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Chiltern Model Railway Exhibition - Stevenage 11/12 Jan 2020


adrianmc
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3 hours ago, jcm@gwr said:

 

And I would say the same, wherever I lived, facts are facts!

It is between 1 & 2 miles from the motorway junction to the venue, depending on which

direction you are coming from (north or south) will determine which junction you take,

and that will all be on dual carriageway roads (can St. Albans offer that?)

 

I will confess to living in Stevenage, but the show wasn't a deciding factor, I was here for

25 years before CMRA saw the light!

 

This is the 3rd/4th? year in Stevenage. I can't believe some are still whinging about its move from what was bluntly a terrible venue.

Moving it almost anywhere would have been a positive change. The leisure centre in Stevenage is a much better venue for reasons mentioned several times already.

& I live closer to St Albans..

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5 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

This is the 3rd/4th? year in Stevenage.

 

4th

 

5 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

I can't believe some are still whinging about its move from what was bluntly a terrible venue.

 

Me neither.   Two of the perennial comments from the St Albans days was that we needed to fit in more exhibits(!) and that it was too crowded. 

As our American colleagues would say "Go figure".

 

St Albans served the CMRA for many years and I'm pleased to say the exhibition developed and maintained a very good reputation over many years despite those two comments and all the other aspects that have been mentioned in this thread but it was way past time for it to move on.   So when the opportunity arose to move the exhibition on to a bigger, better venue it was taken.  No venue is perfect of course, but the benefits of the Stevenage venue far outway the fact that St Albans "is a nice City".    Many thanks to the participants for their contribution and their comments on this thread.  It would be rather nice if subsequent comments related to this weekends actual event and even better if they included some photographs and videos of the wonderful  exhibits that were on display whilst we await Adrian's retrospective on the CMRA website.

 

If you do have any specific feedback for the organisers that will help enhance future CMRA exhibitions please send it to exhibition@cmra.org.uk as requested in David's introduction to the Exhibition Guide.

 

Alan

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Thoroughly enjoyed my visit Sunday some excellent layouts Barrowmores was the top layout Burntisland well what can you say it is a historical statement ,Colne caught my eye as a well presented and interesting layout with good operation ,Hedges cutting is a fine example of well made buildings with excellent rolling stock ,overall an excellent show and worth the trip thank to the organizers and the stewards for being helpful with a smile.

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6 hours ago, Chris M said:

 

Interesting off topic point.  Would some people be saying the hobby is better for not having an NEC show?

 

A small number of people who make a lot of noise would say yes. In fact they would say yes to every show closing except their personal favourite (which would be different in each case) as well as every magazine and manufacturer. Then they could hang around on Facebook (RMweb having closed to their applause) moaning how the hobby was dying off and why won't someone (not them obvs.) do SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!

 

No-one is forced to go to a show. If you don't like it, stay at home. I went to Stevenage and had a great time. There were a number of layouts I really loved and a few I'd like to build myself. I saw interesting and inspiring modelling and chatted to many people. For a tenner, I enjoyed a full day of entertainment.

 

And I remember the old St Albans venue. This one is much better and has allowed to show to grow and flourish.

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4 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

This is the 3rd/4th? year in Stevenage. I can't believe some are still whinging about its move from what was bluntly a terrible venue.

Moving it almost anywhere would have been a positive change. The leisure centre in Stevenage is a much better venue for reasons mentioned several times already.

& I live closer to St Albans..

 

As a contrarian voice: I liked StAlbans, but I do entirely see why the show moved. This year was the first time I've not left StEvanage wondering if I should turn an invite for the following year down (if I was lucky enough for them to want me back) - I don't know why, but I've never warmed to the new venue, and find the parking/loading much more difficult than StAlbans.

 

Jon

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I went with Flying Pig yesterday; not a vintage CMRA show but very enjoyable none the less.  We arrived about 10.10am and had no trouble parking in the car park by the main door - there were plenty of spaces. Infact, I've been to all of the Stevenage shows and never had any problems parking.  And at £2 per day that's darn good value!  Getting tickets and finding our way in to the halls was a little chaotic, but not impossible.  The show was reasonably busy all day, but the hall layouts are well spaced out and it was easy enough about and see things.   People were generally friendly and we chatted to a number of the operators, demonstrators and exhibitors.  

 

 Travel to Stevenage is fine and it takes me about the same time to get there as St Albans. The venue is a vast improvement on St Albans.  Quaint and quirky as it was, it's not accessible for a show of this size and, rightly, that's just not acceptable these days. Quite apart from the crowding in main auditorium and stage areas, the balcony/basement arrangement was an accident waiting to happen. It can't have been great for the exhibitors either -  I know from a friend that being on a demonstration stand in the basement near the gents for the weekend was not a pleasant experience.

 

Choosing favourite layouts is always going to be a bit subjective, but I particularly enjoyed watching Heybridge Wharf, Fintonagh and  Harlyn Pier.  There were some beautifully made models on many layouts, such as Burntisland and Johnstown Road, and I loved the Art Deco of Aerodrome Park.  We were also very impressed with Mothecombe which was well built and operated to a very good standard by High Wycombe MRS Juniors.   

 

So all in all, well done CMRA for putting on another good show.   I've just got a new camera so was playing with that yesterday and will post some photos in a while.

 

Ralph

Lambton58

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Johnstown Road and Aerodrome Park

CMRA Exhibition 2020 (20 of 36).jpg

CMRA Exhibition 2020 (21 of 36).jpg

 

The Cambrian trestle bridge and mountain view reminded me of Ynas Las on the Dyfi, although there are fewer trees and no dam there!

CMRA Exhibition 2020 (22 of 36).jpg

CMRA Exhibition 2020 (24 of 36).jpg

 

Wonderfully captured Art Deco buildings.  

CMRA Exhibition 2020 (31 of 36).jpg

CMRA Exhibition 2020 (32 of 36).jpg

Edited by Lambton58
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On 13/01/2020 at 22:04, Lambton58 said:

So as threatened here are some snaps of bits of the show...

 

Nice pictures.  I concede now that I was wrong - there are actually 7 Poirots and a Captain Hastings hidden on Aerodrome park, but you have to look very hard indeed for them. I still maintain that the females holding the lamps were not meant to represent Miss Lemon.

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