Warley - Who went, Report Here!!! (was 'Yorkchestershire' thread)

[marsa69]

Apologies for any confusion my statement may have caused so let me just be clearer. Both layouts which I compared are excellently built examples. The let down for me and that which prompted my 'firmly in shadow' comment was in the operation. We all can't like the same thing but for me the fact that everytime I've seen Apethorn it's been ram jammed packed with viewers and Aberbeeg has been virtually deserted is an extremely telling point

 

[Phill Dyson]

I've seen Apethorn it's been ram jammed packed with viewers

& deservedly so in my book

 

[Simon Dunkley]

Shock horror!

We have different tastes and consequently different opinions.
I need to lie down...

 

[Colin M]

I went yesterday. I don't go every year, as the last couple of times, I've found it a bit "samey".

This year.. I thought it was the best Warley show ever! I was there not long after opening, and the time flashed by until I had to rush for the 18:00 train back to London.

There truely was something for every taste. Much bigger proportion of larger scale layouts, O and upwards, and loads of exquisite quality model making. There was an impressive selection of big projects too. Big layouts that you just can't accomodate in smaller shows, let alone several at once. The standard of modelling quality is ever growing, and great to see lots of "actual places" being depicted. I really enjoyed it; no complaints from me.

It is true, some of the bigger layouts did suffer a little from a lack of movement. It is perhaps the downside to having too much space and such long runs. But there was plenty of tail-chasing layouts to watch trains go by. You could also argue that newish projects didn't have enough variety of stock for their size, but operators will learn with experience and stock collections will grow with time. Sometimes I think our expectations are a little too onerous? These operators are just hobbyists, same as us, who are sharing their hobby time for free.


Well done everyone at Warley... Great show!

 

[Pennine MC]

Apologies for any confusion my statement may have caused so let me just be clearer.

No probs here Mark; to be fair I didnt see a problem until the definition of 'comparison' became an issue

You could also argue that newish projects didn't have enough variety of stock for their size, but operators will learn with experience and stock collections will grow with time. Sometimes I think our expectations are a little too onerous? These operators are just hobbyists, same as us, who are sharing their hobby time for free.

You paid good money, imho you are entitled to be critical. it is a show and as such exhibitors should be providing entertainment.
.

I think there's a balance to be struck between these two sentiments, one that historically has not been always appreciated when the subject of shows has come up on certain other forums (and there is yet another discussion taking place even now on Rmweb, that will surely follow the same interminable path and end up getting locked) .

The passage I've highlighted in Colin's post is the operative phrase IMO - with the obvious exception of layouts belonging to a host club, the exhibitors are *not* the show organisers and slightly different sets of expectations should apply to each. Too many casual commentators just lump them both together and scattergun criticism which indiscriminately targets both; the result is that the goodwill of exhibitors - without which the show circuit simply would not function - gets stretched yet again.

 

[Dikitriki]

I went to Warley today and I have mixed feelings. There was a lot of good modelling on show, and I was able to see a number of layouts I had wanted to see for some time. I was able to see everything I wanted to, and although busy, it wasn't manic, as I understand yesterday was.

Yet it was strangely not satisfying, and I can't pin down why. Lacks soul maybe? Too big? Tries to cater to all tastes? Though why on earth the last 2 should be a criticism I have no idea. I enjoy much more the Aylesbury, Manchester, Wigan shows.

Whatever, we have decided that we shall not change our mind, and Heyside will not be going to Warley.

I was able to get up close and personal with the Heljan 40 which looks fantastic, with the headcode disks and front ladder. In fact the front end looked magnificent. I asked them to take it out of the ground floor cabinet so I could have a closer look, and they could not have been more helpful. They also advised they are considering a steam outline project.

Aberbeeg worked faultlessly and has come on a long way since Telford, and the DCC sound was well-done and not obtrusive, and I particularly liked the Lynton & Barnstable village too.

Overall, I'm glad I went, but I shalln't be going again in a hurry.

Richard

 

[mickoo]

You paid good money, imho you are entitled to be critical. it is a show and as such exhibitors should be providing entertainment.
As Ian says Aberbeeg sadly failed to impress last time we saw it.

I know, and I also know, from recent posts that they are only human and do try to give the best, sadly though the 15mins I recall there were no technical problems, no panics with soldering irons, no headless chicken running around to fix something, it was clearly a break in the program at which several members were enjoying a private joke. Oddly that irked me a lot, don't know why just did so apologies again if it has offended anyone, not my intention.

The model is to die for, it looks the part and when a train does run, performs and sounds excellent, I just don't have all that time to wait to see one perhaps two trains running, sorry .

If a layouts success is measured by the crowds around it, then Aberbeeg fell flat on its face, there was never an issue getting close whilst I was there, there were a lot of people there yesterday so my thoughts with standing, that's a lot of other people who also felt it was not sadly worth the wait.

 

[mickoo]

I went to Warley today and I have mixed feelings. There was a lot of good modelling on show, and I was able to see a number of layouts I had wanted to see for some time. I was able to see everything I wanted to, and although busy, it wasn't manic, as I understand yesterday was.

Yet it was strangely not satisfying, and I can't pin down why. Lacks soul maybe? Too big? Tries to cater to all tastes? Though why on earth the last 2 should be a criticism I have no idea. I enjoy much more the Aylesbury, Manchester, Wigan shows.

Whatever, we have decided that we shall not change our mind, and Heyside will not be going to Warley.

I was able to get up close and personal with the Heljan 40 which looks fantastic, with the headcode disks and front ladder. In fact the front end looked magnificent. I asked them to take it out of the ground floor cabinet so I could have a closer look, and they could not have been more helpful. They also advised they are considering a steam outline project.

Aberbeeg worked faultlessly and has come on a long way since Telford, and the DCC sound was well-done and not obtrusive, and I particularly liked the Lynton & Barnstable village too.

Overall, I'm glad I went, but I shalln't be going again in a hurry.

Richard

On reflection I think this year will be my last for a while and next year I will probably travel to and try to, sample other shows in the 150 mile zone.

 

[Jordan]

I must admit that for many years I've made it a habit to visit my local Model Shop on "Warley Saturday", and spend the money it'd cost me to get to Warley (train fares or petrol/parking + entry for me & lad) with them instead.
Sadly I didn't even manage that this year, but hopefully will be swapping Beer Tokens with them for a HJ Class 31 soon...

 

[Colin M]

Don't forget the pile of sick on the floor .

I witnessed the pavement pizza too! We must have been stood waiting at Aberbeeg at around the same time.

 

[Simon]

Went up to the NEC with George today, possibly the best show I've seen there I think.

There is so much to see, I managed to miss several exhibits and spend too little time at too many, but found plenty of interest and some inspiring stuff.

I took a few photos but their quality is dreadful so I will inflict very few of them on you.

Quick dekko at 009 on coast, amazing but seriously wrong geology around the bridge ends, called in at County Gate, demented "Master" figure whizzing up and down on motorized throne, sound of birds a bit too Hitchcock for my liking but great looking American "Airstream" type loco running on overall a seriously nice model railway.

Then down to the European section via conversation with Gordon and Maggie Gravett, (yes I will send letters out for "Larkrail" more than a week before the event) first proper stop the Dutch Perspective modelling masterpiece Veldhoven 1935 with lozenge shaped carriages, here's a snap.



Then on to a lovely French HO layout, Chatellerault-Chateuneuf depicting a slightly modified version of a real place being operated in the 1970s, where in reality it had shut to passengers in the 1950s. Operated and built by genuine French men whose English was better than my French. Very appreciative and friendly, our common bond of railway enthusiasm encourged me to lose some inhibitions and attempt various bits of French conversation and vocabulary on them, much amusement resulting



Then an Englishman who lives in their town turned up to do his explanation of the whole thing, another very nice chap.

After that it got a bit hazy, loadza conversations with suppliers, traders, friends etc, bought some more resin etc from Sylmasta who had taken a stand there, saw the new Peco 009, very nice, spent a good 1/2 hour in front of Aberbeeg, fantastic potential, not fully realised but will be truly show stopping if they can get as good as the Apethorne Junction guys were last year.

Strangely(?) the most inspiring thing/model for me was a very simple P4 DCC operated layout buily by a member of Warley mrc, Allt y Graban Road. Really simple concept, well weathered stock, good lighting, good back story, great backscene, good lighting and this:





I must be going soft in the head but that was the drop dead gorgeous model of the show for me, rarely modelled, not "GW cute" but for some reason hugely appealing.

I'm off for a lie down...

Great show, and thanks to all those who made it possible.

I don't think you could put on such a big show and please all of the people, I take my hat off to Paul and co and hope they continue for a while yet

Simon

 

[mickoo]

I witnessed the pavement pizza too! We must have been stood waiting at Aberbeeg at around the same time.

Likewise LOL, young lad about 10 or so, really did not look very well at all .

 

[28ten]

That signal box is superb, as is the Dutch scene.

 

[Mike W]

Maybe its just me, but I really, really don't like the NEC. Queues to park, extortionate parking fees, long wait or long trudge to the hall, 45 minutes standing in yet another queue to pay for an entry ticket - 2 hours in total from entering the NEC grounds to entering the show. The hall was crowded, and yet the show was artifically constrained to a small area within the hall itself - why not take down the wooden perimeter walls, spread out and wider the aisles?

Anyway, I wanted to come to the rescue of the Gauge 3 layout mentioned earlier (with which I have no connection). I understand one loco wasn't ready in time (it was on Dave Walker's demo stand) and the other two were straight out of the RTR box, but performed less well than one would expect. That's an explanation rather than an excuse and I hope it will be better sorted next time we see it.

I understand the other Gauge 3 layout won "best large scale layout" award (7mm upwards), so redeemed the scale's reputation to some extent!

Mike
(yes, you guessed right - I model Gauge 3!)

 

[mickoo]

Maybe its just me, but I really, really don't like the NEC. Queues to park, extortionate parking fees, long wait or long trudge to the hall, 45 minutes standing in yet another queue to pay for an entry ticket - 2 hours in total from entering the NEC grounds to entering the show. The hall was crowded, and yet the show was artifically constrained to a small area within the hall itself - why not take down the wooden perimeter walls, spread out and wider the aisles?

I agree on the parking fees! but didn't get held up too much parking, they did cock up with the arrival roads having left the arrival road as one lane and the leaving as two, I did tell one traffic attendant that they need to sort it as traffic was queing back to almost the motorway and he apologiesd for their mistake, so hopefully people after me didn't get bogged dwon in that two into one bit. I arrived at 09:50, walked to the NEC and joined the cash queue (huge difference in waiting time!) and was in the hall by 10:25, don't walk the way everyone else does, if your in E4 then walk the opposite way to everyone to carpark E5 and then walk to the NEC around the lake, it's about 1/2 mile shorter I reckon. Even better if I go next year I'm going to ignore the rail signs and park in E5 and pay for what ever show that is, watched a couple of guys in front of me do just that, went to E5 which I think was cats or bike show, paid for that car park then walked to NEC and bought rail tickets, took them about 5mins to get in and park!.

Regarding space, they have to pay per Sq M so if there are not enough paying stalls then have to make savings by reducing the floor space, which is bloody stupid as they can't use that space for sod all else for 2 days!. This year however there were large gaps that could have been filled with a little planning and reduced cattle pen conditions in other places, though I believe stalls have to be in certain set places for power pick up etc, I did look at the floor ducting and it is quite regimental in its grid format so that may be one of the limiting factors that restrict them in where they can place stalls.

Anyway, I wanted to come to the rescue of the Gauge 3 layout mentioned earlier (with which I have no connection). I understand one loco wasn't ready in time (it was on Dave Walker's demo stand) and the other two were straight out of the RTR box, but performed less well than one would expect. That's an explanation rather than an excuse and I hope it will be better sorted next time we see it.

I understand the other Gauge 3 layout won "best large scale layout" award (7mm upwards), so redeemed the scale's reputation to some extent!

Mike
(yes, you guessed right - I model Gauge 3!)

Thanks for the explanation, makes sense, it really was very good but I was startled at how poor the one tank engine I saw performed, I liked the mass that G3 offers, who makes RTR G3 stuff then?.

Kindest

 

[Mike W]

Hi Mickoo,

I feel better after that rant!

The main G3 RTR was commissiond by Garden Railway Specialists from China, but I think Bachmann somehow got hold of exacty the same models too and marketted the same things at a higher price. Its a GWR 2-6-2T and B set. Usual Chinese standards apply - great value for money, nicely detailed, but not held together very well and mechanically questionable. Some people have problems with gears, wheels and motors, whist others seem to have no problems at all. Quality Control problems maybe? But for the price they're amazing.

Also of course you can now get G3 RTR live steam - a Britannia. First batch being delivered now and reports are similar - amazing value, superb detailling but bits can fall off.

Mike

 

[AJC]

I was there on the Sunday and rather enjoyed it, for all sorts of reasons. I spent very little money: no chasing show bargains for me, and simply ambled about, and as usual, I seem to have missed a load of stuff. Never mind. Some very fine layouts - I was very taken with Ynys y Bwl (pre-grouping Taff Vale Railway, EM), which has come on greatly since I saw it at the Southampton show in January. I especially liked the semi-scenic nature of the storage sidings replete with various buildings and sidings seemingly with a purpose beyond simply holding stock: so much better than bare plywood. The Dutch N scene was a majestic piece of model making, full of finese and delicate working detail (as was the British N layout, Loch Tat). Jerry's new 2mm layout also looks very splendid and the sheer scale of the Gauge 3 rendition of St Ives was impressive.

I didn't see Aberbeeg or Allt-y-Graban Road, unfortunately, though I have seen the latter before (that signal box is so typically Western Region and so nicely rendered). Were they on the same row? I can't comment on Aberbeeg directly though I wasn't hugely impressed - in the sense that it failed to make much of an impression, not that I thought it was poor - by it when I saw the pictures of it in RM, but what was lacking, I really couldn't say. Both layouts very definitely have the flavour of south Wales though. In the flesh, I might be able to work it out. In the case of the RM piece, much I suspect was the quality of the light in the pictures, but that's difficult to do much about short of photographing things outdoors. These apart, a common strand is lighting - comparatively few layouts had adequate lighting rigs which became increasingly problematic as the day progressed.

Adam

 

[Paul Rolley]

as previously mentioned, no warley for me either, no incentive, and no land rover, so I popped to my local shop for some hobby therapy and a sound chip for a 47, but to my frustration, they had packed everything up and taken it to the NEC. Bah.
so plaster boarded my brothers new railway room in the garden annex, a 6m by 3m, out building, or is it the new Red room, Mr. Grey,
so then a call to Hattons on saturday evening and BINGO. delivered today, 3 new Bachmann Brushes, all destined to be renumbered, renamed as my Canton steam heat heros, and I had text updates as to their whereabouts during delivery, an all day uplifting experience, have seen the static display layouts before, and just dont feel I missed anything after reading the thread,
Roll on Thor, vulcan, and GJC. or maybe colossus, oh decisions, decisions.

 

[marsa69]

Colossus! The nameplates will be cheaper

 

[bogusman]

I have only been to warley once and it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. I much prefer shows like railex and some of our local shows. As for prototypical running times on some of these layouts I do believe they should be relaxed or totally forgotten as people have parted with their hard earned to go to these shows to see trains run! Please don't get me wrong as I would expect to see prototype running at specialist shows having been an operator and punter at these type events. I am sorry if I sound an old git but this is one of my pet hates, I still remember being at central hall watching Heckmondyke and just hearing bell codes for ages then a train would trundle by and that was it then the bell codes would start again!!!!!!

Pete