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Your last visit to a Model Railway Exhibition


Brian Hawkins
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Hi everyone,just out of interest, what was the last exhibition you visited before the outbreak of Corona virus ?

Mine was the Southampton Model Railway Exhibition at the Barton Peveril college at Eastleigh held over the weekend of 25th - 26th January 2020, little did i relise when walking out that would be my only show during 2020.

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Another world, eh?

 

I'm not a frequent frequenter of exhibitions, so 16 February, Milton Keynes, and then a village hall meeting of our vintage 0 gauge group on 24 February.

 

We did make a family visit to Bletchley Park on 8 March, and it was blindingly obvious that lockdown was needed by then - I took a photo of an "Is your journey really necessary?" poster that day, because it seemed in the spirit of the times. Sure enough, come the 13th March, we were into self-isolation, because my young daughter was running a temperature (no testing then, but it almost certainly wasn't the dreaded, given that none of the rest of us caught whatever she had).

 

The idea of milling about with oodles of other people now feels utterly alien, as if it never happened, ever.

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Model Rail Scotland in Glasgow, Friday 21st February 2020.

A day trip on the Pendolino from Carlisle.

It had become a tradition to buy the Hornby catalogue every year at the Glasgow show.

No Glasgow show this year so I had to mail order my Hornby catalogue which arrived yesterday.

.  

Edited by cessna152towser
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I think my last one was - perhaps fittingly - my own (the Kenavon Railway Society)'s show in Reading at the end of February half term. Although theoretically I could have gone to Basingstoke, it was already clear to me that the situation was quite serious and it didn't seem terribly wise to attend.

 

Prior to Kenavon, I think the last show I attended was FebEx at Alton.

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Meursault south of Dijon late 2019 where I met Andy Hayter of this parish. Our own show that would have been the next one for me, was cancelled due to C-19.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

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Nottingham in mid-March, a week or so before lockdown was announced. We were discussing what the next show we’d get to might be, the optimists were with York in early or Bingham in mid-April, the pessimists were with Railex at the end of May.

 

Little did we know that whilst the optimists view of Bingham might yet prove to be correct, nobody ever thought it would be over a year later.

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51 minutes ago, Philou said:

Meursault south of Dijon late 2019 where I met Andy Hayter of this parish. Our own show that would have been the next one for me, was cancelled due to C-19.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

Ditto for the last exhibition. Last UK exhibition was Warley 2017.  In between Montelirail (Montelimar) in 2018.  

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I went to the Romsey show on 7th March. I remember the bogroll shortage had begun. A man with a white van outside Aldi was cursing that the store staff were unloading some from a lorry but were not going to put it on sale until the next morning. I suspected he was after a van load to sell on, but I may have misjudged him.  I was going to go to the Basingstoke show but didn't, not because I thought it unwise but something made it inconvenient; I can't remember what. 

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Weymouth circa 1st Nov 2019 as a stand holder. Was up north for an SLS Board meeting in Derby on the Saturday (glorious sunshine) and also had tickets for Doncaster, was to take the family on Sunday but the gales and rain on that day made that drive unwise so we cancelled.
 

LFORM, then York would have been next up but we all know what happened to them.

 

Edited by john new
Forgot the failed attempt for Doncaster.
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Mine was the Bognor Regis MRC show second weekend in January. I chose not to go to any others during February as I was all prepped to go to Ally Pally later that year, shopping list organised for once and everything when the plug was pulled.  If the Government had held off for one more week it could still have gone ahead...

 

Really annoyed that this whole mess has still not been resolved in time to avoid Ally Pally being cancelled again....

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I did CMRA Stevenage, all 3 days! It's our club's (Stevenage & District)

local show and we help set it up, steward it, and break it down.

I went to Kettering (0 gauge), and then a group of us (mates from our

club) went to Miniatur Wunderland in the first week of March, we got

back just before lockdown.

It all seems so long ago now!

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Model rail Scotland one month prior to lockdown. 

I remember joking with one of our other club members about the first few people who had been infected arriving into the country, they were taken from the airport to quarantine in 4 buses, the bus company Horsemen we were laughing at the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. I don't think at that stage anyone was really that worried.

One month later we were all in lockdown, it seems so strange to think we were all in big crowds so soon before.

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4 hours ago, Huw Griffiths said:

My last show visit was in 2018 - "Warley".

 

2019 was a "write-off" for me, due to my father's detoriorating health - and death, early in December.

 

As for 2020, my mother never got over my father's death - couldn't be left alone at home - had a fall late in October - and wasn't fit enough to be discharged over a month later, when the Corona menace swept through her hospital. It took a further week to finish her off (although I think she'd lost the will to live before her fall). She died exactly 52 weeks after her husband. They'd only been married for 55 years.

 

For some reason, when shows finally return, I'll probably be one of the first through the door.

 

 

Huw.


Kind of puts things in perspective ,Huw . So sorry for your loss . It is strange that when one parent goes the other quite often follows fairly quickly. . My mother died nearly one year to the day after my father . They’d been married 65 years and suspect that she just gave up the will to live . It’s a horrible time for you, then of course you’ve got all restrictions  on top.   
 

My trains , escaping to the loft certainly got me through . I remember my first exhibition , Ayr 2016,  about a month after my Mums death I just wondered round not really taking it in . Really I was just going through the motions , but gradually enthusiasm returned .

 

Last exhibition was Model Rail Scotland 21st and 22nd February 2020 . Didn’t know it at the time but the last large exhibition in the country I think . My Mum took me to my first Model Rail Scotland which must have been around 1969 , then again 1973  and then I got to go myself from 1974 onwards . So I’ve been every year since . The lack of exhibition this year will be acutely felt  because of that history , but of course you’ve got to get things in context , so will be looking forward to 2022

 

Here’s hoping  Exhibitions come back soon , just as soon as we are all safe 

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10 hours ago, mark axlecounter said:

Mine was the Preston show back in feb. I was talking to Paul at Stevenson’s carriages and he said we will go into lockdown, I replied na I doubt it. How wrong I was. 
 

Mark T 

 

Yes - Preston it was too.

 

Should've been Kendal MR this weekend always one to look forward to a quick Avanti blast up on the WCML to Ox.

The exhibition then "refreshments" in the Station Inn a short walk up the hill on the Sedbergh road.

 

Then Stafford  - then York - then the DEMU and a good bit of Traction mileage days on the ELR in between. 

 

We miss days like these - for some of the (even) older generation this hobby is their life and an only means of social contact "every year is getting shorter" obviously sooner the better things return to some sort of safer normality.

 

 

Edited by Crisis Rail
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Leamington in March 2020. I followed this up by 5 nights in the Algarve. It was meant to be 7 nights but things were starting to go downhill by then and the holiday company brought us all home early. At least I got a couple of exhibitions in and saw some Mediterranean/Atlantic sunshine last year so I did better than most. Although I'm desperately missing simple social interactions like going out for a meal or meeting up with folk at an exhibition I have managed to quite enjoy the opportunities offered by lockdown. My new layout is almost complete in just over a year largely thanks to the restrictions on doing other things. I did hope to take this layout to exhibitions in late 2021 and expected to be working on it right through the summer of 2021 to get there. Now I don't expect to get to any exhibitions until late 2022. I'm not down about this; it means I can use this summer to get out and about a lot (covid permitting) knowing the layout is ready and raring to go.  Life is about making the most of the situation you are in and looking to see what opportunities that provides.

 

 

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Monmouth on 16 February...it closed early so we could all get away because of rising river levels on the Monnow and Wye...I can tick the boxes for both floods and pestilence for 2020.......

Chris

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7 hours ago, newbryford said:

At least you're still alive to be "really annoyed"..................FFS.

 

 

I'm quite sure he is Mick and he's very lucky - but definitely sounds a little bit frustrated too like a lot of others that normal service won't be resumed as soon as.

 

The problem with the Covid as well as being a particularly serious illness -  is it's ability to create tensions divide opinions  -  and from a social aspect really diss everyone off.

 

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Spalding Show 2nd Nov 2019, (and just before that the Broadland MRC Show on the 5th of October).

 

There are several local shows that have folded anyway pre covid, so my calendar  is looking bare these days.

The Norwich show due in April has already been cancelled, so at the moment my first chance to get out is our own provisional Broadland MRC open Day in May.

Edited by TheQ
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