TEAMYAKIMA

I must admit that I was a little surprised that Saturday finished at 5pm , but maybe not that Sunday finished at 4.30pm. As regards Saturday, I think one issue here is where the overnight hotel is situated. If it's 'over the road' like the one for the Bristol show was back in the 1980's then a late finish is more acceptable to exhibitors but I understand that the hotel for layout owners at Ally Pally this year was a considerable drive away which adds to the time getting back to your room on Saturday night. Also back in the day exhibition managers were more open to putting layout owners up on Sunday nights at the organiser's expense. I suspect organisers (Warners in this case) would prefer an early finish on Sunday and not paying for an extra night.

I have been in contact with a Digitrax 'expert' and he tells me that my system will behave like I want it to - remembering which way the loco was going when it entered the FY. TBH I can put it to the test when I set the layout up in a local church hall to test run it. I'll know for sure by 12.00 on April 9th!

Thank you - just the answer I wanted to hear. I can now plan my operating manual for my exhibition team - many of whom don't model at all let alone know about DCC! Thanks all.

Good idea! My diesels have directional lighting, but hidden inside a 20ft long 18 road fiddle yard they will be difficult to see especially if at the head of a train going away from the operator. Paul

Apologies - Digitrax

Apologies for a VERY basic question. Am I correct that if I bring a selected loco to a stop in my fiddle yard (and then go off and run various others) that loco will automatically be selected for the same direction if I return to it? What I mean is that many diesels are difficult to guess if they are facing forward or in reverse. If I drive loco A into the FY 'in reverse' will it default to 'reverse' when I return to it? I hope that makes sense. Thanks PAul

Well, Ally Pally's over and done with .............. here's a random photo ....... Did anyone reading this go to Ally Pally? Does anyone have photos to share?

I'm not saying that planning and time management are the # 1 issue when building a layout but they are very important. This competition is about getting something built against a deadline - not unlike many of us building exhibition layouts. I am building an exhibition layout and I have a self-imposed dealine of May 4th 2018 (Bristol) - time management and work planning are very important to me to get my layout ready in time. Those two issues are important to me and my modelling.

May I take this opportunity to thank all of you who have made nice comments about Twickenham MRC's 7mm layout ADDISON ROAD, both here on RMweb and in person at the show. May I go further and make a blatant sales pitch for membership of TDMRC in general and the AR group in particular. One of the main reasons any club displays its layouts at exhibitions is to attract new members. And so it is with TDMRC.the club The Addison Road group is basically four key members with maybe three part-time helpers and one of them lives in Chicago, USA! As the layout needs a minimum of eight operators (one of whom can't manage Sundays) you can see that new members are very welcome. So, if you like what you saw and you would like to know more about how YOU could become part of the team developing and exhibiting this layout do contact using the email chairman.tdmrc@gmail.com. And if you think I was joking about having an active member living in Chicago, then let me add that his name is John and he joined when visiting the UK about 12 years ago and when he makes his annual visit to the UK he always brings something he's made for the layout with him - see below - and yes we have granted him Country Membership - although maybe we should re-name it 'Out of the country membership' !

Very sorry to have to say this as I'm sure it could come over as brutal, but as Dave Rowe once said to me 'If you build a very good model of a boring prototype location you will get a boring model'

Allow me to clarify my thoughts on Calcutta Sidings ......... 1. Trackwork - excellent 2. Stock - excellent 3. Presentation - excellent 4. Operation - excellent 5 Soul or perhaps we might use the word 'character' - lacking If anything the photos prove my point - to me at least.

Andy I am not a die-hard steam fan. Whether it was diesel, steam or electric running the point I was trying to make was that outside of the trackbed Calcutta Sidings had nothing of interest . The only thing of interest is/was the stock. Let me put it another (better?) way .................. If there were no trains running through the scene on Calcutta Sidings there was (in my opinion) nothing of interest to make me stop and look at the scene. Now compare that with the American HO layout at Ally Pally - 59th & Rust - which was also incidently running diesels - without any stock on that layout I could have spent 10 minutes just looking at the details and features of the scenery. So, nothing to do with not liking diesels - more to do with the view that excellent stock and realistic operation is only part of the making of a successful attractive (exhibition) layout. And, yes, everyone can judge my efforts at Bristol in 6 weeks time - but because it's not British some die-hard UK modellers will walk past it without a second glance - it's a fact of life.

I don't wish to personalise this, but I have just seen one layout that appears to me to personify this issue..... Calcutta Sidings. I had read so many great reports on this layout. I saw it at Ally Pally I walked off after 30 seconds or so - nothing to attract my attention. Superb stock operated at scale speeds, great skill in the build but absolutely nothing to keep my interest. Apologies to the builders.

I agree, you are right. I approached the organisers with a view to putting in a team from my club. I approached various members of my club but failed to get commitment from any 'key' modellers and so in the end we did not put in a team. I think that in part we/they were put off by the wish to have ' the country's BEST modellers'. We are an average (maybe slightly above average) club and finding the BEST modellers was a problem. Almost by definition the best modellers in our club are already heavily committed with both private and club projects. I offered to head the team but I am taking a new layout to Bristol in May and so am already very heavily committed.

Really???????????????????????? You must go to different shows to me.

Have you been to a model railway show and noticed the age profile? The Ally Pally shuttle bus was like an OAP outing.

Hi I want to pay approx. £250 to a firm in China - I have used the firm many times but they always request Western Union which costs an extra £15.90. I've complained about this and the owner has said that I can 'pay his credit card' - I totally trust him , but have no idea how an average guy can pay another person's credit card. Any views?

Let's face facts - this hobby is dying. It needs publicity. There is an old saying 'There's no such thing as bad publicity.' If we want this hobby to survive, let alone grow, we need to 'SELL! SELL! SELL!' it to the general public. Having spoken to the production team at Ally Pally' they seem genuine. I look forward to seeing the programmes.

I admit to being a bit biased but I liked Addison Road .... although I am a Twickenham & District MRC (country) member I only make an annual visit for our open day and so had never seen the (nearly) completed layout fully up in all its glory until today ......

Let me add that it will of course also, by definition, be the WORST large Chinese HO layout on the circuit for the same reason!

For me it's something not really covered by any of the options. I am building a big Chinese HO exhibition layout - why? Because no-one else has. It will undoubtedly be the BEST large Chinese HO layout on the exhibition layout on the circuit because it will be the only one. Doing something different to anyone else has always been a priority of mine. Seriously, I am not a good enough modeller to compete with the layouts we normally see at a decent exhibition and I wanted something different - hence Chinese HO.

Hi I have been tasked to sell off various donated items for my club and via ebay I have sold 99.9% of what we have had donated but I have no idea what these parts are and so am having difficulty listing them. Can anyone help please?

Not the greatest photo but it shows more progress ............... Now two platform lamps and more street light in the distance by the hotel plus crash barrier between the road and the railway - it's beginning to come together!

This topic has been static for nearly a month. Any news? Any established clubs taking part? How did the casting go?

I have been adding more street lights. I have been using these lamps as a basis of everything ... I needed a unique design and so knitted two of them together ................ On the layout .......................