Great Electric Train Show

[woodenhead]

Once I got to the exhibition I must say it was worth the journey again.

 

In fact, better than last year.

 

Managed not to spend anything on trains just buying books.

 

Chilling in Costa now with a nice soya latte.

 

Well done to the team for such a good show.

[lmsforever]

 Went today and thoroughly enjoyed myself well laid out plenty of room and very good layouts trade back up complimentary only complaint chaotic catering went to burger van know this is nothing to do with organisers.

[Roy L S]

On 11/10/2019 at 12:35, chrisf said:

 

If last year's show is any guide you will have a job finding any tools for sale.

 

Chris

 

That was the case, there was a lack of any comprehensive supplier of tools etc which meant part of my shopping list went unfulfilled. 

 

That aside a very decent show with a lot of really good quality layouts and I am happy I went. Favourite for me was Wendover, a town I lived in in the early Seventies as a young child. I spent a lot of time around the station and later having moved down the road to Stoke Mandeville took the train from there to Wendover for Secondary School. The model filled in a lot of historical gaps for me, including goods yard details and the branch line to RAF Halton.

 

Roy

[The Stationmaster]

25 minutes ago, Roy L S said:

 

That was the case, there was a lack of any comprehensive supplier of tools etc which meant part of my shopping list went unfulfilled. 

 

That aside a very decent show with a lot of really good quality layouts and I am happy I went. Favourite for me was Wendover, a town I lived in in the early Seventies as a young child. I spent a lot of time around the station and later having moved down the road to Stoke Mandeville took the train from there to Wendover for Secondary School. The model filled in a lot of historical gaps for me, including goods yard details and the branch line to RAF Halton.

 

Roy

I presume that Squires can't be in two places at once and on this particular weekend in the show calendar their regular venue is that Farnham Club's show held in Aldershot. (and they are there again this year).

[JohnDMJ]

19 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

I presume that Squires can't be in two places at once and on this particular weekend in the show calendar their regular venue is that Farnham Club's show held in Aldershot. (and they are there again this year).

 

Squires have been known to be in THREE places at once, Mike!

[PenrithBeacon]

http://www.squirestools.com/exhibitions-and-events.htm

They're in Scotland this weekend too!

[Teabag]

Really enjoyed the show - even more so than last year.  A good selection of layouts, great idea to have a kids area and some really great micro layout on balcony 1.  All in all, worth the visit.

 

Teabag.

[bazjones1711]

9 minutes ago, Teabag said:

Really enjoyed the show - even more so than last year.  A good selection of layouts, great idea to have a kids area and some really great micro layout on balcony 1.  All in all, worth the visit.

 

Teabag.

Assume This may have been one of those great micro layouts ! 

[Teabag]

Yep, that was one of them - fantastic detail in the different grades of scrap.

[oleander]

First time going . Though it was a good show. Had some great layouts and a good selection of trade support. Ok some gaps in the trade support.
On thing I noticed was the walk ways were very narrow. And very quickly you got a crowd situation were people are trying to get through. You take a show like Alli Pally much wider walk ways and no crush so you feel more realaxed . Which gives people a better show experance . Over all I was pleased .

John

[jimwal]

First time for me as well. Good layout selection, they all looked good and ran generally well. Plenty of 'box shifters' which may of encouraged competitive pricing, I wasn't looking!. Other trade was a little weak to be honest.

 

The walkways were a bit tight though it was fairly busy earlier on. I thought the catering was basic but service was quite fast. 

 

The main problem was a shortage of seating which led to many, including our group (one in his eighties) standing to eat food. 

 

Jim

[melmerby]

On 11/10/2019 at 10:43, woodenhead said:

Warley, yes, but it means I don't need to queue when I arrive.

 

Uh?

There's always a queue at Warley, advance tickets or not.

By 9:15 the queue is back to the Motorcycle exhibition.

[Pete the Elaner]

11 minutes ago, jimwal said:

Plenty of 'box shifters' which may of encouraged competitive pricing, I wasn't looking!. Other trade was a little weak to be honest.

 

The walkways were a bit tight though it was fairly busy earlier on. I thought the catering was basic but service was quite fast. 

I agree with the comment about traders. In the past, I have found this to be more of a mainstream than finescale show. I felt this year was no different.

 

I thought the walkways were reasonably generous, but they were crowded because the show was extremely busy.

[TrentValleyRailway]

Another great show which gets better each year. Part 1 of all the layouts from The Great Electric Train Show 2019.

 

[Andymsa]

My first time visiting this show and was pleased I went. The layouts were all good quality I'm not going to single my fav out. The walkways in places were narrow and caused bottlenecks. My only criticism is entry, when I first arrived I got my wristbands and proceeded into the show not one person challenged us, in fact I could of got away without even paying. This was not a one off event as I noticed others not even challenged security was not interested and seemed to be chatting amongst themselves.

[chrisf]

I went yesterday.  From Bedford it is dead easy by X5 bus and the shuttle. 

 

There were some good layouts and here is my random selection.  I had not seen Minories by Tom Cunnington for a couple of years.  Its growth has been managed well without losing the character and I rather liked the new blocks of flats.  I also liked Fenny Stratford, new to me, and was very taken with Crossley Scrap.   I'm in danger of upsetting someone by saying that Exton Quay had more than a touch of Mutton in it.  It was good to see Caradon Junction again - not quite a typical china clay layout, and so far I have not tired of the photographer with his flashgun.   Norwood Road is bowing out and may one day have a new owner.  It may also have a high enough profile to stop Hornby Mag referring to it as Norwood JUNCTION.  At least they did not confuse Addison Park - one of 3mm's finest ambassadors, by the way - with Addison Road this time.  Both of these suggest poor attention to detail and is the sort of thing that leads irreverent people like me to describe magazines as comics.

 

One good point - to complement the trade stands run by professional weatherers such as Dirty Boy and TMC it was good to see a human expert, in the person of Mick Bonwick.  As the trade muscles in on more and more modelling activities Joe and Josephine Modeller become less and less inclined to do things for themselves.  We need more people like Mick to ignite the spark of creativity.

 

One bad point - there were some tools on sale here and there, with a particularly fine array of paint brushes on one stand, but once again there was no-one like Squires or Eileens to provide the wherewithal.  If this show has any pretensions to being up among the leaders this is an omission that needs to be rectified, and soon. 

 

Chris

[woodenhead]

10 hours ago, melmerby said:

Uh?

There's always a queue at Warley, advance tickets or not.

By 9:15 the queue is back to the Motorcycle exhibition.

Don't have to queue to purchase a ticket to then queue again to enter

[woodenhead]

The one thing that concerned me was the positioning of barriers on some layouts very close to the layouts themselves and in other cases no barriers at all.

 

On Shelvington for example I was so close I was level with the announcer speaker and looking down on the trains.  With Kirby Stephen the baseboard had apparently been shifted by the motion of the barriers.

 

On Wendover there was no barrier and one chap was literally leaning on the scenery to get a better look, the same happened with Norwood Road.

 

At the society run finescale shows it's quite normal to operate without barriers but the footfall is a lot less than these general shows, yesterday was pretty busy and ironically at the busiest points due to trader stalls was the least barrier provision.

[Graham_Muz]

4 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

The one thing that concerned me was the positioning of barriers on some layouts very close to the layouts themselves and in other cases no barriers at all.

 

On Shelvington for example I was so close I was level with the announcer speaker and looking down on the trains.  With Kirby Stephen the baseboard had apparently been shifted by the motion of the barriers.

 

On Wendover there was no barrier and one chap was literally leaning on the scenery to get a better look, the same happened with Norwood Road.

 

At the society run finescale shows it's quite normal to operate without barriers but the footfall is a lot less than these general shows, yesterday was pretty busy and ironically at the busiest points due to trader stalls was the least barrier provision.

 

Each of us as layout owners were asked if we wanted barriers or not I know that myself, Norwood Road and Wendover all made the decision quite happily not to have them.  

Those that did could position them as far or close to their layouts as they wanted. Barriers at most shows always end up getting closer to the layout as the day passes by. 

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

Don't have to queue to purchase a ticket to then queue again to enter

You gave the impression you just turn up and present your ticket and go straight in!

I always have an advance ticket but still face a long queue to get in when I arrive around 8:45-9:00

[rob D2]

I thought it was pretty good - first time for me.

Good layouts , my fav being Smallwood, BR blue 1976 by reddish modellers .,( see photo ).

Trade wise , agree with above, probably needed one less second hand dealer and one decent tool shop.

 

 

[Clearwater]

We enjoyed the show too and agree with the comments that it was a bit narrow at points on the main floor.  
 

some high quality layouts particularly Bournemouth West and Wendover.  Exton Quay was beautiful too.  Trade was a bit samey though I’d have liked more of a look at the DCC Supplies stall.

 

With a 7 and 3 year old, J found the kids zone a bit underwhelming.  It’s a good space on the second floor balcony and more could have been done rather than the play pot style wooden railway and the demo style tables.  
 

David

[sb67]

 Had a great time today at the show, all fantastic layouts, really enjoyed the 'micro layouts' that were there and It was good to meet Graham Muz and bazjones1711. 

Thanks to Mick Bonwick for the weathering demo, it was good to see some of the stuff you've weathered on here,  you make look so easy! That Peckett  looks superb! 

The venue is really easy to find and there's plenty of parking. 

I got a few bits and what I see from the 'box shifters' the prices looked competitive. 

If I had to find a negative I would say the lighting wasn't great in places, but that's true of a lot of shows I've been too. 

A big well done and thank you to all involved.

Steve.

 

[robertcwp]

Squires did have a stand at the Farnham show, which I went to today. I went to GETS yesterday and thought it as well worth the trip. I spent by far the most time at Bournemouth West, which was for me the highlight of the show along with Shelvington and Rydes Hill and its superb units, especially the 3D (Class 207). There were lots of box-shifters but Ellis Clark Trains stood out with some very competitive prices for coaching stock. I came away with some spares for my reserve fleet. I agree with others that, to be taken seriously, this show needs a more balanced trade presence.

[Pete the Elaner]

41 minutes ago, robertcwp said:

I agree with others that, to be taken seriously, this show needs a more balanced trade presence.

Why? If the organisers are happy with the finances of the show, then it seems a bit silly to change it. It is a bit like asking Lotus to build cars like Bugatti thereby losing their present market.

There are plenty of other shows around this time of year which cater better for finescale modellers & kit-builders. Scaleforum was a couple of weeks ago & Warley is just over a month away. GETS is a bit different to these.

This one seems to be aimed more towards the RTR market than the scratchbuilder.

I don't think the aisles were particularly narrow either. I was there all weekend & at no time was I held up when walking around.