Stafford Railway Circle Exhibition 24h & 25th September 2022 (NEW UPDATE AFTER RMWEB ISSUES)

[Craig1989]

Went today with my dad and a friend of ours and was pleasantly surprised about the amount of space. It was nice to stand at a layout and not get justled about. 
 

cheers Craig 

[Crantock]

I visited Scaleforum yesterday and Stafford today. Both good shows.

 

The Stafford site worked well and the gallery has great potential.  The layouts were a little too spread out for the best atmosphere but it worked.

 

Real quality stuff.  James St was amazing.  I have seen it before but at Stafford it was uncrowded and unfenced.  I hope it was undamaged!

 

One thing lacking was a good show guide. That would be manageable but, given the extra space, the exhibits should have explanatory boards.

 

[Dragonfly]

...and at long last, the final van leaves, and the hall returns to darkness...

 

I'm going for a pint.

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Dragonfly

[ac1874]

I took my 8 year old daughter to her first model railway show, I had to bribe her beforehand and the donut from the cafe definitely helped smooth the road.

 

She walked around for near enough 3 hours without complaining, enjoyed various layouts, took some pictures and browsed the trade stands to see what she could find amongst the boxes. We don't have a layout at home (well, a Hornby Santa oval that comes out once a year) so playing on the Thomas roundy roundy upstairs and shunting wagons was a novelty that she thoroughly enjoyed.

 

I'm still not really sure how I got away with taking her and I don't think she is a railway modeller (yet), however she did walk away with an (18 quid) Oxford Rail Virgin Mk3a and a free lorry courtesy of KMS Railtech and has been telling me what a good day she has had and "how quick it has gone". I can only assume my dream of a Father/Daughter operated layout is now a possibility.

 

The setup of the hall, not feeling hemmed in or overwhelmed by people and the hands on layouts for the kids are what made things a lot easier for me (and many others) to take their kids along, so well done to Stafford Railway Circle, much appreciated.

Edited September 25, 2022 by ac1874

[wagonbasher]

53 minutes ago, Dragonfly said:

...and at long last, the final van leaves, and the hall returns to darkness...

 

I'm going for a pint.

 

Years ago I was part of the Stafford exhibition team and both my girls from the earliest age would experience something of the show depending on age.  What they couldn’t get their heads around was that come Monday, it’s gone.  Not one bit remains.  They are both grown up now and get it.  
 

Andy

[ELTEL]

7 minutes ago, wagonbasher said:

Years ago I was part of the Stafford exhibition team and both my girls from the earliest age would experience something of the show depending on age.  What they couldn’t get their heads around was that come Monday, it’s gone.  Not one bit remains.  They are both grown up now and get it.  
 

Andy

Andy 
 

If you did ever fancy coming back there would be a warm welcome.

 

Terry 

[Gilbert]

20 hours ago, SHMD said:

Me and my son went Saturday and enjoyed the show tremendously.

Lots to see, buy and enjoy.

For some reason, this little layout "jumped out at me" with its' visual effects. I can't, and never have, seen in 3D but the perspective here had me mesmerised!

I just loved the sound of that little No.70 Loco!

 

 

I was helping with said layout. Derwent Road.

The way the sounds have been fitted and the locos set up to run so well with such short wheel bases is very good and we got a lot of very positive comments. I understand the layout may be off to a new home later in the year but a new layout also inspired by Leighton Buzzard is under construction.

Derwent Road is out again at Fareham next weekend.

I enjoyed Stafford but with a bad ankle I was probably one of the few there who did not appreciate the large space and long distances between exhibits! I appreciated meeting up with some old friends and stumbling upon some new traders.

My very limited selection of photos is here - click on the photo:

Chris H

[Chris M]

Just like to say thanks to Stafford Railway Circle for putting on a great show and being good hosts. It was a pleasure exhibiting at the Stafford show, as always.

[corneliuslundie]

Yes, a very good show. At first bit was odd wandering around vast empty spaces, and it was very hard to tell whether it was busy, but I gathered from several traders that they were happy with the numbers. I was asked if there should be more layouts next time to fill the space a bit more. My answer was no, as there is plenty to fill a day and more layouts would just mean more costs and work for everyone. Probably better not to use the "annexe"

Agree about the leaflet. It would have been fine if all the layouts had had their names prominently displayed; then no problem with the "zones" idea. I have every sympathy with the organisers in keeping costs down this year with so many unknowns and rising costs (and a lot more to pay for the hall next year, I understand).

The catering seemed to cope except at about 1.00 when I went for a coffee, but not too bad and better than in the past (hint: no gluten free cakes for me to indulge in).

I failed to find a couple of things on the trade stands, but they were things which were unlikely to be there anyway. But I managed to spend some money!

Some very nice layouts. I particularly liked the way the backscene was done on Dawlish Warren, and also the little Cornish china clay branch. It just oozed character. And the Burton on Trent layout is delightful, so full of character, even of not quite enough level crossings!

So well done to the organising team.

[AY Mod]

4 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

At first bit was odd wandering around vast empty spaces, and it was very hard to tell whether it was busy

 

It was a little odd at times; there was a good number of visitors corralled into the ante area ready for the off but because the space was so vast they seemed to disappear on opening but numbers kept building through the day on Saturday. I understand that when the floor plan was originally drafted a year or so ago that provision was made to give space if there were Covid implications. When it came to actually setting up the power droppers form the ceiling then influenced the position of each 'block' causing a shift towards each end (although there was still plenty of spacer in the aisles) leaving a larger gap in the middle.

 

8 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

It would have been fine if all the layouts had had their names prominently displayed

 

Never mind the layouts; I only recognised one trader from the boxes they put the stock out on display in!

[Mark Forrest]

I enjoyed my visit on Saturday and spent a good few hours wandering around the vast hall and catching up with friends.

 

Perhaps the answer to the show guide is to provide a download in pdf format that punters can chose to print at home or browse before getting to the show?

[MarkSG]

Another good thing about plenty of space is that it makes life a lot easier for visitors on wheels - riders of mobility scooters, wheelchair users, parents with baby buggies, etc. Not that I'm in that category myself - my children have all outgrown their pushchairs, and I'm not infirm enough (yet!) to need my own mobility aid - but it also means that you don't get the conflicts that occur when those viewing a layout have to be asked to move so that someone else can get past behind them in the aisle. Plus, of course, it allows every layout that needs it to have a corner slot or even, as in the case of James Street, 360 degree viewing. 

[woodenhead]

14 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

Agree about the leaflet. It would have been fine if all the layouts had had their names prominently displayed; then no problem with the "zones" idea.

 

6 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

Never mind the layouts; I only recognised one trader from the boxes they put the stock out on display in!

 

There was one stall I've still not figured out who they were, lots of decent North American HO - of course I could simply have asked! 😄

 

I enjoyed the show, the space felt amost big enough to stage a Warley.  It would be nice if it could grow (subject to economics) as I feel it's a good space in a good location, but I understand that other matters come into play as an exhibition grows.

 

It was a good mix of layouts and plenty of secondhand on the stalls which I think is great, it's easy to pick up new stuff over the internet.

[Phil Parker]

22 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

The catering seemed to cope except at about 1.00 when I went for a coffee, but not too bad and better than in the past (hint: no gluten free cakes for me to indulge in).

 

The trick is to rememeber there are 3 cafes on site, plus a farm shop selling the largest eccles cakes I've ever seen. I enjoyed a delicious lasagne before 2pm in the "old" cafe which seemed to be quieter then normal.

 

The in-hall cafe was OK, but Little Phil marked the cake as only a 5 out of 10.

 

[corneliuslundie]

I was asked about the idea of putting more on the website beforehand so people could use it on their phone during the day. As I don't use a smart phone I was not much help in answering. But a PDF would help, though there is still a problem if there have to be last minute changes because a layout is bigger than expected, or a substitute has to be found for one which drops out.

And I was told that a few layouts dropped out at the last minute because of Covid. It is still with us.

Jonathan

[woodenhead]

I spent way too much time watching Gateway Eastern Industrial - an fiddleyard free North American timewaster.

 

My take home from the day is that I now prefer the smaller layouts over the big ones and that I would like three small layouts on the go -

1. The N gauge that's already in development well redevelopment, it lost a corner two weeks back.
2. A small GW branch,  got all the stock, just need to plonk the track on the old Ikea shelf.
3. A North American timewaster, I have the baseboard but not the track or stock, but I do have an Ebay sale stash burning a hole...

It's been a while since I've come back from an exhibition feeling like this.

[Phil Parker]

22 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

I was asked about the idea of putting more on the website beforehand so people could use it on their phone during the day. As I don't use a smart phone I was not much help in answering. But a PDF would help, though there is still a problem if there have to be last minute changes because a layout is bigger than expected, or a substitute has to be found for one which drops out.

 

Use what you like, the mobile signal is still rubbish in that bit of Staffordshire. The other problem with a PDF is the huge (and surprising to me in my theatre box office days) number of people who don't own printers. You'd still need to produce a printed version for them, those not organised enough to print something, and the advertisers who aren't likely to buy space in a virtual publication. It also assumes there is a designer on hand to re-do the guide right up until the final day, or the PDF will also be out of date.

[woodenhead]

3 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Use what you like, the mobile signal is still rubbish in that bit of Staffordshire. The other problem with a PDF is the huge (and surprising to me in my theatre box office days) number of people who don't own printers. You'd still need to produce a printed version for them, those not organised enough to print something, and the advertisers who aren't likely to buy space in a virtual publication. It also assumes there is a designer on hand to re-do the guide right up until the final day, or the PDF will also be out of date.

Middle of the hall and you lost signal, was messaging Mrs W and I lost my 4g once I reached the halfway point.

 

I once tried to negotiate Warley via a PDF on my phone, gave up after 5 minutes.

 

Simplest solution, a requirement in the exhibition attendance for traders to clearly display a sign.  Most do and I don't think anyone there was actively hiding who they were, they probably didn't think they'd need to display one.  Layouts on the other hand always seem to have signage indicating who they are.

[MarkSG]

27 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

I was asked about the idea of putting more on the website beforehand so people could use it on their phone during the day. As I don't use a smart phone I was not much help in answering. But a PDF would help, though there is still a problem if there have to be last minute changes because a layout is bigger than expected, or a substitute has to be found for one which drops out.

 

The club website does work OK with mobile devices, so it would be feasible to have an "exhibition guide" section that can be viewed on the go. But the mobile signal at the showground isn't all that great, so, depending on which network they use, there will be visitors who have trouble accessing it.

 

I like the idea of a print-at-home PDF version, even if it's only fairly rough and ready - it doesn't need to be quite up to the design levels of a proper, printed booklet, and the big advantage is that you can change it closer to the date if necessary. But, as Phil says, some people won't have access to a printer at home, and even those who do aren't necessarily going to realise that it's available. So you can't expect everyone to do that.

 

Something else that's worth thinking about - particularly given that there's plenty of space for it - would be to get some poster size versions of the  show guide printed and then put them up on display boards in the middle of the hall, or near the entrance. So even if you don't have something to carry around, or access online, there's somewhere you can go to read it.

[Northpoint]

49 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

I enjoyed my visit on Saturday and spent a good few hours wandering around the vast hall and catching up with friends.

 

Perhaps the answer to the show guide is to provide a download in pdf format that punters can chose to print at home or browse before getting to the show?

 

Re the show guide, as SRC Webmaster, I am looking at how we can provide the info via the website for future shows.

 

Also, thanks for all the positive feedback. It was a lot of hard work by a lot of people but we feel it all went well.

[2ManySpams]

Regarding layout names etc...

 

Every stand was given a laminated yellow numbered card by the Stafford team. Mine was 99 and I displayed it on the table I was working at, see below.

 

I do have my own exhibition layout, and part of the presentation of that is a lighting unit which has the layout's name. Exhibit A below.

 

Given the size of exhibition halls and low lighting levels often found, I've always considered the layout having it's own lighting as an essential part of the display. It was very noticeable at the Stafford show just how many layouts had no lighting. Those that did looked much better IMO.

[long island jack]

9 minutes ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

 

 

Given the size of exhibition halls and low lighting levels often found, I've always considered the layout having it's own lighting as an essential part of the display. It was very noticeable at the Stafford show just how many layouts had no lighting. Those that did looked much better IMO.

Enjoyed my weekend exhibition at Stafford, (all be it with a bout of IBS), well done to the exhibition team.

It always puzzles me, why people/groups go to the extent of building an exhibition layout, but don't seem to consider lighting there layouts, the lighting was not the best in the halls and some of the layouts were hard to see the work done. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by long island jack

[AY Mod]

5 hours ago, Gilbert said:

I enjoyed Stafford

 

Did you get to see the Deltic before the show on Sat?

[Southernfrance]

15 hours ago, Crantock said:

I visited Scaleforum yesterday and Stafford today. Both good shows.

 

The Stafford site worked well and the gallery has great potential.  The layouts were a little too spread out for the best atmosphere but it worked.

 

Real quality stuff.  James St was amazing.  I have seen it before but at Stafford it was uncrowded and unfenced.  I hope it was undamaged!

 

One thing lacking was a good show guide. That would be manageable but, given the extra space, the exhibits should have explanatory boards.

 

I can report that despite having no barriers there was no damage to James Street. In fact in six years of exhibiting we've only had one tree attacked by a young child, so not having barriers isn't an issue for us. I like the fact that people can get close to see and talk to us.

 

Dave

[Phil Parker]

23 minutes ago, long island jack said:

It always puzzles me, why people/groups go to the extent of building an exhibition layout, but don't seem to consider lighting there layouts, the lighting was not the best in the halls and some of the layouts were hard to see the work done. 

 

Because building a set of layout lights takes time and costs money. Then you have to transport them.

 

I agree with your point, but exhibitors have the find the funds and time to do everything, and for some, adding lights is a long way down the list.