Sadly, the ages of the folk who have the stock and run shows/exhibit at them means a decline in the numbers of layouts appearing. Take James Street as an ideal example - age has caught up with those who set it up/run it/break it down  
The best show in the NW i.e. Wigan show ceased because the club members admitted they were too old to face doing it any more.
There's no denying model railways are generally run and manned by the elder statesmen of the hobby, and their numbers are decreasing due to age/health

I'm sure Chris Morris said in his capacity with the Warley club that the show didn't shrink, and any perception of that was purely based on rose tinted glasses about how good things were in the olden days. I'm sure there was some variation year-on-year, but not the endemic shrinking some would suggest.

Quote from: Newportnobby on Yesterday at 06:47:46 PM

Quote from: Mr Sprue on Yesterday at 06:07:02 PMI guess the best of this hobbies days are pretty much over!

I won't believe they're over, but they do have more competition. People love the latest iPhone/pad and a 70" TV on the wall while paying through the nose for streaming extra channels. They have, to my mind, nothing to moan about. How each person disposes of their income is up to them.
These days, we have more than a couple of model railway manufacturers producing high quality (mostly) detailed models for us to spend our income on. Yes, prices are higher but we have to forget the good old days of low prices. They are long gone

When I quoted "I guess the best of this hobbies days are pretty much over!" It was aimed at comparing shows that were once heaving with attendees and stalls, unlike today where everything has shrunk. Warley around 14 years ago, compared to other shows was like entering a city for model railways, but each year I attended it got less and less and the walkways wider.

Such a sad thing to witness. Ally pally was a fave of mine too, now that's barely worth the visit and I only live about 17 miles away!

For the French speakers amongst us :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMjcZO8esfM

Ben speaks perfect French 

Quote from: Ben A on Yesterday at 06:49:53 PMThe deadline for pre-ordering these models is the end of August, and we will be posting an update and more images, on our website shortly.

Hi Ben

The progress poster at DEMU says the pullman deadline is July, which is correct? I need to get the funds together for at lease one rake of pullmans so wondering how long I have

I'll look into removing it now.  Thanks!

Brilliant, so each third  kitchen is serving approx two coaches worth of diners, the first kitchen about half as many diners... sounds about right.

Thanks that's a dramatic scene last photo! Just sent a pm with 60532 Chris

Neither of those support the bit I quoted - that only 25% of under 45s own a home. The Statista chart is the age distribution of home owners. It's not that surprising that it increases the older you get, because not that many will go back into rented once they've bought and Boomers have destroyed the housing market 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/321065/uk-england-home-owners-age-groups/


https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/census2021dictionary/variablesbytopic/housingvariablescensus2021/householdsofmultipleoccupancyhmo

has HMO data. 2% of property, higher than that of people.

The halcyon days of model railways are IMHO definitely behind us, but the notion that it's doom and gloom I would agree is also wrong. We are back about where we were before cheap Chinese labour and improved moulding technology upended the market and pricing. We've lost the cheap labour (good!) but whilst we have much higher prices in real terms that the boom years we've got vastly better models and technology in the process.

So no its definitely not all doom and gloom, but I don't think there is the volume to sustain the number of manufacturers and therefore that Heljan will be unique.