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

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Colin M

Colin M

Western Thunderer
I go to see layouts.

The specialist trade has voted with it's feet. The primary audience at Warley wants to buy 00 in boxes. Market forces will always determine what is viable.

Here's my contentious thought for the day...

Most public entertainment attractions where you can readily spend the whole day , such as zoo's, theme parks etc. cost upwards of £20, sometimes £35-£40 to get through the gate. If you go to see a theatre show in London, it's £50 each. Just visiting the cinema these days is a tenner. And that's before a coke and pop corn nearly doubles it again. And just look at the prices people have to pay to go watch 22 men kick a ball up and down a field for an hour and a half!

I spent the whole day and I enjoyed some exquisite modelling. Given the size of the show, I think £12 to get into Warley was bloody good value!

It's easily more than three times the size of most town shows and they generally cost around a fiver to get in. I went by train, so I didn't park, but even adding the cost of parking... is £20+ such a high price for a good day out? (And oddly, nobody seems to complain about having to pay over £400 for a plastic bodied rtr loco, or £200 for coaches, which seems far more disproportionate value-for-money to me?)

(Sorry! I gonna go hide under my layout now, whilst the sparks fly...)
 
Phill Dyson

Phill Dyson

Western Thunderer
Colin M said:
(And oddly, nobody seems to complain about having to pay over £400 for a plastic bodied rtr loco, or £200 for coaches, which seems far more disproportionate value-for-money to me?)
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:confused: I take it you must have managed to miss mine, Jordan's & quite a few others posts over the last few years then :)););):p
 
Mike W

Mike W

Western Thunderer
I agree with Colin that £12 entry is OK. Its the venue I mainly don't like, for all the reasons given above. I go to classic car shows there too, and the queues are even worse - like 2 hours queuing from the M42 to even get to the car park. You expect that at something like Silverstone, but this is a "National" centre in the heart of the country on several main motorways.

But, turning to the positive, a lot of friends go there, so its an enjoyable day despite that!

Mike
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
Colin M said:
I go to see layouts.

The specialist trade has voted with it's feet. The primary audience at Warley wants to buy 00 in boxes. Market forces will always determine what is viable.
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Not entirely the case - the 'Small Suppliers' area had quite a few niche suppliers and several doing parts, tools, materials, etc., so presumably they regard it as worth their while. For example I spoke to Frank Waller from Road Transport Images and he was quite happy with his takings over the two days. He regards it as a convenient shop window and useful input for his own modelling not to mention saving a lot of Post Office time. O gauge specialists seemed thin on the ground, not that I was really looking, but the Reading trade show is set up with this in mind so isn't altogether surprising. Your fundamental points are right, of course, but no doubt reflect model railways as a whole.

The price - admission (£10.50 in advance), sharing a lift, etc., was far from unreasonable relative to say, an afternoon watching Bath Rugby and certainly relative to a Test Match or even a county one day or T20 game (my other entertainment vices) for the quality of modelling entertainment offered. Of course, if I hadn't thought that, I wouldn't have gone!

Adam
 
Jordan

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
queensquare said:
... - and you complain about 'the other place' :)
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Sorry, only just got chance to catch up properly, but couldn't let this one go... where exactly are 'our' "complaints" about the Other Place, especially in regards to this topic..?? :confused:

Re pricing at Warley, yes on the face of it £12 (or £10.50) is very good value for a day's entertainment - but it is also the one venue where people take into account - much more than usual possibly - the other costs of getting there, which seem to inflate the price substantially in many/most cases. Your view of the Trade there depends on what you're after, and certainly in Pre-Internet days I found Warley a good place to get stuff I wanted 'all under one roof'.... but then that was also before I started in O Scale, and discovered Telford, so Warley is no longer a "must go" Show for me.
Last time I went as a paying Punter, with 'advance' tickets, we were in the queue waaaaaaaay back, up stairs and round a corner. (It was a different Hall to the one they use now, I think) Some bright spark from the Club started selling the Program at the top of the stairs. She delayed us getting past so much that by the time we did get to the main entrance it was past the 'official' opening time, and the entrance was virtually clear to just stroll in.:rant:
It had made it an utter waste of time getting there early.
 
mickoo

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Jordan I read that as not complaining about the the place at all, but pointing out that the other place has lots of complaints and we complain about them complaining LOL, does that make sense? in other words, this thread is no different from many over there that many here voice concerns about.

Personally despite issues raised here, there has been a lot of praise too (guilty on both counts) and some shrewd constructive points raised to boot which IMVHO makes this thread different from others elsewhere in the same genre.

Now, onto more productive thoughts, who's going to help me spend £300 at Reading then! :p
 
28ten

28ten

Guv'nor
£300 won't get you far! But if you want a loco kit MOK 14xx would fit the bill or maybe something from Mr Finney?
 
Dikitriki

Dikitriki

Flying Squad
28ten said:
No taste :p
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Absolutely:) Nobody's ever accused me of having taste.

It is an interesting thought though. Assuming you have a budget of £300, and want a complete kit (say Slater's wheels and Mashima plus fold up gearbox) what is available - excluding any budget horrors?
 
Jordan

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
mickoo said:
Jordan I read that as not complaining about the the place at all, but pointing out that the other place has lots of complaints and we complain about them complaining LOL, does that make sense?
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Yes I sort of follow your point, but I don't see much here about us complaining about them complaining..?? There's one post here (by Pennine IIRC) that mentions a thread Over There about Warley - can't be bothered to trawl back looking for it, but that's about it.
Regardless of which Forum we're on, the same issues about Warley/NEC will inevitably come up, except on here no one is comparing notes on 4mm RTR "Bargains" or the lemming-like rush to the Bachmann stand.... :D
 
queensquare

queensquare

Western Thunderer
mickoo said:
Jordan I read that as not complaining about the the place at all, but pointing out that the other place has lots of complaints and we complain about them complaining LOL, does that make sense? in other words, this thread is no different from many over there that many here voice concerns about.
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Thats pretty much it in a nutshell. I was exhibiting there all weekend and probably saw less than half of it so where are the reviews/photos of what you liked/didn't like. What inspired you and what should have been left at home.

Warley in general - we had a great, if exhausting weekend. The best and worst thing about Warley is the shear size and scale of it - it is what it is. It is both wonderful and enormously frustrating all at the same time. I feel much the same about Glastonbury Festival which I have been to/worked at for the last 30 years - most of what is good and bad about it is down to its size. What I do know is I wouldn't want to organise it. Its a colossal undertaking and, considering the club have to deal with the NEC who aren't the most flexible of organisations, I think they do a fantastic job.

We didn't get to see all of it but the highlight, for me, was, as usual, the Dutch/German/French area. I have no real interest in Continental prototypes but they always seem to come up with something new and inspiring. I particularly liked the S scale French metre gauge - beautifully observed. The 1:1 Lyd was fabulous and I liked the narrow gauge themed area although I was a little underwhelmed by Cliffhanger which Kim said looked like a box hedge. In my own 2mm/N area I thought Loch Tat was a stunning piece of work. I made a couple of dashes over to Lime Street but , other than a long view down the layout from the concourse (stunning), I couldn't get near it which tells its own story.

Tucking Mill behaved well all weekend which was very gratifying considering it was its first time out and I only stopped throwing green stuff at it on the Thursday evening - followed by lots of cleaning and scraping to get it working again!

Jerry
 
queensquare

queensquare

Western Thunderer
Jordan said:
Yes I sort of follow your point, but I don't see much here about us complaining about them complaining..?? There's one post here (by Pennine IIRC) that mentions a thread Over There about Warley - can't be bothered to trawl back looking for it, but that's about it.
Regardless of which Forum we're on, the same issues about Warley/NEC will inevitably come up, except on here no one is comparing notes on 4mm RTR "Bargains" or the lemming-like rush to the Bachmann stand.... :D
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My point was about the site in general, not necessarily this thread. I suspect the lack of comparing notes about the 4mm bargains is because you are predominantly 7mm modellers, so the froth is about Dapol 7mm RTR bargains and what to buy at Reading.

Jerry
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
queensquare said:
so the froth is about...
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More like a stirred cup of coffee with steamed milk than a full blown cappacino!

In passing, I suspect that we all read the posts which describe what was bought at Telford / S4UM and similar shows - maybe even enjoy the thought of untold joy to come (as applicable to a Martin Finney kit as to a JLTRT offering... or even a box of random parts from Model Express). If "what to buy at Reading" is froth, then surely the same adjective ought to be applied to the posts about purchases etc..

regards, Graham
 
Jordan

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
queensquare said:
.... so where are the reviews/photos of what you liked/didn't like. What inspired you and what should have been left at home.
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Well the HJ Western has been discussed.... can't help with anything else as a) I wasn't there and b) I don't tend to take a camera to Shows either.

It is both wonderful and enormously frustrating all at the same time.....
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From a Punter's point of view, I suppose it depends how much one outways the other, either way, on how likely one is to attend.
I went last year on the Saturday as a guest operator for Makhis of this Parish, and I found the experience completely different to being a punter; much more enjoyable even if I didn't see much else, but that's down to being involved with a layout, and would be the same at any show.

Re "Over There", yes we might portray a slight sense of "we don't do that" (such as froth) when in fact we do, but I still maintain that there is very little - if any - "complaining" on here about what goes on there.
 
Pennine MC

Pennine MC

Western Thunderer
Jordan said:
...There's one post here (by Pennine IIRC) that mentions a thread Over There about Warley - can't be bothered to trawl back looking for it, but that's about it.
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I can:)

(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:() .
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But only by way of underscoring my next point, which I'm afraid is difficult to make without an element of comparison.

mickoo said:
Personally despite issues raised here, there has been a lot of praise too (guilty on both counts) and some shrewd constructive points raised to boot which IMVHO makes this thread different from others elsewhere in the same genre.
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Mick expresses something I've long thought; it isnt the subject of discussion per se that's so wearying, but how it's discussed. Threads on Rmweb very quickly get circular for several reasons - posters who cant see other points of view and confuse opinion with fact, posters who arent content in thinking they're right, but have to bang on and on trying to prove they're right, posters who have to 'have their say' even though they're adding nothing new (and often they havent read the previous posts anyway, probably because there are so bloody many of them). Oh, and when a robust but measured discussion *is* taking place, there are posters who wade in accusing others of getting upset over toy trains.

I say this not with the negative intention of slagging off Rmweb (ultimately, it is what it is), more with the positive hope that these factors can continue to be avoided here. So far (and with the odd exception), I've found that folk here either challenge one's views intelligently, seek a mutual understanding, or just accept them and move on.
 
queensquare

queensquare

Western Thunderer
Pennine MC said:
I can:)


Mick expresses something I've long thought; it isnt the subject of discussion per se that's so wearying, but how it's discussed. Threads on Rmweb very quickly get circular for several reasons............
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Sorry Ian but this is exactly the sort of post. As you know I have had my run ins with RMWeb, in particular the heavy handed way its moderated but it seems to me that, moderation aside (and this is where WT really scores), there isn't much difference here.
RMWeb, like Warley, is a victim of its size. RMWeb has the handicap of poor moderation, Warley has NEC traffic control. Both contain lots of good stuff but you have to wade through a lot of dross to get there. The question with both is whether you can be bothered to put your waders on.

Jerry
 
28ten

28ten

Guv'nor
I belong to other modelling forums (fora?) and they go in circles/froth about the latest releases, its the nature of the beast. A thread is an organic entity and for good or bad it changes with the input of others members, a blog on the other hand gives total content, but with less input. Different strokes and all that :)
 
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