Basingstoke 2017 show, 11th/12th March - the Best-in-Show layout

[sjrixon]

Hats off to you, great show. They loaned a step for my daughter, just a £1 deposit. Most layouts had railings to keep little fingers away, which was a really good idea. My daughter also loved playing with James and Thomas in the kitchen area. Also loved the Gauge 3 layout, I think the size just kept her attention.

 

My only regret was not taking more cash! Spent it all at Falcon Figures......

[Pendennis]

Just back from Basingstoke, another super show with a good selection of well presented layouts.  I have to say though that Durham Road should have been in a room of its own, the volume of sound was excessive!

 

It was difficult to pick a star exhibit but Calderwood would take a lot of beating, a good compromise between realistic running and activity to keep the punters entertained; not seen down South too often.  Brighton East, Wickwar and Bath Green Park are also worthy of special mention.

 

And all for a fiver including a programme, excellent value.  Congratulations to the organisers.

 

Martin

[pirouets]

I was chatting to the guy with the new gauge layout at the end briefly and I think a weekend with Durham Road had done him in. Agree it's a very good show and it was worrying how much of my money my eldest would have happily spent for me. Got away with just a metcalfe kit for him as he is just starting out building his 1st layout.

 

He was blown away by the size of Bath Green Park but it was the Watercress Line that we spent a fair bit of time watching as the amount going on appealed to his 13 year old brain.

[Western Star]

For this show I had invited Chris Nevard to judge the "Best in Show" competition...  I asked Chris to decide which layout gave him the most pleasure on the basis of "artistic interpretation".  Chris chose a layout which is a favourite of mine  so I am rather pleased with his choice.  For those with a sense of humour, when Chris made the award the winning layout was being operated by the judge of last year's competition...  Mike the Stationmaster!

 

I do not have any "unused" photos of the winning layout so I make no apology for using a photo that has appeared earlier in this topic.

 

The Best-in-Show for the Basingstoke 2017 Show is Charmouth:-

 

photo courtesy of Dave Taylor.

 

 

Photos were taken of the presentation and I shall post some early next week.

 

 

Thank you, Graham

[James Makin]

I went again this year and another excellent show, great value for money with some top layouts attending! It was great to see Brighton East in the flesh for the first time, other favourites included Bath Green Park and Navigation Road, a very enjoyable day out!

 

Cheers,

James

[DLT]

Back home now from Basingstoke, and my thanks to all the organising team for an excellent weekend at an excellent show.

I was very ably accompanied by Trevor from the Exeter Gauge 0 Group, and my great thanks to RMwebbers Mike the Stationmaster and PaulRHB for their time spent operating on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

 

I was felt very honoured and surprised for Charmouth to be awarded the Best In Show Trophy against a lot of very stiff opposition, especially at a show that featured the Taunton Group's magnificent Bath Green Park layout.

 

I enjoyed watching just about every exhibit there, but I must single out Calderwood as you don't see the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway modelled very often, and even less often exhibited in the South.  

Also the Basingstoke Club seem to be getting in to 2mm Finscale in a big way; their layouts and demonstrations were very appealing.  (no I'm not....)

 

Once again, thanks to all for a terrific weekend.

 

Dave.T

[Ian Morgan]

Just to confirm that the Basingstoke club also has layouts in other scales/gauges, but this year it was the turn of the 2FS group to attend our own show. Previous layouts of the 2FS group were "50K Coley Park", "Bognor Regis" and "Alresford", so we have been into 2mm Finescale for quite a while

[Crewlisle]

 

Yes - true - not a mistake, so please take advantage of this unusual turn of events if you can.

 

The Basingstoke Club is very aware of the changing age-profile of club members and of those who attend railway exhibitions - and that lots of people talk about what can be done (or, more accurately, that something must be done).  This year the Basingstoke Club is taking a step to encourage families and young people to come to our show through a reduction in admission charges.

 

Last year the admission price for children was £4.00, this year the price is £3.00.

 

Last year the admission price for families was £14.00, this year the price is £12.00.

 

regards, Graham

 

 

Graham,

 

I did not attend your show but judging by the videos/photos you had some excellent layouts.  Our hobby is at a crossroads & it is good to see that somebody is recognising the importance of encouraging youngsters into the hobby by reducing both family & children’s admission prices.  This should be a wake up call to all exhibition managers.  Have you noticed the age group of many operators & visitors?  A large proportion (including myself) are  over 50 years old.  There should be more layouts post 1990 & fewer steam only country branch lines of 60 to 80 years ago.   If we want to encourage youngsters into the hobby, exhibition managers must ensure there are more layouts that include locos & features that they can see at their local station, ie OLE, Desiros, Networkers, Voyagers, HSTs together with Class 66, 67 & 70s or how about Thomas the Tank Engine?  This is not a direct criticism of your show  as this applies to all exhibitions.

 

Today’s children expect to be interactive with all toys.  How many exhibits at exhibitions are interactive with the visiting child?  All they see are barriers or multiple ‘Do not touch signs’.  As an exhibitor I can understand why barriers are there to protect our expensive investment in hardware &  time to create the layout.  But how many exhibits allow children to ‘have a go’? 

 

I have exhibited my layout ‘Crewlisle’ both at a local level & at the NEC.  There are normally three operators on my layout, one on the outside, one in the central operating well & myself keeping a watchful eye on what is happening & to answer visitors technical questions about how I did it.  The operator on the outside talks to the visitors & if they have children ask if they would like a go.  He then allows the child to move a loco from A to B whilst keeping his finger on either the emergency stop button or control knob.  Or if he has control of the continuous run to run a train on a complete circuit & try to stop it at the station.  Simple!  You have made a child flush with pride that he has operated one of the exhibits at an exhibition & maybe a convert to railway modelling.  Two other aspects that make my layout interactive for children is that they can operate my Meccano geared turntable from outside & Thomas the Tank Engine is always lurking in Platform 2 of the high level terminus ready for his next turn, either controlled by one of my operators or the child himself.  It makes their day.  Sometimes we take our hobby too seriously; lighten up & enjoy it!

 

Another criticism of shows & the impression given to visitors are the operators.  Some of them look scruffy, eating pies or pasties when visitors want to ask them questions or just ignore them!  Exhibitors must try to have an operator on the outside of their layout to interact more closely with the paying visitors.    Many visitors on a family day out may like a layout but if there is no movement or trains being readied to move they just walk away.  This applies to all layout sizes.  Some layouts operate to a set timetable.  This is OK in their club room but the average paying visitor wants to see movement not ‘Wait for the 1030 stopping passenger train from Market Harborough’.   Continual movement should be paramount.

 

Another aspect to encourage youngsters into the hobby is to point out to them the advantages of DCC, remote or computer controlled layouts or operating the layout via their mobile phone or lap top.  This is the technology they are using every day.

 

Peter

[DLT]

Just to confirm that the Basingstoke club also has layouts in other scales/gauges, but this year it was the turn of the 2FS group to attend our own show. Previous layouts of the 2FS group were "50K Coley Park", "Bognor Regis" and "Alresford", so we have been into 2mm Finescale for quite a while

 

Thanks for the correction Ian.  

The 2FS display was highly informative, and I learnt a lot about trackwork, Merg servos etc, etc.

Cheers, Dave.

[Benjamin Brady]

Hello .

 

    Replying to Peters post ,

 

    We have taken on board his comments when we built our new layout  " Weaver Hill " , set in the present time , four track mainline , trains running all the time , slow trains overtaking the fast ones ,  with voyagers , Pendalino's . Desiro's , good mix of freight loco's and of course  Class 90's , all in all everything you would see on todays railways . we could run it East coast or West Coast depending what an Exhibition Manger requires  

 

       The amount of requests we had for the Pendalino to run was amazing , ran that much on Saturday it failed , had to repair it for Sunday session !!!!!.

 

     As you rightly said we do need to play to the younger audiance , 

 

      PS , when we go to exhibitions we still like to see the perfect layouts ,can apperaiate the time taken to build and workmanship  as i said ours was done for families .

 

      Cheers

[Western Star]

I was felt very honoured and surprised for Charmouth to be awarded the Best In Show Trophy

 

 

 

Also the Basingstoke Club seem to be getting in to 2mm Finscale in a big way; their layouts and demonstrations were very appealing.  (no I'm not....)

Deserved for a superb layout which pleased the judge.

 

Ian has commented earlier about the Basingstoke Club having a history of 2mmFS layouts.  The club has other layouts in 4mm scale (one is late BR-SR steam, one is late BR (pre-privatisation in the London suburbs), a variable number of N-gauge layouts,  and then there is an embryonic 7mm scale layout.

 

My son and I are building the 0-gauge baseboards at a slow rate - done in a garage so little done over the winter - and that part of the club could benefit from more like-minded members.

[Western Star]

The 2FS display was highly informative, and I learnt a lot about trackwork, Merg servos etc, etc.

Interested to know what you learnt about the PW as many of the lessons that we have learnt are not that visible!  Drop me a line off-topic please, thanks Graham

[t-b-g]

Graham,

 

I did not attend your show but judging by the videos/photos you had some excellent layouts.  Our hobby is at a crossroads & it is good to see that somebody is recognising the importance of encouraging youngsters into the hobby by reducing both family & children’s admission prices.  This should be a wake up call to all exhibition managers.  Have you noticed the age group of many operators & visitors?  A large proportion (including myself) are  over 50 years old.  There should be more layouts post 1990 & fewer steam only country branch lines of 60 to 80 years ago.   If we want to encourage youngsters into the hobby, exhibition managers must ensure there are more layouts that include locos & features that they can see at their local station, ie OLE, Desiros, Networkers, Voyagers, HSTs together with Class 66, 67 & 70s or how about Thomas the Tank Engine?  This is not a direct criticism of your show  as this applies to all exhibitions.

 

Today’s children expect to be interactive with all toys.  How many exhibits at exhibitions are interactive with the visiting child?  All they see are barriers or multiple ‘Do not touch signs’.  As an exhibitor I can understand why barriers are there to protect our expensive investment in hardware &  time to create the layout.  But how many exhibits allow children to ‘have a go’? 

 

I have exhibited my layout ‘Crewlisle’ both at a local level & at the NEC.  There are normally three operators on my layout, one on the outside, one in the central operating well & myself keeping a watchful eye on what is happening & to answer visitors technical questions about how I did it.  The operator on the outside talks to the visitors & if they have children ask if they would like a go.  He then allows the child to move a loco from A to B whilst keeping his finger on either the emergency stop button or control knob.  Or if he has control of the continuous run to run a train on a complete circuit & try to stop it at the station.  Simple!  You have made a child flush with pride that he has operated one of the exhibits at an exhibition & maybe a convert to railway modelling.  Two other aspects that make my layout interactive for children is that they can operate my Meccano geared turntable from outside & Thomas the Tank Engine is always lurking in Platform 2 of the high level terminus ready for his next turn, either controlled by one of my operators or the child himself.  It makes their day.  Sometimes we take our hobby too seriously; lighten up & enjoy it!

 

Another criticism of shows & the impression given to visitors are the operators.  Some of them look scruffy, eating pies or pasties when visitors want to ask them questions or just ignore them!  Exhibitors must try to have an operator on the outside of their layout to interact more closely with the paying visitors.    Many visitors on a family day out may like a layout but if there is no movement or trains being readied to move they just walk away.  This applies to all layout sizes.  Some layouts operate to a set timetable.  This is OK in their club room but the average paying visitor wants to see movement not ‘Wait for the 1030 stopping passenger train from Market Harborough’.   Continual movement should be paramount.

 

Another aspect to encourage youngsters into the hobby is to point out to them the advantages of DCC, remote or computer controlled layouts or operating the layout via their mobile phone or lap top.  This is the technology they are using every day.

 

Peter

 

I agree with what you say about the appearance of operators and that that should be willing to chat to and encourage youngsters. I always try to do that when I exhibit.

 

I disagree that the way to encourage youngsters is to have more models of the current scene and to promote DCC and mobile phone/laptop control.

 

They can see modern life any time they want to and modern life, especially modern railways, are not the most visually attractive things to look at or watch. Modern youngsters do not go out sitting on platform ends like my generation did. If they are not interested in present day railways, why would they want to see models of them?

 

I find that exhibiting models of days gone by, especially if the operators are will to explain what things are, can hold the attention of a youngster very nicely indeed. Pointing out a milk churn waiting to be collected and explaining that is how their grandad and grandma got their milk, or suchlike, can be entertaining and educational. When I exhibit Leighton Buzzard, having controls at the front that "helpers" can push and pull to change points and signals really draws them in too, as does getting them to work the block instruments.

 

The idea that pulling something on a control panel makes something several feet away move with no mobile phone in sight is quite baffling and intriguing to them and trying to encourage youngsters to spend more time on their mobiles is not really, for me, the direction we should be going in.  

 

It is more about the operators engaging their watchers in such things, rather than treating a show as a "day out for the lads" and just concentrating on enjoying spending a couple of days out together, which is how a good many do treat it.

[dominicm]

The first of my vids.

[The Stationmaster]

I agree with what you say about the appearance of operators and that that should be willing to chat to and encourage youngsters. I always try to do that when I exhibit.

 

I disagree that the way to encourage youngsters is to have more models of the current scene and to promote DCC and mobile phone/laptop control.

 

They can see modern life any time they want to and modern life, especially modern railways, are not the most visually attractive things to look at or watch. Modern youngsters do not go out sitting on platform ends like my generation did. If they are not interested in present day railways, why would they want to see models of them?

 

I find that exhibiting models of days gone by, especially if the operators are will to explain what things are, can hold the attention of a youngster very nicely indeed. Pointing out a milk churn waiting to be collected and explaining that is how their grandad and grandma got their milk, or suchlike, can be entertaining and educational. When I exhibit Leighton Buzzard, having controls at the front that "helpers" can push and pull to change points and signals really draws them in too, as does getting them to work the block instruments.

 

The idea that pulling something on a control panel makes something several feet away move with no mobile phone in sight is quite baffling and intriguing to them and trying to encourage youngsters to spend more time on their mobiles is not really, for me, the direction we should be going in.  

 

It is more about the operators engaging their watchers in such things, rather than treating a show as a "day out for the lads" and just concentrating on enjoying spending a couple of days out together, which is how a good many do treat it.

 

One important point about today's youngsters is that the majority of them in pre-teen years are far more likely to have travelled on a steam train than on any other sort.  This is down to the preserved/leisure railways and their marketing of special events but particularly - as far as children are concerned - 'santa specials'.

 

Agree absolutely about engagement and explanation.

[PenrithBeacon]

One important point about today's youngsters is that the majority of them in pre-teen years are far more likely to have travelled on a steam train than on any other sort. This is down to the preserved/leisure railways and their marketing of special events but particularly - as far as children are concerned - 'santa specials'.

 

Agree absolutely about engagement and explanation.

My children and grandchildren didn't and don't care about whether it's steam or diesel. Small children don't discriminate. If show organisers do discriminate then they might just encourage the older enthusiast to stay away from the show that does in favour of the show that doesn't, which might be disastrous for the show.

 

I think that shows should have a good mixture, steam and modern, standard and narrow gauge, 3.5, 4 & 7mm whatever. That way they can appeal to everybody, absolutely everybody and they should also be friendly to everybody, regardless of the age group they currently belong to.

 

Regards

[Pendennis]

The team on Wickwar were certainly very pro-active at getting the paying public involved.  One gentleman was standing at the front of the layout asking if anyone had any questions.  I enquired of another of the team about their hidden sidings and was given a full run down of how they worked.  Later my travelling companion told me that he had inquired about the use of Styrofoam in the construction of the baseboard and again was given a full explanation.

 

Well done to you all.

 

Martin

[dominicm]

Second compilation of layouts from this event. Enjoy!

 

[Crocodile414]

I agree with what you say about the appearance of operators and that that should be willing to chat to and encourage youngsters. I always try to do that when I exhibit.

 

I disagree that the way to encourage youngsters is to have more models of the current scene and to promote DCC and mobile phone/laptop control.

 

They can see modern life any time they want to and modern life, especially modern railways, are not the most visually attractive things to look at or watch. Modern youngsters do not go out sitting on platform ends like my generation did. If they are not interested in present day railways, why would they want to see models of them?

 

I find that exhibiting models of days gone by, especially if the operators are will to explain what things are, can hold the attention of a youngster very nicely indeed. Pointing out a milk churn waiting to be collected and explaining that is how their grandad and grandma got their milk, or suchlike, can be entertaining and educational. When I exhibit Leighton Buzzard, having controls at the front that "helpers" can push and pull to change points and signals really draws them in too, as does getting them to work the block instruments.

 

The idea that pulling something on a control panel makes something several feet away move with no mobile phone in sight is quite baffling and intriguing to them and trying to encourage youngsters to spend more time on their mobiles is not really, for me, the direction we should be going in.  

 

It is more about the operators engaging their watchers in such things, rather than treating a show as a "day out for the lads" and just concentrating on enjoying spending a couple of days out together, which is how a good many do treat it.

 

Graham,

 

I did not attend your show but judging by the videos/photos you had some excellent layouts.  Our hobby is at a crossroads & it is good to see that somebody is recognising the importance of encouraging youngsters into the hobby by reducing both family & children’s admission prices.  This should be a wake up call to all exhibition managers.  Have you noticed the age group of many operators & visitors?  A large proportion (including myself) are  over 50 years old.  There should be more layouts post 1990 & fewer steam only country branch lines of 60 to 80 years ago.   If we want to encourage youngsters into the hobby, exhibition managers must ensure there are more layouts that include locos & features that they can see at their local station, ie OLE, Desiros, Networkers, Voyagers, HSTs together with Class 66, 67 & 70s or how about Thomas the Tank Engine?  This is not a direct criticism of your show  as this applies to all exhibitions.

 

Today’s children expect to be interactive with all toys.  How many exhibits at exhibitions are interactive with the visiting child?  All they see are barriers or multiple ‘Do not touch signs’.  As an exhibitor I can understand why barriers are there to protect our expensive investment in hardware &  time to create the layout.  But how many exhibits allow children to ‘have a go’? 

 

I have exhibited my layout ‘Crewlisle’ both at a local level & at the NEC.  There are normally three operators on my layout, one on the outside, one in the central operating well & myself keeping a watchful eye on what is happening & to answer visitors technical questions about how I did it.  The operator on the outside talks to the visitors & if they have children ask if they would like a go.  He then allows the child to move a loco from A to B whilst keeping his finger on either the emergency stop button or control knob.  Or if he has control of the continuous run to run a train on a complete circuit & try to stop it at the station.  Simple!  You have made a child flush with pride that he has operated one of the exhibits at an exhibition & maybe a convert to railway modelling.  Two other aspects that make my layout interactive for children is that they can operate my Meccano geared turntable from outside & Thomas the Tank Engine is always lurking in Platform 2 of the high level terminus ready for his next turn, either controlled by one of my operators or the child himself.  It makes their day.  Sometimes we take our hobby too seriously; lighten up & enjoy it!

 

Another criticism of shows & the impression given to visitors are the operators.  Some of them look scruffy, eating pies or pasties when visitors want to ask them questions or just ignore them!  Exhibitors must try to have an operator on the outside of their layout to interact more closely with the paying visitors.    Many visitors on a family day out may like a layout but if there is no movement or trains being readied to move they just walk away.  This applies to all layout sizes.  Some layouts operate to a set timetable.  This is OK in their club room but the average paying visitor wants to see movement not ‘Wait for the 1030 stopping passenger train from Market Harborough’.   Continual movement should be paramount.

 

Another aspect to encourage youngsters into the hobby is to point out to them the advantages of DCC, remote or computer controlled layouts or operating the layout via their mobile phone or lap top.  This is the technology they are using every day.

 

Peter

 

I have attended this show in the past although sadly not this year. I have always considered it terrific value for money with a good mix of traders and layouts. I usually manage to pick up a few bargains as well. 

 

I have to say that I agree with Peter on several points - interaction is the key to attracting younger visitors. When I visited the Plymouth show many years ago, long before I joined the Crewlisle operating team, I was chuffed to bits at being allowed to help move engines around the diesel shed. I also recall visiting the Bodmin show and watching a live steam layout that my Dad had to practically drag me away from....but not before the kind gentleman in the middle gave me the RC handset and told me what to do! 

 

One bad experience I had as a youngster was when I was allowed to use the family camcorder and every time I approached a particular layout I liked, the owner stopped running but would immediately resume when I walked away. I have also been told that the nameplate on my Hornby castle is not of the correct radius because it came off a Dukedog loco in real life! Quite frankly, I couldn't give a monkeys about something so trivial - in 4mm scale its not exactly standing out. That engine has given me many hours of pleasure with its Howes sound decoder. I have also come across visitors / modellers who are utterly dismayed when I tell them that I usually model diesel prototypes and not steam (despite always running a steam hauled railtour on my layout!). 

 

For the last 7 years I have exhibited my own 2 layouts both locally and nationally and I always try to speak to the younger visitors and ask them to find various items they might recognize such as Doctor Who's Tardis and Mr Bean's mini. I also ensure that Thomas is always on hand to make appearances when required. Many modellers often insult this method but it played a huge part in getting me interested in trains and its always popular when he comes out. Well behaved youngsters are also invited to drive under supervision - parents are often most appreciative of this and I try to teach them about slow speed running (helpful when you have a dcc chip which can be pre-programmed!) and obeying signals. I also have an over-scale 'Fat Controller' who sits on top of the scenery boards keeping a watchful eye over the layout - its a great starting point and something that everyone recognizes instantly. 

 

At the end of the day, it's just a bit of fun and a way of unwinding from the real world. I admire the modellers who are able to replicate exact scenes and locations and am deeply envious of their talent in many respects. However I must say that since I've been going to exhibitions for the last 25 years, I will only usually watch layouts that keep me entertained with movement. I have seen many masterpieces which are of a significant size but are let down by little or poor running. One club I will forever remember for entertainment value is the North Devon Model Railway club - they nearly always had end to end layouts but the trains never stopped running! 

 

Peter and I (plus Paul & Roger) will be exhibiting Crewlilse at Ally Pally next weekend and we'll just be running whatever takes our fancy or what the audience request! It's not unusual for the APT to be on the outer circuit and the 8f on a slow goods on the inner, with a blue 50 waiting on the relief line - we always find that as long as the trains keep running - the public keep watching. Do come and chat to us if you're around! 

 

Nick

[dominicm]

Third and final compilation. Enjoy!