GusB
Established Member
I wanted to reply to a few of the comments made in this this thread, specifically regarding the Model Rail Scotland show at the SEC in Glasgow:
Clearly I'm not alone in feeling somewhat disappointed with what I saw. When I (very briefly) met up with some fellow forum members, the one comment I noted that there was not enough movement. Before I go any further, I will say that this isn't specifically a pop at Model Rail Scotland, but at exhibitions in general.
I was there with my brother who is by no means a railway enthusiast. While I was looking for the trains, he spotted a tiny bit of scenic detail on one particular layout - a workshop with an open door and random blue flashes coming from within - "hey look, there's some welding going on in there", was his comment. I'd never have noticed had it not been pointed out to me, but he was looking at the stuff that was going on around the railway, rather than what was happening on it.
Another things that struck me was the number of layouts that were run by men* who were spending most of their time staring at a device of sorts, whether it be a controller, tablet or another type of screen, apparently trying to figure things out. Sorry, but you need to figure out how your layout works long before you show it in public, and it doesn't matter what technological wizardry you employ to make it happen.
* It was all men and mostly of a certain age, from my observations
My other observation was accessibility, or lack thereof. We had a brief chat with a guy who had a couple of young kids and they were delighted when they found a "low one". The "low one" in question was a small layout, perhaps 6'x4' in size, that had a simple double-track oval with some scenery and trains going round and round. The chap commented that he was glad to let the wee one stand on his own two feet and give his shoulders a rest! There were many layouts that were above head-height for small kids - while I appreciate that you don't want little hands destroying months of painstaking work, surely it's better to have lower barriers, but slightly further away? That's without considering wheelchair users who may not have daddy to lift them up.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not writing off the whole experience. I was able to tick off a couple of unit types that I've never travelled on (318 and 385, but let's not dwell on it!) and, more importantly, I had some very rare family time - that alone made the whole thing worthwhile. Having said that, I didn't have to pay for accommodation and if I had, I might have felt a little bit different.
Model Railway exhibitions (that you might also be attending).
I thought I’d leave this at the top of the page as on top of sharing information about exhibitions it could be a good way of meeting fellow like minded forum members from time to time. 1st one on the list from me is the Stafford Show next weekend (22nd and 23rd of September)...
www.railforums.co.uk
Clearly I'm not alone in feeling somewhat disappointed with what I saw. When I (very briefly) met up with some fellow forum members, the one comment I noted that there was not enough movement. Before I go any further, I will say that this isn't specifically a pop at Model Rail Scotland, but at exhibitions in general.
Absolutely this. It has been well over 30 years since I was involved with the exhibiting side of things. I've seen layouts that modelled specific locations, fictitious layouts that model a specific period, but without necessarily having any regard to prototypical train formations and layouts that run everything and anything without any regard for "realistic" situations. You can have any combination of the above, but the crucial thing for me is that something must move regularly - without that, people lose interest and move on.
I was there with my brother who is by no means a railway enthusiast. While I was looking for the trains, he spotted a tiny bit of scenic detail on one particular layout - a workshop with an open door and random blue flashes coming from within - "hey look, there's some welding going on in there", was his comment. I'd never have noticed had it not been pointed out to me, but he was looking at the stuff that was going on around the railway, rather than what was happening on it.
Another things that struck me was the number of layouts that were run by men* who were spending most of their time staring at a device of sorts, whether it be a controller, tablet or another type of screen, apparently trying to figure things out. Sorry, but you need to figure out how your layout works long before you show it in public, and it doesn't matter what technological wizardry you employ to make it happen.
* It was all men and mostly of a certain age, from my observations
My other observation was accessibility, or lack thereof. We had a brief chat with a guy who had a couple of young kids and they were delighted when they found a "low one". The "low one" in question was a small layout, perhaps 6'x4' in size, that had a simple double-track oval with some scenery and trains going round and round. The chap commented that he was glad to let the wee one stand on his own two feet and give his shoulders a rest! There were many layouts that were above head-height for small kids - while I appreciate that you don't want little hands destroying months of painstaking work, surely it's better to have lower barriers, but slightly further away? That's without considering wheelchair users who may not have daddy to lift them up.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not writing off the whole experience. I was able to tick off a couple of unit types that I've never travelled on (318 and 385, but let's not dwell on it!) and, more importantly, I had some very rare family time - that alone made the whole thing worthwhile. Having said that, I didn't have to pay for accommodation and if I had, I might have felt a little bit different.
