Whither goes the Model Railway Exhibition?

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Andy C

Guest
Now as those who have read my blog recently will see - http://newheymodelrailway.wordpress.com/ - Ive a bit of experience in running model railway shows, as well as even more experience of exhibiting at them.

So its maybe no suprise I'm a little bit cynical about shows and to be honest rarely visit them as a paying visitor unless its something worthwhile like Scaleforum etc. Last week my eye was caught by a small show in York, run by the Ebor group which was a back to basics early years event with no trade to speak of just layouts, and some interesting soundng ones at that.

So I went to visit. Now I like York, as a lover of real ales its got a lot to offer if the show was naff. But guess what, it was brilliant, the lack of trade browsing concentrated my mind on the modelling around me and made me appreciate the efforts which has gone into the layouts even more. I moved on to licensed premises with a good spring in my step and thoroughly had a good day out.

Theres a lot to be said for this - yes its turning the clock back but the small traders are bailing out of shows at the moment like its gone out of fashion, and all we see is row after row of box shifters. And after all if I want a set of wheels or some figures etc its there at the click of the mouse anyway. If I want some boxed RTR items I'd much rather spend in my local model shop, Arcadia in Shaw and give Tim the profit, and where I can test my purchase .

I enjoyed myself, had a right royal day out and the show made such a refershing change its renewed my enthusiasm for the hobby and running shows. Interesting to hear other peoples thoughts.

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hrmspaul

Western Thunderer
Well that discussion went down really well!

Thank you Andy for enjoying our show. We made a good profit simply from the door and Tombola, York Against Cancer - our caterers were also pleased. One new member turned up last Tuesday and Wizard of the Moor has become a new member on here, so the Covhops are even less likely to be ready for S4orum. Unfortunately the Sherrif hasn't turned up as a new member, but we will try him again once his term of office comes to an end.

I really must learn to wear my glasses properly! And no one dare mention a hair cut.

Next show 22 -23 February 2014, same place all different exhibits.

Paul Bartlett
PS - there are far nicer real ale pubs in York than the Maltings!
PPS - now I see why I was operating the layout on my own, Jamie was photoing his layout.
PPPS lots more photos here http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/exhibition2013 and http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/10249524.Model_show_on_right_tracks_for_railway_fans/
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
To return to the o/p, I agree with Andy. There's a place for all sizes I think and although the big shows have been and can and will be fantastic, there is a lot to be said for the smaller show too.

Of course some of us have been ploughing that particular furrow for quite a while now;)

One think that does get on my proverbial is the sometimes heard call of "not enough quality material" and "small shows are bound to be pants" type comments.

I'll accept that if you are trying to fill New Century Hall or Thornbury Leisure Centre and need big exhibits then the first comment probably holds good, but I do allow myself a titter when I see earnest "scouts" for various (well known) shows pouncing upon anything new and half decent that appears, even when its been "outed" at a small show.

I find plenty that is exhibit-able for "my size" of show by talking to folk and keeping my eyes, ears and mind open to the possibilities that present themselves. You have to have the courage of your convictions sometimes and ignore some of the "advice" that others will offer though, and yes you can still get it wrong:oops:

I also think it helps to have a "position" and underlying mission, passion, philospophy or even an agenda. Just having an exhibition for its own sake doesn't really cut the mustard for me.

If some shows fall by the wayside then that won't be a bad thing, but equally I think the way is very open to new entrants.

Nothing stays the same forever, thank goodness.

Simon
 
A

Andy C

Guest
I do like your comment about the pouncing on of half decent layouts Simon. One of the things I hated about running shows was the competitiveness of it, the try to get one over on your competitor by booking the latest bestest layout before they did - and its still going on. Mind you theres nothing worse than trying to please the punter - the last NCH show I did in 2009 we had a pen in with arguably the three best layouts around at the time, Pempoul, Stealth Bomber (Crumley and Wickhill) and Wibdenshaw. We also had Dewsbury in running Blue Diesel and my first proper public outing with New Hey. yet the show got panned by the "EWS TMD Taliban" because out of the 22 layouts only a couple represented the modern day scene. yet we had every scale and gauge, era , etc covered! I could rant on about these individuals, but having seen their efforts, let it rest at that the most serious modelling problem they encounter is how to get the Class 66 out of the blue box.

There are far too many shows and Id dearly like to see some of them fold because they are run for no apparent reason other than an ego trip (sic) for the club concerned. Theres one such in the Greater Manchester area next weekend, showing exactly the same, with a few exceptions, club layouts they put out last year. It was the same the year before that and will be the same next year, although with a bit of luck they will give it up.

On the positive side though, I believe things can be far more different - its something we will be starting to bring in from this year at Manchester, Its got to go this way - as I pointed out traders are getting to the stage where they can only afford to do a few shows each year and you need a new "hook" to get the punters through the door. We are also looking to do something similar to the Ebor event with the Rochdale show, it was one of my other motivators fro going up having a look. Whatever, things will, and have, to change.
 
H

hrmspaul

Western Thunderer
I am pleased our little Ebor show has aroused such interest.
However, I am concerned that there is a suggestion that Model railway shows should be for 'us'. The Ebor exhibition is clearly aimed at the local public, not 'us'. OK, we have some very talented modellers and can call on some very good layouts, but it is an amateur show for the locals to show people the hobby how it can be shared. The running costs are ridiculously low, the hall comes without any hangers on having to be paid. We have to clear it (and set up afterwards). It is small, so we only invite the one local model shop - and they help with printing and advertising. It is a goodwill effort for them. The 2nd hand stall did very good business, with 10% of sales going to club funds. No one gets expenses, although help with transport is provided when necessary.
But a very important point is that it is done in co-operation with a popular local charity - York against cancer. In one stroke this means we don't have to worry about sorting out catering (individually we pay for all we eat and drink); we have a reason for asking local small businesses for prizes for the Tombola - something in kind such as a restaurant meal, few beers etc. One member in particular does a lot of the work on getting his customers to assist and the receipts are shared with the charity. Also, the charity has a network of members and newsletter so we get a bit more advertising. It also meant we got a 4 person mayors party and the local press - including mention on local radio.
Finally, apart from a positive financial outcome on the day we hope to get some new members, this certainly worked last year and we have had several visitors already after this year, so also potentially providing increased club income for years to come.
There have always been small local shows for the locals. But then that is how the Easter York show started 50 years ago!
 
A

Andy C

Guest
I'm certainly not suggesting that shows should be for "us", thats the route to financial suicide for anything but the commercial shows and Warley.

Certainly in the bigger shows which get more modeller footfall, such as Manchester, Railex et al, you have to have a weather eye firmly fixed on the modeller, hence my comment about covering the bases layout scale gauge protoype wise. But you still need the "dad and his lad" through the door because you have to cover your cost and they provide the backstop if the modeeler dicdes your last show was rubbish and arent coming this year! - achieving a show suitable for all is a delicate balance, one usually catered for by the roundy roundy layouts, as kids want to see something moving or something with plenty of action. Down to the smaller show, which is going to attract only the local modeller you have a diferent dynamic, and thats where I saw the Ebor event, locals some of whom may be interested or not and a smattering of modellers not particulalry intereted in the trade element but seeing some layouts and having an unhurried natter with like minded souls. I think theres a lot of mileage for clubs in this approach and a way of boosting club coffers, where I suspect the casualties lie will be in the middle ground, the show which has the single sports hall type accomodation, around 10 15 layouts and an ambition to keep the quality high which means importing layouts in from outside the area, and the attendant costs of that. Whats that quote from Macbeth? "Only vaulting ambition which oer'leaps itself"
 
H

hrmspaul

Western Thunderer
Andy C said:
I'm certainly not suggesting that shows should be for "us", thats the route to financial suicide for anything but the commercial shows and Warley.

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Apologies, I wasn't meaning your emails necessarily, although you do have a go at a club on an ego-trip. Are they, or are they simply showing a local population what they do and hopefully adding something to the club coffers.

I think it is interesting to read Mike Cooks book about the 'big' York show. The difference in attendance between when it was in the city centre and now it is stuck out of town is very telling. It may have been that well over half of attendance was simply passing trade seeing the posters outside the show and that has melted away. Yes it was very crowded, spread over two separate venues, but it exposed our hobby to a lot more people (especially their children) than the present set up. I know in York there is no going back, the main venue is now a privately owned restaurant - and not anything like as good as when the local council ran it!

Paul Bartlett
 
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