ianp Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 The French railway magazine publisher LR Press is staging its Trainsmania model railway exhibition again. It will be at the Grand Palais in Lille, from the 3rd to the 5th May next year. I went to the first such exhibition last year and it was tremendous - the best model railway show I have been to. The exhibition was very large and the quality of the layouts was often spectacular. It will easily be worth a two-day visit. Just one word of warning: last time, the catering facilities were hopeless. I hope they have improved next year, but watch out. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Crawford Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 It is a seriously decent exhibition and I'd be well surprised if any corporate group could pull it off here. I should like to be present next year... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted May 4, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 4, 2018 Yes, it was great and I look forward to it again. My wife and I made a mini break of it in Lille, followed by a night in Bruges, so all in all it was a good trip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Crawford Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Yes, it was great and I look forward to it again. My wife and I made a mini break of it in Lille, followed by a night in Bruges, so all in all it was a good trip. Did you change at Courtrai or take the coach? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted May 4, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 4, 2018 Did you change at Courtrai or take the coach? Drove over, so we could load the car with French goodies at the Auchan supermarket near Calais. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Crawford Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 (edited) No point loading up at a Calaisien supermarket when there's that massive Carrefour next to the TGV station in Lille... but then each to their own, I suppose. Edited May 4, 2018 by Peter Crawford Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted May 4, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 4, 2018 No point loading up at a Calaisien supermarket when there's that massive Carrefour next to the TGV station in Lille... but then each to their own, I suppose. Good for you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtleypete Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 If you do visit come and say hello to John and I on Saltdean, stand B6 - we're the only UK layout there this year as far as I can see from the list. Peter 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDMJ Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 20 hours ago, kirtleypete said: If you do visit come and say hello to John and I on Saltdean, stand B6 - we're the only UK layout there this year as far as I can see from the list. Peter Will try and make time to come and say hello on Saturday! Just taking a day-trip from Darkest West Sussex. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDMJ Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 (edited) Just back from a fantastic day trip to Lille and Trains Mania. Good to meet with kirtleypete and to see Saltdean. Great show, worth a look. Several excellent layouts and some interesting traders (was surprised to see Steve Haynes and Andy Burnham there representing Peco!) Venue was good as well and easy to get to from Lille Europ station. Hall even had a waiter-service dining area! Looking forward to the next one already! Edited May 4, 2019 by JohnDMJ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianp Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 I went on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Overall I thought it was tremendous and well worth the trip. Not only were the layouts of generally very high quality, the sheer volume and variety of models for sale was remarkable (if expensive). The Saint-Tourbiere layout in particular was wonderful; possibly the best layout I have ever seen. There are some videos of it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=saint-tourbiere&sp=mAEB . I also loved the Chateau Migraine layout based on the old Paris Bercy wine depot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi05t-xaWTg . 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted May 5, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 5, 2019 Sorry I couldn't make it this time. It was definitely my intention, but a few months of family illnesses and various travails will mean it will have to wait. I hope they do another one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtleypete Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 We really enjoyed the show, although it's a very tiring weekend. I've just posted the video of Saltdean that we took over the weekend: Peter 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted May 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 7, 2019 Weekends always difficult for me due to work commitments. But I would love to visit this show (lots of good beer in that part of France as well). Perhaps we could organise an RMweb tour? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtleypete Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Lot's of expensive beer! It was a pleasure to get back to Wetherspoons last night!! Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDMJ Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, kirtleypete said: Lot's of expensive beer! It was a pleasure to get back to Wetherspoons last night!! Peter Despite cost, I hope you managed to sample Ch'ti beer which, I believe, is the local brew! Did you get any clue as to the dates of the next show? Edited May 7, 2019 by JohnDMJ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirtleypete Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 It should be the same weekend in two years' time I believe. I'd happily do it again, it's very well organised apart from bringing the expenses round just as we were loading the last bits onto the van - that would only happen in France! We found the 'Palais du Biere' close to our hotel with 18 different beers, mostly from Belgium, but with just three nights there we didn't get all the way along! Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted May 8, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 8, 2019 11 hours ago, JohnDMJ said: Despite cost, I hope you managed to sample Ch'ti beer which, I believe, is the local brew! Did you get any clue as to the dates of the next show? Ch'ti is just one of many local breweries in the North, albeit one of the bigger ones. Ch'ti comes in three main variants: Blonde, Ambre and Noir - all very good as a bottle-conditioned beer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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