Jump to content
 

Warley NEC exhibition 23rd & 24th November 2019


Chris M
 Share

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, Pacific231G said:

There's some truth in that though I'm not sure it's the vast majority. My impression has long been that many British modellers regard US RRs, three thousand miles away with absurdly large trains without buffers that run on the right, as far less foreign  than those in say France, 25 miles away , running on the left sometimes even on bullhead track, many originally built by British engineers and you can even get  there by train. But I have heard people at Ally Pally, where we often have a stand, looking at the area of overseas prototype layouts and saying "Oh that's all foreign" and walking away. This attitude seems less true of narrow gauge modellers, possibly because so much of what was easily available for 9mm gauge was based on Austrian, Swiss and German prototypes, and ExpoNG always has a good number of layouts from Europe.

Thera are also exhibtions that seem determined to include nothing that isn't Anglo-Saxon among their layouts and it's also sad to see that the Eurotrack exhibtion in the Southampton/Eastleigh area has vanished. 

 

OTOH we do have a monthly magazine devoted to non- British Isles prototype modelling and it's interesting that the equivalent split for Loco-Revue was to spin off  Voie-Libre a magazine aimed at narrow gauge and to some extent SG light railway modelling and that does include a fair number of British outline layouts . We also have specialist Societies for those interested in French, Swiss, German, Italian, Scandinavian, Iberian, Austrian and American railways (I suppose the NMRA's British chapter counts as a specialist society)  and a few others I've omitted. I've not seen that in any other country. 

True regarding the view of US railroads, the "common" language might help there, even if the terminology is totally different.

Interest in 'Foreign' railways is probably more prevalent in Britain than in other Countries, but still a minority sport. Yes there is CM magazine but the 'Main Four' mags have to stay 99.99% UK lest they incur the wrath of the majority - ask Chris Leigh of Model Rail of their experience trying foreign stuff in the magazine.

I do find that British modellers who have foreign interests will often have more than one; maybe - for instance - USA as their 'main' focus, with some British, & maybe European too. For myself I like the Dutch NS system after a visit to Holland some years ago. I'll never get around to modelling it though. I saw a layout based on Greek railways some time ago - a fascinating layout, but ignored by a lot of the show's visitors.

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

 
 
 
1
34 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

 My impression has long been that many British modellers regard US RRs, three thousand miles away with absurdly large trains without buffers that run on the right, as far less foreign  than those in say France, 25 miles away , running on the left sometimes even on bullhead track, many originally built by British engineers and you can even get  there by train. But I have heard people at Ally Pally, where we often have a stand, looking at the area of overseas prototype layouts and saying "Oh that's all foreign" and walking away.

How I agree with this!

In my old club (Mickleover St. Johns, Derby) we had quite a thriving American section such that we built a medium-sized US layout that went to a few shows. One member was encouraged to join us on the premise that he could model Canadian - because it's more British!!! In the end, I don't think he was persuaded though.

You can even see this on this forum!

The US/Canadian RR's section is considerably larger than the European section, currently, with 63,677 posts, the remainder which includes the rest of the world, total 34,845, (49,052 if you include Asian and ALL prototype stuff), typically the individual 'country' sections are around 5,000 posts or so.

Yes, we Brits are probably much more insular than other nations, it's quite rare to see a non-N. American layout or feature in "Model Railroader" but it does happen. Outside of "CM" and "Todays Railways, Europe" it is super rare to see anything foreign in print and it has been known to raise howls of derision for being included. However, in European modelling magazines, there is both cross-country "bleed" and also cross-Atlantic "bleed", why might this be?

Simple!

Education and the media - most post-war Europeans are taught "English" at school and there is a heck of a lot of "Americanism" throughout the world (films, TV shows, etc) so American products are on sale almost everywhere. Therefore, it is much easier to model "American" than almost any other nation.

 

Sorry, this doesn't help TeamYakima much but I wish him well, he has a layout that deserves to be in the public eye.

Cheers,

John.

  • Like 3
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Well with all the other discussions I thought I’d give a snapshot of our weekend ;)

We left two hours later than planned due to my friend with the discovery having to work in the morning due to a last minute crisis. So we had a slowish journey up in Friday traffic. We arrived at the reception car park, registered and drove round to the hall where we drove straight in accompanied by a friendly steward. Unloading was equally as quick and the stewards did ask my two friends to shuffle the cars a couple of time’s to allow others access, always unhurried and polite and on the second move I asked if he could pop back once he’d dropped off the other exhibitor and escort the two to the void area to ease the gangway space which he did a few minutes later. 

May friends patiently waited while I organised the build as only one had helped before. As all are seasoned exhibitors they soon got the system and once I’d got each job started they were off with me just checking plug connections etc. The electrical check was done efficiently as usual. The layout went together quick but we were running out of time for dinner so left track cleaning for the morning and headed to our hotel where our other advance party had booked us in. 

 

A entertaining evening with friends is always one of the highlights of doing shows especially with 8 of us with this layout. 

 

Saturday morning and the crew were dispatched to breakfast while I cleaned the track, I ended up missing breakfast Saturday so had to make do with provisions from the crate of cake!

Those who hadn’t operated before were on the usually quieter first hour to allow for any problems to be ironed out but it all went smoothly. An early check by two of the Warley members to make sure everything was ok and we had all the meal and tea vouchers we needed and telling us where to find the stewards if we needed help was appreciated. 

The NEC staff were friendly and not obsessive about ticket times for food as we are invariably early or late due to how busy the show is. 

We had a fair few issues with the WiFi controllers Saturday afternoon but still my crew soldiered on, dealing with me getting irritated with technology by getting on providing a show. Not one complaint, just helpful ideas and suggestions. Problems were solved by an unplanned purchase of another wired controller and long leads even though they were prepared to fight on with operating in a more conventional manner from the base unit. I didn’t want to change the way they walk with the train as I know how much more relaxing it is so I stumped up the cash ;) 

Saturday evening after a long day we retired to the hotel and dinner once more. As Paul Jones has agreed to 8 operators, giving us two shifts, everyone was tired but not shattered so another pleasant evening was begun with my friend James providing the main entertainment after dinner when he proudly showed us all his new BMW 4 series. James has picked up the car and driven straight to the show and not realised the first four digits spelt a word rhyming with heinous ;) thanks to the Euro flag looking like a p . . .

Sunday was less eventful technology wise with it all working well and my crew had now learnt quite a lot of the info to answer questions and were entertaining visitors well. A steward popped round to tell us expenses were ready and check we knew where to go.  

Pack up went as smoothly as set up and it really helped that the two cars carrying the layout were driven by others so I could concentrate on the layout not negotiating the NEC traffic back into the hall. The boxes boards and equipment were swiftly loaded under cover in the void and we enjoyed a brisk journey home. 

 

So a huge thanks to Ian, Tim, Pat, Julian, Steve, Mike, Neil on Saturday  & James on Sunday for their help and good humour especially Saturday afternoon which kept me from getting too wound up. 

It really makes a difference when you trust your crew with your models and just to get on with it while you quietly pull your hair out! Because of that the stress relief was quick and Sunday great fun all day.  

 

Additionally thanks to the whole Warley crew for organising us and the show over the last two years from booking to the day. The system works very well from entering the NEC, guiding us to and from our stand, electrical checks and putting up the barriers plus making sure we have everything for the two days. It must take a huge amount of organising just of their members and helpers. 

So if you get invited to exhibit I’d say yes it’s a great show to be at all round and well worth the long drive and preparation.

 

I’ve exhibited five time’s with my layouts and another three with friends so they are definitely doing something right as we look forward to it. 

 

Here’s to next year when I’ll be there as a punter again ;) 

  • Like 6
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

In every country I have visited either in real life or via a forum the majority of their modellers model their own country. Theres nothing untoward about that, its what you'd expect. The bit of that post I feel is wrong, though,  is thst there is hostility towards models of foreign railways. Indifference perhaps but not outright hostility! 

Do you model anything 'foreign'?

I model Prussian (kind of German pre-group) and on two occasions when I've shown my layout, it has been met with a mix of reactions ranging from "Oh, that's different" to "Ugh, why model sommat so foreign".

To be fair, the last comments were from my local small town where they are a bit backwards!

That made my mind up not to bother putting myself to the trouble again.

  • Friendly/supportive 6
Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Hobby said:

That's not my experience and I've been exhibiting East European layouts for over a decade now. 


 

24 minutes ago, Allegheny1600 said:

Do you model anything 'foreign'?

 

Does the above answer your question (a post of mine from the previous page)... Four Czech narrow gauge exhibition layouts, three of which have featured in CM and several German themed NG layouts before them, and yes, I do know what Prussian stuff is, thanks...

 

 

TBH I've have a much better response at local shows and narrow gauge shows than the biggies, the visitors tend to be more open to seeing something different. I saw few "family" groups at Warley, compared to it being quite common to see husband, wife and kids at local shows. At the local shows I find there are people who have visited the lines or, even better, used to live in the country I model. I can safely say, though, I have NEVER had any hostile comments or behaviour towards them... Mind you I try to be as friendly as possible (my helpers even more so!) so I doubt that sort of bigot would bother saying anything, being open and friendly normally prevents negativity! :)

Edited by Hobby
  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Contrary to the alleged insularity of us British rail enthusiasts, and the lack of anything in print, the Railway Magazine has a regular 'World Track Record' section, which in this month's issue runs to 3 pages (Perhaps however I am the only person who both reads it and finds it interesting). There is also of course, as mentioned, Todays Railways Europe, a British magazine, in English, dedicated entirely to foreign stuff ! Is there any such publication in any other country, I wonder ?

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

Re: the interest in British modellers in foreign themed layouts;

..........

The second-least viewed topic was a British industrial narrow gauge layout, again showing that a significant number of RMwebbers, at least back then, were only interested in mainstream, UK, standard gauge modelling. Things may have improved but to me it was a real insight into how closed-minded a lot of modellers can be. I know there are exceptions, of course.

My current layout is American narrow gauge. Foreign and narrow gauge, but I have had fantastic feedback and appreciation from the public at all of the shows I have attended.  Certainly I would agree that many modellers do get a bit to attached to their own particular flavour of modelling.  I think it goes beyond that and I am amazed that many railway modellers I have met would not consider looking beyond model railways for inspiration, techniques and materials. The boat, wargamers and vehicle modellers etc. have a lot to offer and I love attending multi hobby shows that are such a feature in Europe  for that reason. 

On the subject of public comments, some years ago I was with a 14mm gauge British narrow gauge layout at Guildex in Telford where a lady was heard to say 'Oh, I do like that' only for her husband to grab her arm and drag her away muttering 'come along dear, it's only narrow gauge'.

Steve W

 

  • Like 2
  • Funny 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

This an odd request ……………….. I would like to hear (by PM preferred as I don't want to take this thread off topic) from people who didn't like my layout, those who took one look and walked past, those who had no interest.

 

Why?  Because I want to make my layout more 'visitor friendly'. I want to know how I can improve the layout/display to engage with more visitors.

 

I don't think you need to do anything. It's a layout based on an esoteric subject matter, and some people simply aren't going to be interested in it no matter what you do. But others will love it, not least because it is based on an esoteric subject. We all have different preferences, and you can't appeal to all of them. I don't particularly like MPDs, for example, but they seem to be popular enough at shows so I've got no objection to them being there.

 

FWIW, I didn't spend any time looking at your layout at Warley. But that's because I've seen it before (at Railex), and Warley is so big that I make a conscious decision to focus on layouts that are new to me, in order to make the best use of my time. When I did see it at Railex, I spent quite some time watching it, and enjoyed it. You just have to accept that your particular niche isn't going to fit everybody's noggin.

  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

I have always enjoyed layouts that are not British  remember an excellent SNCF masterpiece and of course Swiss  have seen some excellent Dutch Belgian layouts .When I started Railex Aylesbury forty years ago I always tried to get European and American layouts to show the punters what was available.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

I model 00, mainly GWR between the wars, but you may have noticed that the layouts I have been posting pictures of are anything but.

When I go to Warley I look for something different.

I haven't checked all my pictures yet but I may not have taken any GWR!

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, lmsforever said:

I have always enjoyed layouts that are not British  remember an excellent SNCF masterpiece and of course Swiss  have seen some excellent Dutch Belgian layouts .When I started Railex Aylesbury forty years ago I always tried to get European and American layouts to show the punters what was available.

Good for you LMS

Do you happen to remember what the excellent SNCF masterpiece was?

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

Mind you I try to be as friendly as possible (my helpers even more so!) so I doubt that sort of bigot would bother saying anything, being open and friendly normally prevents negativity! :)

Ah, so it was my fault - or at least the small sign on the end of my US O scale layout that read "Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again" ...?? :rolleyes: :mosking:

I helped on a Scottish outline layout at one show, right by the door to the "American layouts room". People may have walked around that room in silence (& quickly, as I observed) but sure had a moan about it in front of 'our' layout. So hostile comments might not neccessarily be aimed directly at the 'foreign' layout or it's owner.

Agree that Families are often a more receptive audience to 'something different'.

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
1 hour ago, steve W said:

The boat, wargamers and vehicle modellers etc. have a lot to offer and I love attending multi hobby shows that are such a feature in Europe  for that reason. 

 

 

 

Yes, I wish there were more multi-hobby shows as well, such as the big one in Dortmund. The (very local to me) Rhondda show used to be like that, with a selection

of layouts as well as boats, tanks, planes etc but it hasn't run in quite a few years.

 

I have to say that the reaction to my French layouts has been pretty good generally, especially (as mentioned here) with families and non-specialist modellers, as they

don't necessarily make any judgements about the location; they just see blue diesels tootling around and tend to comment more on things like the grass, water, grotty

walls and so on.

 

I did have one bloke who came up, looked at it, said "where's this set then", to which I answered "France", and his reaction was "don't like the French." Needless to say

I wasn't all that chatty thereafter.

 

On a more positive note, I exhibited the layout at the Stow in the Wold show a few years ago (I think Roundhouse was there as well) and (by intention) the majority of the

layouts were American-based. A man and his wife came in, both Americans. They'd been in the town on holiday and noticed an advert for a model train show, so popped

in on the off-chance. The guy, in a nice way, said that he was pleased to see my layout as he'd been wanting to see some British trains and so far all they had was

the same stuff he sees at home! I had to break it to him that it was French - but he took it well!

 

 

  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

Reading the above (and I have seen the Beijieo layout at other shows), I wish him well in securing invites to more shows.

 

(Mods: this may be the wrong place for this)

 

FWIW, (working in the 'industry') "if it ain't UK outline, I'm not interested" summarises the majority of comments received from many sources when broaching the subject of 'overseas' products! (That set of figures is no good, it's H0 not 00! Walk down the High Street and observe the wide range of heights of your fellow pedestrians.) Transfesa have been running freight from Spain to the UK for many years, even before the opening of the Channel Tunnel, so there's scope here for Spanish wagons, for example. Prototypically, trains now carry freight from China to the UK and there are examples of the German ICE4 and the French TGV running regularly from London St. Pancras.

 

There is an association between the Warley Club and Continental Clubs, hence the number of continental-built layouts on show.

 

There's thick fog in the English Channel; Europe's cut off????????

  • Like 3
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Echoing a few of the later comments, I found my French layout was appreciated by exhibition managers, well liked by the general public and the negative comments only came from those who would call themselves modellers.  Given that I have never seen any of their work I have to use the "consider themselves".   The did often have a shopping bag full of goodies that they had purchased.

  • Like 5
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

I did have one bloke who came up, looked at it, said "where's this set then"

Funnily enough someone asked that of the aforementioned Scottish layout I helped operate. To me it was so obviously Scottish, from the layout name, scenery, station architecture & colours, & even the locos, that I thought at first he was just being clever/sarcastic/p***-taking, but it seemed a genuine question, and I did answer it as such.

Edited by F-UnitMad
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

We thought the Chinese layout was great, especially the shops.  Made a change from all those early BR summer branchline layouts and was better executed than many we saw.  I don't know anything about the prototype so can't comment on realism.  In the top 10% for me.

 

I struggle with US layouts because so many are set in the desert.  Let's see an Alaska Railroad one with big girder bridges, rivers and mountains.  Cheap to build, too, as you only need white coloured scatter material!

  • Like 4
  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Good for you LMS

Do you happen to remember what the excellent SNCF masterpiece was?

Cant remember the name or were I saw it but it was modern image  ole with a yard running into a multi platform station..It might have been at Warley  but the operation was superb with well detailed rolling stock also the scenery complimented the trains.Think it was a French group who were running it.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
2 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

 

On a more positive note, I exhibited the layout at the Stow in the Wold show a few years ago (I think Roundhouse was there as well) and (by intention) the majority of the

layouts were American-based. A man and his wife came in, both Americans. They'd been in the town on holiday and noticed an advert for a model train show, so popped

in on the off-chance. The guy, in a nice way, said that he was pleased to see my layout as he'd been wanting to see some British trains and so far all they had was

the same stuff he sees at home! I had to break it to him that it was French - but he took it well!

 

 

Oh yes remember that well.

 

And by coincidence, only talking about that today.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
Just now, roundhouse said:

Oh yes remember that well.

 

And by coincidence, only talking about that today.

 

One of the best shows I've done, on all fronts - friendly exhibitors, wonderful venue, great cakes from the organiser!

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...