TEAMYAKIMA

Andy I have seen the layout in question and I recall pretty much the same experience, but in reality it was a diorama more than a layout. I think if we judge it as a diorama it was fantastic - end of. But if we judge it as a 'working layout' it was lacking in an essential element - movement.

Let me begin by saying that I have a possible/likely invite to exhibit in Holland next year - not yet confirmed. Let me also say that my layout needs a ELWB transit to transport it plus at least one car. I don't think that the car and its passengers will be a problem - but what about the van? Has anyone had (recent) experience of taking a layout over to the EU in a van - the first problem I've discovered being that most big renters charge a supplement if the van is taken abroad - £300 in the case of Enterprise!! Then there is paperwork - and to add to the confusion, from what I have heard from some people, that paperwork is never looked at, although, of course, they might just have been lucky which doesn't mean that others will be so lucky. Thoughts? Thanks in advance

There is one great advantage when exhibiting a foreign layout at an exhibition - there are far fewer experts out there in the audience! Consequently, one can 'get away' with things that you couldn't if you made the same 'mistake' on a British layout. I will come clean here and admit that whilst I like to claim that my Chinese HO layout set in 2001 is 100% authentic, that isn't 100% true; there are (at least) three errors - I will only admit to one of them - I have about 52 Bachmann G70 tank cars on the layout and if you Google the G70 tank car you will discover that the class was only introduced in 2005. Now this Bachmann model was the first authentic Chinese tank car made in HO gauge and was easily available in the UK when it was introduced in 2009 and for many years it was the only authentic Chinese tank car available - full stop! And, when others came on the market years later, they were never imported into the UK and often poor quality. Hence I have 52 tank cars which should not be running on a layout set in 2001 - but, so far, no-one has mentioned that at an exhibition! 🙂

Just to say that BEIJIAO will be at Aylesbury this year, or perhaps I should say BEIJIAO.v4 will be at Aylesbury this year. My layout has had several upgrades since its original launch on the exhibition circuit as with each showing we have learnt more and consequently made upgrades. The layout is set in a remote part of NE China in 2001 where main line steam was till holding on by the skin of its teeth and with only a few weeks/months before main line steam finally ended, many railfans like me went over to take photos and videos. Our mission is twofold - if serious enthusiasts want to learn about what it was like to travel around China in the early part of this century and photograph 'big steam' in action we will be there to chat about our experiences and pass on our knowledge, but if the 'average visitor' just wants to see plenty of action - we will be there to entertain.

As the originator of this thread, I couldn't agree more!

This is a very interesting thread. Firstly, let me say that I was happy to accept Key Publishing's invitation to exhibit in April. Let me also say that an EM of a 'local show' has told me that he is seriously considering using the same policy next year. For me and my team, it's all about being near good pubs. We don't want to be allocated an hotel in an industrial estate far from the madding crowd and this new policy allows us to choose where we stay. Having said that, I totally agree that this only really works if you have an even number of operators i.e. 2, 4 or 6 - there is a problem if you need 1, 3, 5 or 7 operators

I never got to take any photos at Alton, but someone has kindly sent me this ....................... It shows the new signs on the warehouse, made for me by Al Turner of Niu Models - a big thank you to Al, the signs really shout out, " This layout is CHINESE!! "

Don't worry too much about that, I plan to make your job just as hard at our next exhibition! 😉

Looking forward to helping operate this iconic layout 🙂

Ha ha! You've summed up my problem there. The layout has had, in theory, working road vehicles since day #1 and that's the problem - "in theory". I am not able to set the layout up at home - it's way too big - and often things that work when I get get just 2 or 3 boards up in my shed, simply don't work when I set up all 26ft x 10ft at a show. And that applied to the Faller roadway, but I am pleased to confirm that for the last 3/4 shows the Faller has performed very well and we get many questions about it as very few British layouts feature moving road vehicles.

Firstly, many thanks for your nice comment on my layout in an earlier post - I hope you get another opportunity to see it in the future because it has moved on leaps and bounds since you saw it - at Bristol I think. But back to your more recent comments now - what you are describing in the quote above can be summed up as a gimmick. When I was planning my Chinese layout I realised that my layout had to appeal to a far wider audience than just fans of Chinese railways - it had to appeal to the 'average' enthusiast and 'families' - it's a big layout with a crew of six and exhibition managers wouldn't invite it if it only appealed to the handful of visitors who knew about (and liked) Chinese trains. So, I decided that we had to have USP's - features that other layouts didn't have. Note my use of the word 'feature' - I am like you, I don't like gimmicks, but I love features and the problem is to make sure we have many 'features' , but never cross the line and have 'gimmicks'. So, one of our features is to have a train of eleven bogie loaded coal gondolas enter the industrial railway yard hauled by a 2-8-2. Then two more 2-8-2's couple on as bankers and eventually the train of just eleven coal cars departs and, as all three 2-8-2's are sound fitted, the stereophonic effect as the train passes viewers is very impressive. Many/most railway enthusiasts might think that's something I've just 'made up', but, no it's not, it's totally authentic based on the Chengde Industrial railway. On the real railway the trains did leave the yard with three 2-8-2's attached and headed off up a 1/30 grade to a steelworks and I took video of such a train slipping to a halt on a section high up in the hills above Chengde and having to back up and take another go at it. Consequently, we have photos and a description of the real train at both ends of the layout to show serious enthusiasts that it's not a toy train spectacular, it's an authentic railway move. If I had 'made it up' it would be a gimmick, but as it's 100% authentic it's a feature. Or, at least that's how I see it. 😉 And to prove that it's authentic, here's a video

My apologies, I have only just realised the relevance of your post i.e. that Brush exported slightly modified class 47 types to Cuba in 1965. That is a perfect example of why a foreign layout that you know very little about can turn out to be far more interesting (when you delve into it) than a layout where you already 'know everything'. Here is the Cuban version .................

That's fine, it's not a case of right or wrong, it's just personal choice. When I'm asked "Why did you model Chinese railways?" I always reply, "Because I don't want to have the 594th best GWR branch line on the exhibition circuit."

Maybe you have hit the nail on the head - for both camps! Some people 'move on' quickly when they see something they don't know anything about, but someone like me immediately hones in on something I don't know anything about - because I want to learn about it. Both approaches are fine - individual choice - but I tend to quickly 'move on' from things I've seen 1000's of times in the 60 odd years I've been attending shows.

One interesting thing I've discovered at shows....................... My layout plays very well to the family audience - why? Because the family audience don't care (or sometimes know) that the layout is foreign. All they care about is that there is plenty of action with plenty of colourful trains running. They don't know/realise/care that the steam locos hauling that long tanker train are Chinese QJ 2-10-2's all they care about is that there is movement and it's catching their child's imagination.

That reminds me of an experience I had at the Bristol exhibition in about 1981 I had possibly the first American O gauge layout on the exhibition circuit - all Atlas F-units and US Hobbies brass steamers - and we had set it up and I went out front to see how it looked. As I was reviewing things the barrier team turned up and started building our barrier. That team was led by an elderly Welshman who said in a very Welsh accent, "There's some people who like this sort of thing I suppose!"

I guess that's pretty much my position. A model of a country and a rail system which I don't know anything about is far more interesting (to me) than one I'm very familiar with.

Yes, I'm embarrassed to say that that is me! I was engaging with visitors at Warley last year and my only defence is that the lighting inside the NEC is very harsh :-) 😉

Yes, I totally agree, but a friend of mine who has a German layout was approached by Warners a few years ago with regards to exhibiting there - maybe it was a misunderstanding, or maybe their criteria have changed. Anyway, it is what it is and if Doncaster was just a few miles down the road I would have gone, but as it's over 4 hours door to door each way I decided to give it a miss.

I absolutely agree. For those who don't know, my exhibition layout is Chinese which is a very niche interest and that's why I have info boards at both ends of my layout and I stand at the front of my layout (whenever possible) to answer any questions and proactively engage with viewers.

I was thinking of going to the Doncaster show this weekend, but decided not to when I saw that it was all British layouts and, as I like foreign layouts more than I like British layouts, I decided to give it a miss. I know that I am in a minority in liking foreign layouts more than British ones, but what do others think about the British/foreign debate in general. My favourite layout in the last 12 months was a Cuban layout at the Stafford show - why? 1. It's the first Cuban layout I've ever seen 2. I went on a railway photography trip to Cuba in 1984 and so I had a basic interest in Cuban railways 3. It was very different 4. I spoke to the builder and learnt about Cuban railways Consequently, it was more interesting to me than any other layout at that show - thoughts?

Just to say that I have just booked my team's hotel (23 minutes by road from the NEC) and it's the same one we used when we went to the Warley show - so we know where the good pubs are! I am very positive about this show - there will be the traditional model railway audience, but there will also be other 'interested parties' there too. My motto is "educate and entertain" and so, I am very much looking forward to educating the serious railway modellers who want to know more about my very unusual choice of subject (China in 2001) and entertaining the 'others' who just want to be entertained.

This is very welcome news, but if we want it to succeed then WE have to put our money where our mouth is - and GO! I have put my cards on the table some time ago - my hobby is exhibiting my model railway, in other words I build a model railway in order to exhibit it. Consequently, I need exhibitions to continue and in order to continue they need to thrive and so, I'll be going!

Thanks, Yes, with less background noise and with the low ceiling the banked train really sounded good. And it's actually a 19 car passenger train - not unusual in China!

OK, back to the real world............................. We had a very good session at the recent Alton exhibition with several new ideas tried out with great success. 1. We tried out some new lights (in addition to the existing light strips in the pelmet) which have a choice of three different colour balances - harsh white, orange and a 50/50 mix. We had a team vote and we unanimously chose the orange setting. This was just a trial, now I will be buying more for future exhibitions. 2. We have several new operating protocols - one of which was a great success. We now stop all mainline operation when a banked train is ready to go up-hill as having main line trains 'out front' tends to over-shadow the banked train move on the industrial. In fact, the exhibition hall which we were in was quite small and consequently there was relatively little background noise and so the banked train with three sound fitted 2-8-2's was very impressive and the low ceiling only helped to boost the effect. 3. I had managed to adjust the CV's of the USA 0-6-0t so that it could, for the first time, play a full part on the industrial system. 4. After one relatively minor track tweak, the industrial system worked virtually 100% reliably all weekend. Photos to be posted shortly