RJS1977

Last year's train strike may also have put some traders off. Whilst none of the traders will have arrived by train, a reduced number of visitors (and hence sales) may have tipped the balance for them financially, and with no guarantee until a couple of weeks beforehand that there wasn't going to be a strike this year, some may have decided not to take the risk.

In terms of visitor numbers to this year's show, hard to say how it compares to previous shows given that last year's was strike affected and the show did not take place in 2020 or 2021. My usual route round the show is to start at the back and work forwards - I find that it tends to be relatively quiet to start off with, but at some point I meet a "swarm" of people who started at the front and are working back. This year the swarm didn't seem to peak quite as high, but I think it lasted longer. Possibly some of the departures from the traditional floorplan (like having Squires at the back) contributed to this.

I believe that "Palmerston" is not directly owned by the FR, so I presume that condition no longer applies.

5 hours ago, RedgateModels said:

 

Little things like no tables available at the start of the show on Saturday next to the entrance for show flyers etc, 

5 hours ago, RedgateModels said:

 

There was a table next to the entrance when the doors opened at 9:15 on Saturday, and I put some leaflets on it. (Though the fact it had a GOG tablecloth on it may have caused some confusion).

However I don't think that's really the best place for a leaflet table as it's not very obvious, and when the doors open and there are about 8 lines of people going in, only one lane passes directly in front of it. It didn't look as if many of my leaflets had gone when I left at 18:00.

It would be better to have the table (or maybe more than one, in different places) inside the Hall, in a more prominent location - maybe next to the big engine, or by the catering area, or underneath the maps.

Thoughts regarding "big layouts":

On such a layout (usually a large oval with a fiddle yard at the back, or one of the "modular" type layouts), it can be a long time before a train passes a particular spot, so an apparent "long gap" between trains, particularly if the layout is single track. I often find with these sorts of layouts, it is better to follow the train round, but of course that isn't always possible if a lot of other people are looking at it. Bron Hebog gets away with it because the huge S bend means the train remains within sight for a long period of time. Similarly on some of the long "Branch line" type layouts, all the shunting/running round etc takes place at one end, and the more scenic section sees only occasional action. Absolutely as per prototype of course!

Additionally, on some of the more complex layouts with multiple stations, the operators seem to spend more time co-ordinating moves than actually driving trains...

So to my mind, the ideal "big layout" has multiple circuits of track, ideally with some sort of shunting yard(s) as well so that there is always movement. (Alternatively working road systems such as Faller, Magnorail or even Minic help in this respect).

Often a "loose plan" e.g. "send back a train  of the same type as the one I sent you" is easier for operators to follow than having to keep consulting a list of complex instructions.

Some degree of automation can also be helpful, even if only to cover operator breaks. (My father's - strictly non-exhibitable- 30' long "Templebar Junction" has a block system with three or four trains circulating the main line and two others shuttling alternately up the branch. Any given spot on the main line can expect to see a train in either direction every 20 seconds or so).

I will also add that except on the simplest of layouts/tasks, Warley is not really the place for "guest operators" (although clearly sometimes it can't be helped, if a replacement is required at short notice).

20 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Anybody spot the quartet of Dioramas on one 4 sided display, most seemed to miss the ones on the side & rear

 

Here's the tram diorama (looks like it suffered some transport damage on RH side):

Yes, the layout owner mentioned it had been damaged in transit.

However he said it was a downloaded kit, so it shouldn;t cost him much (other than card and ink) to replace it).

6 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

It often seems to be the layouts with the most control equipment (half a ton of laptops and electronic gear) that seem to have the least movement. 

I agree - there often seems to be less movement on DCC layouts owing to the time taken to identify the loco and find it in the list on the handset.

If you've built the traditional "oval with storage loops at the back", you really do not need DCC, and it makes operating the layout more complicated!

If the layout is wired for analogue, all you need to do to run a different train is to change the points in the fiddle yard and  this will direct current to the correct train. If you're running DCC, you still have to change the points, but then you have to find the loco on your handset....

Don't get me wrong, I think DCC has a place on big loco shed layouts like Old Elm Park, but for most other layouts it's overkill.

2 hours ago, andyman7 said:

Yes, couldn't resist at that price!

I did too!

5 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

Last time I went, 2018 iirc, the 0840-something Voyager up from Basingstoke wasn't much better. Almost everybody who got on at Reading and onward stood the whole way. 

 

The two of us got seats, courtesy of unfilled reservations from Southampton to BHI, but I had the elbows of multiple standees worryingly close to one ear until we got to Coventry, when it was necessary to begin fighting our way out to avoid being overcarried.... 

 

John 

No problem with the Voyagers I was on on Saturday (0715 from Reading, 1813 from BHI). 

Rather than the pre-pandemic timetable of half-hourly services with single units from Reading to Birmingham, with BHI served hourly, the pattern now seems to be for an hourly service made up of two units coupled together, so there is double the capacity serving BHI than there used to be.

Once again, thanks to the Warley Committee for putting on another great show! :-)

I went in at 9:15 on Saturday and left at 18:00 and I'm not sure I saw everything!

However (and this is by no means the organisers' fault), I was disappointed by the lack of movement on a number of layouts, despite repeated visits to several of them. On at least one layout I'd looked forwards to seeing, each time I went past the operators seemed to be having a committee meeting to decide what to run next!

Fortunately there were plenty of other layouts such as Copenhagen Fields, Bron Hebog, Bijao, and even Binns Road showing how things should be done :-)

19 hours ago, Pete Haitch said:

 

Perhaps a case to take-over ownership in lieu of storage charges.

Legally, I don't think they can do that without notifying the owner first.

I know of at least one railway where a loco turned up unexpectedly (on a lorry) because a Board member invited it without consulting the rest of the Board, and left the railway before it arrived! It was several years before they found out who owned it....

Looking at the floorplan last night, it seems to be quite different in some ways from the traditional arrangement, with Squires and the demo stands having been moved from the bottom left corner to top right.

My usual technique is to go straight along the top to the far corner (avoiding the scrums at the big stands near the entrance), go round the show and visit Squires near the end. Might have to consider changing that....

One tip from the floorplan though - if attending on Saturday with an advance ticket (9:15 entry) you have just under 9 hours to see the show before chucking out time. Quite conveniently, the pillars supporting the roof divide the hall into 18 squares, so it works out at a little under 30 minutes per square on average.

3 hours ago, Stoke West said:

VoR was diverted into a totally different terminus , its facilities are far more than its origins and its moved again

Similarly the top end of the FR is substantially different to how it was originally built. However sufficient of both lines remains that I think they can still count as "preserved".

16 minutes ago, spamcan61 said:

I must admit I'm not familiar with the network topology, but I assumed there must be some active combining/splitting at some point before the FO reaches a switch/router of some sort, can't see them running a continuous FO cable all the way from my house to a central switch 

I suspect it works a bit like DCC - all messages go everywhere and the phone only picks up the ones that are meant for it.

Personally I would say that the VoR, the Talyllyn and the Ffestiniog all have the ability to run locomotives tha are original to the the line, pulling coaches original to the line (both looking as close as they can do to how they would have looked in pre-preservation service), along the line that they have historically worked, which is about as close to preservation as you can get. The Isle of Man railways (at least for now) also fall into that category.

On 15/11/2023 at 23:23, Andy Kirkham said:

I want to buy a new portable DAB radio and this one is attractive and has good reviews https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3243053

 

However I see that it has a built-in battery which I don't think is replaceable, so when the battery becomes exhausted, the radio will cease permanently to be portable. 

Surely it will continue to be portable, but cease to be a radio....

I did a similar project, modelling the VoR's bridge over the Rheidol from wooden lollipop sticks.

15 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Even leaving aside the rest of the situation, perhaps not a great way to speak to visitors.

 

Often I think it comes down to people in charge of these things not particularly being chosen for their skills in volunteer management (whether because they are a paid employee for whom volunteer management isn’t their main role, or because they’re a volunteer themselves but they haven’t needed to, or had the chance to, develop those skills previously).

 

Also when people are very passionate about things (and that can apply to volunteers, managers and paid heritage sector workers) they can sometimes get fixated on (and protective of) a certain idea of how to do something.

I think perhaps alongside this is the possibility that (particularly in a safety-critical area like heritage railways), there is a lot of mandatory training needed to operate safely - not just the technical things like passing out as a guard, driver, etc, and PTS, but also things like manual handling and safe working at heights, and consequently training for "soft" skills like people management tends to get overlooked. Of course there are also a great number of differences between managing volunteers and managing full-time paid staff, so available management courses may not necessarily be suitable anyway.

It's always sad to hear of fallings-out at heritage railways.

What I will say though is that volunteering on the C&WR was one of the few things that kept me going mentally during the dark days of the pandemic.

As someone who lives alone, lockdown and the early post-lockdown period was a very difficult time for me, with all social activities suspended other than through a computer screen. As a non-driver, the ban on public transport use also limited me to only being able to go to places I could walk to and from.

Volunteering on the C&WR (being largely outdoors) was one of the first activities to restart when restrictions began to ease, and so as soon as transport restrictions lifted sufficiently I was up there every Saturday. (At the time, I was still quite wary about personal contact - particularly with people I didn't know - and was also struggling to find masks I could wear comfortably for more than about half an hour, so the 30 minute ride to Wallingford on a near-empty bus was for a while the furthest I felt comfortable travelling). Being able to spend time with friends (and indeed make some new ones) whilst doing something useful and productive (in contrast to my job at the time, which was neither...) was an absolute Godsend.

This was also the period during which the Maidenhead canopy was being rebuilt at Wallingford (taking advantage of the enforced line closure), and whilst I wasn't directly involved in its reconstruction, seeing that progress week by week was another psychological boost.

3 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

I always assumed Metrolink to be a bit different because so much of it runs on former heavy rail lines (which I think were not all relaid initially although the earlier ones probably have been now). And then I don’t know what American interurbans use, but museums over there seem to be OK running old subway and electric commuter trains on the same track as them.

I understand that there has been some through working from the ELR to Metrolink for engineering purposes.

1 hour ago, Bazza said:

Don't forget the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch school trains. Fancy going to school on a miniature railway!

I believe they stopped running several years ago.

56 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Mrs Melmerby thought the James May one was OK, managed to keep her looking, which is unusual for most train programmes. She wasn't impressed with Francis Rossi one.

 

I noticed James May produced his Flying Scotsman with "sound", I wonder whether it was the one we see him buying in an earlier series?

In the (first) "Toy Stories" episode where they re-lay the Barnstaple-Bideford line, he says he's had it since childhood.

Quite a few children use the Reading-Waterloo line to attend school in Winnersh.

Also a lot of children use the Reading-Guildford line to go to school near Farnborough North - see the discussion about Farnborough North Level Crossing in the "Level Crossing Stupidity" thread.

The trouble with Santa events of course is that they can only happen at Christmas.

Some years ago there used to be a "replica" Ivor the Engine doing the rounds. Sadly, as Ivor isn't as well-known as Thomas, I don't think it was quite the crowd-puller it was perhaps expected to be (and of course there aren't any standard gauge steam railways in the "top left corner of Wales" for it to run on), although of course the licensing costs were much less. Gradually its bookings dropped off until it effectively became a permanent resident at the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway who continued to run "Ivor" events until its certificate ran out. Since then its owner has sold it elsewhere and it has since been back-converted into an ordinary Peckett.

Just watched the James May episode.

The "model railway" side of it was excellent, but the commentary and prototype film clips - oh dear! I'm surprised at someone like Pete not knowing the difference between a diesel loco and a DMU (the class 29 is NOT a DMU!), and several of the "DMUs" shown on film were either loco hauled stock or EMUs.

Overall though, it's been a great series and I hope we can see more like this.