CathcartCircle Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Why? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozzer models Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 the same as why a Ford would not be at a BMW show Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradoc Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Model Rail Scotland is organised by the AMRSS (Association of Model Railway Societies of Scotland), not by any of the modelling magazines or publishers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted February 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2015 Model Rail Scotland is organised by the AMRSS (Association of Model Railway Societies of Scotland), not by any of the modelling magazines or publishers. maybe, but Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Sometimes considerations over logistics, staff availability and cost have to enter the equation I'm afraid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted February 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2015 Can't be everywhere Andy, can you? You might get home and find you don't live there anymore LOL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tase Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Can't be everywhere Andy, can you? You might get home and find you don't live there anymore LOL Could always become a nomad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CathcartCircle Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Sometimes considerations over logistics, staff availability and cost have to enter the equation I'm afraid. It being the "Big One" up here, Andy it just seems to me to be the one you should've been at as you have in previous years. Your competitors were there and from talking to quite a few peeps who were at the show, your absence, like Hornby last year was noticed, some taking it as a snub. I don't hold that view but it was a shame you weren't. It's always nice to meet you guys and have a chat about the mag in person. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 It's certainly not a snub and we did promote the event with editorial content in the mag and no-one could say there's not been plenty of Scottish based or themed layouts included in the planning of the mag of late. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Hughes Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 maybe, but mr.jpg Which shows both Bachmann and Hornby and both Model Rail and the Peco magazines as sponsors of the show. Surely every bit as much competitors as BRM and the other magazines. Clearly from the flyer you posted there is no attempt at exclusivity by any of the sponsors. Indeed, given the sponsorship of the other leading magazines it makes BRM's absence, though no doubt, as Andy indicated, for perfectly valid reasons of their own, all the more noticeable. The show is run and organised by the AMRSS and while the sponsorship is no doubt greatly appreciated it does not imply any kind of control or ownership of the event by any of the sponsors. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I thought I saw ben behind one of the layouts. He must have a look-a-likey... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Parker Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I thought I saw ben behind one of the layouts. He must have a look-a-likey... Ben is there - or at least he's supposed to be as he's picking up my limited edition Tunocks Teacake wagon. Personally, I'm still getting over the illness picked up from Doncaster. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at C&M Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Ben was definitely there on Friday, and there is photographic evidence of him operating on 'Hazelbank', complete with the large banner showing 'Model Rail' on the stand behind! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CathcartCircle Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Ben is there - or at least he's supposed to be as he's picking up my limited edition Tunocks Teacake wagon. It is a rather nice wagon and free too with the £10 teacake! A top exclusive. Hoping for something in OO next year! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Ben was definitely there on Friday, and there is photographic evidence of him operating on 'Hazelbank', complete with the large banner showing 'Model Rail' on the stand behind!thanks I knew that wasn't a Stirling or Clackmannan accent behind Hazelbank. Thought it was him.M Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
61661 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Just catching up with this thread after returning from Glasgow. I'd be very disappointed if anyone tried to over-dramatise this by trying to portray it it as a 'snub' to Model Rail Scotland or the AMRSS. As Andy Y mentioned above, we ran several previews for the show, including a layout feature and full page editorial show preview over the last couple of months. We have a very good relationship with the organisers and, personally, I've known them for many years and always enjoy meeting up with them at the show. I can see the implication above that we weren't there because of some perceived conflict or competition with the AMRSS and its sponsors. This couldn't be further from the truth - none of the Warners shows conflict or compete with Glasgow and there's no desire to do so. This is not Eastenders, so let's not assume that there's some deep,dark agenda behind every action. It does no-one any favours. The decision not to have a BRM stand was purely an economic one, balancing the costs of attending against what the magazine could reasonably expect to get back from it. We have to take that decision with every event we attend, it's not personal or political, just the reality of running a business. BRM doesn't have lots of products (other than magazines and subs) to sell to cover its costs, and we'd rather not attend a show than cut costs back to a bare minimum and be there in a half-ars.., sorry half-baked way which, frankly, was what we had last year. I still visited as there were numerous people I needed to see and stories to gather, plus I'd offered to help out running Hazelbank (which was very enjoyable, thanks lads!). I always enjoy visiting Model Rail Scotland and while it's disappointing that BRM couldn't be there en masse, I do understand the realities of why it wasn't possible. That might change in the future, but for now I hope this explains the situation. Ben Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CathcartCircle Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Thanks Ben for your reply, I apologise if I started something! It was certainly not my intention and as I said in my post I personally didn't take the absence as a snub! I think BRM is the best magazine we have for model railways in the UK and just wondered why you guys weren't there. I had a friend with me, new to the hobby who was wanting to subscribe at the show which in the main was why I noticed however he is just going to do so by other means. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekstuart Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Whilst we are on the subject (and since someone else brought it up) is there really a need to have an organisation dedicated to Scottish modellers? Is railway modelling somehow different as soon as you cross the border? There are Scottish themed layouts built in England and I am sure somewhere there will be an English layout in Scotland. The Country may have been obsessed by English Vs Scottish politics for the past 200 years, but does this HOBBY have to become involved in it? From the opening post I think clearly it has become involved. Pretty disappointing really. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at C&M Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 The AMRSS is dedicated to Scottish Model Railway Societies, hence their name. In times past, the Glasgow show was the way that many societies made themselves known to the public at the annual show at the Maclellan Galleries, on Sauciehall Street in Glasgow. As time has progressed, so there are not as many such societies within Scotland, so the doors have been opened to non-AMRSS layouts. The AMRSS Show still serves its' original purpose very well, and in my opinion, the bringing in of layouts that might just be an article in a magazine to us is a great enhancement to what is an annual event for most Scottish-based modellers, and many others from outside Scotland. Yes, the AMRSS show is not assembled in the same way that most other shows are, but it continues to serve its' purpose extremely well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Afraid, Derek, as far as I can see you're the only one to link National constitutional politics to the hobby, and I've no idea why? I think you may have the wrong end of a stick but I'm not sure which stick it is. I'm not really clear to which "organisation" you refer? We have the AMRSS, a regional umbrella body which draws on the combined strength of our clubs both to allow something on the scale of the SECC show to take place and also to further the hobby in general up here. The show in return helps the Association clubs. Similar regional Associations exist in England, e.g. http://www.cmra.org.uk/ There's other groups using the "Scottish" identifier in their title. Usually special interest groups - a bit like Line Societies generally identify their chosen subject in their name (e.g. Cumbrian Railways Assoc. - to choose one from South of the border). Constitutional politics just doesn't come into it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 Whilst we are on the subject (and since someone else brought it up) is there really a need to have an organisation dedicated to Scottish modellers? Is railway modelling somehow different as soon as you cross the border? That's a bit like asking should there be York model railway show (or club) etc. Or the CMRA. It is a purely geographical thing that you are making into an issue that it is not! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Legend Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 23, 2015 The AMRSS enables the Scottish clubs to put on a show the size of Model Rail Scotland. Without it it's dubious we would have such a large and great show. Perth MRC comes close, but even then it's about half or 2 /3rds the size of MRS. So having attended continually since 1973 and my parents haven taken me a few times before that I am very happy that the AMRSS exists and organises the show. It's nothing to do with politics at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 No different, I would imagine, to the 'Association of Model Railway Clubs Wales and West of England' which organises the Bristol (Thornbury) show, a show larger than it's consistent member clubs could support individually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungrange Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Whilst we are on the subject (and since someone else brought it up) is there really a need to have an organisation dedicated to Scottish modellers? Is railway modelling somehow different as soon as you cross the border? There are Scottish themed layouts built in England and I am sure somewhere there will be an English layout in Scotland. The Country may have been obsessed by English Vs Scottish politics for the past 200 years, but does this HOBBY have to become involved in it? From the opening post I think clearly it has become involved. Pretty disappointing really. The Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland (AMRSS) is simply a coordinating body for the various clubs in Scotland set up many years ago with the intention of running a 'national' show. Many clubs also run their own local show, but not all bother. My own club, Edinburgh and Lothians MRC, only attend Model Rail Scotland and other shows when invited as an exhibitor. Without the AMRSS it is highly unlikely that a large scale show would be held in Scotland. Hire costs for the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) is now, I believe, a six figure sum for the weekend and that is before all of the other costs such as advertising, security etc are added. I doubt that any club in Scotland would be in a position to underwrite such costs, but through an association where risks are shared and some profits retained from previous years, Scottish clubs can collectively underwrite such an undertaking. In theory, as far as I am aware, there is nothing to stop a club in the southwest of England joining the AMRSS, but why would they? There would be no advantage to them doing so (unless they want to exhibit in Glasgow every year). I'm sure that there are many Scottish themed layouts in England, but that is rather irrelevant. Many of the Scottish clubs build and exhibit layouts representing parts of England, Wales, Continental Europe, North America and anywhere else that is of interest to their members. What matters is that the constituent clubs want to work together organising the best model railway show in Scotland. Politics doesn't come into it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Hughes Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Whilst we are on the subject (and since someone else brought it up) is there really a need to have an organisation dedicated to Scottish modellers? Is railway modelling somehow different as soon as you cross the border? There are Scottish themed layouts built in England and I am sure somewhere there will be an English layout in Scotland. The Country may have been obsessed by English Vs Scottish politics for the past 200 years, but does this HOBBY have to become involved in it? From the opening post I think clearly it has become involved. Pretty disappointing really. I was looking up driving directions on Google Maps to attend the 2mm Scale Association AGM which is being held in County Durham this year. Even held that far north the directions show that I would have to live South West of Taunton to have a longer journey time. I looked at the 3mm Society events calendar the other day. One date for a location in Lancashire and nothing else north of Birmingham. The Scalefour Society holds its Scaleforum in Aylesbury and its Scaleforum "North" in Wakefield, 400 miles, or upwards of seven hours driving, away. So yes there is a need for organisations dedicated to Scottish Modelers because for the UK wide ones their membership distribution is such that if they hold events in Scotland they put them out of reach of the great majority of their members and likewise the events in England are out of reasonable traveling distance for a great many people located in Scotland. Just as it was apparently too far for Warners to bring a BRM stand to Glasgow the same thing applies for modelers in Scotland traveling to events in the South. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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