WIGAN EXHIBITION 2022 Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd October

[Crantock]

A great show.  A good venue with good car parking.  Great layouts and a proper guide.

 

So many good layouts its hard to call them out.  Hope under Dinmore never fails to interest.  Chapel en le frith the inspired pairing of a Midland 3f piloting a Fowler 7f showing the same lineage stretched to failure.  Bewdley, Charwelton & Harlyn were great.   James Street though suffered from the lighting of its hall.

 

Uncrowded but with atmosphere.  I hope that with rail strikes and Sunday traffic chaos it was ok financially.

 

 

[03060]

Finally got there today having had a late call to go in to work on Saturday. Well worth the visit over the hills to the dark side and all of the OT earn't on Sat was spent with the traders.

 

Highlights for me were Harlyn Pier, Shirebrook, Dallam and Newchapel Jct on the layout front and the long chats I had discussing the superb scene of Bewdley and a good general chat with Ian Futers at Glebe Lane. Very impressed with the hand painted backscenes on both Bewdley and in particular North Ballachulish ... which I could quite contentedly look at every day.

 

Many thanks to the organisers, a good day out.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited October 2, 2022 by 03060
Photos of Nth Ballachulish backscene

[APOLLO]

Quick question re Chapel-en-le-frith, what was the articulated steam loco I saw running (not a beyer garret I think) ?

 

Brit15

[Persephone]

 

Many thanks for your comments. The backscene was painted for me by Mike Raithby, after an attempt to get a printed photo backscene with 4 photo images from a visit up there stitched together had to be aborted due to distortion which would occur on the 16 foot backscene - or so the printer told me. I like the painted backscene better though, it has real atmosphere.

 

 

Thanks to the organisers for their hospitality over the weekend, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and it was a really good show.  It also was very different from when I was last in the hall 6 months earlier setting up the cask cooling system for the Wigan Beer Festival!

 

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, 03060 said:

Finally got there today having had a late call to go in to work on Saturday. Well worth the visit over the hills to the dark side and all of the OT earn't on Sat was spent with the traders.

 

Highlights for me were Harlyn Pier, Shirebrook, Dallam and Newchapel Jct on the layout front and the long chats I had discussing the superb scene of Bewdley and a good general chat with Ian Futers at Glebe Lane. Very impressed with the hand painted backscenes on both Bewdley and in particular North Ballachulish ... which I could quite contentedly look at every day.

 

Many thanks to the organisers, a good day out.

 

Regards,

Ian.

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Persephone
grammar!

[Barry O]

33 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

Quick question re Chapel-en-le-frith, what was the articulated steam loco I saw running (not a beyer garret I think) ?

 

Brit15

It was a mallet. A diagramme was drawn up at Horwich. The real thing wasn't built but Mike Edge built the model years ago. It's nickname is  "The  Hammer". It only justvfits on Brunswick shed on Herculaneum  Dock.

 

Baz

[43110andyb]

Busy weekend 😅 -Hire van has been dropped off and thankfully sat with a cuppa!

     Great show attending with ‘Charwelton into the 80’s - many thanks to the Wigan show organisers and members -we were well looked after throughout the weekend! 
     

[Barry O]

Great weekend.  The Wigan team managed to arrange some dry and sunny weather while we loaded the van last night.

 

Thanks for the show, the breakfasts, lunches,  teas and coffees and the support. 

Baz

[Samedan]

It was great to be back at the Wigan show and meet some old friends. I noted that Lisa Nandy, local MP and shadow minister, was in attendance on Saturday. Perhaps we can expect a Promotion of Model Railways Bill in Labour’s election manifesto? 
I was through the door just after opening and stayed until mid afternoon, at which point I think my eyesight was incapable of focusing on the details any longer. It was noticeable that there was a bit more open space than at previous shows but there was still plenty to see and entertain. The lack of Continental layouts, my main interest these days, was anticipated of course but I was a bit disappointed that none of the traders had brought much, if any, Continental stuff with them. Nevertheless, there were some interesting and useful scenic, electrical and tool products to look at and talk to traders about. 
I thought the balance of trade, demonstration, society and layout stands was about right. Notwithstanding the very limited amount of Continental modelling on display, the overall standard of modelling on display was very high. My secondary interest is pre-Grouping and LNWR in particular, so I found Hope under Dinmore specially entertaining and inspiring. Eastwood looked very promising but the service seemed to be a bit sparse - opening morning glitches perhaps? 
What type of layout floats your boat is very subjective. I like very detailed, realistic scenery and buildings in a believable overall setting in any scale and the overall standard was very high on that measure. Without wishing to detract from the many other fine layouts, Bewdley, Alloa, Charwelton into the 80s, North Ballachulish, Shirebrook and Harlyn Pier particularly caught my eye in that respect. 
Surely everyone loves a big Gauge O or Gauge 1 layout, with trains pounding along, and Newchapel Junction provided that in spades. Nice also to see young modellers learning their operating skills on that layout and Alloa, as I recall. 
I’ll be honest and admit that I often give a fairly cursory look at N gauge layouts but two very contrasting layouts here really grabbed my attention. The tiny one was Alston. Based on a town I know a bit, it displayed a superb collection of models of the town centre’s real buildings, albeit rearranged on the model. The individual buildings and their overall arrangement into a realistic townscape was superb. I wasn’t surprised to learn that the original builder was an Architect. 
The larger one that stood out was, of course, James Street. Surprisingly perhaps, I’ve never come across this layout before and was amazed to learn that it was largely the product of one man over 25 years. The sheer scale and complexity of the track plan and scenic features (I lost count of the number of stations, loco depots and, in particular, industrial facilities and sidings) was stunning. The port area, with over half a dozen large, highly detailed ship models, was the most convincing I’ve ever seen I believe. The range of locos and stock on display (many lent by members of the operating team) was also amazing. All in all, James Street is like the equivalent of 4 or 5 typical N gauge layouts combined. 
So, a big well done to the organisers and exhibitors. I hope it was a commercial success and that the Wigan show will be firmly re-established in the calendar. 

[ardbealach]

Thank you 'Samedan' and '03060' for your kind words on my efforts on the Bewdley backscenes.  Backscene painting is certainly one part of the hobby I enjoy.  In my opinion all layouts should have a backscene to help focus the viewer on the layout.  They certainly can also help enhance the layout.  For me too many layouts have backscenes with the green and blue colours which are just too vivid, and these colours just spoil the hoped for overall desired effect.    

 

And for me, the Best in Show at Wigan was the N Gauge Alston.   [Alisdair]

[Southernfrance]

I finally got home from a weekend at Wigan operating James Street at lunchtime today. None of us had been to the show before, and all of us found the selection of layouts really good compared to other shows. The standard of modelling was very high, and in my view there were no bad layouts, only ones that didn't appeal to me. Alloa has always been a station I like and the model did it proud, while the Bewdley operators were a happy bunch with whom we had a nice chat in the hotel on Saturday evening. It was my first time seeing Shirebrook and Alston, and I found the modelling excellent. The trade support was also well varied. 

 

James Street got lots of favourable comments, more than many recent shows, and those above from Samedan are very welcome. I like to think people are beginning to look beyond the fact that this isn't a typical exhibition layout and are looking at the standard of modelling that the owner Steve Wright has achieved over the long gestation of the layout. Martyn Daw and I have provided a lot of the rolling stock and again about a third isn't your normal out of the box stuff, plus nearly all is now weathered which has helped a lot. We were short of four operators this time as we had been at Stafford last week and some couldn't do two shows on the trot. The five regular operators were aided by Don and Jeremy who stepped into the breach at the last minute and did very well. Shunting in the dock and terminus yards was much reduced, as was  the frequency of changing of trains. 

 

From an exhibitor's perspective however we didn't enjoy the show as much as we have others. Our hotel, while excellent, was a 25-30 minute trip each way, and the quality of the breakfasts provided in the Sports Hall was not good compared to the normal hotel breakfasts we enjoy at other shows. When I tried to just have a bacon sandwich (made with toast) on Sunday I wasn't allowed to have more than one rasher of bacon as it seemed 5 items meant one of each or not at all. No drinks (hot or cold) were provided as we had exhibitors tea facilities in the hall, but to find this out after you got your food wasn't good. We did at least address this on Sunday. The hot drink facilities were OK but the water was often not boiling, and there were no washing up facilities to clean your mug out. This was in sharp contrast to Stafford's excellent facilities last weekend. We also had a lot of trouble setting up. We had a long journey to get there from South Essex, so Steve had planned to go up the night before, and had previously talked to the organisers who assured him he could get in early. This was even more essential as we had lost the operators who also help set up. When he arrived the promised access didn't happen. When we finally did get in, two hours later than promised, the layout's position was surrounded by barriers, which we then had to remove to set up. This was obviously not ideal, and poor in comparison to other shows we have attended. In the end we ran out of time and had to leave off the lighting, hence the comments about it being a bit dark. Again, Stafford last weekend was a breeze by comparison.The venue also suffered from a lack of toilets, with only one gents loo, which was a cause of complaint from many of the punters I spoke to. On the positive side I had a nice couple of chats with one of the organising team who it turns out was born i the same East London maternity hospital as me and knew a lot of the area I had lived in as a young child. 

 

Overall, great show but could do better on the exhibitor's care front!

 

Dave

[Reorte]

7 hours ago, Samedan said:

I’ll be honest and admit that I often give a fairly cursory look at N gauge layouts but two very contrasting layouts here really grabbed my attention. The tiny one was Alston. Based on a town I know a bit, it displayed a superb collection of models of the town centre’s real buildings, albeit rearranged on the model. The individual buildings and their overall arrangement into a realistic townscape was superb. I wasn’t surprised to learn that the original builder was an Architect.

 

I liked Alston too, really captures the feel of the town even with the building re-arrangement. It was also interesting to see that some trains were DCC and some DC (obviously not at the same time). A delightful little layout.

[ELTEL]

Not a huge N gauge fan, but I also was very impressed with Alston.

Super modelling

Terry 

 

 

[kipford]

As a member of the Hope under Dinmore team (I drove the van), these are my comments on the operator experience. Agree the Venue toilets are a bit sparse but were never full. We were also 20 minutes away from the venue, which whilst not ideal it is no different to Warley, Ally Pally or a number of other exhibitions I have done. My only beef was, we had two layouts at the show but we were in different hotels. Breakfast was fine and as good as a Holiday Inn Express and far better than a Travel Lodge. We arrived about 2:30pm Friday having driven up from Portsmouth and set up was no issue for either of our layouts except it is a fair treck to load/unload if your right at the back of hall 1! The barriers were easily moved and the wide aisles meant you have plenty of room to manouvre so I did not see any issue here. 

It was a bit quieter than I expected and I hope the show was a success, but thanks to the organisers for an enjoyable time even If I did not get to bed until midnight last night. 

[Southernfrance]

I cannot agree about the breakfast, it was poor both days. Is there a bit of stereotyping going on too which assumes all exhibitors are older men who only want a cooked breakfast? No healthy option, no fruit juice or cereal, etc which you would get at a hotel. We don’t all want to be lardy boys…..

 

Dave

[branchie]

Whilst recognising the value in feedback, aren't these issues for sharing directly with the organisers rather than on a public forum? Seems a little unfair and disrespectful IMO.

[5BarVT]

On 04/10/2022 at 09:03, Southernfrance said:

I cannot agree about the breakfast, it was poor both days. Is there a bit of stereotyping going on too which assumes all exhibitors are older men who only want a cooked breakfast? No healthy option, no fruit juice or cereal, etc which you would get at a hotel. We don’t all want to be lardy boys…..

 

Dave

Gut feel is that’s not within the control of the club.  I went looking for lunch in the public cafe and came away without because there was no healthy food. Period.  Not even any semi healthy!

Paul.

[APOLLO]

Healthy food ? - It's Wigan don't forget. 

 

 

 

Brit15

[5BarVT]

3 hours ago, APOLLO said:

Healthy food ? - It's Wigan don't forget. 

Thought about saying that. You’ve done it for me. 
Paul.

[Eaton]

Can I say on behalf of the 'Group' a big thank you to all the exhibitors, traders and visitors that supported our exhibition over the weekend. I have it on good authority that in terms of the standard of layouts that this was one of the best exhibitions we have produced. The fact that I have to take someone else's word for this is simply because I had so little time to see the exhibition for myself. This is also true of other members of the 'Group', we were considerably overstretched to say the least. That it was hard work is something of an understatement.

We can only apologize to the James Street group if we failed to provide them with an enjoyable experience, this was certainly not our intention. Rest assured that your comments were noted and lessons will be learnt.

There is a certain irony in the fact that the Rail Industry should have a negative impact on an exhibition that celebrates our railway history and prevented our loyal Scottish supporters from attending this weekend. Such is life.  

Edited October 6, 2022 by Eaton

[APOLLO]

Thanks for all your work Eaton (and exhibitors etc).

 

I really enjoyed the exhibition, a first rate show.

 

Brit15

[Eaton]

On the subject of 'healthy food' and after a discussion with our Exhibition Manager we are considering reviewing our catering arrangement to play upon our Wigan culinary heritage. We suspect that many visitors may not be aware of Wigan's close association with the 'Pie'. Please do not confuse the Wigan Pie with those small dainty things one sometimes sees when on holiday. A Wigan Pie is best defined as a meal within a crust. As a consequence there is a pie for all occasions which would make our catering a lot simpler as we would provide a breakfast pie and a dinnertime pie. Needless to say there are vegetarian pie options.

Following the meal we would provide a palette cleansing 'Uncle Joe's Mint Ball, another famous Wigan delicacy.

 

Edited October 6, 2022 by Eaton

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, Eaton said:

On the subject of 'healthy food' and after a discussion with our Exhibition Manager we are considering reviewing our catering arrangement to play upon our Wigan culinary heritage. We suspect that many visitors may not be aware of Wigan's close association with the 'Pie'. Please do not confuse the Wigan Pie with those small dainty things one sometimes sees when on holiday. A Wigan Pie is best defined as a meal within a crust. As a consequence there is a pie for all occasions which would make our catering a lot simpler as we would provide a breakfast pie and a dinnertime pie. Needless to say there are vegetarian pie options.

Following the meal we would provide a palette cleansing 'Uncle Joe's Mint Ball, another famous Wigan delicacy.

 

 

What about the Pythagoras version, with 90 degree corners, the pie are squared ?

 

Mike.

[Southernfrance]

On behalf of the James Street team thanks for the apology. We could see the organising team were thinly stretched over the weekend, but not initially of course, which no doubt was partly to blame for our access issue. The show was the best we've been invited to in terms of layout quality so very well done on that aspect. It would have been nice to have had options for breakfast, as you would have in a typical hotel breakfast, but I presume this was constrained by either budget or the venue. Lunch on Sunday was fine, with a lovely chocolate cake and cream to provide plenty of zip for the packing up and journey. We've always wanted to do this show as it has a reputation for quality, and apart from the minor issues noted it certainly delivered this year.

 

Dave

[Eaton]

Still on the topic of food and refreshment, did anyone notice the roaring trade centred around 'Sweets of Yesteryear', aka The Fudge Man. I suspect that for a certain section of our client group he is more important than the model trains.

[5BarVT]

22 minutes ago, Eaton said:

Still on the topic of food and refreshment, did anyone notice the roaring trade centred around 'Sweets of Yesteryear', aka The Fudge Man. I suspect that for a certain section of our client group he is more important than the model trains.

Having rejected ‘unhealthy food’ in the café, where do you think I got my lunch ?

Nothing like being inconsistent!

Paul.