WIGAN EXHIBITION 2015 OCTOBER 3rd & 4th

[TheSignalEngineer]

I have been a critic of sound layouts in the past, particularly yards with 14 diesels parked and all engines running, but the scene seems to be improving now. I didn't notice any really obtrusive noisy layouts as i walked round. I did hear a steam whistle in the background on one occasion which I assume was from a layout, sounded like LMS and only a short blast, totally in keeping with the atmosphere.

[Crantock]

Interesting how the problems change over the years.  I never had to deal with smokers (though tobacco saturated clothing is part of the other problem).  I did not see a single camera flash at Wigan.  I suspect that with ever better cameras/phones, the good lighting at Wigan, and the lighting on many layouts, the autoflashes just didn't kick in.  Yesterday's problem? Similarly with wider gangways no rucksack issues.  The emerging problem is the person with the god given right to hold his camera phone close to the loco and follow it along the track.

 

On sound, its wasted if all you are producing is a wall of noise.  If you have a single loco shunting its great and emphasises that you don't have to soundchip every loco in your fleet to get something out of sound.  Realistically, how many locos does a shunting board need?  A fleet of 4 tops -  a shunter on the board and 3 rotating with inbound trains. 

[TheSignalEngineer]

 I did not see a single camera flash at Wigan.  I suspect that with ever better cameras/phones, the good lighting at Wigan, and the lighting on many layouts, the autoflashes just didn't kick in.  Yesterday's problem? Similarly with wider gangways no rucksack issues.  The emerging problem is the person with the god given right to hold his camera phone close to the loco and follow it along the track.

. 

At shows I use a DSLR with 2 zoom lenses. The lighting at Wigan was pretty good, although to get a decent shutter speed I had to crank up the ISO speed on a couple of occasions.

[beast66606]

We all know that sound is down to personal preference - Tonys points have been noted and will be taken on board but let's not make this thread about the rights and wrongs of sounds at shows please.

[45156]

At shows I use a DSLR with 2 zoom lenses. The lighting at Wigan was pretty good, although to get a decent shutter speed I had to crank up the ISO speed on a couple of occasions.

I'd really like to see what was on show here - any chance of posting a few images?

[TheSignalEngineer]

I'd really like to see what was on show here - any chance of posting a few images?

Will try to put up a few later on. Got to make the most of the daylight at this time of year.

[Eaton]

That's WIGAN 2015 finished and over. All the barrier, electrical equipment, storage boxes, display cases, banners and roads signs are now back in our storage container and my layout arrived back in it's room at 2.30 this afternoon. This ended, for the team a five day shift and we are all a little weary.

Was it worth it, well we are very pleased with the 8% increase in the attendance, which seems to indicate that the move to October was beneficial. As a consequence we have provisionally booked the venue for the first weekend in October for the next three years. There will however be some disruption caused by the redevelopment and it seems that Hall 2 will no longer be available as it is re-emerging as a Gym and Dance Studio. Our Exhibition Manager will obviously be in discussions with the Centre Management to clarify exactly what impact it will have on our event. 

However due to the support we have received, from the layout owners and builders, from the trade and from our visitors we are at the moment in a very good place. Thank you everybody we are most grateful.

Some visitors may have noticed the absence of 'Crowsnest Wharf' which had to withdraw at the last minute due to the layout builder and owner Trevor Hughes being rushed to hospital in need of Emergency treatment. Needless to say we wish him well and a speedy recovery and hope to see both him and his layout at Wigan 2016.

Whilst I am in full flow perhaps I could address a few of the points raised on previous posts.

Concerning posts 73 and 91 regarding Pay & Display parking notices and no machines. The machines are very portable and only appear on Match Days to deter football and rugby supporters using what would normally be free car parking instead of the stadium car parks which are on the other side of the stadium and cost £5. Car Parking is always an issue and there is not a lot we can do.

Concerning post 91, Squires was invited but was already attending another exhibition. Sorry we did try.

Concerning post 86 and the great unwashed. There is a solution. It was first applied by the Deputy Head at the first school at which I first taught. At the Big Boring Assembly at the end of the summer term when the Headmaster gave his state of the union rant to the whole school in a cramped sport hall the Deputy would cruise up and down the rows of children looking for 'wiffers' who he would spray with air-freshener. Amazingly over the years the problem decreased, but this was many years ago and in less PC times. However it may still work.

Concerning posts 83 and 79 and catering. Under normal circumstances the public catering would be in the Sports Hall with lots of space for more than ample seating, but this year a Gymnastics Competition was being held there and the catering had to move. I hasten to add that we have no control over the catering and to some extent neither do the Centre as this is run from a central Borough facility. The decision to place it in a room as well hidden as it was possible to be was theirs and not ours. This was further compounded by the fact that to get to it you had to pass the Café Life (which is really a Bar for the football and not a Cafe) and a little seating area near the vending machines which sells coffee and snacks, both of which may have convinced a visitor that this was all there was, was to say the least unfortunate. Signage would seem to us to have been a simple solution that I am sure would have increased their profit and also have provided a better service to our visitors. All we can do is to apologise, but we can't do everybody's thinking for them.

Concerning post 92 and trains running. As a layout builder I have a slight problem with this. I agree there should be some layouts in the show that exhibit intensive mainline operation, and there where, but equally that kind of operation did not apply to the whole railway system, and as such it would be unrealistic and un-prototypical to expect such operation from every layout. If I could use my own layout as an example, it is a single track mainline. Therefore when a train leaves the layout for the fiddleyard ( an therefore the rest of the system) it would be travelling maybe ten miles to the next passing loop before another train could come up the line and enter the layout. To replicate this we allow a slight pause before a train will reappear. This will allow the watcher to look at other aspects of the layout, and there are more things to a layout than just trains. I have spent many hours producing the many buildings that populate the scenic 32' of the layout and there have been occasions when I wonder why I did. However the number of visitor who asked questions concerning the conical building (its a glass kiln) in the centre of the layout and how it was constructed does show that some visitors have eyes for other than just trains.

Concerning the Best Layout Award, this was the decision of the Exhibition Management Team and not awarded as the result of a vote by visitors.

Finally, concerning post 86, these vehicles appeared on my layout just before closing time on Saturday when I was away from the layout. Beautiful models though the are, and they really are, the crane being scratchbuilt, and apart from them being a hundred years out of period, don't you think that they are a little garish, banana yellow with Edwardian coaching stock looks a little odd. 

[Ross34]

Eaton

 

Thanks for responding to some of my comments.

 

With regard to voting - its something I quite like to do at shows - maybe a visitors cup or maybe a number smaller awards? - best loco or best building etc etc...just an idea.

 

Running at shows I guess is a case of "ya can't please em all" so I wont labour that point - suffice to say we both enjoyed what was high quality show.

[MartinWales]

Just Iike to thank The East Riding FinescaIe mob for having me on Margery Street and OutweII ViIIage.

 

And an opportunity to catch up with many oId friends and some top modeIIers aIike to chew the fat. 

[Tony Wright]

May I also reiterate what many have said regarding the excellent Wigan Show, please? 

 

It was really good to be back demonstrating, and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

 

I think I even helped one or two folk, and made one or two poorer with my recommendations for temperature-controlled irons and other various tools. 

 

My thanks to everyone for their well-wishes and for their comments. Thank, too, to the organising team - great. 

 

Obviously, I didn't get a huge opportunity to wander round but I did find some of the DCC sounds a trifle monotonous, but very realistic. Anyway, I have no reason to be critical since at one recent show my too-loud voice drowned out any sounds on an adjacent layout!

[TheSignalEngineer]

A very enjoyable show. Glad to hear that the numbers were good. It seemed much better than the last time I was there a couple of years ago.

 

As promised earlier,I've now had a chance to look at the contents of the camera card from Saturday. These were all taken on a last walk around the halls before dashing off for a train and were done with available light, no flash, so apologies if a few are warts 'n' all but they are what is seen without any fancy setups. Apologies to the ones not included but there was so much high quality around, both in the layouts and the demonstrators, it was impossible to do it all justice in the time I was there.

 

First up one of the stars of any show, Liverpool Lime St

 

For sheer size, Calcutta Sidings

 

A selection from Annan Road

 

Oulton TDM

 

Outwell Village

 

Roundtrees Sidings

 

Canada Street

 

Fallgate

 

Ludlow

 

Mickleham

 

Oldshaw

 

Melwood

 

The Worlds End

 

Ynysafan

 

Wolfe Lowe

 

Gairloch & Wester Ross Railway

 

Cottages on the Lowhill layout

 

Calderwood

 

Stanfield

 

And finally, Damian Ross' Diesels in the Duchy

 

All photographs copyright C E Steele 2015.

[Eaton]

Hi Tony

           It was great to have you back at Wigan, you have been very much missed. Thanks also for your company at the Saturday Evening meal, although our chicken took longer to come home to roost (or should that be roast) than perhaps it should.

[southern42]

Some photos from me, mostly taken before the Show on Sunday morning.  To get myself focused, I set myself the task of looking for similar scenes that we have on Camel Quay.

 

Eaton Gomery:  street life, cattle pens, goods shed (working in this instance!)

 

 

 

 

Worlds End:  a staged event.

 

Ballach Junction: dockside

 

Gairlach & Wester Ross Railway

Bedford OB bus service (and cows with much longer horns than ours)

 

Calcutta Sidings 2, the layout opposite us: taken at the end of the show to capture the speed of some of the stock.

 

 

 

We really enjoyed the show and thank the organising team for their hospitality.

Polly and Ray

[45156]

Many thanks for the images - as usual, I missed a good show, but I now have had a flavour of what it was like.  All I need now is to replicate some of the sounds as well!  Polly, did you not even photograph your own layout?

[southern42]

Many thanks for the images - as usual, I missed a good show, but I now have had a flavour of what it was like.  All I need now is to replicate some of the sounds as well!  Polly, did you not even photograph your own layout?

 

Your welcome, 45156. Here are a couple of Camel Quay just before we dismantled it.  

 

Inspired by sailing etiquette of flying a courtesy flag as a token of respect.when visiting foreign waters, we try to have a courtesy wagon on the front of the layout at exhibitions, irrespective of whether it is in keeping or not, though I do try to make it look as though it belongs there...

 

 

With the arrival of T9 30715 freshly outshopped from Grimy Times (thanks, Steve) we mocked up the scene in Branch Line to Padstow (Middleton Press) which had inspired the layout:-

 

113.  The scene on 5th June 1959 includes class T9 nos. 30726 and 30715, both showing North Cornwall line headcodes. The crane stands idle and the fish dock empty.  Most perishable traffic was lost for good after the 1955 enginemen's strike.

 

On Camel Quay, there is still some life on the quayside but the goods shed looks deserted though I was pretty sure someone was going to turn up to clear off the ivy this weekend!  Maybe, they'll do it when they've finished sweeping the station chimneys!

 

This was a first attempt.  Ray will set up a more accurate version for the layout thread.

 

Many thanks for all the interest and generous comments both on here and at the exhibition.

[John Geeee]

I went on sunday and enjoyed the show. All quality layouts. Spent too much, bought a Bachmann Class 20 with sound, but disappointed when I got home to find you spend that much on a diesel loco and it has no lights!!. Sound on layouts is obviously growing more common, I think it adds to the atmosphere, in fact i found the constant ding ding of signalling bells on one of the layouts more annoying, but it was a busy layout with lots of movements. Plenty of space to move around, didn't seem as many visitors as  previous years, but glad to hear that the number of visitors was on the up.

 

Here are some of my pics, lots of pics taken so trying to show some different ones to above:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

John Geeeee

 

 

[Eaton]

Later next week the group will sit down and review the exhibition with a view to looking at improving things. It would help us greatly if any Rmwebers have any comments that I could bring to the meeting.

I fully realise that this like putting our collective heads on the block, but comments are only useful if we can do something about it. Therefore that rules out car parking, public catering (issues here need to be addressed direct to the Centre, and it would be very beneficial if you did that) and road works in Wigan or traffic on the motorway. It also rules out anything that would significantly increase our costs.

However feel free to comment on:-

1) The move from June to October

2) The quality of the layouts and the balance

3) The number of layouts, to few or to many

4) The admission price including free admission for children.

5) The Guidebook included in the price and its quality.

6) Exhibitors accommodation, very important as we used two new hotels.

7) Exhibitor's Meals

8) The Trade

9) Any other issues over which we have control or influence

[APOLLO]

Local exhibition for me, I live under 2 miles from the venue.

 

1) The move from June to October

 

Fine by me, not too near Christmas (and therefore spreads the expense), and out of the school holiday season helps also.

 

2) The quality of the layouts and the balance

 

Quality first class. Balance, Perhaps too many post 68 all diesel layouts, though if that's what is available fine. I would like to have seen a continental (European) layout or two. The N American ones were good.

 

3) The number of layouts, to few or to many

 

You can never show too many layouts !!!.

 

4) The admission price including free admission for children.

 

OK with this, including the free brochure

 

5) The Guidebook included in the price and its quality.

 

Excellent, please try to include layout plans where possible for future reference.

 

6) Exhibitors accommodation, very important as we used two new hotels.

 

Can't comment.

 

7) Exhibitor's Meals

8) The Trade

 

Wigan Kebabs (three pies on a skewer) I guess !!!!!!!!!!

 

9) Any other issues over which we have control or influence

 

Layout locomotive sounds has been mentioned. This didn't bother me, in fact as I mentioned above, it brought back memories !!

 

Isle width and barriers very good. An idea, perhaps provide say just one isle between a selection of fiddle yards so those could be viewed, thinking of Calcutta sidings superb fiddle yard,. May / may not be a good idea, just a thought. Fiidde yards seem always "out of bounds"

 

Catering - I fancied a cup of tea and either didn't notice any signs or there weren't any. I know this is out of your hands but a couple of signs explaining what / where would suffice. (Sorry again if they were there and I didn't notice em, I should have asked).

 

Perhaps a darkened area in a corner where certain layouts equipped with lighting can be exhibited in darkened conditions. Some layouts had superb lighting this year. Perhaps alternate every half hour between "light" & "dark". Just an idea, I've seen this done elsewhere and it was very effective.

 

Anyway, not a gripe list, If next years exhibition was similar to this years I would have no complaints.

 

Again many thanks to Eaton & teams etc.

 

Brit15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CoViAnna]

I thought the balance was about right in most things.

 

Maybe, just maybe, the admission was a little too expensive. Cheaper without the Program would be my suggestion.

 

As to trade I just wish there were more "finescale" traders there, for kits and bits etc. But that seems to be a common problem at most shows.

[Mark Forrest]

1.

Much prefer October to June, fits in with the main exhibition season whereas it can be difficult to get away to shows in the summer months. Speaking as somebody who cajoles a group of operators for a group layout, summer shows can be difficult.

 

2.

Quality very good and a reasonable mix. As for the post '68 period being over represented I don't agree, remember that's approaching 50 years now; longer than the 20 years of BR steam and longer than the grouping period.

 

3.

Good balance of layouts to trade

 

4.

I was exhibiting, but would have been happy to pay a tenner if I hadn't been

 

5.

Not looked at it, as a rule I rarely do at any show, even if I've paid for it! Have you considered offering a PDF download ahead of the show and fewer printed copies?

 

6.

Accommodation was great, close to the venue and within walking distance of pubs and a curry

 

7.

No issues, happy to get a warm meal as some shows move towards sarnies and chips. A cuppa with the food rather than just water on tables would be the only thing I'd ask for. The exhibitors dining room took a bit of finding first time round.

 

8.

A couple of traders I have hoped might be there weren't; although I could have bought from them at ExpoEM North or Scaleforum recently so not badly missed, just poor planning on my part!

 

9.

Other than points above and the car parking concerns (which I know are out of your control) nothing much to add. Only thing I can think of would be some stewards out front helping to organise getting vans in and out as unloading space is limited.

 

Hope this helps, it was a great show, keep up the good work.

[Eaton]

Since 2011 when we put up the Admission Charge to £10 this is the only thing that has remained the same. The Hall Rental has increased by 20%, transport costs, accommodation and meal costs have all risen. It was wonderful in 2011 any layout we wished to invite, regardless of cost, we could, now this is not the case. We have to be much more circumspect and removing the guidebook from the ticket price would have repercussions. It would not reduce the ticket price as much as you might think as we would either have to generate or save the revenue that the Guidebook generates by being part of the ticket price in some other way.

As to 'finescale traders', we all wish the would attend Wigan but obviously many of them are finding attending exhibitions to be not cost effective. 

[sawyermodels]

We had a great time and look forward to next year. This year was our first time at Wigan despite only being in Earlestown. Superb layouts of all eras, the demos we're very informative, the guy selling fudge and sweets was superb. Excellent organisation and long may it continue. 

[Free At Last]

I find £10 at Wigan to be quite acceptable compared to others I have been to for £5 and left after 20 minutes.

I was there at doors open on Sunday and left at 3 o'clock. £2 per hour is well worth it for me.

[John Geeee]

Can you ban wives Mine always want to tag along but gets bored after two and a half hours  and after the third trip round the halls she drags me out to feed her "somewhere nice", I told her where the sweetie stall was and after I had treated her to a magnifier craft lamp for her card making as well!!  I would have been happy to stay there all day. I thought the quality and mix in terms of scale , size, etc of layouts was the best I had seen at any show for a long time.and worth the entrance fee. I am surprised the free child admission still didn't seem to attract many younger entrees, but maybe I just didn't notice them, so is it a benefit compared to a minimal fee for children and a reduced fee for adults? I guess it is a fine balance? A good selection of traders but I thought the box shifters all seem to sell the same thing at the same price so whats the point of having so many, having said that I did get my sound fitted Class 20 for £10 less than I saw it on two other stands. The guidebook is good quality but agree  I would like more layout plans if possible.

[Eaton]

Thanks for the comment. I will take on board the layout plans issue but sometimes its to do with space in the guidebook as each layout has half a page and sometimes its to do with the quality of the plan and how it will reproduce. I usually try to include a photo but would very rarely have space for a plan and a photo. Having said that I will try and include more next year.