THE Christmas Model Railway Show, Manchester 3&4 December 2016!

allegheny1600

Western Thunderer
It’s back, it’s bigger, it’s better!
More space! More layouts!

Following the success of Manchester Model Railway Society’s relaunched city centre exhibition in 2015, the Society has today
released details of the attractions at this year’s show. The
exhibition will be on

Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December 2016,

and will again be held in the Barnes Wallis building of the
University of Manchester’s northern campus, a mere 250m from Piccadilly Station.
More exhibition space has been hired this year and, in addition, the catering area has been almost doubled in size and will

open for longer, serving a much wider variety of food throughout the day. Exhibition coordinator, Philip Sweet, said:
“We have listened carefully to the feedback from last year’s visitors
and are acting on it to make the exhibition bigger and better than
ever. In line with their wishes we have increased the exhibition
space, improved the catering and have invited more layouts – there
should be twenty this year, two more than in 2015. One thing which
has not changed is the quality of the layouts; most of them have
been featured in one or more of the national railway modelling
magazines in the last 18 months. The variety of traders this year will
be even greater and we are arranging a number of activities designed
for families and children.
With Manchester’s acclaimed Christmas street markets nearby, our
show is the perfect destination for your Christmas shopping”
The Society website contains details and pictures of all the layouts, and much
more information about the exhibition. Exhibition -
To be kept informed of developments as the Exhibition takes shape, join
our mailing list by emailing: exhibition@mmrs.co.uk


Layouts are as follows;

Layout Name Scale/ Gauge Location Era Format

Arigna Town Ob36.75 Ireland 1950s Fiddle-terminus
Crimson Road OO Midlands 21st cent
Dewsbury Midland OO Yorkshire continuous run
Elcot Road P4 Croydon area 1988 fiddle-terminus
Forthtal 3.5mm Hoe (9mm) Germany/Austria Modern Fiddle to terminus
Grime Street 4mm tram Leeds 1948-54
Heatherly N England 2000-2016 Continuous run.
Kepier Colliery OO Durham 1960S Fiddle-works
Llantwyn OO9 Wales 1930s Continuos
Melton Mowbray (North) N Midlands 48-53 & 57-62 continuous run
Murfitt TT East Scotland
Museum of Transport OO/others England Present continuous
Northern Vale OO England 2015 Fiddle terminus
Portchllin P4 West Scotland 1974 fiddle-throughfiddle
Salmon Pastures OO Sheffield 1930s Fiddle to MPD
Seabury Town O (FS) England 1960s Fiddle -terminus
Shasta Z USA 1990s continuous
Sodor North Western OO Sodorish Continuous
The End of the Line O/On14 Forest of Dean 1960s Fiddle-terminus
The World's End OO Yorkshire Present day continuous run
Water Street Sidings O NE England 1910 Fiddle -terminus


Trade, Societies and more details to follow.
 
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allegheny1600

Western Thunderer
Countdown to Manchester
Exhibition

With just 60 days left before the start of the Manchester Model
Railway Society’s exhibition, preparations are well in hand and
advance tickets have now gone on sale. The event, which is the
only model railway exhibition to be staged in the centre of a
major UK city, is expected to attract large visitor numbers.

The organisers have listened carefully to the feedback from visitors at last
year’s exhibition, which attracted record-breaking crowds. As well as extra
exhibition space and improved catering, there will be more layouts, a film
theatre, and a special competition for children - with a very special prize.
The Society has a long tradition of high quality modelling and technical
innovation and this is reflected in the content of the exhibition. Most of the
layouts which will be present have been featured in the railway modelling press
and demonstrate a very high level of craftsmanship. There will also be a wide
range of demonstrations, including radio controlled trains, 3-D printing and
advanced electronic control, as well as the more traditional craft skills.
Located just 3 minutes walk from Manchester Piccadilly station, with a
wide variety of trade stands and with Manchester’s acclaimed Christmas
street markets nearby, THE Christmas Model Railway Show is the
perfect destination for your Christmas shopping.
The Society website contains details and pictures of all the layouts, and much
more information about the exhibition. www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition
To be kept informed of developments as the Exhibition takes shape, join
our mailing list by emailing: exhibition@mmrs.co.uk
 

allegheny1600

Western Thunderer
Poignant Tribute at Manchester Exhibition

Among the many attractions at Manchester Model Railway
Society’s exhibition in December will be a poignant tribute to a
member who died in tragic circumstances last year.

Colin Robinson was a well respected member of the MMRS and also an awardwinning
amateur film maker. At the time of his death he was finishing a
biographical film on the life of Richard Trevithick entitled “A Cornish Giant”.
The film has now been completed and will receive its première on Saturday 3rd
December at the Society’s annual exhibition in central Manchester.
The Society have arranged extra exhibition space in 2016, part of which has
been allocated to a film theatre which will screen a selection of Colin’s films,
including his documentary on the Beyer-Peacock locomotive works and his
affectionate look at Chee Tor, one of the Society’s former layouts.
Exhibition coordinator, Philip Sweet, said:
“It is entirely appropriate that we honour Colin’s memory in this way.
The innovative and informative videos that he filmed and edited last
year, which explained to visitors the routes to our exhibition venue,
played a significant part in the success of last year’s show. He was a
keen member of the Society, a fine model engineer and a talented
film-maker.”
As well as the film screenings and a selection of 20 high class layouts,
the Society has also organised a number of hands-on activities for both
children and adults. Located just 3 minutes walk from Manchester
Piccadilly station, with a wide variety of trade stands and with
Manchester’s acclaimed Christmas street markets nearby, THE Christmas
Model Railway Show is the perfect destination for a Christmas shopping
trip.
The Society website contains details and pictures of all the layouts, and much
more information about the exhibition. www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition
To be kept informed of developments as the Exhibition takes shape, join
our mailing list by emailing: exhibition@mmrs.co.uk
 

allegheny1600

Western Thunderer
STOP PRESS!


Dewsbury Midland* will be featured on ITV on Thursday evening (10th November) at 7:30 - The Tonight programme and it's nationwide! It was filmed to provide background for a programme about HS2. There will be a credit at the end of the programme and hopefully a link to the website through the ITV social media. Obviously we don't know how many seconds of actual exposure we'll get, but this has to be of interest to all.

*As featured at the Manchester show!
 
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allegheny1600

Western Thunderer
Finally, I have got my scanner working so can now upload the floor-plan for your information.

31077539196_7eafd95b6c_c.jpg

The main hall (Room 2) and associated adjacent rooms.

31077536076_aed722ab8e_c.jpg

Room 5.

31113582845_8200af66ab_c.jpg

Room 7.

Hope it's useful to any and all potential visitors, you can now plan your route to your favourite layout or trader, etc!
Cheers,
John.
 

allegheny1600

Western Thunderer
Countdown to Exhibition
With less than a fortnight to go, the organising team at
Manchester’s ground breaking Model Railway Society, the third
oldest in the world, are completing their final preparations for
“THE Christmas Model Railway Show – Manchester 2016!”

The event, staged over the weekend of December 3rd & 4th at the Barnes Wallis
building in Altrincham Street, promises to be very popular, with model railway
layouts on display from as far away as Kent, Sussex, Norfolk and Edinburgh.
But in addition to 20 visiting model railway layouts, there are also attractions
aimed at children, a wide range of trade stands and the film première of “A
Cornish Giant”, a documentary on the life of Richard Trevithick.
Exhibition coordinator, Philip Sweet said:
“We have listened carefully to the comments made by visitors to last
year’s show, and have acted on them to put together a really high class
exhibition with some of the best model railway layouts in the UK. We
intend not only to please the serious modeller, but also to provide a
great day out for the whole family. One lucky child will go home with an
early Christmas present – the complete model railway set which is the
prize in our free to enter competition.”
Advance tickets for the exhibition (at a reduced price) are on sale through the
Society’s website until the end of November. The exhibition is being staged in
the Barnes Wallis Building in Altrincham Street, just 3 minutes walk from
Manchester Piccadilly station, and has its own multi-storey car park. It is
ideally located to combine a visit to the exhibition with a trip to Manchester’s
acclaimed Christmas Street Markets.
The organisers warn that the exhibition is likely to be crowded on Saturday
morning and advise families with small children to come on Saturday afternoon
or Sunday.
Further details, with pictures of all the layouts appearing at THE Christmas
Model Railway Show, are on the Society’s website www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition
Or, for other enquiries, by emailing: exhibition@mmrs.co.uk
 

allegheny1600

Western Thunderer
Traders Present will be;

Bill Hudson Transport Books
Brass Masters
C&L Finescale
Cheltenham Model Centre
DC Kits
Direct Train Spares
Eileen’s Emporium
Going Loco
Gordon Coltas Trust
Greenscene
H&A Models
Judith Edge Kits
Layouts 4U
Locoshed
Manchester Locomotive Society
Megapoints
Model Railway Developments
Pennine Models
Shawplan
Ten Commandments
TMS Models
Trains & Diecast

And if that wasn’t enough, after we’ve closed you can still visit the acclaimed Manchester Christmas Street Markets! http://www.mancheste...on_and_travel/2
 

Alan

Western Thunderer
Those of us on Salmon Pastures certainly enjoyed our weekend. I have nothing but praise for the organisation and quality of the layouts.
Many thanks to Philip Sweet and his committee and stewards who made the weekend both for us and the visitors so enjoyable.
 

adrian

Flying Squad
I managed to get down for a few hours on Sunday morning and enjoyed the show. Some nice exhibits, some I'd seen before but nice to get to see again and a few new ones which were great to see. I also managed to pick up a few bits of materials and a 2mm etching list from Judith Edge.

Sorry I didn't get to Salmon Pastures, stuck in the corner there seemed to be a bit of a bottleneck to get in there and I was quite surprised how busy it was for a Sunday morning as it always seemed 3 deep in spectators.

Overall I thought the venue was very good, the air conditioning was working well, so it wasn't hot and stuffy like a few other venues. It felt busy and often we were jostling through crowds. There was room to navigate as long as people didn't stop for a chat in the middle of a corridor. I felt sorry for the exhibitors in rooms 6 and 8, I'm sure quite a few will have missed those rooms out thinking that once they got to the cafe/restaurant area that was the end of the exhibits. I think maybe one slightly larger room in a neighbouring building would be better than these little annexes.

With the number of spectators I didn't get that many opportunities for photos but I did manage to soak up the atmosphere (and noise!) at Portchullin.
manchester - 1.jpg
 

Alan

Western Thunderer
That's a shame Adrian I would have liked to have met you. Yes we were quite busy as while those of us behind the layout were playing serious trains, our eccentric, but tame vicar, out the front was allowing youngsters to drive our tram, in the hope of perhaps encouraging them into modelling at some later date.
 

allegheny1600

Western Thunderer
I certainly missed 6 and 8....
Hi Gilbert, All,
On behalf of the exhibition team, I do apologise if anyone missed these rooms. We have certainly tried our level best to advertise exactly where each room is both in the venue itself and online (see my post #8, above).
It is not an easy thing to do however and the layout of the site is rather complex plus, I'm afraid I missed showing exactly where "room 8" is on my scan.
If you look closely at the image for "Room 7", you can make out "Room" in the block of exhibits on the right hand side, the "8" has unfortunately been obscured by the exhibit "Heatherley" - I'm afraid I have only just noticed this myself, sorry! "Room 6" is in the same position but downstairs!
As we get more used to the venue ourselves both we and our guests, will get to know the layout of the venue better.
I do hope it didn't spoil the show for anyone and I will pass the comments on to Phil Sweet, our exhibition co-ordinator.
Best regards,
John.
 

Stoke5D

Western Thunderer
Missed the downstairs rooms but did find Room 8...

Great show, took me back to my teenage years when I attended with my father and brother.


Andrew
 
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