scaleforum 2008 review and pictures

Great pictures Peter. Thanks for showing them. Some very well done layouts there.

Very nice. I particularly like the early period locomotives.

Thanks for posting them.

David

Time for my propper write up.

Sorry for the delay but its been a long weekend.

Transport - The tube was a complete mess on the saturday. I ended up crossing under the river 3 times before arriving at Waterloo! they waited untill the train was actually rolling into waterloo to say that the station was closed. If they had said so at embankment I could have changed trains! the train from waterloo was very easy, and the day return was less than a fiver! I do wish they had toilets on those trains!
The walk from leatherhead station to the leasure centre was easy enough. As someone on another forum said "just follow the anoraks!!" there is a very nice viaduct on the right and I think its worth stopping for a moment to spreciate it.

I decided I wasnt going to rush around this weekend so I didnt get up early and didnt arrive untill about 11 when there was no queue.

My first impression was how busy it was. I headed for the second hand stall first and it was packed. I couldnt get anywhere near the goods. The main hall was equally packed.

The layouts were a complete mix from victorian to present day. I always regard scaleforum as the pinicle of modelling, reserved for only the heighest standards of detail. The scale 4 society has been running little competitions over the last few years starting with the 1883 challange. The layouts in that competition were stunning. This year there was a D&E challenge along similar lines and i'm afraid it didnt live up to the extremly high standards of the earlier competitions. Simply making the trackwork to P4 standards does not make a finescale layout. There is so much more to it than that. I felt that the modern image layouts lacked the atmosphear of the earlier layouts and I found the trackwork a little plain.

The layouts in the main hall were to the usual scaleforum standard. the victorian layout that is shown in the bottom few pictures above was beautifull. the action was slow on all of the layouts but then you expect it at this show. there was still plenty of detail to take in on all of the layouts.

The tannoy system was nice and reasonably silent.

Trade support.
This is really a great show for the trade. evryone in 4mm is there. you can get anything for any layout you could ever want to build as long as its 4mm. 10/10 for this show.

The shirts seemed to be a bit more of a problem on sunday than they were on the saturday. there were fewer people but it was hotter . particularly in the upper rooms. this weekend has been cooler than it has been on previous scaleforum days that i have attended and this helped to keep it bearable at least.

On the whole it was a good day out. I came back nearly as tired as my wallet and got back to kings cross about 7. Something I did notice was the number of people with cameras. This was the first show where I had taken my new camera and the layouts I did photograph I did ask permission. Many of the operators seemed very pleased (even completly stunned on a couple of occasions!) that I had taken the trouble to ask and some trains were even posed especially for me. I have never had an operator say no to a couple of pictures but I always come away from the layouts with the pictures I want and not having upset anyone. I really do think its good manners just to say "do you mind if I take a couple of pictures?". I think it should be made part of exhibition etiquette (like wearing a clean shirt!).

Peter

QUOTE The walk from leatherhead station to the leasure centre was easy enough. As someone on another forum said "just follow the anoraks!!" there is a very nice viaduct on the right and I think its worth stopping for a moment to apppreciate it.
Good point about the viaducts .I saw a fine chance of a shot with 2 viaducts in line and a riverbut couldnt stop easilly .As I also wanted to visit my daughter in Lightwater and go for a walk with her ,I didnt delay and turn round but got got some great autumn shots of the Arborium at Windlesham while on our walk .
I visited Sunday, and had a good drive down from Norfolk .I delivered some new figure masters to Dart Castings and saw a few other people so only had a quick look round .I purchased some Sprat and Winkle couplings and some 00 wheei sets ,yup I went to Scaleforum and bought 00 stuff ,some paint ,last of the big spenders LOL, and then escaped but the layouts were superb and the trade stands very good .One thing I finally sorted out are some nameplates for an 0 gauge IOW Terrier kit I want to start making .247 Developements will oblige so all systems go .I of course now have the urge to"do some Scalefour " which is odd as I have just ordered Athearns CF7 in Santa Fe livery for a project switching layout .As well as my Southern 00 plank in the wood stage , I am building an 0 scale loco so I really must make my mind up as to what I want to do (easy.... all three )

Well Done the Scalefour society ,a great exhibition .