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I was going to write my usual review but someone beat me to the pictures!!

I should point out that I am biased here as this is the show run by my own club.

Transport - I live up at kings cross so this was literally a 15 minute train ride. And train tickets for both days added up to a grand total of about £4.50. I cant ask for any better than that. I understand that there was engineering work further up the line so mabye people form the other direction might have had problems but I didnt hear of any.
The palace is only about a 5 minute walk from the station at the other end so I decided to walk it rather than use the bus. As the bus went past me on the saturday it was looking very busy and I was glad I had walked. For me at least I really could not have asked for more on the travel front. - 8/10

Building - As last year the exhibition took up 2 large halls and the toilets were plentifull. Not only was it a good venue but also you get to see a wonderfully historic building. Built in 1871 and still containing the origional studio's 1 and 2 of the BBC. It is worth a visit even if you cant go in! The palm court was looking a little tatty in places. The water features were looking a bit neglected and I think health and safty had sealed them off. - 9/10

Layouts - Like all bigger shows this is always a gamble. Its easy to fill a hall with lousey layouts. But I am glad to say this wasnt the case. It was a good mixture both of scales and standards.
There were 3 layouts that really stood out in my mind. The first was Burntisland. I have seen it a few times now but it really is a beautifull layout and always seems to have a new section or something new to look at. The stock is the finest I have ever seen. The second was a small narrow gauge layout near the hornby stand. It was rather frustrating that whenever I went over to see it there really wasnt much hapening on it. But the design and scenic work made up for it.
The third was a continental layout. Most of it was fairly ordinary but there was a very nice bridge and the scenic work was inspiring.
There were no complete duds I can think of. there were a couple that lets just say were not to my taste but the standard of modelling on these too was pretty high so I really cant complain about those. Not quite a scaleforum but a very good show - 9.5/10

Shirts - Its pretty cold at the moment so this was not really a problem. Both rooms were nicely ventilated and there were no cramped areas. A well diluted - 8/10

Backpacks - There was lots of space between the isles probably even more than warley and this really helps with the backpack problem. I wasnt backpacked a single time over the entire 2 days. - 9/10

Trade support - Hornby Dapol and Bachmann were there. I didnt take much notice of the hornby stand as there really isnt anything at the moment that floats my boat (had a quick look at the pendolino) but over on the bachmann stand it was nice to see first hand the new chinese loco. (albeit with no price tag yet!) I think the kit manufacturers were a little lacking. There were a few that for mee at least were a little noticible by their absence. Names that spring to mine are Gibson, Fox transfers, Comet, 247, London Road. For me it is these little part manufacturers that turn a good show into a great show. - 5/10

Overall - A very nice weekend spent enjoying the hobby I love. I left very early on the sunday as I had an early shift this morning so my apologies for not helping to tidy up after the show.

I have left my memory card at home but i will add some pictures tomorrow.

Peter

 

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Hello neil. burntisland-yes it is. its based just before the tay bridge came along. they are modelling the stretch from the station to the ferry terminal. the loco that fell of the bridge is one of the ones they run on the layout.

The layout is wonderfully victorian. very colourfull and very well made.
i left my pictures at home but here is the linkl to the scalefour site.

http://www.scalefour.org/layouts/Burntisland/Index.html

Peter

 

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Thanks Alistair

I knew they were vastly cutting back on how much they were taking to exhibitions but i didnt realise they were actually cutting exhibitions.

Peter

 

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Thanks ravenser.

Sorry to hear about the fox transfers chap.

I have just looked at their site and seen this.

JENNI AND MIKE WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL OUR MANY FRIENDS WHO HAVE SENT MESSAGES, CARDS AND FLOWERS FOLLOWING MIKE'S HEART ATTACK ON 15 FEBRUARY.

MIKE IS NOW OUT OF HOSPITAL AND MAKING GOOD PROGRESS UP THE MAIN LINE TO RECOVERY. WHILST HE IS PROCEEDING UNDER AMBER SIGNALS, OUR BUSINESS ACTIVITIES HAVE CONTINUED WITH HARDLY A HICCUP THANKS TO JENNI, LYNDA AND GLYN. WE HAVE, HOWEVER, TERMINATED OUR EXHIBITION APPEARANCES WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT, SOME THREE MONTHS EARLIER THAN ORIGINALLY PLANNED.

IN FUTURE, WE CAN OFFER MAIL, TELEPHONE, FAX, EMAIL AND SECURE INTERNET ORDERING FOR RAPID DESPATCH OF OUR HUGE PRODUCT RANGE, AS ALREADY ENJOYED BY THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS, NEW AND OLD

I am sure we would all want to wish them the best of luck with his recovery.

Peter

 

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QUOTE (dwb @ 26 Mar 2007, 18:23) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Ambergate was another with open cab locomotives. I'm surprised that Peter didn't mention this one. It was hard to get near but fascinating to see once I did.

>Most of it was fairly ordinary but there was a very nice bridge and the scenic work was inspiring.
If I remember correctly, this was an N gauge German model and yes the bridge was stunning - in fact I wondered whether it was really a bridge / valley model with a railway attached

>I think the kit manufacturers were a little lacking
I thought that too. C&L were there and I did have a look at their track kits. I am not quite ready to part with £25 for a point or £12 for a crossing frog. Parkside were absent and I don't remember seeing any of their kits on any stands either. However Parkside are scheduled to be at Railex in Aylesbury at the end of May.

>I have left my memory card at home but i will add some pictures tomorrow.
I look forward to seeing them

My wife got an unexpected surprise today - it seems that one of the transactions she made at the show locked her credit card. While she was going through the rigmorole of unlocking it when they seemed to want know everything including her shoe size, she learned the amount of the offending transaction and matched it to one made with an old fashioned manual "impressing" machine. She had trouble on another stand but they made sure everything was cleared properly. Later we saw another retailer with customer in tow walking purposely with wireless machine for a quiet spot. I do wonder how much longer credit cards are going to be a convenient form of payment. I closed one account when their "checking software" locked my card 4 times in 3 months - the final straw being twice in one day.

David

I didnt mention Ambergate simply because i couldnt remember the name. it was fantastic to see cromptons going round. there did seem to be alot of behind the scenes fidelling going on with not much hapenning up front. it was a fantastic layout but i think perhaps the operators lacked the showmans gene. I prefered Burntisland because although it was often a single shunter moving very slowly (making me very jealous) there always seemed to be something moving.

Yes the bridge layout i was talking about was the german N gauge one.

I do have my pictures today but for some unknown reason i am now getting a "Power surge on USB port" error message.
I will try one of the other computers around here.

Peter

 

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ok problem sorted. here are the pictures.

Peter

 

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QUOTE (dbclass50)Speaking as a small retailer the reasons behind the continuing reduction of the smaller traders attendance is purely costs.
For us to do Ally Pally the costs would stack up somewhat like :

Stand space (estimated for 12') £250.00
Fuel £60.00
B & B for 2 for 2 nights £200.00
Refreshments& meals for 2 days £150.00
Making an estimated total of around £660.00

We would have to take some £3,000 just to break even - you have to sell a hell of a lot of small bits & pieces to do that - & we are not box shifters, although are prices are competative we jsut do not attain those figures. Please note that some of these examples are estimated - they could be more or less.

I totally agree. i dont want to drag up the old debate again but i think sooner or later exhibition managers are going to have to attach a value to the service the smaller providers make.

I think it is these smaller providers that set us apart from the industry in other countries. i for one hate seeing them fall buy the wayside. they are also the ones that give a huge ammount to increase the modelling standard in the UK.

(i am not singelling out the ally pally show here)

Peter

 

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QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 27 Mar 2007, 20:18) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>For us to do Ally Pally the costs would stack up somewhat like :
Stand space (estimated for 12') £250.00

Next year a 6' stand is going to cost about £300
Normally a company i have connections with would never pay that but we have something special planned.

QUOTE (Ravenser @ 28 Mar 2007, 21:22) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>On the other hand if you slashed 25% from the trade income of the big shows which hire public venues, I suspect most/all of them would stop being financially viable and fold (I don't know the actual financial results for any of the big shows mind you, but I do know DEMU Showcase loses a 4 figure sum)

Food and drink for the traders' stand crew , on these costings , is equivalent to 60% of stand rent.

Ravenser, you are working on the assumption that you would not recoup the costs elsware. it would only take £2 to revoloutionise the way the large shows are funded.

put £2 on the costs of the ticket and instead of telling them the fee to exhibit at the show we could invite them to attend. not only would this solve a problem but it would enable the exhibition managers far more scope to shape the nature of the exhibition. for example DEMU could actually invite manufacturers that are relevent to them instead of having the ones that can afford to come.

I have heard it said that this would take some shows above £10 entrance fee and people wouldnt pay. this is complete nonsence.
cinema £4
Alton towers £30
Madam tussauds £30
Tower of london £15

For a good day out at a 1 off event people would not mind paying £12 or £13. especially if its explained to them that the extra is for the benifit of the hobby.

For the box shifters, find out which ones would like to attend and pull 3 names out of a hat.

Having a london show is a double edged sword. yes the hotel etc costs are higher but far more people are within commuting distance and i think that just about cancells each other out.

QUOTE (Ravenser @ 29 Mar 2007, 20:26) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>From the point of view of the smaller trader, quite possibly. I'm not sure that the circle can be squared as far as small traders costs /revenue for doing big shows. A moderate volume/low cost show may well be a much more cost effective way for the trader to go than a high volume/high cost exercise, especially now there is also the internet to generate on-line orders. Much more enjoyable too perhaps

But I don't think the big shows are doomed without small traders. Attendences at the really big shows and the next tier down seem generally to be rising slowly but steadily. Warley hit a new record gate last December, York's gate is holding up or growing I believe, and I understand Alexandra Palace in 2006 was about 20% up on attendance Warners first London show , and from what I can gather between a third and a half higher than the gate in the dying years of IMREX. Harrogate is down a bit but that seems to be more due to the change of venue . Nottingham allegedly could do with a bigger venue. Shows like Spalding and Railex Aylesbury seem to be doing pretty well in the next bracket down.

And I'm sure this isn't an issue at the specialist shows like Scaleforum, ExpoEM, or DEMU Showcase

None of these shows look like they are going to keel over to me - so long as they don't lose their venue (Chatham being a case in point). In fact I remember a discussion on another forum where quite a lot of people suggested they preferred to pay £5 or £6 to see a larger show rather than spend an hour or two at a small show. I've heard the suggestion from one or two sources that these kind of shows might be feeling the draft a bit , though I've not heard any direct evidence whether this is true
Big shows with few specialist small traders may be a less rich experience but I don't think that means the big shows will fade away or fold

No the shows should not fade away but the hobby could be seriously damaged. in your posts you only seem to be seeing them as small traders, you dont seem to be recognising the huge contribution that they make to the hobby. indeed i wonder if any of the layouts at the ally pally show would have been possible without them. they are the very bedrock of our hobby. without them, we become like germany that is in the hands of a few cash cow companies.

The REC show at woking that was a very good show has been cancelled due to the venue costs. (over doubled in 6 years)

There was stacks of room at ally pally. especially in the second room. that space would have been a very nice gift for some of these traders and might have got even more people throught the door. people all to often just look at the income from the stand cost but they completly ignore the income that comes from having these traders attend the show.

Peter

 

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Hello David

Thankyou for your input on the subject. I have to say that Railex's support for the smaller traders has not gone unnoticed.

I have not attended the show before but i am looking forward to this years.

For comparison would you concider posting the table prices on here.

Peter

 

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Thanks David.

thanks for the information. i think your charges are fair enough. i remember on another show (not railway related) at the NEC we were charged £200 for a power socket and £500 for a light!

at a southampton show one year we had exbridge key booked. we knew it was going to be a popular layout and we expected a long and expensive list of demands. - in the end they politely asked for 2 buckets of water! we were amazed!
Needless to say we didnt charge them for that!

Peter

 

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just a quick add in here. the Erith show had some negative feedback about the lack of specialist traders and they are activly seeking exhibitors to rectify the problem.
Their prices are extreamly good.

Peter

 

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i think it is the same in the uk but to a far lesser extent. i think we like products and not necesserily the brands. we dont particularly care who made it but we are not going to buy a product if its not up to scratch.

Changing the subject i had a good chat with one of the hornby staff about the state of their website.
they have comissioned a new one for the hornby intl range and humbrol and airfix. i was given a timeline along the lines of 12 weeks. new humbrol and airfix should be hitting the stores any time now (if it hasnt already).

Peter