Chris M

Back in the seventies I saw a peak with a full passenger train get stopped by a signal check actually on the bank. It did get re-started and climb the bank but it was slow and there was a lot of clag

Trade would expect to pay just under 70% of retail price and discounter add around 25% mark up on what they have paid the manufacturer. So make the list price £155, sell to the trade at £110 and the trade will discount it down to £138, all very roughly speaking. Obviously VAT needs to be removed from these figures. The list price of the Farish Castle is £139.95 at the moment so maybe the maximum viable rrp for the king is going to be £149.95. I am of course speaking as a customer who knows bu&&er all about the model railway manufacturing business so the above is probably nonsense.

Or more succinctly, if support from shops is required to make to the project happen then that is a whole lot better than a dead project.

Today is the last Warley club open day of this year. As usual admission is free. There will be at least 9 fully complete layouts running and a number of other layouts under construction plus some demonstrators. Come along and have a chat.

Photos of previous open days - http://www.warley-mrc.org.uk/opendays.html

Hornby put the wrong people in charge a few years back; they had no understanding of the business they were in. I believe they now have people who understand the hobby in charge again. There are signs that Hornby are moving forwards with fresh thinking. They now have a link up with Hornby magazine which will probably be good for both organisations and they have a battery powered radio control toy train set under development. We don't know how this will work out but it shows they are working hard on improving with new ideas. I hope this BPRC set does really well as it brings the toy train set up to date. Reduced cost, plastic track and no wires are all good for starters.

As an N gauge and G gauge modeller I have no direct interest in Hornby products but I wish them all the best for the future.

The correlation of model making to an interesting prototype to model also needs to be made. The railways used to appear interesting and reached most places where people lived. Judging by what happens locally when a special train appears locomotives (steam and diesel) remain a draw, multiple units aren't to the same extent. 

 

The recent Great Central Rly show may just perhaps be the first one that might reverse the trend; get people to a model making show where there is a related prototype alongside that has wide appeal.

 

 

Warley club has always felt this way which is why there is always at least one real loco at the NEC show, admittedly only on static display.  Exhibiting at the SVR Engine House was a very good experience this year with layouts in amongst the real thing. This is a smaller event than the GCR but a nice one.

I was there with a layout a few years ago and it was okish. The floor went up and down as visitors walked by which was not a good sensation and not good for an N gauge layout. I could have taken a layout this year but decided not to because I didn't fancy spending three and a half days in a marquee in June. For once I actually made the right decision.

I will continue to go to this show as a visitor because it is a good event but I definitely won't be taking a layout unless there are some fundamental changes.

I mentioned it on two N gauge Facebook groups and sent an email to all Warley MRC members.

Perhaps there needs to be a special area on the forum for small but interesting N gauge layouts. There are quite a few on the circuit.

I'm not sure what would qualify as small.

Realised that I will need a battery operated radio controlled loco as having got Warmington home there is no way I am going to easily be able to clean the hidden 5ft length of track that runs down the back of one board - was fine set up at an exhibition as there was access from the rear but hard up against a wall no chance. Advise on the following thoughts would be gratefully received.

 

Thinking of a Heljan 33 (have three of them) as

1. They will negotiate the hidden track okay so in the worse case situation that track could be solely worked by a battery/ rc loco.

2. They can easily shift the cmx track cleaning car

3. Reading articles on fitting dcc sound imply there is bags of space for such so presumably the same applies to battery / radio control.

 

 Looking at http://www.micronradiocontrol.co.uk/rc_model_rail.html seems that I will need a Rx60 (or Rx61) receiver as the 33s have a stall current around 1.2A together with an appropriate battery. To control it at first I thought a Tx20 would do but if I have read the info sheet right as it does not mention programming I would need a separate programming unit or a controller that offers programming such as a Tx72.

If you are only going to use it to drive up and down why do you need programming? The receiver basically works out of the box. The only thing I can think of is you might want to change the pwm frequency but you could probably ask your supplier to change it if it was a problem.

Dacias are basically previous model Renaults with a new body. Based on Renault reputation I would expect the mechanicals to be strong and long lived but the electrics may or may not turn troublesome. The only Renault I had (an 07 Megane cc) gave me 76,000 miles without any work at all other than routine servicing. Some of the switches used to get warm and the instrument pack lights didn't come on if parked next to an electricity sub station but nothing ever failed.

Clearly one contributor has had a bad experience but I would think most examples are fine.

I couldn't live with a car that didn't have automatic temperature control let alone air con.

It's amazing how you get to rely on gizmos - nowadays I find it hard to reverse in cars that don't have a rear camera.

Just have a number of short sounds for different animals and buttons for each animal on the front of the layout. Youngsters will love pressing the buttons to get the sound.

So if everyone who has placed an order ordered one more we would be there. It's only money.

I went today. A most enjoyable event with plenty of good layouts. Well worth a visit, well organised, plenty of real train services.

Whilst this event is fine for us visitors I have to say I would not want to be an exhibitor stuck in one of those marquees for three days solid in this heat. Well done to all of the exhibitors.

Trade exhibitors are a very important part of exhibitions which is why I don't refer to them as traders. Many people seem to look down on "boxshifters" which is a shame because they are an important part of any exhibition; their attendance may even be the prime driver for some to attend a show. I love to see the specialist manufacturers and agree that exhibitions need to limit the number of stands just selling ready to run for the good of the exhibition and for the good of the trade exhibitors who sell these items but I also think we should treat those who sell ready to run with as much respect as anyone else. They are a very important part of our hobby and for some even quite well known shops the revenue they achieve from selling ready to run at shows is an essential part of keeping their business and shop afloat. Just in case you are wondering I am not connected in any way with any shop or trade exhibitor.

Official open day poster featuring the club's fixed O gauge layout. This can only be seen in the club rooms.

This will be the first outing for Warley club's new G scale layout, Hortus Halt. It can however be seen running along with many other layouts at the Warley club open day on July 2nd. In complete contrast to the NEC event this is a small friendly day designed for viewing and chatting about model railways in a relaxed manner. There are normally around 200 or so visitors and admission is free.

Moulded cab plates = harder to change

Seperate cab plates = more likely to fall off and be lost

On balance I just about prefer moulded in. I have a couple of 28xx which are identical. If the number plates were separate I would have renumbered one of them as they are moulded I haven't. Then again I rarely get close enough to be able to read the number anyway so if they were different numbers I wouldn't notice.

Hi Chris,

 

I love your 'Little Aller Junction' layout , it was the one's  I returned to again & again at last years Warley show. Your under board Bluetooth speaker has truly added a whole new dimension to the layout for me........simply superb !

 

Thanks Phill

I've moved forward since Warley in a few ways. I now have a bigger and more powerful speaker and I have installed a thunderstorm which uses the same speaker. I also have cow, sheep and bird sounds on my phone to play through the speaker which seems to down well with the very young if not my fellow exhibitors. Little ones seem to really enjoy pressing the button for thunder and lightning, you wouldn't believe how well the thunder rattles around the average exhibition hall. I get lots of smiles from the paying visitors.

Excellent work Phill

I'm sure my layouts are criticised  by a fair few and that's fine because we all have different preferences. It would be a dull world if we all thought the same.

I do think the question that everyone exhibiting should ask themselves is "what am I doing to provide interest and entertainment to those who have paid to come to the show". This applies to trade exhibitors, demonstrators and societies just as much as it applies to layouts. In today's world it isn't enough to just turn up; you have to do what you are trying to do well and understand how that will provide a good experience for visitors. That I believe is the way to ensure the future of model railway exhibitions.

Hi Chris

 

Do you exhibit a layout yourself?

 

We have had these debates in the past, and us, the exhibitors, have been told what layout types to build to entertain the public. Sorry most shows have a good number of modellers who come to see modelling not to see trains rushing round on train sets. That is why it is called a model railway exhibition.

 

Last weekend I was stewarding and operating at DEMU's showcase, the layouts I enjoyed the most were the ones that had little movement, less cameos, no noise but were well modelled.

Yes I do exhibit and I concentrate on good modelling with plenty of movement. I also ensure plenty of interaction with visitors. My layouts will never be voted best in show but many paying visitors enjoy them and are enthusiastic about the work I have done. I see lots of smiling faces watching my layouts and that is important to me.

I went to DEMU showcase. My favourite layout was Lymebrook Yard because it had been so very carefully thought out and crafted to get a very good model in a small space. There was also plenty of movement and the owner standing by the side of the layout chatting to punters.

As a railway modeller I know what railway modellers do. I want to be entertained by layouts when I pay to visit an exhibition. This means interesting models or scenery and plenty of movement. Also it means an explanation of what the model is trying to represent.

For all shows trade exhibitors are important. Some people will only go to shows with the right trade support. Also I would agree that income from trade stands is in very broad terms about half the income for many shows.

The layouts need to be a mix of local and not so local to keep expenses in check while also bringing in something that the locals will not have seen before.

With club shows the time put in for free by the club members is what makes a show viable. If help has to be paid for the show will almost certainly make a loss. This applies right through from the smallest to the biggest shows.

I think many exhibitors do local shows, say within 20 miles, for clubs or charities and do not claim expenses. I don't claim in these circumstances although I would for a commercial exhibition. I'm sure this helps.

There are plenty of good exhibition layouts around at the moment so o don't think that is a problem. Of course one persons view of a quality layout will be looked upon as a poor layout by someone else.

I don't see modular layouts as being the way forward. Yes they have their place and can be interesting but I don't think they necessarily make more interesting or entertaining layouts. For me exhibitions should have a good mix of large and small layouts covering different eras and scales, unless of course they are a specialist show concentrating on one era or scale. The specialist shows I have been to seem to have been very popular.

My view is that exhibition layouts must be designed to entertain paying visitors. There is of course a wide variety of interests and a layout that one person thinks is great might be thought of as of no interest whatsoever to someone else. There are some basics to entertainment - a good presentation of both layout and operators, having something moving most of the time and having someone smiling and keen to talk to the punters come to mind as basics. An explanation of what the layout is about is also important. The last three exhibition layouts I have been involved with have been operated from the side rather than behind as I find this is a great way to encourage chatting to the visitors. On my latest layout I also have added a number of sound effects - trains, animals and a thunderstorm complete with sheet lightning. I play these mainly when youngsters are around and sometimes let them press the buttons. This nearly always raises a smile from the visitors although not from fellow exhibitors! On my previous two layouts I often let youngsters have a drive and found that at least 90% of children were very careful drivers. I keep my finger over the off switch for the other 10%. All of this helps to provide a memorable and enjoyable visit for both the youngsters and their parents. The future of exhibitions has to be to entertain the paying visitors. There are too many layouts that display some fine modelling but where not much happens, there is no explanation as to what it is about and nobody to talk to. Rather oddly the number of trains running seems to be inversely proportional to the number of operators standing behind the layout.