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Cancelled due to vandalism- Stamford show 18th May


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20 minutes ago, CUTLER2579 said:

 

My condolences to all who have suffered from this mindless event.

For a number of years I kept Exhibition Budgerigars and it was common practice to have a couple of night watchmen or possibly if the person was a well known gent who was an ex-police officer, local magistrate and world's strongest man,  he would do it alone.

 

Mr Capes G. We used his brother's firm quite a lot on the big railway, in Railtrack days. They were extremely effective.

 

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Of course, there are many different reasons for people to enjoy modelling.  If I were happy to run r-t-r stock on a layout I've created, financial compensation from an insurance claim would go a long way towards restoring what I might have lost, should I be in the very unfortunate position of being one of those exhibitors affected by this.  But what if I have spent many long hours building stock (or anything else on the layout) by hand?  No financial payout could ever repair the damage done.  If another modeller kindly offered his time and skills to help replace lost models, even though his modelling may be far better than mine, it would never be the same.  My kicks in modelling come from being able to say 'I made this', even though I recognize that others are capable of producing a better result.  I could only ever recover by starting again, from scratch, with no assistance from anyone else.  I can't imagine what those exhibitors must be going through right now.

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As an exhibitor. and scratch builder. I cannot imagine the pain for all those who have lost so much - and for no reason whatsoever.  Sadly we will probably never know why the show was targetted, or the reasoning behind the vandalism. (AM)

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When the crime scene is handed back to the organisers, will those affected need assistance to help with the salvage operation?  I'm the wrong side of the country to offer myself as an extra pair of hands who understands what is involved so things don't just get black bagged, but I wonder if anyone closer could find out if they will need boots on the ground to help the clear up?  Having a fellow modeller who can look at something and see if it is salvageable would I'm sure go a long way.

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Very sad. I can only say that if it was me I'd be absolutely devastated, enough to put my mind in a bad place. Those affected have my deepest sympathies.

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I'd say words fail me, but increasingly often they don't. Mindless. Utterly and totally mindless. 

 

I know how devastated I'd be in the same situation and my heart goes out to those who's hours, weeks, months and years of work has been destroyed for a few seconds of moronic gratification. 

 

Tom. 

Edited by TomE
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7 minutes ago, 87023Velocity said:

Once the police have finished, would the insurance company visit to assess the situation before any items can be removed? 

There's going to be a whole raft of problems to deal with there.  The earliest an insurance company can send someone is going to be Monday, by which time the scene will have reverted back to its intended purpose.  The school needs to use its space again.

Edited by GJChurchward
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I consider myself to be quite a robust type of chap but I have to say I had tears in my eyes when I saw the images of the damage. 

 

Rarely am I lost for words but this is simply awful. 

 

 

Rob. 

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31 minutes ago, ardbealach said:

As an exhibitor. and scratch builder. I cannot imagine the pain for all those who have lost so much - and for no reason whatsoever.  Sadly we will probably never know why the show was targetted, or the reasoning behind the vandalism. (AM)

 

These are symptoms of a society that isn’t as great as it sometimes thinks it is.All we can do is to be increasingly vigilant to guard against such events repeating themselves.Security used to be a matter for the Police but now their only resource seems to be Crime Prevention which has to be a start I suppose.

 

   One  question to ponder on reflection.: this is a school which theoretically should have some form of overnight security if one considers that vandalism,even arson,at school sites is not uncommon especially as this is a weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

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It is rare that I get emotional about damage to physical items, but the wanton pointless destruction of 1000’s of hours work took me aback.

 

everyone who has lost anything in this sad incident has my full sympathy.

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13 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

 

These are symptoms of a society that isn’t as great as it sometimes thinks it is.All we can do is to be increasingly vigilant to guard against such events repeating themselves.Security used to be a matter for the Police but now their only resource seems to be Crime Prevention which has to be a start I suppose.

 

   One  question to ponder on reflection.: this is a school which theoretically should have some form of overnight security if one considers that vandalism,even arson,at school sites is not uncommon especially as this is a weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Security depends on what has happened before and the area - for example I would suggest that there is a far higher chance of vandals / burglars / arsonists trying to gain access in Urban London compared to a small Market town. As such its unreasonable to expect this school to be set up like Fort Knox.

 

Press reporting suggest the building had some form of alarm and also that the caretaker took prompt action having been disturbed by it.

 

 

Edited by phil-b259
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5 minutes ago, guzzler17 said:

There is a system where those accused of a crime are taken to meet the victim(s).  The victim(s) can explain what impact the crime has had on them and that might, repeat might, make the accused think twice before going on the rampage again.

 

Let's hope they get to meet the gent with terminal cancer.

 

It still won't help restore the models though will it?

 

20 years work cannot be replaced in an instant......

 

Granted one would hope that once they have realised just how much personal grief they have caused, the culprits won't do it again.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

 

It still won't help restore the models though will it?

 

20 years work cannot be replaced in an instant......

 

Granted one would hope that once they have realised just how much personal grief they have caused, the culprits won't do it again.

 

 

 

I fear you are crediting these things as having Brain Cells which I doubt.

Edited by CUTLER2579
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It is probably impractical to have "amateur" watchmen (watch-people) on site overnight in such a venue. The school has a caretaker whose job that is and while I have slept on exhibition hall floors in a sleeping bag back in the late 1970s that was then and different rules now apply. It is most likely the case that the insurance small print on a venue like a school would not allow non-professional persons to sleep on the premises overnight in case they tampered with equipment. Remember also that sensitive data regarding minors may be stored on site... There are all manner of complications to allowing people to stay in such a venue. They could also be seen by an insurance company as a fire risk as well. No, in today's society only professional security companies would be acceptable and of course this introduces additional cost.

I am only thinking aloud but this incident may well have been perpetrated by students of that school or ex-pupils who know the lie of the land and how to gain access. They may just have a grievance against their place of, or former place of education or "the system" or "the haves" and in their logic, causing damage to property is a means to attack those they see as acceptable targets. The fact it was a model railway exhibition is probably irrelevant. Damage would probably have been caused if it were any other kind of event such as a craft fair or something similar.

The police will by now have a lot of information to go on and I hope the Market Deeping Club Committee will discuss all that is necessary in great detail with the police and their insurers. This must not happen again and that means probably a change of venue and/or an increase in ticket prices to cover increased insurance.

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11 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

Granted one would hope that once they have realised just how much personal grief they have caused, the culprits won't do it again.

 

Unlikely, but all the anger in the world won't help. If that's what you want, there is Facebook.

 

Please keep RMweb the place for support and sympathy as it has largely been I'm pleased (and not a little proud) to say. 

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No one can put into words what you must all be feeling, the hours that you have all put in to create these layouts has just gone over night, after seeing the pictures of the hall, i cannot even imagine the heart ache, pain and tears you must have cried, i know how i felt looking at them which made me feel physically sick, as i know how much work has to go into them. What makes them get enjoyment out of this ?, they are probably laughing or not as they have been caught  ,' saying its only only trains ', if only they new how much time you dedicate to this hobbie bringing joy to people at model railway shows with your achievements.  A  very sad day for modellers and traders......

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20 minutes ago, John K said:

We have cleared up the remains of our layout and of the stock.

I have personally lost most of 20 years of wagon building, several  O gauge engines and some coaches that were hand built by me - All completely irreplaceable.

We have lost a club layout that featured in books and magazines, and that took us 10 years to build.

They can have the money, but we will never get the 1000s of hours back.

John

 

Thank you for sharing with us, I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to type that, I'm struggling now and I'm not ashamed to say that a big Yorkshireman cried today.

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