Exeter Model Railway Show 2016

[bgman]

I'm afraid I don't agree with the comments made in respect of the "local" model shops presence at the show.

Yes, Dave is an extremely active member of the Exeter Model Club ( I am not involved by the way ) but if anyone who knows him you would realise that he has provided a very hands on approach in preparing the annual show for many, many years and IMHO I feel he deserves a prominent presence for all that he does.

I'm not certain what modellers are looking for regarding other traders but from a personal view I certainly could purchase most items required today if needed from the other traders.

An enjoyable show once again and my thanks go to all involved in the organisation.

[Turbo_Tim]

Enjoyed my visit today. Well worth the price of entry.

 

Kingswear was the absolute highlight (I haven't seen the layout before) - a real work of art.

[rab]

Enjoyed my visit today. Well worth the price of entry.

 

Kingswear was the absolute highlight (I haven't seen the layout before) - a real work of art.

Have to agree with the comments re Kingswear,

I have seen it before, but it was the layout

I spent most time at today,

Nothing against any of the others,

they were all good and the show overall was good.

As with other recent shows, the one problem

I found was with the catering,

but this was out of the control of the organisers.

Probably bad timing on my part,

but when I went to get lunch the queue was

that long I decided not to bother.

Apart from that it was a good show

and appeared to be well supported.

[HSB]

It's not the fault of the caterers if everybody decides go in there at the same time! we always go in there early to avoid the rush and the selection of food has always been good.

[PaulRhB]

And to be fair the ladies moved the queue at a fast rate, it was doubled back to the counter and took about five minutes with two serving most of the time and the food was excellent

[DLT]

All things considered, its a great show (as ever) and I'm sorry I can't get there again today!

The catering is some of the best on the exhibition circuit; the "Stockman's Restaurant" is geared up to serving farmers, so you get a wide choice of hefty portions at very reasonable prices.  The queue was a bit slow when I went in yesterday but that was due to the till picking that moment to malfunction.  And it certainly didn't spoil my delicious roast-beef & Yorkshire pudding.

I agree with BGman about the trade side.  There is always a wide variety at Exeter, and I certainly don't want to see more stands selling the same stuff!  I've been to shows like that and I think its a waste of exhibition space.

Cheers, Dave.

[mikeyh]

Hi,

 

I visited yesterday. I did enjoy the show and there were some great layouts, Kingswear and Sidmouth being particularly outstanding pieces of modelling. Though there were plenty of people there this show never seems too crowded, with plenty of space between layouts. The busiest layout in terms of spectators (possibly because it's also the biggest!) seemed to me to be the American layout, RS Tower, which always seemed to have plenty going on.

 

I did think there was a bit of a lack of traders, especially compared to other local shows like Taunton, Calne or Bristol. I think many modellers, as well as seeing the layouts, hope to pick up a bit of a bargain or two at a show, but there was certainly nothing for me and the £100 I took will probably end up being spent in Camborne, Liverpool or Sheffield! 

 

Re the queue for catering, I have seen this problem elsewhere where there is just one line for both full meals and for people who might just want a tea or coffee. I didn't feel like waiting 10-15 minutes for just a drink so didn't bother. Maybe in future some provision could be made for a separate 'express' counter for people who just want a drink?

 

I do appreciate how much time and effort goes into organising and exhibiting so thanks to everyone involved for a great day out!

 

Cheers,

 

Mike

[rab]

Have to agree with the comments re Kingswear,

I have seen it before, but it was the layout

I spent most time at today,

Nothing against any of the others,

they were all good and the show overall was good.

As with other recent shows, the one problem

I found was with the catering,

but this was out of the control of the organisers.

Probably bad timing on my part,

but when I went to get lunch the queue was

that long I decided not to bother.

Apart from that it was a good show

and appeared to be well supported.

Having read repliies following my

earlier comments re the catering,

it appears I made the mistake of

opening mouth/keyboard before engaging brain.

Must learn to be more patient!

[PaulRhB]

No way you could know, I was hungry and the initial reaction was this will take ages but I was pleasantly surprised and having sampled the catering before knew it was good.

My post was more to stop others being put off waiting today

[HSB]

A very good show with a number of really excellent layouts. Rod and I went in the cafeteria for lunch around 12:00 and got served pretty quickly and there were plenty of tables free. 

[Siberian Snooper]

A cracking show, with a wide variety of layouts and other exhibits to satisfy most tastes. Balcombe (Ouse) viaduct is an exceptional piece of civil engineering modelling, the size of it is enormous, I had a good idea of what to expect as I have seen the real thing a d been over it numerous times, but it still blew me away. Full credit to John and Rod. At the other end of the scale was a 3mm offering 50 x 50 shades of grey.

 

When I have downloaded the camera tomorrow, I shall upload some photo's of the highlights for me.

[Ramblin Rich]

I enjoyed having a 'wander' on my own yesterday for a couple of hours before collecting Nathan for a tour around with him. Before N arrived, met up with Brian (Taz) & Nick (Brinkley) in the S4 'mini exhibition' area for a natter about the DRAG Bodmin General project; even in the current bare bones format it looks really promising & will definitely out-class the old North London group version when done. I also thought the 0 gauge Bodmin North and the P4 Sidmouth layouts were fantastic and RS Towers was entertaining as always, though personally I prefer it with all diesels not steam transition as it was this weekend

Of course Nathan being nearly 6 prefers the all action layouts; he did stop to look at Bodmin N, SIdmouth and RS Towers a while and thanks to the operators of "Felled Oaks" for allowing us to have a shunt, but his favourites were the little continental Z gauge layout with sound effects, the various 009 narrow gauge layouts where things were always moving and best of all the LGB layout as they had a low-level loop the kids could operate - once found, it was difficult to persuade him to go anywhere else!

[Re6/6]

Thanks for your kind words S.S. Much appreciated.

 

A couple of cameraphone snaps.

 

 

[mudmagnet]

Thanks for your kind words S.S. Much appreciated.

 

A couple of cameraphone snaps.

 

 

 

 

 

Rather unfortunate positioning of the cow nose ......

[PaulRhB]

Rather unfortunate positioning of the cow nose ......

It said sheep pens behind one stand

[Brinkly]

All that work John and look at that bloody over scale cow behind the viaduct! ;-)

 

Excellent show this year, Sidmouth was beautiful and I'd like to think that Bodmin could achieve a similar standard. I also liked Tiverton, which, despite a few niggles, was lovely to watch.

 

I've taken quite a few photos, which I will try and upload over the coming days.

 

Thank you to everyone who came and had a look at Bodmin, or chatted to us. We hope to have the layout there again in a few years time, ideally with something running.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nick

[Flymo748]

It said sheep pens behind one stand

 

I spent the two days on the Scalefour Society stand looking across the aisle at a poster extolling the virtues of "Bovine Pregnancy Diagnosis"...  At least it didn't put off the two new members who joined us during the show.

 

Many thanks to all who dropped by and said hello, chatting about all sorts of things to variations on lever frames to converting 00 rolling stock to P4.  A very entertaining show, and a great welcome to a first time visitor from the Show organisers, who really couldn't have done anything better.  Incredibly considerate and helpful.  Thank you!

 

Cheers

Flymo

[Not Jeremy]

Terrific show as ever, thank you to Dave, Kevin , Paul and all the other organisers and participants.

 

Very enjoyable time catching up with friends from RMweb and in the South West. The catering is magnificent and cheerfully delivered by the Stockmans operation, it greatly added to my enjoyment of the whole event.

 

Apologies for forgetting my card machine to anyone whose retail activities might have been affected!

 

Simon

[PaulRhB]

Apologies for forgetting my card machine to anyone whose retail activities might have been affected!

 

Simon

I thought it was Mr Rices Security 'Hellhound' scaring them off

[PaulRhB]

Well a few pics of mine.

Horsley Bank, absolutely sublime modelling and great presentation 

 

 

 

 

 

Andeer was different, proving modular operation can work at a show and were press ganging anyone in to try it. This is unfinished scenically but what a lot of interest and really good interaction with the public.

Apart from continuing the scenic side I'd put a black cloth on the table too as the white was a bit bright

 

 here's the actual linear route

 

all built on blue foam

[PaulRhB]

RS Tower was in Pennsy Steam period and it looked very good, Ian and Neil had me drooling with all the steam on display!

 

 

 

 

Milton St, okay I'm biased as I was helping but very good running in N

 

[PaulRhB]

I thought this shows a lot of promise too

 

[Siberian Snooper]

Here one or two of mine for openers

 

Ouse Viaduct

 

 

 

 

Horsely Bank

 

 

 

50 x 50 Shades of grey

 

 

 

More later when I have resized them.

 

 

[bgman]

I thought it was Mr Rices Security 'Hellhound' scaring them off

 

Good to meet up with an old friend again ( also heartened to hear Iain say he's still very much involved in the model / book world ).

That said, having made friends with his four legged mate I don't think anyone won't argue with her....... "Hellhound" she isn't, "Dragons Breath" would be more appropriate ! It's enough to warn anyone off if you know her !!!

[Crewlisle]

Congratulations on a well presented show with 45 layouts to suit a wide variety of interests & scales with plenty of space between exhibits for both pushchairs or wheelchairs.  However, two observations – the first one concerns the future of the hobby.

1. Did other visitors besides myself notice the age group of many operators & visitors?  A large proportion (including myself) were over 50 years old.   There were only about 5 layouts that were post 1980, none post 2000.   If we want to encourage youngsters into the hobby, exhibition managers must ensure there are some layouts that include locos that they can see at their local station, ie Desiros, Networkers, Voyagers, HSTs together with Class 66, 67 & 70s or how about Thomas the Tank Engine?  This is not a direct criticism of the Exeter Show as this applies to all exhibitions.

1. My favourite subject – movement or lack of it.  There were some of the larger layouts where nothing moved & I saw visitors come up, see nothing moving or being readied to move & just walked away.  Some of the operators were just talking.  Others might have been operating to a set sequence or timetable.  It is one thing operating to a timetable in your club but visitors pay good money to see things happening or what stock you have.  In short they should run a much speeded up timetable/sequence.

 

           Peter