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Reading O gauge show, anyone going ?


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Great! Shall I wear a carnation? Would be good to meet up with real people

You could just look for me leaning out of the cab of a 'Castle' - but on second thoughts ...... I can be found somewhere in the SWAGday photos thread and Station Cat (my daughter) will be fairly recognisable as I'm picking her up from work at Tesco at 11h30 to make our way over to Rivermead so we should be there by 12ish traffic and parking permitting (and she will still be advertising her part time employer I understand). Alas I haven't got a clue what layouts are there otherwise we could nominate a time & place possibly?

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My beard has a very pale silvery colour to it - usually described as 'white'!

 

Going slightly off topic, judging by the photos posted here and observations at shows attended, that is becoming the standard livery of a large majority of modellers, myself included!

 

Wally

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Well I have to comment that I think we are definitely in recession.

 

The show was much less crowded than usual and the bring and buy definitely disappointing - I usually come away with something to show for the effort but even my £150 offer for a £180 ticketed item seemed to be considered derisory. Still sitting there 4hrs later it just wasn't tempting enough. Filled out all my list but still not reaching deep enough for the big ticket items. I suppose I have enough to do to keep me busy anyway, but it is always nice to carry a box of shiny metal away from the show. Everything seemed a bit dumb down.

 

The layouts on display were quite good with the notable exception of Harlyn Road which was superb and had me watching for ages trying to absorb the fine details. The two large roundy roundys were a bit disconcerting one for the derailments at silly speeds - I guess most were waiting for the trains to come right off and jump suicidally towards the floor, the other containing such a peculiar mixture of eras and company ... but easy to while away an easy 30 minutes simply watching trains (and some excellently detailed stock) clatter past.

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An aside to kenton's comment about the recession was the fact that one manufacturer of locos and stock offered me 'a very good deal if you pay today' if you want one of those. Otherwise many of the prices seemed to be on a par with previous years from what I could recall. Good to see that Squires were doing a pretty steady trade and some of the other tool/materials folk looked to be steady although not exactly overwhelmed when we were in the retail area. And the car park was definitely thinning out to a noticeable extent when we left at about 14.30ish - not at all usual for that time of day but that might not be anything to do with the show of course.

 

We quite enjoyed the interesting variety of layouts although most seemed to be suffering reliability problems of one sort or another - the chap responsible for 'Q Dump' (WWI, Western Front) reckoned the presence of live steam was causing rail dirt problems which was affecting running. Anyway quite a pleasant change, some nice folk happy to chat on most of the layouts and good to unexpectedly meet Barry Ten and Marc Smith - the only RMweb folk there who i managed to recognise.

 

Harlyn Road is truly excellent but as I had spent a lot of time looking at it at the fairly recent Farnham show we devoted our most of our watching time to less familiar layouts.

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Just got back. I liked it! Only my second show so not much to compare it to. Had my 02 'looked at' by the loco workshop by a vet nice man and now it runs BEAUTIFULLY. Very happy about that on its own. Met Peter Waterman - absolutely amazed he was behind the counter and not having lunch with Kylie. I know which I'd rather do...

 

Also went to the GOG stand and got all my paperwork to join. Outstandingly helpful chap there who almost literally took my hand round the stands and giving advice about beginning. There is NO better service than that!

 

Also picked up used Tower Mk1 SO for my rake for a very good discount - I could eBay tonight and make a profit. Not that I'll do that, of course!

 

All in all, for me it was brilliant! The only slight disappointment was not recognising anyone - almost everyone had a beard!

Steve

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I thought it was a great show - really enjoy the big stuff! Went along with Marc Smith and Al (Barry Ten) so good company too as always - we went on to Pendon and pub on the way back to Wales.

 

Cheers

Roger

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On a (slightly) more serious note it was a very enjoyable day out - although I've scarcely done any modelling in this scale, there's something very enjoyable about the 7mm (and larger shows). I would have to agree that Harlyn Road was the absolute standout but I think that layout would have been one of the best at any show, regardless of scale - there was something fantastically well observed about the bridge/cottages/road underbridge scene at the right side of the layout. Good to spend a day in the company of Marc and Roger, and also nice to chat to Stationmaster and Station Cat. And yes, the pub stop on the way home was most enjoyable too.

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Had a great day picked up a nice 63xx off the B&B at a fair price and a Cam Rys Horsebox kit from Chris of Dragon models. Met lots of friends but no one from RMweb so far as I know. Nice to chat to Ian on Knockly Gate. The show did seem quieter - first sunny day after weeks of rain?

Don

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