The National Festival of Railway Modelling

[BanburyKev]

We had a good weekend on Thorpe Road, although was very tiring as several of the team were unable to attend.

 

Thanks to all that commented on the layout.

[stewartingram]

^{Sadly I was unable to attend at the last minute, though by all reports it was a good show. As I live only about 15 miles away I was dissapointed; we had chosen to visit my son near Doncaster on Fri, supposedly returning on Sat. However SWMBO changed her mind and forgot to tell me so we didn't return until Sun instead. Gave the RMWeb team a little wave as I passed the Showground about 3pm though!}

^Stewart

 

^{Edit: Why has this font suddenly decided to go small?}

[Andy Y]

Right; I feel a lot better after a decent night's sleep after the show and will promise not to moan about aching feet!

 

Firstly I would like to thank those who exhibited at the show; particularly those who are RMweb members and it was a pleasure to meet some new acquaintances as well as the old. There were some very good layouts within the main hall when I did get chance to skim around but I think Haymarket Cross is particularly worthy of a mention from Ian and the Scarborough chaps as I hear many positive comments over the weekend as it had an awful lot to entertain visitors who have an interest in sheds, transition and the ECML. Hassel Harbour Bridge also drew lots of comments, certainly an impressive mass of entertainment to many visitors. On Friday evening I personally enjoyed listened to the mixed sounds of stabled locos on RS Tower's depot. I can assure Ed that layouts were carefully chosen by the exhibitions team rather than chucking a dart at a least of layouts. Very carefully chosen is also a phrase applicable to the layouts in the Atrium;The Laird's 'Bradfield Gloucester Square' was hugely popular as was 'Pempoul', Maggie and Gordon are such engaging exhibitors and 'January 68' impressed many with its depiction of dereliction in addition to Dudley Heath and Amberdale as featured BRM layouts. I saw a good crowd around each of the layouts in the Atrium for most of the weekend but was also pleased to see that there was plenty of space for visitors to move around between exhibits as planned by Ian as the exhibition manager.

 

For me and many others in the BRM team one of the most impressive sights was the crowds around the RMweb Tuition Zone which seemed to take on larger audiences than the average demo stands at shows; my thanks to Ian, Martin, Giles, Paul, Tim and Chris for doing a sterling job with minimal breaks in really entertaining folk and passing on practical and accessible skills.

 

 

 

The BRM stand itself with its glitzy lights and graphics, TV screens and ipads was successful and it's interesting to note that whilst there was a healthy number of new subscribers to the print version there were even more people very taken with the digital magazine and how it worked for them. It was also an opportunity for me to get feedback on the magazine and website content with positive suggestions for improvements, there were many positive comments about the magazine's development through this year and the balance definitely seems to be far more positive than negative feelings toward those changes.

 

Definitely disappointing compared to previous shows--the lack of a free guide being just one aspect--though the most significant in my view. Seemed to be more a vehicle for advertising Warners' interests than in the past: much more space given over to these, so less space for other things,

 

A presence for all of the components that make up an increasingly strong 'family' of BRM, RMweb and MRL is a fundamentally important part (and reason for to a degree) of the exhibition but it was not at the expense of any other content and the Village did bring additional ideas and content into the show and felt a cohesively themed section of the event rather than dissipate things which belong together.

 

There were comments about show guides versus the showplan and it's something we will discuss further internally and the ways we can better provide more information to people ahead of during the event. There were also other minor issues we have identified where we hope to make the experience better for exhibitors and visitors and will work to do so. The exhibitions team worked hard over the weekend and have also been interested in listening to those improvements too.

 

I accept that it's subjective for individual visitors as to whether a show has the right content or is good value but there are other factors to consider such as venue facilities, accessibility, free parking etc which are also part of that mix. Visitor numbers were healthy and I could see that many spent a very large proportion of the day so it's definitely been good for some!

 

Overall, from my perspective, I think it was a successful weekend. I certainly enjoyed meeting everyone and I'm looking forward to Doncaster!

[silverlink]

Many thanks to Iain MacRae and his team for making us so welcome, we had a great weekend with 'Haymarket Cross' with everything on the whole working well. Nice to meet up with friends and have a chat and would like to say well done to Tim for bringing his super Thompson A2 which had a run on the layout. It was also great to have a good chat with Andy York before the show opened on Sunday.

Ian Harper

(Haymarket Cross)

[Pugsley]

Thanks for taking the photograph above from my best angle, Andy!

[ThaneofFife]

Mention was made that Sunday was quieter which could be down to the weather. I checked the forecast and spotted that the Saturday was due to be dry and sunny, Sunday overcast with rain so I decided to go on the fair weather day making for a more pleasant 2 hour drive over to Peterborough.

 

Hassel H Bridge was very impressive. In the afternoon they did suffer a derailment due to some rather "keen" driving leading to 5 or 6 wagons coming off clockwise and stopping the job with a wagon contacting an engine running anti-clockwise. One thing I really like about 7mm is that you get a correspondingly louder noise as trains pass by or run over the rail joints and they sound realistically heavy. The subtle super elevation at the one end also gave the trains a very graceful and authentic look as they leaned into the curves.

 

Some stands were doing very good prices on their stock and I found myself buying a few coaches at substantially less than retail.

 

I only attended one live show about weathering stock at 2pm (Lord and Butler owner) and speaking purely for that the presenter did a pretty good job of standing up in front of the audience and delivering a decent talk interrupted only once by some bright spark in the audience complaining he couldnt hear the questions being asked (when the presenter would repeat the question anyway so I felt that was fairly churlish tbh). The presenter then had to roam about in the audience taking the mic with him but thats really my only whinge.

 

The venue facilities and free parking are good and I appreciate there is finite space to fill the event or allow the public room to walk about. Its still pretty good value for just £10. I didnt need a thick show guide to hump about as the leaflet type stand guide given with my ticket had all the salient stand info.

 

Filled in the "What would you like to see next" questionnaire on the Hornby stand so to be a fly on the wall back at HQ it would be interesting to read what the top 5 "wants" are right now. The Bachmann stand had it usual well lit cabinets with only the Mk1 Sleeper of real interest to me (and a passing glance at the shove duff) and this seems to have additional steps fitted to it at each corner (not sure if only the sleepers had these) and you could clearly see the interior moulding inside each compartment and the corridor too. It looks like being another cracking coach. Picked up one of the old 2011 Collectors Club magazines which is always a good read once back at home.

 

I felt the ratio of BR diesel and electric era layouts was lower than at previous shows.

 

Thats just reminded me......I havent entered the RMWeb/Hornby competition yet. Closing date 1st Nov.

[dagrizz]

I went Sunday and it was good to wander around a spacious exhibition with room to view the layouts.

 

My view on the show guide is that it worked well - a simple leaflet that was easy to refer to. I find that the detailed show guides suffer from too many pages and/or info so they are not easy to use on the hoof.

 

Something not yet mentioned is the food - I've been to this show for the last few years and always enjoy the lunch in the restaurant.

 

And thanks to Martin (Pugsley) for advice on weathering.

 

Graham

[D9020 Nimbus]

Yes, I can see there are arguments both for and against having a Show Plan against a guide. If there is a guide, then it has to be easy to find the plan within it--the centre pages are usually best if it is stapled (usually the case): there are several show guides I've come across where it's hard to find the plan in the first place. The best show guides (I'm thinking about York here) have track plans and colour photos of the layouts. Of course, York's guide is not free and, given the paper quality and glossy cover, is clearly costly to produce. If I'd known there wasn't to be a guide issued, I'd have taken my copy of BRM with me... on looking at it afterwards, all of the guide information was in BRM, but the significance didn't register with me beforehand...

 

I take the point about no extra space being taken up as a result of the BRM village. It was certainly much more prominent than in the past--to that extent it has to be judged a success (from Warners' POV, at least). There are a number of good things about the exhibition and the venue too--there is always plenty of room to move about, there is plenty of seating if needed (some venues do very badly at this) and the catering facilities are excellent: better than at Doncaster, where the numbers sometimes seem to overwhelm the available seating. The number of specialist exhibitors is also a feature of BRM shows, although this year they were scattered throughout the hall instead of being concentrated in the atrium.

 

Glad to see that visitor numbers are healthy--Doncaster always strikes me as much busier; is this the case, and if so, why? The first major exhibition of the year, perhaps?

[chrisf]

My vote goes to the one sheet show guide. It was more manageable than the typical booklet or glossy bookazine [horrible but accurate word] found at some ahows and I found myself more inclined to look at the plan when I got lost.

 

No two of us will have quite the same views as to show content. I felt that followers of N and O would not have been disappointed. Layouts set elsewhere than in GB seldom catch my attention so no comment there. Eastwold and Penmadoc were worthy representatives of EM. I kept returning to Horfield, which came across as a fine evocation of a real location but with more attention needed to locos and stock. Given the setting of the layout near Bristol, a Royal Scot on a rake of Pullmans did not ring true and one might have wished to see more dmus to represent the stated period of 1958-63.

 

In the atrium I thought the tuition zone worked well but the cafe had little if anything to do with Modelling Inspirations unless the properties of tea really are as healing and restorative as we all hope. I am reminded of a line from a Bonzos album [younger readers ask your parents!] where someone complains about 24 hour service not being available at a shop only to be told "That's just the name of the shop, dearie".

 

Chris

[Kev T]

 

Hassel H Bridge was very impressive. In the afternoon they did suffer a derailment due to some rather "keen" driving leading to 5 or 6 wagons coming off clockwise and stopping the job with a wagon contacting an engine running anti-clockwise. One thing I really like about 7mm is that you get a correspondingly louder noise as trains pass by or run over the rail joints and they sound realistically heavy. The subtle super elevation at the one end also gave the trains a very graceful and authentic look as they leaned into the curves.

 

 

Guilty

One of our members put a smoke unit equipped Footballer on a freight and I was trying to get the smoke oil warm by going a bit quicker than I should've, with the above mentioned result. No harm done apart from the ribbing I received from the rest of the crew!

 

Kev

[John Tomlinson]

I'd like to add my appreciation of the Event.

 

I went on Saturday afternoon for around three hours and found the ambience very pleasant, with a good amount of space and no difficulty viewing layouts properly. The range of layouts was excellent with something for everybody, and the trade ranged from welcome specialists such as 247 & Hobby Holidays through to big name box shifters with some very good bargains.

 

I did wonder about the single sheet guide when I arrived, but quite honestly it was more than adequate for the task, and saved a pound or two on the book that I usually buy and then don't read when I get home!

 

John Tomlinson.

[Andy Y]

In the atrium I thought the tuition zone worked well but the cafe had little if anything to do with Modelling Inspirations unless the properties of tea really are as healing and restorative as we all hope.

 

There was a vain hope of me sitting in the cafe all weekend entertaining folk.

[BanburyKev]

We had a reporter from the Peterborough Telegraph visit Thorpe Road on Saturday.

 

Just check their website and found this:-

 

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/lifestyle/video-and-gallery-model-railway-festival-1-4394576

 

The first and last layout clips are of Thorpe Road.

[298]

From what I saw of the show which was basically two days of "turn up, drive trains, go for lunch, drive trains, go home", I though the general standard looked very good, and the exhibitors meals (which I didn't mind paying the extra for to get a decent hot meal with proper plates and cutlery), was probably the best of any show I've been to.

 

With any large show it's easy to forget the number of star attractions that are worthy of the entrance fee in their own right (I forgot to go and look at Pempoul), but for this show I certainly didn't see any "also ran" layouts that seem to make the numbers up at other shows. Well done to all involved, it was certainly an excellent advert for the hobby.

[TheLaird]

From an exhibitors point of view, Warners team must be congratulated on a well organised, well managed and professional event. As with any event there are always opportunities to improve the experience and I was impressed how ready they were to listen to suggestions put forward. Well done to all concerned.

 

John E.

BGS.

[Giles]

Diane and I had a thoroughly enjoyable (though slightly surreal) weekend - and big thanks to Andy, for making us so welcome, and looking after us.

It was very nice not to feel that we were wasting our time, or merely 'filling a space' - and the effort that had been made with the presentation of the space was very much appreciated too!

 

Thanks again, to all who put that work in..........

[Mike J]

I had a very enjoyable weekend operating Haymarket Cross with a great bunch of "lads" that in our club are known as the last of the summer wine brigade!

The show itself was thoroughly well organised and I would like to congratulate all involved. Having attended countless shows over a number of years, this one by comparison was well planned with wide aisles, well spaced exhibits, quality layouts, a clear show plan, excellent and varied trade stands*, excellent demonstrations and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. A big thumbs up to Warners.

It was great to meet up with so many RMwebbers. Andy seemed quite relaxed on Sunday morning (probably the proverbial swan) when he came to have a chat with us on the layout about the positive feedback he had received about it, and Tim managed to get me to admit that his A2 was quite beautiful! (One up for you then Tim...first time I've said A2 and beautiful in the same sentence.) Tom was his usual ebullient self and I spent a very useful half hour in the company of Paul Bason, surely at the top of his game.

Thanks to everyone who gave Haymarket Cross such positive feedback, I know Ian was chuffed to bits.

My only gripe about the whole weekend was not having more time to look around the show, although I did get up close to Bradfield (which was top of my list) before the show opened on Saturday.........outstanding!

 

* Didn't manage to find a pack of Springside 2mm assorted loco lamps though.

[fluff]

Enjoyed our weekend operating Brucklay. Nice venue. Easy to set up and breakdown. Thanks to all those involved.

 

RAVEN MRG

[St. Simon]

Hi,

 

Well, I have finally recovered from the weekend operating Blandford St. Mary

 

We had an awful drive up to the venue due to the rain and traffic, but once there, we had a quick set up, however, the left hand of the layout was left powerless, but decided to sort it in the morning and went to the pub! We found that the fault was actually me, I plugged to leads in to sockets that weren't connected to anything, so no power! Cue one sheepish walkaround until the rest of the team stopped taking the micky out of me!

 

The exhibition itself went without major incident for the layout, just coupling issues and a loco having a loose wheel. We had some rather nice nice comments about the layout, and had quite a lot of people standing out front, and a few people were also interested about the fiddle yard! For me, i loved Bradfield Gloucester Square, but I thought that all the layouts were of high quality.

 

It was good to see some familiar faces and to meet new ones, Tim Easter to name one, and it was strange to come downt o breakfast and see Mr York!

 

The take down was nice and quick, and I've got to say that the security guys were all very helpfull and friendly! The drive back was good and quick, but a near miss on a slip road meant that it almost wasn't

 

Overall a very nice weekend, and thanks from the whole crew to the BRM and RMweb team.

 

Simon

[PLD]

This was the first time at Peterbrough for me, but I have exhibited at the other Warners shows numerous times.

 

It is true to say that there were a few things done differently by the Warners exhibition team to how it is ‘normally’ done by shows run by modellers, however the differences were much less than previous experience, (particularly the Doncaster/Harrogate show). Is this perhaps a positive outcome of the RM Web tie-in??

 

For me, the RMWeb village area was the highlight. An original format, and from my observations, very popular with the visiting public - I don’t think I’ve seen a demo area so busy for a long time plus it included two layouts, Pempoul and Bradfield, that are in my opinion among the very best currently on the circuit, and were head and shoulders above any others there. Yes that area was dominated by the BRM stand, but at least two other magazines do similar size stands at the shows they run/title sponsor…

 

Would I return in future? As an exhibitor (if invited) - certainly: we were well enough looked after. As a visitor - maybe: the combination of distance and cost stop it being an automatic 'must visit' it would be a year-by-year decision based mostly on the layout content…

[9403]

Trade support was good. I checked up on a few last night but if this is the solution I would hate to see the problem!

 

1. Model Railway Solutions Limited

 

www.yoursitefiles.com/mrs/

[Coombe Barton]

Trade support was good. I checked up on a few last night but if this is the solution I would hate to see the problem!

 

1. Model Railway Solutions Limited

 

www.yoursitefiles.com/mrs/

 

That's a new take on Lorem Ipsum! Wouldn't think that "WebDesignCo Ltd" is someone to avoid.

[jwealleans]

We were next to them and they were helping operate that big WR roundy- roundy whose name escapes me. Nice chaps. The 'News' page is a bit cryptic....

[Timara]

We were next to them and they were helping operate that big WR roundy- roundy whose name escapes me. Nice chaps. The 'News' page is a bit cryptic....

 

That'll be Horfield. Looked very nice but I didn't see much moving when I went past a few times. Must have just missed a train by a whisker!

[chris25]

I rarely posts on this forum but I would like to extend my thanks to the BRM and

RMweb joint team for the invite and a most enjoyable weekend. Also it was very

nice to finally meet many liked minded modellers both sides of the demonstration

tables.

 

I know perhaps some may say it wasn't a good use of space etc and have a general

grumble but the demo's seemed to work very well with a spectrum of differing

generations being capactivated by the hobby is surely not a bad thing?

 

Thank you again.

 

Chris White