Spalding Model Railway Exhibition 2017 - 11th & 12th of November

[RichardS]

I was getting a 4G signal all over the site, I went on line in Hall 2 at one point to check the Ultrascale catalogue. That said it wouldn't be too much of an effort to set up a public wi-fi although it would cost money.

 

Regards

 

You were lucky. I'm with O2 and had nothing in Hall 2 and one bar in the corridor. Had to go outside to make a call to be sure of an unbroken signal. Perhaps my phone is duff.

(No doubt someday will now come back and say that they had a 5G O2 signal that was so strong it upset their pacemaker and they didn't need a phone because their hearing aid was picking up a wi-fi signal from a Nunnery in Boston) (joke, laugh, grin) (and yes I know 5G is not available yet)

[PenrithBeacon]

[298]

Would it make sense to manage the show's undoubted success by increasing the admission price? This would reduce numbers while maintaining profitability for the organising club.

Cheers

Ben A.

Without going all Panorama, that sounds a bit controversial- not least because one measure I sometimes use to rate a show is the entrance fee, although the circuit seems to be thankfully largely free from such price incentives.

 

Another issue with overcrowding is people staying longer than average, which compounds itself if someone has to wait to spend quality time viewing specific layouts. One possible solution is to charge visitors on a per hour basis, instead of a flat rate whether you stay four an hour or eight....

[PenrithBeacon]

[gr.king]

As a mere "operator" of one of the layouts at the latest Spalding show, having had no involvement in the way the layout was originally constructed, nor any effective influence (despite trying) over the way it has more recently been extended and converted (highly unsuccessfully so far) to DCC operation, I still feel that I should apologize for my involvement, such as it was, with the almost total lack of operation of the layout on the Saturday and the limited, erratic performance on the Sunday. I will be doing my best to persuade the layout owner to take seriously a long list of tasks requiring rigorous attention before the layout appears in public again.

 

As for suggesting that exhibitors should attend shows without any form of payment to cover expenses, I think somebody on the previous page of this thread is deliberately looking to make himself extremely unpopular by stirring the you-know-what with a big stick. I certainly would not give up my free time to entertain the public, get up early on my only days off, travel long and tiring distances etc. and pay for the so-called "pleasure" out of my own pocket. As I already have to take time off work, at my own cost, to fit in with pre-show set up, and after-show pack away, I don't think we'd have many model railway shows at all if payment of basic expenses ceased.

[stivesnick]

As a exhibitor at the show, I felt it was a well organised show and I really enjoyed the weekend. Thank you Thomas.

 

Yes the hall was busy, but it was still possible to move around at all times, and the very busy period lasted perhaps an hour late morning each day.

 

The show already lets disabled visitors in 30 minutes early, which is a good thing.

 

Perhaps this concept could be extended by offering a premium entry ( at extra cost) an hour before the general public. For my part, I would remove the elephants from the back garden of one the houses as a mark of respect to these experts.

 

One issue arose at the start of the two minute silence on Sunday, although layouts generally stopped operating, there was a period of perhaps 20 second whilst those layouts with sound locos went through their shut down routine. Very noticeable in a quiet hall, but not sure what can be done in the future.

 

Nick

[Gt.Shefford]

Perhaps the exhibition manager should have gone round to each layout running sound in advance of 11:00 to ensure they had time to shut each loco down. Alternatively F8 will mute the sound.

 

Jonathan

[bill_schmidt1]

 

One issue arose at the start of the two minute silence on Sunday, although layouts generally stopped operating, there was a period of perhaps 20 second whilst those layouts with sound locos went through their shut down routine. Very noticeable in a quiet hall, but not sure what can be done in the future.

 

Nick

Maybe just pull the plug out? 

[terry.ecmr]

Thanks to everybody at the show for their help.

 

We really enjoyed operating Earl's Court.

 

Terry

[jwealleans]

One issue arose at the start of the two minute silence on Sunday, although layouts generally stopped operating, there was a period of perhaps 20 second whilst those layouts with sound locos went through their shut down routine.

There was also a 2 minute silence on the Saturday (11th). The tannoy, which was at eardrum-bursting levels the rest of the weekend, managed to muffle the start of the two minutes completely. I missed it, as did the punter I was talking to and we were far from alone. It was only the end announcement which caught our attention.

 

The one on Sunday was much better announced and observed.

 

We really enjoyed operating Earl's Court.

We really enjoyed looking at it as we walked past for the tea.

[LNERandBR]

The big red stop button is the fastest way to mute all loco's I find. Worked fine to mute Deeping Lane as it did Bostcroft's sound fleet when I exhibited at Spalding last year.

 

Tom mentioned his upset to me about the silence on the Saturday, the PA system having worked fine up until then let him down. Personally I think he did a very good job making all the announcements. This year being the first year he's organised the entire show on his own. If it had been me I would have palmed that job off onto someone else!

[Leander]

Maybe just pull the plug out? 

Or simply switch the sound Off, press F1 (Digitrains) or whatever it is on the DCC system you're using.