The National Festival of Railway Modelling - 8&9 December 2018

[TEAMYAKIMA]

The bridge at Remagen(WW2 German N gauge) is up and (nearly) running - see us at stand 123.

[TEAMYAKIMA]

And if you have any interest in Chinese model railways then do come and say 'hello' on stand 123 because our 'team' will be helping to operate 'The Bridge at Remagen' and we will be here next year with our HO chinese layout!

[PenrithBeacon]

Hmm can’t actually write that sort of reply on my iPod for some reason.

First time I used sat nav to get to the show it brought me to an entrance gate at the wrong end of the showground. I could see cars coming towards me and turning into the parking but the gates in front of me were locked. I’ve used the Oundel road as my target since then.

I went to the show the first time last year. I used the postcode to get there and then followed the signs. Once I was parked up I stored my position and will be using that position to navigate there on Saturday.

 

My satnav is a Tom Tom.

[ELTEL]

A most enjoyable day, really enjoyed watching Bournemouth West, IMHO it’s definitely up there with the best.

 

Well done to all concerned.

 

Eltel

[ruggedpeak]

Great day out at the Festival today. Really like the relaxed format, great selection of layouts, and got some fantastic deals. Met Andy Y, walked through the background as Howard and Phil (?) were doing a piece to camera - will look out for myself on the DVD. Also liked the really, really loud "Can Howard Smith return to the BRM stand announcement!". - gave the impression it was all kicking off at BRM!

 

Layout wise quite a few excellent diesel TMD layouts including Lomond Street (4 trains moving at once - no danger of a lack of movement). Remagen and Amiens were fab. Liked the N gauge modern layouts as well. Some fantastic scenery across all the layouts.

 

Thanks to all involved.

[RedgateModels]

Really miss being a part of it. Have a great day tomorrow you lucky lot

[Andy Y]

"Can Howard Smith return to the BRM stand announcement!". - gave the impression it was all kicking off at BRM!

 

.

It was more of a lost person announcement.

 

Lovely to meet you Tony.

[daltonparva]

Good day, then a look at Tornado on the Nene Valley on the way back.

[robertcwp]

I made a late decision to go to this show, for the first time. A spacious venue with wide aisles. Some good layouts too. I seemed to put my usual curse on the operation of layouts as a few too many things were going wrong on several that I looked at. Traders seemed to be dominated by box-shifters, not that I'm complaining as I found the Hornby B1 I had been looking for.

 

The GWR/LNWR layout was very good. I liked the EMUs on Addison Road - they have their own thread on this site. The Bridge at Remagen looks very impressive but when I was watching the operation seemed a bit erratic.  Several good smaller layouts too.

 

It was the first time I had seen Bournemouth West, which is a very impressive layout, and the main reason I went to the show. However, some of the operators seemed to be having trouble running it as there were various odd moves or non-moves. Perhaps they need a bit more practice, which I know can be difficult for large layouts outside exhibitions? There were also a few too many derailments - I saw the same trains derail a couple of times - when that happens, the stock should be withdrawn immediately for checking rather than just being put back on. The board join across the station seemed to be misaligned as well, which would not have helped.

 

The Bulleid Bournemouth dining set on Bournemouth West was nice to see but had been put on in the wrong order, notably both the dining cars being the wrong way round. I didn't see the Bournemouth Belle set come out whilst I was watching but I did see a Pines Express set, unfortunately not in its proper formation. To get the catering cars in that train right, you need to resort to kits so perhaps that will come in the future. Some formations for the train are here. I did spot a nice mid-1950s SR Bournemouth-York set but not at close enough quarters to see if it had the correct Maunsell kitchen-buffet conversion.

 

Pet hate mode: At least I didn't see any misformed Bachmann 4 Cep units, for a change, mainly because I didn't see any layouts with them.

[Phil Parker]

Andy is concentrating.

 

[LNERandBR]

He's obviously going for a top score then 

[Phil Parker]

[woodenhead]

I think atmospherics impacted running yesterday on a few layouts.

 

The GWR/LNWR mentioned layout is Hope Under Dinmore which I always find time to gawp at, it generally runs well but they had a couple of sticky locos yesterday. In the afternoon Remagen's gremlins were gone and it was running fine. Dent even had an old Minitrix 2-10-0 running it it, brought back memories of my dad's old layouts, it's European cousins were also running on Remagen which shows how solid those mechanisms are.

 

On Bournemouth they were having some coupling problems and had had to swap some stock about to get them to couple, that may have resulted in some malformed sets - certainly whilst I was watching a Bulleid three coach set had to acquire a Maunsell brake in order for the pilot loco to be able to couple up.

 

Despite a very early start seeing me stood on a wet windswept platform 14 at Manchester Piccadilly at 7:30 in the morning after a few pints the night before the day got better, trains were comfy, I got seats, the shuttle bus was great and the exhibition excellent. Didn't buy anything but that's fine, it means my spending habit is finally under control.

[Huw Griffiths]

Andy is concentrating.

 

20181209_110223.jpg

 

I always thought "bucket and spade special" trains ran in the summer.

 

Other than that, I haven't got a clue what's going on here ... .

[gwrrob]

Andy is concentrating.

 

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by gwrrob

[polybear]

Andy is concentrating.

 

20181209_110223.jpg

 

Wet one......

[chrisf]

I attended on Saturday.  The selection of layouts represented a distinct improvement on last year and I found myself returning again and again to several of them.   Faringdon has a distinguished pedigree and I think that the newish board at the buffer stop end is a distinct improvement.  Hope-under-Dinmore is deservedly popular wherever it goes.  I am no lover of pre-grouping but this is one of the better examples.  So is the compelling Kensington Addison Road, whose lengthy sections of dead straight track have the rare advantage of according with the prototype.  Those Oerlikon sets are to die for and I can just remember a school trip to Kew Gardens on one in the 1950s - not in LNWR livery, obviously.  Bournemouth West seemd to be having trouble getting going but later on was difficult to get near.  It was good to see Bradfield Gloucester Square again.  Its new custodians, the Tring club, have now got used to it and have made some small but subtle changes for the better.

 

The exhibition guide would have been better without the anomalies.  Bradfield is credited to John Elliott but, as stated above, is now in the care of the Tring club and it would have been better to credit John specifcally with building it instead of leaving readers to assume that he owns it.  Apparently the Geoff Haynes workshop dealt with wagon building.  It did not say so in the guide and if it had I would have liked to attend.  At least it got the time right, unlike last year.

 

Chris 

[mike morley]

How many box-shifters does a single exhibition need?

Really?

That many?

Wow!

[PenrithBeacon]

How many box-shifters does a single exhibition need?

Really?

That many?

Wow!

Perhaps more next year?

[Trains4U]

How many box-shifters does a single exhibition need?

Really?

That many?

Wow!

Whilst I’d love a little less competition, you really have to bear in mind that these events are very expensive to run and promote.

 

Ticket sales form a big chunk of income, but I would imagine trade stands bring in as much again, if not more.

 

The layouts bring the crowds, the traders help pay for the space, expenses, advertising, staffing and various other costs that couldn’t nearly be covered by the entrance fees alone.

 

(We had a very successful show btw, thanks!)

Edited December 9, 2018 by Trains4U

[Al.]

Back home after the Peterborough Show and putting my feet up after a long weekend. Once we got rid of the gremlins on Saturday Remagen start to behave itself. Sunday it ran loads better, but still a few issues to iron out.

 

Unfortunately I got almost no photos of the layout. If you took some, please could you post up here or in the Remagen thread.

 

Cheers.

[t-b-g]

It is strange how different people looking at the same layouts catch them at different times.

 

I went on Saturday and if I see a layout that isn't running well, I quickly walk on with the idea of coming back later as I really don't like to see poor running layouts at shows.

 

Every single layout I watched was running either well, or very well, at the time I was standing in front of it.

 

I thought it was an excellent show. Perhaps the trade was a bit RTR biased but I think it is that sort of show. If you want all the specialist trade, you go to an EXPO EM or a Scaleforum, not a BRM/Commercial show. That is a big venue to fill and if "box shifters" are willing to pay the stand rental, fill the space and make the show pay its way, then good luck to them. 

[ELTEL]

It is strange how different people looking at the same layouts catch them at different times.

 

I went on Saturday and if I see a layout that isn't running well, I quickly walk on with the idea of coming back later as I really don't like to see poor running layouts at shows.

 

Every single layout I watched was running either well, or very well, at the time I was standing in front of it.

 

I thought it was an excellent show. Perhaps the trade was a bit RTR biased but I think it is that sort of show. If you want all the specialist trade, you go to an EXPO EM or a Scaleforum, not a BRM/Commercial show. That is a big venue to fill and if "box shifters" are willing to pay the stand rental, fill the space and make the show pay its way, then good luck to them.

 

Perhaps a visit to our Exhibition at Stafford May be in order - you will not be disappointed

 

See out website for further details www.staffordrailwaycircle.orh.uk/Exhibition

 

Eltel

[Leander]

 

Every single layout I watched was running either well, or very well, at the time I was standing in front of it.

 

Maybe that's because you're not an exhibition manager Tony!

[t-b-g]

Maybe that's because you're not an exhibition manager Tony!

 

Me standing in front of a layout is usually the kiss of death for any good running. To be fair, one layout was having a few problems but my friend and I did comment on how well things were operating generally.

 

That is not to say that layouts may not have had difficulties when I wasn't looking.

 

Having been behind layouts at many shows, I know just how difficult it is to keep concentration going for two days to avoid operator error and how difficult it is to build a layout that can be dismantled, bounced around in a van or a car and still work well when set up in a completely different environment with a possible dusty, mucky floor and hundreds or thousands of people kicking the dust and dirt into the air.

 

So I tend to cut layouts a bit of slack. If obvious things that could, or should, have been dealt with before or during the show are just accepted by the operators, with no attempt to correct things, that is when I walk away.