heard a few others saying this aswell. Nice layout spoilt by a cloud of noise. Sound has to be kept realistic or it simply turns into a big nondescript noise and you can't actually hear any particular loco. Rather like white noise. In reality most locos would have been switched off which would allow you to concentrate on what was actually moving. On a layout of that size you can easily have a few locos idling on depot no worries at all, which is also realistic, just not everything! 

 

 

 

 

'White noise' was exactly what I was going to say I felt about the layout.

I am not a big fan of sound fitted locos, but Alderford showed how it should be done, in my mind anyway,

 

Overall though I thought it was a great show, and certainly enjoyed my first visit,

 

cheers

[RBE]

After snuggling Burton on Trent back to bed I just wanted to say a big thankyou to all the team at DEMU for giving the crew a great weekend.

 

Only managed a quick whiz around this morning to look around the other layouts but what I did see was very good indeed.

 

Thanks for everyone that called by Burton on Trent and said hello. I certainly spent a good amount of time chatting to people.

[charliepetty]

Ok sounds good.. Lets hope lots of openable Windows lol..

 

Forget to ask the Legobuffo lads if theyve booked an appointment with mendip rail to record the 59...does anybody know.. Gid bless em!!

No we need a Helpfull contact 'PLEASE'

 

Charlie

[Kelly]

As others have said it was another great show. The showcase team have done a great job with it. I look forward to next year already, it is always on my list of shows to attend (though the past two years I've been there as a part of the DEMU zone/press team, but I'd still have gone anyway!!).

 

I don't think it'd be fair of me to single out any particular layout, but deadmans lane and alderford were both impressive. The general quality of layouts was high as usual.

 

After snuggling Burton on Trent back to bed I just wanted to say a big thankyou to all the team at DEMU for giving the crew a great weekend.

 

Only managed a quick whiz around this morning to look around the other layouts but what I did see was very good indeed.

 

Thanks for everyone that called by Burton on Trent and said hello. I certainly spent a good amount of time chatting to people.

Was good to get a chance to have a quick chat with you and get a good look at your layout, great modelling and thanks for the assistance with the camera (I'm still finding my way with it slowly!).

[RBE]

No problem Kelly it was good to chat and take photos. I'm usually a little torn between driving the layout amd chatting but the missus amd Jeremy were doing a great job which allowed me to be a even more chatty than usual which is no mean feat!

[Kelly]

No problem Kelly it was good to chat and take photos. I'm usually a little torn between driving the layout amd chatting but the missus amd Jeremy were doing a great job which allowed me to be a even more chatty than usual which is no mean feat!

It is one of the aspects I love about showcase, it has a very much social and community aspect to it in some respects. I had a lot of interesting conversations with members and non members (both about modelling in general and related to content for update (along with feedback on the latest issue which I was very grateful for)).

[Clive Mortimore]

After snuggling Burton on Trent back to bed I just wanted to say a big thankyou to all the team at DEMU for giving the crew a great weekend.

 

Only managed a quick whiz around this morning to look around the other layouts but what I did see was very good indeed.

 

Thanks for everyone that called by Burton on Trent and said hello. I certainly spent a good amount of time chatting to people.

There were always too many people around it to get a good view from Friday Bridge.

 

It looked very nice.

[woodenhead]

There were always too many people around it to get a good view from Friday Bridge.

 

It looked very nice.

Did you see the family that camped out in front of BUT? They had the whole scenic area to themselves, I had to watch from the side.

 

She was busy taking photos of her kids and looking through her phone, I don't think she appreciated that no one could get a look in at the layout. I errred away from saying anything, at the end of the day they had every right to be there I just wish she was showing an interest in the railway not just focussed on getting pics of her kids against the black background of the drapes covering the legs of the baseboard.

[newbryford]

DL back home safe and sound.

A big thanks to Nobby, George, Guy and Tom and all the others that helped make it (as usual) a most enjoyable show.

 

Ta also to G, Andy, Cal and the now honourable chairman for playing trains.

 

The only downside was "Ricegate" on the Saturday night........

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Kelly]

Did you see the family that camped out in front of BUT? They had the whole scenic area to themselves, I had to watch from the side.

 

She was busy taking photos of her kids and looking through her phone, I don't think she appreciated that no one could get a look in at the layout. I errred away from saying anything, at the end of the day they had every right to be there I just wish she was showing an interest in the railway not just focussed on getting pics of her kids against the black background of the drapes covering the legs of the baseboard.

As long as the kids were themselves interested then that is the important thing, new blood in the hobby is always needed after all. Some people however do have a bit of a blind spot to others around them at shows though.

[PeterBB]

Thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition - impressed by B-o-T, Deadman's Lane, Alderford, Oil Drum Lane etc.  Some great traders also present.

 

Preferred Bretby, unfortunately it went 'bust', to the Town Hall where the council sold the car park in an area where parking was always difficult anyway!  Meadowside is OK - lots of local parking, but the station ... walkable but well over half a mile.

 

Put some faces to RMwebers also good.

 

Edit - walking comment was added following an earlier comment in the blog

Edited June 4, 2018 by PeterBB

[Kelly]

Thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition - impressed by B-o-T, Deadman's Lane, Alderford, Oil Drum Lane etc. Some great traders also present.

 

Preferred Bretby, unfortunately it went 'bust', to the Town Hall where the council sold the car park in an area where parking was always difficult anyway! Meadowside is OK - lots of local parking, but the station ... walkable but well over half a mile.

 

Put some faces to Rmwebers also good.

Finding suitable venues is a difficult task for any show really sadly. It is probably the best option other than staying at the town hall, which has felt too small for a good few years to me, especially with the parking problems.