Warley NEC 2010

[Plumloco]

Sounds a great show, pity I am 1000 miles away with a lengthy DIY list. For us less fortunate mortals can anyone put up some pics of some the tantalising new product you have mentioned? I am very keen to see the (green) 2EPB, and to know whether the issue with the periscope has been addressed, for instance.

[Ian Hargrave]

All in all,a very good show. The layouts were of a high standard .Particularly good-and nostalgic for me-was the Aberdare layout,set at the Low Level T.V.R. station and in T.V.R.days .The WH Smith on the corner is where I'd get my monthly Trains Illustrated in the 50's! Bravo to Cardiff M.R.C.--and thanks. Of the trade stalls,it was heartwarming to have Kernow's presence. They contribute so many good things to the model railway world. Innovative this year also was the presence of three new weathering retailers---Dirty Boy (thanks for the L1--excellent!),Penketh and Wealistic Models (great mineral wagons!).All three stalls staffed by friendly and charming people. It was refreshingly different. Thanks to all for my day,particularly Warley M.R.C. of course.

[Kenton]

Rymenzburger Chenollebahn

 

Wow! That is one very impressive detailfest !

What scale is that piece of art in ?

[Welly]

The photograph of Blackmill came out fantastic! Clearly the lights on that layout really helped with the atmosphere.

 

It's nice to see that there wasn't any "Warley bashing" this year!

[ScRSG]

C'mon guys, for those of us who can't justify £120 in petrol to visit Warley, we need pics of the new product!!!!

[station cat]

Well the on the day ticket sales were a bit screwed up...

 

That aside I thought it was a good show and not too crowded. De Hezelpoort is definitely amazing, I hope MarkSG found it in spite of my directions (I can't remember what it's called but it's a small Dutch layout in a large black box somewhere over there).

 

Sentinel looking and running very well

[Butler Henderson]

Sky Tv customers can view any regional bbc channel, maybe on virgin cable too? Also I think it can be viewed on Iplayer too, there is also live bbc channels on their website too.

Free to Air and FreeSat receivers will also pick up all the different BBC regions, you don't need to pay Sky for that.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071mv2 is the web site for Inside Out West Midlands

[Barry Ten]

I wasn't at Warley but spurred on by this I just looked up De Hezelpoort on Youtube. That is rather amazing:

 

Perhaps in the not too distant future we will finally be able to do realistic horse shunting!

 

Those who've read the CM article will also be aware of the fact that the trains return to their starting

positions by going upside down under the board

[The Stationmaster]

An 'interesting day' - and to knackered to even look on here yesterday evening let alone post anything

Layout Highlights - de Hezelpoort (I got not only to the front but to the front at the side (if that makes sense), Bridport (brilliant job DLT, and good to see Darren - of Torrington fame - well & truly getting the hang of things as the day went on), and no doubt some of the layouts I couldn't get near.

Trade Offerings - oh what a lovely year coming up over the near horizon. The MR Sentinel looked truly scrumptious and was running beautifully - GW green please Mr Dibber (bit obvious that of course); the Dapol D63XX looks smashing even if my comment about those big numbers seemed to hit a raw nerve with Dapol Dave (Chris Trerise told me that I was probably the umpteenth hundredth or whatever person to make that comment) but Dave made it clear it was a hand painted sample type job and all will be correct when it hits the shelves - put me down for one of those as well. Also in the 'keep one for me' category is Heljan's Lion which has caught the look and will no doubt be suitably finished when it's production time. Heljan's other offerings are beyond my immediate knowledge bank when it comes to detail so no comment on them - one way or t'other to avoid showing my ignorance. ADDENDUM - forgot to mention der railbus, looked pretty good to me but again it's one off my radar so not a good person to judge.

Meanwhile in Bachmann land all looked rather well - I agree with Ron about the Class 70, it looked absolutely smashing. Not my period and all that but it is really the goods in my view and having recently seen a real one I think it captures it nicely, including those 'orrible things on the cab front. The 2 EPB looked well and a passing 'Southern man' and former work colleague was well impressed and it looked great in green. 10000 (or 10001?) was clearly either a handbuilt sample or a very early take from a mould needing further development so not really representative of the production standard as yet - but the overall shape looked pretty good to me.

The Hornby/Dapol Stove R was there in colours and with faults alas - but I was told those will be corrected before release; I can't comment on the LMS livery although the lining looked a bit heavy, the BR version was the same Dapol error as seen on the Fruit D - white lettering!!!! and in my view the colour was a bit dark. Anyway it's good to know that Hornby Mag aren't accepting mistakes and putting stuff back for correction.

Right out of my scale - alas - is Ixion's superb 'Manor', absolutely gorgeous little thing.

And finally the Friends of The NRM were taking email addresses for those who want this year's 'special' loco from the Museum - there on the stand for all to see so no longer a secret that it's the GCR livered 8K which has already appeared here. Looks rather nice too.

Very few pics due to crowds but down below you'll find Simon (of this parish) driving trains through Hinton Parva with Graham Muz lurking further along the layout - nice layout, nice to see the working signals (in the right places as far as I could see) but clearly a need for some Signalman training I thought.

The Journey - out via Euston to miss the overcrowded XC trains, excellent trip but added an hour to the day (at the wrong end for my taste). Return via XC and managed to get seats on a through train from International without having to bother to go to New St for a lighter loaded one on the opposite half hour. All trains on time or early.

Great to meet fellow RMWebbers including some new (to me) faces and thanks to a certain gentleman (Il Dottore) travelling in by air who made an alternative arrangement for transfer of a loco much to my relief.

The Exhibition Arrangements

Better layout than last year with much more room to move and plenty of seating. Very well organised in general but for those attempting - like me - to 'pay on the day' it was an amateurish shambles if you wished to pay by card. The cash desks could, and should, have opened at least 10 minutes earlier and there seemed to be no reason at all why they didn't as there was more than enough crowd control to keep pre-payers separated.

 

[Oakydoke]

Thanks to Burkitt for those photos of Rymenzburger Chenollebahn. That's real modelling.

 

I'll also second the praise being heaped on De Hezelpoort. Another amazing layout.

The first thing you notice with this one is the depth of field to the whole diorama. Then there is the element of theatre. a layout designed to entertain its audience and not soley be the plaything of the operators. This is staging at it's best and it puts to shame most of the half-cocked efforts you normally see at exhibitions.

 

Sadly, some other layouts were nothing more than overgrown train-sets. Not exactly a showcase for the hobby.

Overall most of the others were of a good standard though.

 

50 minutes in and I caught the first whiff of stale urine, which seemed to be eminating from some old bloke in the crush around one stand. Later on there was also the odour of stale sweat from unwashed clothes as I stood in the crowd listening to the DCC computer control presentation. I tried to move, but i must have misidentified the potential culprit, as it only got worst. Thankfully they were the only two examples I encountered during the whole day.

 

I agree with the comment on poor operation, it's unforgivable at such a showcase event.

 

A great day out. I'll certainly go again next year.

[Pete the Elaner]

Thanks to Burkitt for those photos of Rymenzburger Chenollebahn. That's real modelling.

 

That type of layout wouldn't normally be my cup of tea, but it was done so well that it was my favourite layout

 

The lack of a major new RTR release was a bit disappointing. We have come to expect that from major manufacturers.

You can hardly criticise the club for that though.

[gwrrob]

Very good show and I'd agree that the layout standard was up on previous years.The NEC lighting was its usual crap so I struggled taking photos but heres a few anyway.I was particularly taken by Westcliff,no surprise there, I like the beach huts on the front here and the rolling stock was mouthwatering.

 

Caught the new Bachmann GW Rod too.I hope that coal load is removeable.

[dagrizz]

I echo previous posts about the show, I thoroughly enjoyed it and was there for nearly 8 hours but still ran out of time.

 

My entry to the 'best bargain of the day' competition is a brand new boxed R2783 Hornby class 06 shunter in Pullman livery for £5, from the Hornby stand.

 

Mine has been happily running around my layout for a couple of hours this morning and means that I have a blue and grey pullman train on my layout two years earlier and £295 cheaper than the forthcoming Bachmann BP offering!

 

Graham

[shortliner]

Captain Kernow / Shortliner,

 

Cheers. It is indeed very painful, especially when you have it around the eye socket, forehead and scalp! Not to mention the post-herpal neuralgia!! I was looking forward to looking at the US layouts. I believe there are half a dozen or so this year

Yes exactly where I had it - I'd say it was a pain in the butt, except that isn't the right place!

[Burkitt]

Wow! That is one very impressive detailfest !

What scale is that piece of art in ?

 

Rymenzburger Chnollebahn was 1:22.5, representing a 600mm gauge agricultural railway.

 

Paul

[Kenton]

Rymenzburger Chnollebahn was 1:22.5, representing a 600mm gauge agricultural railway.

 

Paul

Thanks, I guess that partly goes to explain the level of very fine detailing - but I wouldn't for one moment wish that to imply I could do it or that it would have been easy.

There is something about the weathering and the textures shown by those photos that make that layout really stand out.

 

One I would like to see first hand - though I suppose unlikely as I guess it is not based in the UK with a name like that

[Burkitt]

More photos from Warley yesterday:

 

 

Ackthorpe

 

 

De Hezelpoort 1927

 

 

Havnegade

 

 

Rymenzburger Chnollebahn again

Abbotstone

Ellis Road

Ynysarwed Sidings

Another of Blackmill

Essex Belt Lines

Bryngoch

Ixion "coffee pot" on Bridport Town

Millwall Goods

Video to follow later.

Paul

[Oakydoke]

Great photos Paul, thank you for posting them.

 

On the subject of hall lighting (again ), I'm surprised and disappointed that event organisers, such as those at Warley, don't stipulate that all layouts must be displayed with their own appropriate lighting arrangement (...and I don't mean some cheap rubbish spots from the bargain bin at B&Q either).

As someone said to me at the show yesterday, a large section of those in the hobby are still living in the 1950's and 60's. He wasn't talking about lighting, but I think the comment holds true in so many areas.

[trisonic]

 

As someone said to me at the show yesterday, a large section of those in the hobby are still living in the 1950's and 60's. He wasn't talking about lighting, but I think the comment holds true in so many areas.

 

That's a bit gratuitous, I think. A lot of models are of a time never to be seen again (even from the '80's) or of a time important to the owner/builder. As the young people of today get older I can see a few 2000 era plus models on the boards in 2025.

 

Best, Pete.

 

 

 

[Southall]

Hi

 

After the initial dearth of pictures (that resembled cash flow into my bank account) some great shots are appearing.

 

Thanks to all who have taken the time to post and I am sure that there will be more to follow.

 

Southall

[Oakydoke]

That's a bit gratuitous, I think. A lot of models are of a time never to be seen again (even from the '80's) or of a time important to the owner/builder. As the young people of today get older I can see a few 2000 era plus models on the boards in 2025.

The remark wasn't about the subject matter, Pete, but rather about the approach to the hobby, dated methods, techniques and materials.

I think the chap was spot on and think that it applies in other areas as well, particularly in the approach to building, presenting and operating exhibition layouts.

[Mod5]

 

50 minutes in and I caught the first whiff of stale urine, which seemed to be eminating from some old bloke in the crush around one stand. Later on there was also the odour of stale sweat from unwashed clothes as I stood in the crowd listening to the DCC computer control presentation. I tried to move, but i must have misidentified the potential culprit, as it only got worst. Thankfully they were the only two examples I encountered during the whole day.

 

 

 

I have thought long and hard before tackling this quote. I was initially going to edit it out but thought better of it. I would rather this thread continues to discuss the good and bad of the Exhibition with regards to content and the venue if you like. I can see little point in discussing the lack of personal hygiene of a minority. If you go to any place where there are hundreds thousands of people in a tight space there will be some that are a little less than pleasant to be next to. This is not limited to Model Rails shows.

 

If I go anywhere where there are large numbers of the public whether I like it or not this will happen as sure as it will be dark before I go to bed tonight. No one is saying it is pleasant or you should have to put up with it but it is a fact of life. So rather than divert what is an excellent thread with stuff that we have no control over whatsoever could we move on please?

 

Blimey people will be mentioning rucksacks next.

 

Don't.

[grahame]

Blimey people will be mentioning rucksacks next.

 

And even worse, moaning about tripods. Please, nooooooooo.

 

G.

[Leicester Thumper]

In all honesty, I believe that 'living in the past' with methods, whatever, is not always a bad thing. Not only does it hold historical context of the hobby but it also helps and teaches the younger generations, Including myself (18yrs), about basic model construction methods, basic electrics, affordable equipment and necesities needed for the hobby.

 

I looked at that little N gauge layout in the Suitcase (which i ended up operating for a short while as i was invited and had a fantastic laugh with the ladies who's husband/partners abandoned them) and i thought to myself, in many ways that used old fashioned techniques in order to achieve the final product. In my eyes, i think it looked good, and had that little novelty with the dreamt up story of mrs. marple and the layout itself being in an old suitcase. to me that holds value, it was basic(ish) and was not over complecated.

 

this is a compliment mind, but Abbotstone (which IL Dottore was on???) had this fantastic block signalling system using small interlocking levers and electronic switches triggered by the lever movements. That was fantastic, had a wonderful mechanical and electrical concept about it and it looked and was great BUT for me and a lot of others its a very complicated system of operation creating it, wiring it, etc. So in a way Abbotstone was unhelpful as i looked and thought, this is too much for me, However, when you look at it and think, from a beginner's aspect, we had basic layouts which we could replicate and learn from right upto what we may like to do as our skills develop allowing us to take a large step.

 

Either way, i have learnt a lot and come back home as a wiser modeller (albeit, still a beginner)

 

edited due to a really inexcusable grammatical error...

[Leicester Thumper]

Blimey people will be mentioning rucksacks next.

 

Don't.

 

Actually if you don't mind chap, I'll just make a disclaimer, I was wearing a rucksack/backpack thingy but i was polite said excuse me please and thankyou a lot and also considered other people so my nose is clean!

 

and after my disclaimer please don't mention anymore rucksacks, i will scream. (which isn't a pretty thing)