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steve1
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I have this dim memory of attending some sort of events in the past; I think they were called Model Railway Exhibitions.

 

I'm sure there were people showing their trainsets and some sort of stalls selling models and stuff.

 

Does anyone else remember these shows or is it just something I might have dreamed?

 

Thanks

 

steve

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Yes, from memory, they were organised by someone who then ended up getting flack for months afterwards,  because some people were not happy with the catering, car parking, the weather, the choice of  available layouts or the stock the traders had and then came Covid and that organiser decided it wasn't worth their time. 

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7 minutes ago, lippy said:

Yes, from memory, they were organised by someone who then ended up getting flack for months afterwards,  because some people were not happy with the catering, car parking, the weather, the choice of  available layouts or the stock the traders had and then came Covid and that organiser decided it wasn't worth their time. 

 

Or in one case, how much money was wasted!

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14 hours ago, lippy said:

Yes, from memory, they were organised by someone who then ended up getting flack for months afterwards,  because some people were not happy with the catering, car parking, the weather, the choice of  available layouts or the stock the traders had and then came Covid and that organiser decided it wasn't worth their time. 

A valid post that begs the question of how many will have decided during the Covid chaos, that it isn't worth their time and effort, and they can enjoy the hobby better without.

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On 28/12/2020 at 14:35, Vulcan said:

A valid post that begs the question of how many will have decided during the Covid chaos, that it isn't worth their time and effort, and they can enjoy the hobby better without.

My club to start with, gives me less stress and more modelling time. 

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Ours is provisionally booked.

2nd October 2021 Broadland Model Railway Exhibition, sponsored by the Bure Valley Railway, will be held again in the Jubilee Centre, Aylsham, NR11 6JG between 10.00 and 16.00 (10am and 4pm).

 

We've also provisionally booked a local village hall in May for our open day.

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As an exhibitor I miss the whole experience.

 

Last minute repairs and modifications. Loading up. The lunch on the way. The set up the night before. Testing and fixing. The "check into the hotel and find somewhere to eat" . The hotel breakfast lottery. The look around a show before it opens and check out the "competition". Bag a few pre show bargains. The show opening. The great British public in all its awesomeness. The buzz of a busy show. etc. etc.   You can guess the rest of the weekend. 

 

Even miss the characters you get at shows that you sometimes wish to avoid.

 

Really looking forward to getting back to this all one day.

 

Flippin virus.

 

ps.  I do draw the line at missing the backpack brigade though. There are limits to nostalgia !

 

Erk.

 

prop. K Street.

 

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The last exhibition I went to was Leamington on 7th March (what a splendid memory I have). It very much looks like it will be well over a year between the last one of the old era and the first one of the post Covid era. As it takes a while to organise an exhibition, even with all the layouts from the previous year pencilled in, I expect it will be at least two months between notice that exhibitions will allowed again and the first one happening. That’s still some way away.

 


i didn’t realise how much I liked going to exhibitions until they weren’t there any more.  I reckon the first few exhibitions of the new era will be extremely well attended due to pent up demand.

 

In the meantime just think of all those great new exhibition layouts that have built during lockdown sitting there waiting for their chance to appear on the circuit.

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Don’t forget...

 

... this isn’t January 2021, it’s just the thirteenth month of 2020.

 

Pessimistic? Me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by BoD
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8 minutes ago, BoD said:

Don’t forget...

 

... this isn’t January 2021, it’s just the thirteenth month of 2020.

 

Pessimistic? Me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


correction... today is the three hundred and somethingth of March 2020! 
 

Andi

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On 02/01/2021 at 17:59, Erk said:

You can guess the rest of the weekend.

 

Errm ... yes ... .

 

Within 2 minutes of punters being allowed through the door, a 10 deep scrum surrounding a certain RTR manufacturer's stand. All of them looking for - I'm not sure anyone knows what they're looking for - because it'll probably be long gone by the time they "ruck" and "maul" their way to the front of the scrum.

 

All I know is that some of them will probably need a "truck and trailer" to carry away all their purchases - supplied shrink wrapped in styrofoam - although most places would normally sell the stuff in boxes in a "Spectrum" of colours.

 

 

On 02/01/2021 at 17:59, Erk said:

I do draw the line at missing the backpack brigade though. There are limits to nostalgia!

 

... That spoils the "fun"!

 

Next, you'd probably be saying you don't much care for my new army-style 120 litre backpack *, complete with frame - not forgetting several strategically positioned lengths of track, sticking out at awkward angles ... .

 

 

(* Don't worry - I've never had one of these packs - and I've got no plans to obtain one. I do have a 25 litre day sack - which I've found to be rather too small - I'd actually prefer something around 50-60 litres.

 

However, as the guys who run this site have seen for themselves, I'm happy to carry my backpack by its handle, or even in a large carrier bag.)

 

 

Huw.

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On 02/01/2021 at 19:13, Chris M said:

 As it takes a while to organise an exhibition, even with all the layouts from the previous year pencilled in, I expect it will be at least two months between notice that exhibitions will allowed again and the first one happening. That’s still some way away.

 

 

I'd  agree with that - and to a degree it depends exactly when in the month the show is being held. In order for a show to be viable, it needs to be publicised, and despite online advertising like the RMWeb Calendar and UKModelshops, the most effective way of getting word out is still the specialist press. Railway Modeller requires announcements to be received 6 weeks before publication. Now, you could be really lucky and the show be only a few days after publication, in which case the lead time is little more than 6 weeks, but there's a risk not everyone will have either bought the magazine or got round to reading the exhibitions section that quickly so a show that soon after publication really needs to be in the previous issue, which extends the lead time to ten weeks. Shows in the middle of the month fare a little better in that it gives more time for people to read the magazine so an 8 week lead time is more feasible.

 

For my show (usually second Saturday of the February half term), I like to get in both the February and March editions, which means notifying the magazines in late November. I held off cancelling the physical show (I'm doing a virtual one instead) as long as possible but when second lockdown started it became apparent shows weren't going to be permitted before the deadline date, so the decision was taken to switch to online.

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At the risk of being a little more serious: we are an aging group, after a gap of one, two or even three years how many of us will still be physically up for the challenge of humping all the gear into and out of vans............

In addition we may find that some of our long standing venues may no longer be available due to covid protocols. That said, and hoping for a better vaccinated future I have just signed up to steward at Doncaster for the Guild's summer bash.

Keep safe!

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It is, they say, an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Living abroad, I don't get to many exhibitions, and my last was Railex 2019. As a result of a chat on one stand, and a subsequent conversation with a kit-builder who was demonstrating on a society stand, I commissioned a loco-build. I was told not to expect the model until this month, broadly 18 months later. As a result of Covid, my kit-builder found he had more time at home, and I took delivery of a delightful and unique model last August. 

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1 hour ago, doilum said:

At the risk of being a little more serious: we are an aging group, after a gap of one, two or even three years how many of us will still be physically up for the challenge of humping all the gear into and out of vans............

 

 

The flip side of course is it's given people lots of time to build new layouts....

 

Layouts don't need to be massive ovals that require a van to transport them. An 8' end-to-end layout that folds in half and sits across the back seat of a car can be just as effective and indeed there are many layouts much smaller than that.

 

From both a visitor and show manager's perspective I have mixed feelings about the big oval layouts.  Often 1/2 to 3/4 of the layout is 'off stage' meaning it can be a long time before a train appears from the fiddle yard, as well as reducing the amount of visual frontage people can watch. Four smaller layouts is often a better use of the space, and with no van hire charges may well work out cheaper for the show manager from an expenses point of view!

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Exhibitions take a lot of organising, and a long lead time is required to get everything booked and in place.

 

At my local club (AVRMC) we've never held an exhibition, but, until last year, held a club open day twice a year which was always well attended. We're hoping to start them up again as soon as we can; being at our own clubroom means we could organise one at very short notice, and with nothing really to 'buy in' (other than food for the catering) there's no real expense involved either. We've had quite a few changes since our last open day, so our next one should offer something different for visitors.

 

As mentioned above, the only downside to organising one at such short notice is advertising, but with Facebook, forums such as this, and flyers in local model shops, it's possible to reach quite a wide audience without the magazines.

 

As soon as the tiers are eased and the guidelines allow, we'll be holding an open day; we're optimistic for something in the summer, fingers crossed...

 

Jonathan

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2 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

 

The flip side of course is it's given people lots of time to build new layouts....

 

Layouts don't need to be massive ovals that require a van to transport them. An 8' end-to-end layout that folds in half and sits across the back seat of a car can be just as effective and indeed there are many layouts much smaller than that.

 

From both a visitor and show manager's perspective I have mixed feelings about the big oval layouts.  Often 1/2 to 3/4 of the layout is 'off stage' meaning it can be a long time before a train appears from the fiddle yard, as well as reducing the amount of visual frontage people can watch. Four smaller layouts is often a better use of the space, and with no van hire charges may well work out cheaper for the show manager from an expenses point of view!

True and I foresee (hopefully), a trend of "pop up" shows, arranged at short notice in church halls with a handful of club members minimum space layouts and low costs all round. Medium sized shows however need at least one impressive tail chaser otherwise the general public leave a tad disappointed and reluctant to return next year. When I try and recall over forty years of shows, the ones that are engraved in my fading memory are the large show stoppers Copenhagen Fields, The Gresley Beat, High Dyke, Happisburgh and a few more. After wracking my brain I struggled to name many of the wonderful minimum space layouts I had seen other than Under Milk Wood. That said, Houghton Street was built to the capacity of an Astra estate car.

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21 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

 

 

 

From both a visitor and show manager's perspective I have mixed feelings about the big oval layouts.  Often 1/2 to 3/4 of the layout is 'off stage' meaning it can be a long time before a train appears from the fiddle yard, as well as reducing the amount of visual frontage people can watch. Four smaller layouts is often a better use of the space, and with no van hire charges may well work out cheaper for the show manager from an expenses point of view!

I've gone the other way. During lockdown I've got rid of my small end to end and my 7ft oval layouts that fitted in the back of my car. I now have a 12ft circular layout on two boards which will need a small van to carry it. All these layouts are N gauge. I don't care if my new layout doesn't get to any shows as I have made this layout for me. No more than a third of the layout is "off stage" and, as with my previous layout, a train will appear as soon as the previous one has disappeared with sometimes two or three "on stage" together. At exhibitions there will be almost no tail chasing but there will be a glorious precession of  realistically composed  scale length  trains that all fit the location and era. I never planned for it to go to many shows, 3 to 5 would be fine for me. This is perhaps down to me taking on board the point made about none of us getting any younger. Although the layout is not yet complete I do have a provisional agreement with 3 or 4 show managers to take it to their exhibitions but of course the year cannot be pinned down at the moment. Though I say it myself, I think many folk will like it when it does get out. 

 

 

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I have 3 hats punter, trader and exhibitor. 

I'm missing going to shows with the layouts and walking round and looking.

But from a trading point of view I'm making more money not going to shows. Sales are down but that has been offset by the lack of expenditure of going to the shows. I'm asking myself is it worth the expense of going. And I don't have to hold as much stock as I'm manufacturing to order.

Marc

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