The future of Model railway Exhibitions

[009 micro modeller]

1 hour ago, arran said:

Exhibitors like Free food .

Surely everyone does?

 

26 minutes ago, LNERandBR said:

a bigger slice of the potential pie

Very good… 😜

[GeoffAlan]

I attended a wargames show a couple of years before Covid struck, 

 

It was in an educational establishment and they provided the 'catering'. They ran out opf bacon for bacon sandwiches within 5 minutes of opening, apparently the exhibitors  and sales staff had eaten it all. An hour later they ran out of bread buns! 

 

Some venues aren't run by numpties, but sadly some are. I gather the show, which was for a charity had paid quite a bit for use of the premises.  

 

The next time we attended we took out own packed lunches and drinks.

[Nearholmer]

The future of model railway exhibitions?

 

Time will tell.

[009 micro modeller]

46 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

The future of model railway exhibitions?

 

Time will tell.

I actually think smaller shows at places like museums and heritage railways (a bit like my 009 group has done previously and is thinking of doing again) could become more popular. They are already visitor attractions in their own right (but often looking to attract more visitors and engage different audiences) and railways, industrial museums etc. in particular might see a model railway exhibition with appropriate layouts as a particularly suitable kind of event.

[70000 Britannia]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

The future of model railway exhibitions?

 

Time will tell.

Absolutely.

 

It has taken 2 years of loss of momentum driven by the Covid disruption.  No doubt it will take a similar period before the various forces/dynamics, opinions,  preferences of clubs, members, traders, exhibitors, and the public, begin to settle down.

 

However, having exhibited at a dozen shows, and visited a further half dozen as a customer - the last 12 months - I am encouraged by the resilience of the hobby.

 

So let's not prejudge how it will pan out.

 

Dave

[black and decker boy]

2 hours ago, 70000 Britannia said:

Absolutely.

 

It has taken 2 years of loss of momentum driven by the Covid disruption.  No doubt it will take a similar period before the various forces/dynamics, opinions,  preferences of clubs, members, traders, exhibitors, and the public, begin to settle down.

 

However, having exhibited at a dozen shows, and visited a further half dozen as a customer - the last 12 months - I am encouraged by the resilience of the hobby.

 

So let's not prejudge how it will pan out.

 

Dave

I’ve been out with layouts and been buoyed by the return of punters in numbers and with fresh interest & enthusiasm.

 

however, a lot of exhibitors, club mates and traders have seemingly decided its all too much to keep going out on the circuit so suspect a loss of layouts (and trade) will be available going forward 

[Chamby]

A few observations from the OP:

 

Re: catering, making a cash profit from it is not essential, if it adds value to the exhibition in other ways.  Better to have a burger and bacon butty van onsite, than have no catering at all... especially if you can negotiate exhibitor lunch vouchers with the proprietor as part of the deal.  

 

Re: fundraising, we have been able to tap into some interesting alternative sources of additional funds recently.  Our local county councillor has a fund to support local activities and events, as does our Parish Council.  There is also additional support for communities in ‘clay country’ here in Cornwall, following the local decline in the extraction of white stuff.  We have successfully tapped into these sources to fund materials and equipment for a new layout, and are also assessing the possibility of financial support for an exhibition.  So although things are getting tougher re: the traditional way of running things, there are other options out there.

 

I agree with earlier posts that holding an exhibition isn’t just about raising funds.  Ask the question, if your exhibition was just break-even in financial terms, would you still do it?  Is it a highlight of the club year, or a tedious chore of necessity?  If the latter, you should perhaps explore other funding options.

 

Getting back to the original question, before Covid we had maybe 6-8 outings a year, taking our club layout all over the country.  If we want to maintain that level of activity, the discussion so far seems to point us towards having something smaller, more manageable and with lower associated costs, so we can offer exhibitions either the ‘big’ layout or a smaller one.  We are also discussing among membership whether we would be prepared to accept additional personal costs for the privilege of exhibiting the big layout elsewhere.  We have mixed views on that, as you might expect - our members personal financial circumstances vary hugely.

 

But as others have said, time will tell!  Thanks for all your helpful and varied comments so far...

[APOLLO]

Pies or starve at Wigan exhibition this weekend

Bring your own gravy !!

 

Brit15

[009 micro modeller]

17 hours ago, black and decker boy said:

I’ve been out with layouts and been buoyed by the return of punters in numbers and with fresh interest & enthusiasm.

 

however, a lot of exhibitors, club mates and traders have seemingly decided its all too much to keep going out on the circuit so suspect a loss of layouts (and trade) will be available going forward 

The two exhibitions I’ve managed to attend post-Covid (one as an exhibitor and one as a punter) have both been excellent, and definitely didn’t represent a decline from previous ones.

 

2 hours ago, Chamby said:

Re: catering, making a cash profit from it is not essential, if it adds value to the exhibition in other ways.  Better to have a burger and bacon butty van onsite, than have no catering at all... especially if you can negotiate exhibitor lunch vouchers with the proprietor as part of the deal.  

 

 

2 hours ago, Chamby said:

I agree with earlier posts that holding an exhibition isn’t just about raising funds.

I agree, and I’m glad I’ve never been involved with any clubs that have run a show purely to raise club funds. For my group I think the extra income was sometimes useful, but not essential. But equally, nobody wants to run at a huge loss if they can help it.

 

Catering does add value in other ways, there just seems to be a perception that in some cases it can become a bit of a liability if not managed properly.

[PaulRhB]

There’s still a fair bit of covid around, a friend who’s our show manager and his other half are recovering from a bout now, so it’s not surprising people are still wary plus the unknowns of the economic rollercoaster meaning some might resist temptations by not going. 
On that I think it’s too early to make too many conclusions and probably a lot of older folk who were struggling with older heavy layouts are either deciding it’s time to stop or having a pause while they build something smaller. Amongst my circle several are building new layouts for exhibiting but although started during lockdowns they aren’t racing to complete them. The common thing is all are designed to fit one or two cars to avoid the van hires etc to keep their expenses down for shows. So with exhibitors thinking like that and the two groups I’m involved with actively planning 2023 & 24 shows with all the new costs I’m pretty sure it will adapt and continue fine. It just takes a bit of time to find new venues and work out the details. 

[Dzine]

Hi Folks,  Pre Covid I attended numerous exhibitions,  but struggling to get everything in a small Peugeot. The one thing about Covid and subsequent Long Covid is it left me with lots of thinking time, well, at least when I was awake.  During one such more proactive thinking sessions we decided to analyse what our needs were; something for four on holiday use, for carrying materials for our house renovation, but most important, and primary use for attending railway events, both model and real.  The answer?  Ditch the car and buy a small van.  Best for our needs was a Ford Transit Connect Combi; a 5 seater with large boot or with sliding bulkhead a 2 seater with a full van behind. No van hire for us just diesel.  Perfect in every way and proving to be the best move we made.  Regards Paul

[cessna152towser]

On 28/09/2022 at 12:49, PaulRhB said:

There’s still a fair bit of covid around, a friend who’s our show manager and his other half are recovering from a bout now, so it’s not surprising people are still wary plus the unknowns of the economic rollercoaster meaning some might resist temptations by not going. 
On that I think it’s too early to make too many conclusions and probably a lot of older folk who were struggling with older heavy layouts are either deciding it’s time to stop or having a pause while they build something smaller.

Pre-covid I would typically visit Model Rail in Glasgow as a customer plus attending two annual exhibitions nearer home with a vintage Hornby-Dublo three-rail layout jointly presented with a friend who was also our exhibition manager to our local show.  We had already decided that 2020 would be our last local show as we are all getting older, then covid came along so effectively our annual show ended in August 2019.   I visited the Glasgow show in February 2020 ( I am an AMRSS member being still an associate member of a Glasgow club where I was very active until I left the area in 1989 so i obtained discounted entry and had the option of volunteering, either operating a club layout or as a steward although I chose not to on this occasion).   I  went into my seventies during lockdown  and have not yet been back to a model railway show.   My Hornby-Dublo three-rail is currently in deep storage, not run since 2019 and probably some of the mechanisms have seized by now and would take some work and patience to free up.   I have avoided attending most public events this past three years and whether I would attend Model Rail 23 in Glasgow next February is yet to be decided.  In the current economic climate I would need to consider the cost of diesel for the drive to the railhead at Carlisle, parking charges at Carlisle station, the train fare to Glasgow, lunch and evening meal away from home and the risk of catching covid.  Is it worth it for the sake of meeting up with old friends whom I have not seen since 2019 who may or may not choose to attend and possibly seeing a few new layouts which I have not seen before or picking up a really good bargain from a trade stand?

[Northmoor]

12 minutes ago, cessna152towser said:

Pre-covid I would typically visit Model Rail in Glasgow as a customer plus attending two annual exhibitions nearer home with a vintage Hornby-Dublo three-rail layout jointly presented with a friend who was also our exhibition manager to our local show.  We had already decided that 2020 would be our last local show as we are all getting older, then covid came along so effectively our annual show ended in August 2019.   I visited the Glasgow show in February 2020 ( I am an AMRSS member being still an associate member of a Glasgow club where I was very active until I left the area in 1989 so i obtained discounted entry and had the option of volunteering, either operating a club layout or as a steward although I chose not to on this occasion).   I  went into my seventies during lockdown  and have not yet been back to a model railway show.   My Hornby-Dublo three-rail is currently in deep storage, not run since 2019 and probably some of the mechanisms have seized by now and would take some work and patience to free up.   I have avoided attending most public events this past three years and whether I would attend Model Rail 23 in Glasgow next February is yet to be decided.  In the current economic climate I would need to consider the cost of diesel for the drive to the railhead at Carlisle, parking charges at Carlisle station, the train fare to Glasgow, lunch and evening meal away from home and the risk of catching covid.  Is it worth it for the sake of meeting up with old friends whom I have not seen since 2019 who may or may not choose to attend and possibly seeing a few new layouts which I have not seen before or picking up a really good bargain from a trade stand?

I don't know how far you are from the centre of Hawick, but Carlisle is only a 15 minute shorter drive than to Lanark.  As it's considerably closer to Glasgow and there's a half-hourly interval train service, wouldn't that be significantly cheaper and more convenient?

[fulton]

2 hours ago, Dzine said:

The answer?  Ditch the car and buy a small van.  Best for our needs was a Ford Transit Connect Combi; a 5 seater with large boot or with sliding bulkhead a 2 seater with a full van behind. No van hire for us just diesel.  Perfect in every way and proving to be the best move we made.  Regards Paul

I went through a similar process, but only need two seats, so bought a Connect long wheel base, first trip was to Bristol with my Fulton Terminal layout, only just fitted, reduces expenses and hopefully I can keep exhibiting when age makes van hire a problem.

[cessna152towser]

31 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

I don't know how far you are from the centre of Hawick, but Carlisle is only a 15 minute shorter drive than to Lanark.  As it's considerably closer to Glasgow and there's a half-hourly interval train service, wouldn't that be significantly cheaper and more convenient?

I have tried Lanark (limited parking) and Larkhall (large free park and ride) in the past but both came in more expensive and slower.   Avanti West Coast and Trans-Pennine gradually empty of passengers as they go further north so there always bargain fares to be obtained with either of those companies from Carlisle which are much cheaper than Scotrail.    Besides on a day out I don't have the time for the long 20 mph crawls through Innerleithen and Peebles and then the railtour from Lanark around Wishaw, Holytown, Mossend east to south junctions, and the Hamilton Circle calling at all stations.

[Ravenser]

Shows are back , but in greatly reduced numbers. All seem to be smaller , many clubs have radically down sized their event, and some are sticking to club and club members' layouts for their first event.

 

Much of the trade has lost its appetite for attending shows. A local model shop who used to do quite a few has declared they won't do any more - this includes the event which is organised by a member of the shop staff. The remaining RTR trader got the dreaded lurghi, so there was no  new RTR on sale this year, and there were 4 layouts less than usual.

 

Railway Modeller has reported feedback from organisers that gates are down about 20%.

 

Some venues are no longer available.

 

This winter will probably continue to be a difficult environment, although petrol prices have fallen back from their peak.

 

All this adds up to a greatly reduced demand for exhibition layouts in the short term. At the same time, a lot of folk are getting distinctly old, and I think a lot of layouts are too. There are plenty of layouts that have been on the circuit for twenty years or more, and my impression is that there haven't been that many new layours coming onto the circuit in the last decade.

 

Layouts will get a lot fewer invitations, show managers can be a lot more selective, and the mediocre layouts may struggle to get any invitations.

 

This all points to a cull of the stock of existing exhibition layouts .

 

Layouts under construction before lockdown have no doubt made progress, but I doubt if many new exhibition layouts have been started since the first lockdown was announced

 

The number of exhibitions has been rising inexorably for decades , despite a contracting and aging hobby. Arguably by 2020 we were overextended. In the last  2.5 years the hobby seems to have grown a little, and the demographic is now a little younger - this without shows.

 

I expect the number of shows to recover, modestly , and in a few years time there may be openings and a demand for new exhibition layouts in a way there hasn't been for some years

[Not Jeremy]

12 hours ago, Ravenser said:

Shows are back , but in greatly reduced numbers. All seem to be smaller , many clubs have radically down sized their event, and some are sticking to club and club members' layouts for their first event.

 

Much of the trade has lost its appetite for attending shows. A local model shop who used to do quite a few has declared they won't do any more - this includes the event which is organised by a member of the shop staff. The remaining RTR trader got the dreaded lurghi, so there was no  new RTR on sale this year, and there were 4 layouts less than usual.

 

Railway Modeller has reported feedback from organisers that gates are down about 20%.

 

Some venues are no longer available.

 

This winter will probably continue to be a difficult environment, although petrol prices have fallen back from their peak.

 

All this adds up to a greatly reduced demand for exhibition layouts in the short term. At the same time, a lot of folk are getting distinctly old, and I think a lot of layouts are too. There are plenty of layouts that have been on the circuit for twenty years or more, and my impression is that there haven't been that many new layours coming onto the circuit in the last decade.

 

Layouts will get a lot fewer invitations, show managers can be a lot more selective, and the mediocre layouts may struggle to get any invitations.

 

This all points to a cull of the stock of existing exhibition layouts .

 

Layouts under construction before lockdown have no doubt made progress, but I doubt if many new exhibition layouts have been started since the first lockdown was announced

 

The number of exhibitions has been rising inexorably for decades , despite a contracting and aging hobby. Arguably by 2020 we were overextended. In the last  2.5 years the hobby seems to have grown a little, and the demographic is now a little younger - this without shows.

 

I expect the number of shows to recover, modestly , and in a few years time there may be openings and a demand for new exhibition layouts in a way there hasn't been for some years

 

Blimey, that's all a bit doom laden isn't it?

 

Rather than signalling the end of everything, is it not possible that we will instead end up with a better exhibition scene?

 

Maybe it was too easy before, there were a hell of a lot of shows for sure, but were they all that good? Don't build a layout to exhibit - build a layout that means something to you and that tells a story, and then by all means exhibit it too. 

 

Uckfield has just happened, it looked to be stunningly good, Scaleforum was great (in a new cheaper venue), Warners take over of Thornbury earlier in the year was great and well attended, we even ran "Larkrail" again, plenty of visitors, good conversations, tea, money raised for charity - no gloom in Larkhall matey.

 

And if the old way of doing something doesn't work then think of a new way, if it's all too difficult then retire from organising and enjoy attending - there will still be plenty of shows to see I'm sure.

 

And if they are a bit different then that may well be a good thing.

 

I'll not be worrying about it either way - the future is what we make it.

 

Simon

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Not Jeremy

[PaulRhB]

I agree with Simon, there are still challenges but not insurmountable ones. We lost our just outside town venue for our club show because they want regular weekly hires not once a year?!? 
Hard work and optimism by our show organiser means we are now organising a smaller show in the centre of the town where hopefully casual footfall will be even higher. It brings some higher costs with parking but avoids catering issues as there are a multitude of pubs and coffee shops around it. 
If people can spend a couple of hours in the show and another 2-3 in a pleasant town with things to do then hopefully parking charges will be happily accepted and we will make sure to advertise the other things to do on the website. 

[Chris M]

8 hours ago, Ravenser said:

Shows are back , but in greatly reduced numbers. All seem to be smaller , many clubs have radically down sized their event, and some are sticking to club and club members' layouts for their first event.

 

Much of the trade has lost its appetite for attending shows. A local model shop who used to do quite a few has declared they won't do any more - this includes the event which is organised by a member of the shop staff. The remaining RTR trader got the dreaded lurghi, so there was no  new RTR on sale this year, and there were 4 layouts less than usual.

 

Railway Modeller has reported feedback from organisers that gates are down about 20%.

 

Some venues are no longer available.

 

This winter will probably continue to be a difficult environment, although petrol prices have fallen back from their peak.

 

All this adds up to a greatly reduced demand for exhibition layouts in the short term. At the same time, a lot of folk are getting distinctly old, and I think a lot of layouts are too. There are plenty of layouts that have been on the circuit for twenty years or more, and my impression is that there haven't been that many new layours coming onto the circuit in the last decade.

 

Layouts will get a lot fewer invitations, show managers can be a lot more selective, and the mediocre layouts may struggle to get any invitations.

 

This all points to a cull of the stock of existing exhibition layouts .

 

Layouts under construction before lockdown have no doubt made progress, but I doubt if many new exhibition layouts have been started since the first lockdown was announced

 

The number of exhibitions has been rising inexorably for decades , despite a contracting and aging hobby. Arguably by 2020 we were overextended. In the last  2.5 years the hobby seems to have grown a little, and the demographic is now a little younger - this without shows.

 

I expect the number of shows to recover, modestly , and in a few years time there may be openings and a demand for new exhibition layouts in a way there hasn't been for some years

My experience is almost 100% opposite of this. My exhibition layout was started just before lockdown and has been to four fantastic exhibitions this year with a fifth one this coming weekend. The quality of layouts at these exhibitions has been very good. Attendance has been between not too bad and excellent. The Hornby Magazine show had a much larger attendance than expected; they ran out of show guides well before the end of the show. I'm off to Rail-Ex Taunton this weekend and again there are some excellent layouts to be seen there. I hope the attendance will be good. 

I have decided not to do any more exhibitions for the time being but there is absolutely no sign of the number of exhibitions reducing. I have turned down four invitations to exhibitions received over the last month or so. So to me, the exhibition scene seems to be very much alive and healthy. Long may it continue.

[Nearholmer]

My feeling pre-pandemic was that things had got to a point where there were possibly too many exhibitions, saturation, or even a glut, and I felt that a gradual readjustment would probably happen at some stage, reducing the number, so personally I would neither expect nor desire a return to precisely the pre-pandemic position, but I doubt that the rationalisation will be anything like as drastic as suggested.

 

For one thing, and important in hard economic times, a model railway exhibition is a good-value for of entertainment both for the clubs and layout-builders who bring the show together*, and those who visit. We had some excellent exhibitions in the 1970s, for instance, both local and “big”.

 

Transport costs could be the real decider, and they may not decide against events altogether, but simply tip the balance of content and visitors a bit more in the local direction. Might having venues with very good public transport links become more crucial again?
 

*My use of the word ‘entertainment’ to describe the work of the individual exhibitors and club members who make shows happen will possibly annoy some, but I will defend it in advance, because I think members get a huge amount out of it beyond money to fund club activities, all the camaraderie of voluntary shared labour, the satisfaction of using organising skills they might not have a chance to use in other parts of life etc. If people didn’t enjoy it, they presumably wouldn’t do it. Only traders are ‘in it purely for the money’, and even one or two of them seem to display faint signs that they actually quite enjoy it sometimes!

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Nearholmer

[Chris M]

20 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

My feeling pre-pandemic was that things had got to a point where there were possibly too many exhibitions, saturation, or even a glut, and I felt that a gradual readjustment would probably happen at some stage, reducing the number, so personally I would neither expect nor desire a return to precisely the pre-pandemic position, but I doubt that the rationalisation will be anything like as drastic as suggested.

 

For one thing, and important in hard economic times, a model railway exhibition is a good-value for of entertainment both for the clubs and layout-builders who bring the show together*, and those who visit. We had some excellent exhibitions in the 1970s, for instance, both local and “big”.

 

Transport costs could be the real decider, and they may not decide against events altogether, but simply tip the balance of content and visitors a bit more in the local direction. Might having venues with very good public transport links become more crucial again?
 

*My use of the word ‘entertainment’ to describe the work of the individual exhibitors and club members who make shows happen will possibly annoy some, but I will defend it in advance, because I think members get a huge amount out of it beyond money to fund club activities, all the camaraderie of voluntary shared labour, the satisfaction of using organising skills they might not have a chance to use in other parts of life etc. If people didn’t enjoy it, they presumably wouldn’t do it. Only traders are ‘in it purely for the money’, and even one or two of them seem to display faint signs that they actually quite enjoy it sometimes!

 

 

I tend to agree with your thoughts. I do think that a lot of trade exhibitors enjoy being at shows for the comradeship and the craic. The problem for trade exhibitors is the total cost of taking a stand to an exhibition. Its not just the fuel, its paying for staffing, hotels etc.

 

Not sure I agree about exhibitors being a bit more local. My layout will have travelled just under 900 miles (there & back) along the roads this year for 5 exhibitions. I see the "Hills of the North"  are being moved all the way to Taunton for this weekend - that's one decent sized journey!

[Nearholmer]

Exhibitors being a bit more local is a forecast, not a reading of the current situation.

 

With transport and accommodation costs zooming up, I can’t see that lots of long trips is monetarily sustainable, and it sure as heck isn’t environmentally sustainable, unless perhaps the vehicles employed use renewable energy.

 

Thinking 1970s again, nearly all the layouts at even quite big club shows were from within c25 miles, maybe with one ‘magazine star’ having come a lot further, and small club shows were usually from within c10-15 miles.

[Tim Chambers]

1 hour ago, PaulRhB said:

I agree with Simon, there are still challenges but not insurmountable ones. We lost our just outside town venue for our club show because they want regular weekly hires not once a year?!? 
Hard work and optimism by our show organiser means we are now organising a smaller show in the centre of the town where hopefully casual footfall will be even higher. It brings some higher costs with parking but avoids catering issues as there are a multitude of pubs and coffee shops around it. 
If people can spend a couple of hours in the show and another 2-3 in a pleasant town with things to do then hopefully parking charges will be happily accepted and we will make sure to advertise the other things to do on the website. 

Not forgetting the "Park and Ride" of course! That being said, on our last visit to Salisbury, staff shortages had reduced the frequency considerably.

[PaulRhB]

2 hours ago, Tim Chambers said:

Not forgetting the "Park and Ride" of course! That being said, on our last visit to Salisbury, staff shortages had reduced the frequency considerably.

In this case it’s the Wimborne show ;) I stayed a member despite moving a bit further North. 

[Elaine]

Post Covid we started the years exhibitions with Doncaster and will finish with Warley, my smaller local shows are very enjoyable, as trade we always consider getting fed as a very welcome bonus and are always grateful, even free tea all weekend is one less thing to think about when packing, the flasks get a weekend off and we don't over work the small hotel room kettles. Most of my shows have been very well attended, even through the summer a few people were wearing masks, my event calendar is filling up nicely for 2023 so let's hope we are back to normal now.