THE Christmas Model Railway Show - Manchester 2023!

[Philip1812]

The exhibition website for THE Christmas Model Railway Show - Manchester 2023!  went live last week, to coincide with the start of on-line tickets sales.

 

The exhibition will again be at our new, larger, central Manchester venue, which is a short walk from Oxford Road rail station.  There will be 24 layouts present, including some very unusual ones.  All the details are on the website - www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition  but here is a little taster of two of them, just to whet your appetite:

 

Dovedale (O gauge) A post privatisation quarry terminal set in Derbyshire.

 

 

 

YORK (2FS)  Peter Kirmond's superb rendition of the inside of York station in the 1930s.

 

 

[Ian_M]

I recently sent an enquiry to the email address listed on the contact page for the Exhibition Traders Manager. Do you know if this address is monitored?

 

Thanks
I

[Philip1812]

It should have been automatically forwarded to the member with responsibility for traders.  I will check tomorrow when I see him.  To be on the safe side, send me a PM on here with your query and contact details.

Phil

[Philip1812]

Time for an update on  THE Christmas Model Railway Show - Manchester 2023!  

Another three excellent but contrasting layouts which will be present:

 

Wolfe Lowe. An O gauge pre-grouping layout set in Staffordshire.

Photos (c) Andy York

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Euxton Junction.  A post-privatisation OO layout showing the busy junction just south of Preston on the WCML.   Photo (c) Tony Wright

 

 

The Warren.  A delightfully observed OO cameo layout inspired by the Looe branch line.  Photo (c) Steve Saxby

 

 

 

For more details about these and all the other layouts, traders and attractions at the show, visit http://www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition

[Philip1812]

Just received my copy of MRJ 299, with some nice photos of Slattocks Junction, (c) Karl Crowther, which will be appearing at a large public exhibition for the first time.   

 

Advance tickets available from our website: http://www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition

Edited October 31, 2023 by Philip1812
No option to preview before posting

[Ralphrob48]

One week to go, exhibition guides all printed and ready, you can preview it here:

https://www.mmrs.co.uk/

 

Advance ticket holders can get in at 0945, walk-ups at 1030. Advance tickets available here: 

 

https://www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition/tickets2023/

 

A great set of layouts lined up, hope to see you all there.

 

Ralph

 

[Ian_M]

We've begun preparing the TrainTrax stand. Mini candy canes will be involved, as well as the expected large range of Kato trains, unitrack accessories etc. We've also had some snow in York, so we might bring some of that along too.

 

I

[D6775]

On 01/12/2023 at 10:29, Ian_M said:

We've begun preparing the TrainTrax stand. Mini candy canes will be involved, as well as the expected large range of Kato trains, unitrack accessories etc. We've also had some snow in York, so we might bring some of that along too.

 

I

 

Please leave the snow behind, we have plenty around the Peak District and I don't really fancy loading and transporting Dovedale in the snow and ice.

 

[Ian_M]

On 03/12/2023 at 10:10, D6775 said:

 

Please leave the snow behind, we have plenty around the Peak District and I don't really fancy loading and transporting Dovedale in the snow and ice.

 

 

Some people take everything so literally 😁. I'm not leaving it behind - it took me a few hours to do:

[97406]

I’m in Manchester this weekend (probably on Saturday) so I’ll pop down.

[D6775]

On 04/12/2023 at 12:48, Ian_M said:

 

Some people take everything so literally 😁. I'm not leaving it behind - it took me a few hours to do:

 

It was somewhat tongue in cheek!

 

I suppose I had best think about packing some stuff up. Completely not prepared, so you might see me fettling wagons over the weekend!

[Gilbert]

Always a show worth a trek north so I've just bought my ticket for Saturday..hopefully the trains will be OK....

Chris

[RobAllen]

3 minutes ago, Gilbert said:

Always a show worth a trek north so I've just bought my ticket for Saturday

 

That’s good as I’m going. A friend of mine recently gave birth, so I’m going to see her in Manchester and it’d be rude not to also pop in to this show!

[TEAMYAKIMA]

Beijiao is being packed in a van as I write this #.

 

Not seen a Chinese HO layout before? Then do come and take a look and if you have any questions, please ask.

 

And "YES" the layout is set in 2001 and there was till steam running on China Rail.

 

2001 was the Chinese version of our 1968, there was still some steam running around one isolated industrial city, but the clock is ticking - steam on the main line will be gone in a few weeks. If you want to photograph 'real steam' doing what it was built to do you'd better get on a plane and get over there ASAP.

 

                                                          

[96701]

Had a thoroughly pleasant few hours buying stuff, looking at splendid layouts and meeting some splendid people. I was impressed with the Flipp ‘em couplings on Wm C Bogg layout. Very neat and reliable. 

[Gilbert]

Very enjoyable and worth the train ride from Bristol - although I did fork out for the £15 weekend supplement to travel 1st as each leg was a single ride courtesy of XC. The venue is very close to Manchester Oxford road and I followed the advice from MMRS to change trains at Stockport - thanks for that. I queued for less than 2 minutes to get in with my advance ticket - which happily came with no additional booking fee or "email charge"...

A nice combination of layouts and traders - I also caught up with a few friends and contacts. Short queues at the in-hall catering and a very nice sausage "barm" ( it looked like a bap to me.....)

My album is here - click on York - I will add better captions as and when I can.

Chris H

Edited December 9, 2023 by Gilbert

[Gilbert]

Caption added to all photos!

 

[JJGraphics]

A while since I visited this show. Last time was in the old, rather crowded venue.

Made the trip from down sarf on Saturday on a packed XC service and stayed overnight to visit the show today.

Quickly in with my prepaid ticket well before the scheduled opening time with no Warley-styles queues. It was quiet to begin with but soon got busy. Thoroughly enjoyed it as there was a nice balance of layouts and traders and well laid out with a nice amount of aisle space to circulate.

Layout quality was generally very good with most having a decent number of trains on the move. Special favourite had to be Euxton Junction.

Thanks to all involved for a very enjoyable show.

John

[duncrieviesidings]

 Just wanted to thank everyone involved for a great weekend.

 

Adrian 

[Ighten]

Another big thank and shout to all involved.. Superb selection of layouts of all sizes and a  good spacious venue. Ps Apologies to Beijao, never have I seen a layout so superbly designed for exhibiting(lots running, lots of hidden details and surprises) but I was so entranced I didn't take a single photo..

 

Anyway a few I did take

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Ighten

[Ighten]

 

 

If I haven't included a layout I was either too busy picking my jaw off the floor or the pics were just poor.. everything was superb

Edited December 11, 2023 by Ighten

[TEAMYAKIMA]

2 hours ago, Ighten said:

Another big thank and shout to all involved.. Superb selection of layouts of all sizes and a  good spacious venue.

 

Ps Apologies to Beijao, never have I seen a layout so superbly designed for exhibiting (lots running, lots of hidden details and surprises) but I was so entranced I didn't take a single photo.

 

WOW! As the owner of BEIJIAO I can only thank you so much for your comments. The layout has been on the circuit for a few years now and has always been changing/developing with each showing. It cannot be set up at home and so we try to learn from every exhibition we do and make the next one better than the last and it seems, from your comments, that we are 'nearly there now' .

 

Thank you again - it's moments like this that make the whole thing worthwhile.

[PaulRhB]

Well a friend was over from the US so we travelled up from Derby where we were staying. The trains were late due to lots of the soggy stuff perambulating across the track. The three car from Sheffield to Manchester was rammed. Fortunately the show was great!

 

 

 

 

 

Nice long trains 

 

 

lots of action

 

 

 

 

 

This was rather good, industrial town and country. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicely done and sound 37’s are always going to bring a smile. 
 

 

 

Copperwort another industrial delight. 

 

 

 

 

Andeer was very popular and fun too

 

 

Well done to organisers and exhibitors, a similarly ram packed journey home couldn’t spoil the fun. 

[RobAllen]

I had an excellent Saturday in Manchester. Saw my friend's new child for the first time and then visited the show.

All the layouts were fascinating. I liked Kirtley Bridge, Copper Wort and Bury, Thorn & Sons. Thanks again to the exhibitors, particularly @MarkD and possibly @Manchester765 (or whoever was operating Bury, Thorn & Sons at the time!) that were kind enough to chat to me and answer my coupling and DCC questions!

I also spent quite a bit of time with Beijao and looked out for the banking operation having read about it after Warley. A very special thanks to @TEAMYAKIMA who was kind enough to spend some time with me during what must be a very busy day. He showed me around the layout and I gained an appreciation of how much effort goes into making a large exhibition layout like this and how much thought has gone into ensuring that it is compelling to the audience. This is such a good layout to pay attention to as there are so many scenes and cameos on it, plus there's lots of train movements too.

 

Photos on Flickr - or click through on the image. 
 

 

[NBL]

I took a trip to the show at the weekend, first time in the new location.

 

The quality of the layouts was great, didn't seem to be any filler layouts, and no diesel depot layouts!!!  Well worth the trip on in the pouring rain.

 

Star of the show for me was between Beijao and Eaglesham, both different subjects and both superbly executed.  It was good to see a couple of Japanese layouts, and Bury,Thorn and Sons was good to see too.

 

Biggest disappointment was the superbly modelled Slattocks Junction that hardly seemed to have anything moving, I saw the same train move on it twice, a mineral train which fell off the track at the same place both times.