[Gary]

Thats a pretty fair report Peter.

QUOTE I know some people are not going to like this bit but i am going to say it anyway. yes i know the hall was swapped at the last minute, but i think if i was exhibition manager then i would have found a way to use all that extra space at the front of the hall. even if was just a case of making the isle between the front and the back of the show twice as wide. they were not paying extra for that space so i think they may as well have used it. i think the wall of white boards made it look a little uninviting. there were plenty of loo's and places to rest. the tannoy system was dreadfull! - 8/10

Thats a fair point. A hall seems cosier when you enter it directly from the bright lights of the circulation area. There was a feeling of entering a rock concert arena rather than a model railway show. Tannoy system was rubbish as it is at rock concerts and Warley should get a refund on this as it was pointless!

QUOTE i was backpacked several times over the course of the weekend. -3/10

Is this something unique to Warley and if it is why? I will admit to not having any backpack experiences so maybe Peter was just unlucky. I left the layouts until later though.

QUOTE the hornby stand seemed smaller than usual

I thought the same but Hornby claimed it was the same size as last year.

QUOTE There were no real gaping gaps in the line up of traders although it has to be said that fox transfers is sorely missed

I miss box shifter Southampton Model Centre as they always had a lot good offers and a good range of secondhand stuff. Did not Fox Transfers say that they will longer attend shows?

QUOTE Bagains - They were pretty thinly spread but they were there to be had. most of the 100 Dynamis systems had gone and some people had lynched some of the bachmann stuff before the exhibition even opened on the saturday. but i dont think this os the reason people go to warley. they go to see the new products and to see the stands and layouts. there was a mehano thalys going for £50 on the sunday. now why in the name of all things holy didnt i buy it???? - 3/10

My feelings also. There should have been more show bargains and manufacturers should have made more effort to get new stuff to the show. Very dissapointing that there was a distinct lack of Xmas goodies. There was a large "small trader" presence but they all missed opportunities for show bargains to get the punters interested and parting with cash. If there was a bargain you had to hunt for it rather than having it hit you in the face. This is an area that the show organisers need to look at. If a trader cannot come up with a stonking show offer they should not be allowed to appear! And if Bachmann and Hornby cannot deliver the goods also then their attendance too should be questioned! Why no pre-production prototypes that we have seen in the past? And what goodies could have been airfreighted in apart from Dynamis?

Heljan and Dapol did actually have some of the most interesting stuff at the show. Come on Hornby and Bachmann. Bigger effort next time to get the last of the years goodies to the show!

Happy modelling
Gary

PS did anybody spot the Hornby limited edition show bus? They will be massive future collectables in 40 years time.

 

[Gary]

I am wondering what all this talk of poor lighting is all about aswell. Bit of a mystery really. As you say it is up to the individual exhibitors and photographers to make their own arrangements. There were traders who supplied their own lighting if they required more than general hall luminence.

QUOTE with the flash it was overexposed and without the flash it was too dark. i can adjust it on this camera but i havent figured out how yet!

The camera pre flash + flash setting helps but it takes a long time to recharge the camera double flash setting between shots. Good image processing software normally sorts these camera flash issues out. Trouble with not using flash is that a long exposure is required and unless you have a tripod or something to rest the camera on it is very tricky. And of course trains continue to do their stuff whatever so you end up with a blur!

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[Gary]

QUOTE That's the one - I agree that by road from some directions not easy, but I've always found the car parking & access when you get close far, far better than the NEC.

Correct me if I am wrong but car parking is more expensive at Excel. And there is only one way in and out. And are you seriously going to ask visitors to suffer the M25 and the M1 to Watford on a Saturday night when London Xmas shoppers and football fans are going home? I've been there, done it, and its a 2 hour crawl! And a lot of NEC model railway show visitors fly in using the airport. Those from Scotland and Ireland for example get flights for under £30 return and book a cheap hotel if stopping for 2 days. And the NEC has a direct national rail link. For total direct access the NEC is impossible to beat and this has to be a big factor when considering where to locate a national show that has 15000-20000 visitors over 2 days.

I agree that the "show within a hall" was not good for the atmosphere and if the truth be said neither were the wider isles this year. For all the complaints Warley get about overcrowding they got very few if any in the past about a lack of atmosphere. Having gone for the wider isles everybody is now saying the atmosphere was flat! It seems the exhibition organisers cannot win!

My personal preference is for a cosy atmospere becuase when you are nestled up to other vistors you get talking and its that banter that may have been lacking this year as a result of it being far too easy to circulate! However I am fairly tall and don't have the viewing issues that some have so what may be my preference may not suit everybody.

Just to add I was in the ticket booth selling tickets first thing Saturday and the situation there was absolutely desperate. Nobody in the ticket booths could hear what visitors were saying becuase of the background noise and it was very difficult for the ticket booth staff to give the warm welcome that they normally give when we were constantly apologising and asking vistors to speak up. To be honest wholly unacceptable from a vistor experience point of view and again the NEC with their experience should have made a better provison than they did. As a club it was the first time we were in this situation as normally the ticket booths are outside the hall. We will know for next time!

Happy modelling
Gary