Exhibitions

[texhorse]

I'm wondering if anyone else feels the same way that I do when attending model railway exhibitons. I spend the drive down there looking forward to what I am going to see, what I'm going to buy.

I park up and eagerly walk to the doors, pay my entrance fee and in I go....

Only to find more of the same old, same old. Now admittedly most of the layouts in our exhibition halls are of British prototypes, either steam, diesel or both.  I understand that most people who go to the exhibition are going to like British trains, mainly.

I spend around ten seconds at each layout, before moving onto the next, and find after I've been round each one that I feel cheated. There are very few layouts which inspire me any more. Don't know what it is, but I find myself thinking that my own layout reaches a higher standard than some of them.

Don't get me wrong : I am grateful to the layout owners and exhibition managers putting on a show, but I've lost that "loving feeling" when it comes down to it.

As for the sales stands, very few of them offer bargains any more. They are usually the same prices you will find in a store (those that are still left).

I recently passed up an exhibition at the Midland Railway Centre, literally just two miles from where I live. The show was on a preserved railway which I have visited loads of times. Prices included a ride on the train.

There were 15 British layouts, two German ones, a French one, an Eastern European one and a Danish one. No American or Canadian layouts at all.

The latter was the main deciding factor that I wasn't going. Entry including the ride was £13.50 for adults.

For that price, plus the cost of the bus fare or petrol, I can buy a decoder for one my own locos, so I have something to show for it!

Am I Oscar the Grouch on this, or do others feel the same way about their shows?

[Sprintex]

Am I Oscar the Grouch on this,

In a word, yes

Why go if you know there's going to be nothing to your particular interest? I could go to loads of local shows, yet I don't if I look at the layout list and there's nothing to interest me. On the other hand I'll happily drive a reasonable distance to a show if there IS a layout or two that I particularly want to see. So if your area of interest is North American then why bother if it's all UK and European layouts? I know my mate who's into Canadian HO won't bother going unless there's something to see

As for traders I've rarely seen any bargains for what I want so just as easy to buy online or locally


Paul

[texhorse]

I take your points and agree with them Paul, but that's not really what I was getting at.  I think the quality of the layouts and modelling is nowhere near as good as it used to be.  A lot of the layouts have the same buildings, or the similar track layouts.  Maybe I'm too choosy now, I just think that things used to be better!

Having said that, I am going to the International N Gauge Show in a fortnight, and the Blackpool / Fylde show the week after (operating).

Andy

[MJKERR]

It's for these very reasons I tend to only attend every 4 to 6 years
I used to go to Model Rail Scotland every year, and whilst a gauge related theme was supposed to be in place quite often the same layouts would be present (and is still the case many years later)

I've only been to the N Gauge Show once in 2006, to inspect Littlewood
I spent all day there

I've been waiting for a DCC layout to appear

[MikeDunn]

The perennial question ...

Went to the Ludlow show yesterday ... only £2.50 to get in so a fiver for SWMBO included.  About 18 exhibitors, not all were model rail (eg model bus), but a good third or more were in N.  Generally the quality was good (but not higher), with a few notable exceptions that made me ask myself "why bother ?".  Not too many were of great interest to me, and several didn't run anything that I could see while there (a pet bug-bear) on my couple of trips around.  The latter I just don't get - one of the layouts had been abandoned !  Grrr.  It's not difficult to have something moving, even if it's slowly !  None of the dealers had any good bargains, at least as far as I was concerned, although SWMBO did pick up an LNER book 

Of the layouts that did provide some interest, I must say it wasn't great interest ...  So why bother going ?  Mainly because it was local, & I'd remembered it !  But I don't treat small shows like I do large ones; I know going in I'm not going to see really good layouts (not unless I'm very lucky !  But the Blackpool trams were absent this year  ); I know I'm not going to find that engine or carriage or wagon I just must have; and I know I'm not going to find a really good reference book.  Knowing all this, I have my expectations set quite low and if anything, I just hope to have them met !  Fortunately, having them this low means the show must be really bad to fail to meet them    Sadly - that can still happen 

But let's say that instead of at the Racecourse they held it on the SVR, and that instead of a fiver I'd be looking at paying in excess of £25 for entrance + a ride.  For my money, I'd expect a lot more ... so no, I can't say I blame you for not going to your local one.  I would have done just the same ... well, unless the SVR had a visiting engine running I really wanted to ride behind !!! 

But you've reminded me that I need to check the book to see if it's one we already have 

[johnlambert]

I sometimes wonder why I bother with exhibitions, but generally the good ones (or the ones with good stuff) outweigh the bad.  Generally it is the layouts I go to see, I don't expect to find bargains because I always assume that the cost to the retailer of attending the show will limit their ability to offer discounts.  But one of the retailers might just have that elusive item I've been looking for.

I went to the Midland Railway Centre exhibition last weekend and I thought it was reasonable value for the combined attractions of the railway and the exhibition.  For me the railway was, in this case, the main draw and the exhibition a nice bonus.

One thing that does disappoint me about a lot of layouts at exhibitions is the operation.  I like to see railway operations; locos running round stock; trains splitting or joining; empty stock going to carriage sidings or between platforms; slow trains being held in passing loops. I know not every layout will allow such operations and after a long day at the controls operators may not want the hassle; but it is a bit dull when all you see is trains arriving and departing.  Of course even that is better than layout where nothing moves at all.

[D1042 Western Princess]

Andy, I totally agree with you. Yes, I know it takes months, even years, to put a layout together, I know it takes serious time and effort to exhibit that layout and all the rest.
But if, for what ever reason, that layout does not appeal to the show visitor then, in my view, the show visitor has every right to say they didn't like the layout in the same way you might say that you didn't like a particular film, play, piece of music and so on.
It doesn't help, in my case, that only a very narrow band actually appeals to me and it doesn't include steam, foreign railways, narrow gauge, anything pre 1965 (too many steam engines) or post 1977 (no Diesel Hydraulics), 'rule one', layouts where nothing moves for ages and so on. Not that I'm fussy or anything though  . Essentially it must have Diesel Hydraulics and be Western Region, or another region with DHs working there.
As for shops and retail outlets given that the traders have to pay to get to the shows, often close the shop for the day (in cases of the smaller traders anyway) and so on I accept that their prices would be the same (although a few years ago 'show specials' were commonly offered by many) but times change, their profit margins are slimmer etc. so I don't think we can grumble about them charging the same.
As ever, just my personal thoughts on the subject.

[PostModN66]

Crikey - this exhibition topic makes my head spin 

This very recent topic started with the premise that exhibition standards are too HIGH and put people off:

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=29022.0

This got locked.........lots of strong and diverging opinions about what made a good layout/exhibition with little consensus, even on dress standards......

Cheers Jon 

[MikeDunn]

Well, Jon,

I guess this shows that we of the NGF are unbiased - we criticise all levels of show/exhibition & the attending layouts   

No favouritism here, ya know ! 

[steve836]

I seldom go to exhibitions. When I worked full time it was because I was always at work, now I have retired it is because I feel the cost of entrance plus the cost of getting there would be better used buying something for my layout. As regards inspiration, I get plenty of that talking to you guys (and gals).

[PLD]

You can't please all the people all of the time...

Am I Oscar the Grouch on this

Afraid so... 

I spend around ten seconds at each layout, before moving onto the next, and find after I've been round each one that I feel cheated.

How the heck can you fully assess a layout in 10 seconds? That is far too quick to take in all the nuances of a layout or see it properly in operation
I'm sure the layout builders/operators feel equally 'cheated' that you are so dismissive of their handiwork based on the merest of glances... 

Don't know what it is, but I find myself thinking that my own layout reaches a higher standard than some of them.

Can we have a 10 second glance at your layout please so we can judge for ourselves (would you consider that long enough to make a fair judgement of your work??)

As for the sales stands, very few of them offer bargains any more. They are usually the same prices you will find in a store

Apart from those (what many consider) low-grade shows that unashamedly sell themselves on quantity not quality with row after row of box-shifters and second hand, I would say that exhibitions have never been the right place for "Bargain Hunting". At exhibitions for me the more important aspect of the trade is to be able to talk face to face to the smaller harder to reach specialist traders & manufacturers with the bits and pieces you can't get from the big on-line R-T-R merchants...

[Geoff]

I honestly think deep down that nothing will please you all the time and we all have different Idea's how things should be done, I had a whinge once to Mick about certain layouts but now I have had a rethink about it all, and it must be bloody hard work setting up there model railway here and there throughout the year, and one thing I have noticed is if you stay there for more than 10 seconds and look more closely you can pick up lots of little ideas that you can maybe implement on your own model.

It is so easy to be judgmental and I for one will never again, but I agree about the model shops and anyone selling it would be nice to see at least 10% off shop prices but when you have the likes of Hatton's that is going to be hard to compete and at least it is there in front of you to inspect before you buy.

[MikeDunn]

How the heck can you fully assess a layout in 10 seconds? That is far too quick to take in all the nuances of a layout or see it properly in operation

He never said 'fully assess' though, did he ?

I tend to agree with him; OK, maybe 10 seconds is a bit brief, but up to 30 seconds is enough to tell you if you want to spend time at that layout; it's enough to see whether the operators are doing things or just gossiping (or otherwise ignoring the paying public); it's enough to see if the stock or general scenery is in your sphere of interest; it's enough to see if care has been taken or not on the creation of the layout.

At exhibitions for me the more important aspect of the trade is to be able to talk face to face to the smaller harder to reach specialist traders & manufacturers with the bits and pieces you can't get from the big on-line R-T-R merchants...

Well, that just depends on your interests & what you want to do, doesn't it ?  If you're not into scratch-building, or kit-building, or super-detailing, if you are happy with the range & quality from the major players, then you'll not have any interest in the specialists ...

You said it right, at the start, before you branched off ...

You can't please all the people all of the time...

[D1042 Western Princess]

"10 seconds" sounds like a quick look rather than 'stop watch accurate' to me.
As others have said, 30 seconds to a minute is more than enough to assess if a layout is likely to interest you or not.
Being totally OTT for a few seconds but (for example) no matter how detailed or authentic an Outer Mongolian narrow gauge line set in the 1900s will be of no interest and 10 - 15 seconds would be enough to judge that, whereas a crudely built, and indifferently operated, branch layout set in 1970s Devon where a Class 22 or 35 is shunting a few wagons in a yard could hold my interest for ages.
It's all personal choice and opinion.

[Newportnobby]

As one who attends many shows annually my expectations would seem to rise and fall along with entrance prices. Maybe not the best criteria but bear with me. One gets to know what are the 'big' shows such as Wigan, Stafford and, of course, TINGS & Warley (entrance fee anything up to £10) and which are the smaller ones (entrance at anything between £4-6). The larger shows tend to have enormous layouts with a few smaller ones filling in the gaps and tend to be in much better venues for viewing e.g. the lighting is better but, and it's a big BUT, big is not necessarily beautiful especially if the era/location is not of interest to me and, having the attention span of a goldfish, if nothing runs within a minute I move rapidly on no matter how exquisitely the layout might look. Smaller shows can throw up little gems which I can happily spend a long time looking at, asking questions of the operator(s) who are invariably more forthcoming than those at larger shows
Trade stands at the bigger shows tend, I find, to be a source of tools and essential bits whereas, at the smaller shows, the best bargains are probably to be found on the organising clubs 'cast offs' stand and haggling is both allowed and welcomed in the main.
Just my two penn'orth.