RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 25, 2012 Nah Terry can be seen at Warley sporting it too! He says it's cool and who are we to argue with the Penguin? Thanks for the pictures there are some great layouts to watch out for. I'd agree with Andy on Fen end pit it's fascinating and he's a pleasure to have a chat with when he's not having to concentrate on digging Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 25, 2012 I asked him if he knew where Muswell Hill was You should have asked him to follow the Martians. Show sounds good, pity I can't make it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 He says it's cool and who are we to argue with the Penguin? I can certainly see the advantages in a bit of 'bullet-time' as you cartwheel over a layout to bypass the crowds. I'm sure some of the Advance Ticket holders would like to employ such techniques as they virtually legged it from the door to the Bachmann stand to get in the front row of the scrum. I try to say to folk that I don't think the age profile of the hobby is as old as some make out but having seen the doors open at 9.30 I think they're probably right. It's a joke in this house that you never see the over-70s move so fast as when the words "Would you like to come to this till?" are spoken by a cashier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 25, 2012 That Penguin? Aka Phil Anthropist? Has obviously had a style-makeover since I last saw him in the '90s at Eastbourne (Hampden Park) show. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin1985 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I went along yesterday - the first time I've been on a Saturday, and I certainly see what people mean about it being considerably busier than the Sunday! I arrived around 1.30, and it was perhaps a little too crowded (especially with large backpacks) but by around 3 it was positively pleasant! For me, the two stand-out layouts were Burntisland and Loch Tat - they really looked amazing, and held my attention. The two 3mm Scale layouts were really interesting too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 25, 2012 I try to say to folk that I don't think the age profile of the hobby is as old as some make out but having seen the doors open at 9.30 I think they're probably right. It's a joke in this house that you never see the over-70s move so fast as when the words "Would you like to come to this till?" are spoken by a cashier. The age profile didn't look too bad to me but I got a very interesting comment from a lady with young children as we got off the 'bus - she asked where everyone was going and what was on and I explained that it was a large model railway exhibition. She replied 'oh, why aren't there any children going?' (which from where we stood was absolutely correct - no youngsters at all heading, or being herded, in that direction). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 The age profile didn't look too bad to me but I got a very interesting comment from a lady with young children as we got off the 'bus - she asked where everyone was going and what was on and I explained that it was a large model railway exhibition. She replied 'oh, why aren't there any children going?' (which from where we stood was absolutely correct - no youngsters at all heading, or being herded, in that direction). It's a valid perspective Mike but I was struck, whilst admiring the view* with Mr Hanson, that there were a lot of families out in the sunshine and maybe some form of external exhibit could draw some of the visitors to the bar/park etc into the event on ad-hoc basis; a 5" or 7.25" live steam exhibit alongside the Palm Court entrance? * not just of London but some of its residents too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrislock Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I arrived a bit later than usual around 11 o clock and expected it to be busier - to walk straight in without queueing was a change. Personally I don't get the rush for the Bachmann stand as the prices don't strike me as at all cheap. I enquired about an N gauge shunter for my grandson and got the price of £67 - it's £62 from Hattons including postage, so no incentive to buy it there. Sadly I didn't get to see the Denny layout. It was too well concealed by visitors for me to get a proper glimpse. I intended to go back but it didn't happen. Lime Street was big enough to get to see a bit of at least. The taxi moving up and down the platform was a nice touch. I was also impressed with the sound in the 37 on MSW, it was much better than I expected. Hmm now might just be inspired to try putting one into my 24 or 25;which might in turn get me onto producing a few more points for a little Blue Diesel layout! I have to disagree with Chris F about the ale- the Blonde was a very decent pint, though at £4 a tad pricey. A hello to the 3 gentlemen I sat and chatted with over a pint, if you visit this website. Purchases? Didn't see anything for my 2mm layout, but did pick up another 4mm point kit from C+L, a couple of wagons from the Dapol stand and a weathered mineral ore for my 04 to shunt. Knackered though I was after the walk back down to AP station, I had to go on to meet the missus and then queue for an hour and a half to get in the Hockney exhibition at the RA. I was struggling to stay awake on the train home, for sure... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 25, 2012 It's a valid perspective Mike but I was struck, whilst admiring the view* with Mr Hanson, that there were a lot of families out in the sunshine and maybe some form of external exhibit could draw some of the visitors to the bar/park etc into the event on ad-hoc basis; a 5" or 7.25" live steam exhibit alongside the Palm Court entrance? * not just of London but some of its residents too. Yes - of course the weather brought them out yesterday so the hillside and outside bar area were well populated but an 'attention grabber' would be an interesting idea. We did however see one family with a couple of lads leaving just ahead of us - obviously exhibition visitors as one of the lads was carrying his little plastic stool (and using it to clout his brother round the head: perhaps some youngsters are best left outside?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nile Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 25, 2012 Personally I don't get the rush for the Bachmann stand as the prices don't strike me as at all cheap. I enquired about an N gauge shunter for my grandson and got the price of £67 -... That would be the price of a new one.The rush is for the returned (and repaired?) items that are usually a lot cheaper,but it's pot luck what you can find. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jellicoe Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I had a good run in yesterday and arrived earlier than usual. I made straight for the Bachman stand where they were knocking out Scene Scape trees at half price. I loaded up with four boxes straight away and on the way out had another look; no luck - all the good'uns had gone and only bottle and toilet brush trees were left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcountryman Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I went yesterday, as a first timer, & I have to say it was well worth the half five in the morning start from down here in Devon. Three of us went up as the Barnstaple Model Railway Club 'Official Splinter Group', & it was good to put faces to names on the RMWeb site. It was a pleasure to have a chat with Andy & co, & it was a good opportunity to obtain all of those 'hard to get' bits & bobs. A very long, but very rewarding day, & the long journey back gave us ample time to work out our excuses for spending so much! I must admit I noticed the lack of youngsters at the show, maybe it's simply a case of 'times are hard & money is tight'. We, as hobbyists, exhibitors & club members must do our very best to encourage new blood into the hobby. All in all, a very good show, with no obvious downsides, & a good day out back up in the 'Smoke' Cheers to one & all. Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Just back , very quiet compared to last year walked straight in. Good trade and a couple of nice layouts , photos later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrislock Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 , & the long journey back gave us ample time to work out our excuses for spending so much! Rob Hmmm,,, makes me wonder if there is a relationship between how far you travel and how much you spend....?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernman46 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 (I'm sure that hill gets steeper, but with nice weather there was no way I was sitting on a bus!) Nope - cos that way you get to photograph them too - some nice spanking newish Wright Gemini's this year - alot of these about in London recently - First Group have spent some serious cash ungrading the fleet... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 25, 2012 Thanks for those - must see Liverpool Lime Street myself sometime - it really makes my attempts seem futile and amateurish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Bel Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Hi, Just got back. Loads of room today to look around. A good balance of layouts and traders From what I saw of the layouts the 7mm ones had more people around them. My favourite was St Georges Quay, loads of atmosphere and plenty going on to keep the public interested. Running it a close second was Loch Tat. I am not one for watching 2mm layouts normally but this just looked right. Had a good chat with Gareth at Replica and came away with some bits from them. Also managed to get some EMU cab window surrounds from Precision. Only downside was that my wife had her foot run over by a wheelchair. Overall a good day. Cheers for now, Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcm@gwr Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Just got back myself [detour via the pub!] and overall I was impressed with the quality and variety of the layouts [in all scales and gauges]. Yes, Liverpool Lime St was an amazing bit of modelling, but after 3 'visits' hardly any movements except for the road vehicles! Most unusual was Furka Oberalp [rack, 3 levels] and tallest layout! Fen End Pit was entertaining esp. for the younger visitors. Good to see Leighton Buzzard on the circuit [40+ years old!] Lots of trade stands, Dapol's new RTR wagons look good, esp. for £40 ish. Some the demo stands were very good and we will be going again next year. Cheers,Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I had a great time today! The highlight was buying my first loco kit, having recently posted on here that I never expected to even attempt such a thing. I went the whole hog as well - I had a choice between a resin body to fit on an R-T-R chassis, or a white metal kit on an etched brass chassis. I thought I better do this properly, and make the most of the experience around me, and forked out for the white metal. It was good to see the Bachmann display cabinets, and was sorely tempted to pick up City of London. Lionheart nearly convinced me to move into O gauge with their fantastic pannier tank, but thankfully I found one in OO instead! I did find the trade stands generally quite disappointing price wise, though there were a few good deals to be had. I was interested to see that Bachmann's products on the box shifters' stands drew far more attention than Hornby's, as well as the relatively weak presence of Hornby. I didn't really get a chance to see the scenic section of Liverpool Lime Street, though I was impressed by their traverser, and the scale of the whole thing. I'm not a big fan of crowds and getting jostled about, and am too polite to push my way to the front, especially at a railway show, so I didn't stay to watch much operation there. My favourite of the day had to be the S gauge, pre-grouping, East-Anglian layout. Its name escapes me and I didn't bring the guide home, but the variety of stock from such a niche period and location in an obscure scale really impressed me, and I thought the operation was top notch too. It was nice to see so many pre-grouping layouts, but a bit of a shame that there were no wholly southern layouts to be seen, though it was explained to me that this show is a chance for Londoners to see layouts from further afield that they usually wouldn't get the chance to see. With regards to the age spread, sitting on the DOGA stand, we had a tube station diorama (I forget who built it, so apologies to them!) and it drew a lot of attention, particularly from the under 10s, despite the fact that it was non-operational. I don't often attend shows so I don't know what the spread is normally like, but it seemed to me that there was a healthy number of excited youngsters! I didn't see many people of my own age, but then I have carried on being involved in model railways when most people seem to take a break before picking it up again later in life. The cliches of the model railway show didn't seem to be present today. The only rivet counting I heard was said in jest, I wasn't overpowered by anyone's body odour and I was only attacked by one back pack! The only thing to take the shine of the day was the poor service provided by Southeastern. My train to London Bridge usually takes 15 minutes, but over-running engineering works at Charing Cross meant that all the fast trains were cancelled, and in the end it took 50 minutes to get to LB, involving 2 changes. My train on the way home was delayed by 6 minutes as well, which isn't too bad, but now I'm a regular customer for Southeastern, it seems to happen all to often. All in all, a great show and well worth the entrance fee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 The age profile didn't look too bad to me but I got a very interesting comment from a lady with young children as we got off the 'bus - she asked where everyone was going and what was on and I explained that it was a large model railway exhibition. She replied 'oh, why aren't there any children going?' (which from where we stood was absolutely correct - no youngsters at all heading, or being herded, in that direction). I took my 3 year old boy along on Saturday and he loved it, happily carrying his steps around and pointing out the next layout he wanted to see Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Davidjsmith Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 25, 2012 Talking of kids 'Leighton Buzzard' seemed to have acquired a highly capable young visitor as an operator who Tony Gee was very impressed with. The usual crew were thus relegated to behind the scenes work as the young lad kept the crowds entertained. That lad was my son he had a go at Bracknell has been hooked ever since!Thanks to Tony & the team for the encouragement.He wants to be at the next show! Sorry I did not come & say hello Andy was feeling really rough with bad head cold !Last time we spoke was Stafford in the early days of RM web when I won show tickets!Don't really class my self as a modeller & can get a bit in awe of you that are!I know that's not what it's all about! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckjumper Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 My favourite of the day had to be the S gauge, pre-grouping, East-Anglian layout. Its name escapes me and I didn't bring the guide home, but the variety of stock from such a niche period and location in an obscure scale really impressed me, and I thought the operation was top notch too. Trevor Nunn's East Lynn & Nunstanton. This is the final year the layout is being exhibited, only York, Melksham and Spalding to go before it's finally retired after having been to over 120 shows since the mid-90s. We had an interesting start yesterday - two locos failed at 9.30 am and the Coffee Pot shunter started to sound like a coffee grinder about 30 minutes in. However, with a large roster of locos they weren't missed, and I got to play with the two new locos, a re-boilered Sinclair Class Y 2-4-0 introduced in 1859 and an Adams class K9 0-4-2T introduced in 1877 which was used as the station pilot. I wasn't there today, so it's likely yesterday was my final operating session with the layout. I've been lucky enough to have helped out at about a dozen or so shows over the last six years, and at 5pm last evening I drew in the last train of the day into the station with my second favourite class of loco - the oil-fired class D27 2-2-2. http://youtu.be/VM5iByK-G5A Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Went today with Natalie. Had a great day. Great to catch up and put names to faces with several people. Probably spent more money than I should of, but came away happy with what I got. Good selection of layouts, but felt the trade stands were a bit lacking in some instances. Much easier to move about and see various layouts due to the layout of the event today I felt too compared to previous years where it felt impossible to get anywhere near (or see) most of the layouts (that with me being 6ft tall!), so a very welcome change. Tired, but glad I went and had a great day out. Now to rest up until Taunton... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted March 25, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 25, 2012 Nope - cos that way you get to photograph them too - some nice spanking newish Wright Gemini's this year - alot of these about in London recently - First Group have spent some serious cash ungrading the fleet... That is a Alexander Dennis 'Enviro' ALX400, the Wright Gemini's main competitor although Arriva do field both types in the area. Do like the simplified London Buses livery, harks back to an earlier time without all the additional uncessary markings, just operators name and the famliar white roundel. It may be a 'T' class though but it is sadly no Leyland Titan!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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