Manchester Micros

There is an active Facebook group about Micro Layouts. Well there are several. Outside of the garden I've no interest in building a big layout. I don't dislike them, two of the first layouts I knew well were massive. One was Teddy Boston's, the other was a model of Quorn & Wodehouse that matured as the hobby did. 

But I like a layout that can be built by just one person and works without a single train moving. I prefer a cameo layout, with the theatrical presentation, over a simple micro.

So there were a lot of layouts for me to like at Manchester, despite my negative tone.

It is worth thinking about the pros and cons of micros.

What is that Welsh word?  Hiraeth. The railways I remember and should be nostalgic about, and I am in a way, are the last days of steam in the North West and BR blue in the Midlands. Going home for Xmas in an inter-regional buffet car, sat on a plastic chair, eating a pre-packed BR fruit cake slice.

But the railway I mourn is the quiet country branch that was gone before I was old enough to know it.

So often, micros scratch that itch for something unknown and now lost for ever.

Sorry, what was I saying? Where was I?

Oh yes, micros. Forget all that. It doesn't need much to happen on a micro for it to be interesting. Often, nothing happening is interesting in its own way, because you can take in the life around the layout.

And the audience can talk to the builder/operator. They can ask practical questions. And they can go away and build their own version.

So, in no order here are some of the micros at the Manchester show. If I had to name a favourite, it would be Old Parrock, but I know a lot of people love Littledean. College Halt is an outlier. It had some interesting scenic ideas, but didn't quite work. Or, it doesn't work yet, but it will with some weathering. Where it scored highly was engagement with the audience, as did all the micros, and, most of all, this is the layout I think most people went away thinking "I could do that"

Trerice is an oddity. I think we all know it was built as Iain's final home layout, and the subject is very much of the area he loved. Very much a Rice layout, and perhaps cruelly overtaken by the recent improvements in commercial models.

Old Parrock

Littledene

College Halt

Trerice

Manchester Musings Part 2

 Copper Wort

An old favourite from the Spalding show. There is always a lot to take in.

Three Cocks Junction

The modelling is of a very high standard, but overall, this left me cold. It felt sterile. It would also have been nice to see some movement on it, but I didn't see a single train move. Impressive fiddleyard, though.

Port de Crozon

Unmistakably the work of the Gravetts, and perhaps lacking a wow factor if you are familiar with their other layouts. I suspect, from past experience, that it will mature into a great layout. As it is now, it is a little lacking in life. As you'd expect, though, the design is very thoughtful. For example the simple track layout is effectively split into views, and the Arun Quay trick with the harbour returns.

New Sharon

Another layout where nothing moved the whole time I was at the show, and whilst nicely done, just a little bit boring.

St Ruth

Another old favourite. Somehow the lighting here didn't show it at its best, or is it that, like several layouts, it felt displayed at a lower height than I'm used to?

The Trams

Always such a feature of Manchester, both large and small. They took me back to those childhood memories of the show.

Heritage Models

I managed to miss both Grimesthorpe and the Peter Denny display, I suspect because of the seating in front of them. But it was worth the trip to Manchester just to look at a Ross Pochin model in the metal.

Part 3 will focus on the Micro layouts.

Manchester Musings Part 1

Bah humbug!!!

I spent Saturday at the 100th Manchester Model Railway Show.

Perhaps my expectations were too high or misplaced, because I came away feeling underwhelmed.

Now, when you look through my photos, you are going to ask me what I'm talking about.

There were some truly excellent layouts, some even had trains moving on them. 

We have to go back to my expectations. I've been wanting to return to the Manchester show for a very long time. 1968 was the last one I went to...

I did try to go last year, but the family obligations got in the way, and despite it being in the family diary for over a year, they nearly did again. So I had to rush because Mum was alone at home whilst Issy galavanted off to Wales for the weekend.

Apart from nostalgia and my genuine love for Manchester, one reason I wanted to go was that the list of layouts on show was very attractive. Many of them would have been the stars of other shows. Another was the nostalgia of seeing (or in one case, not seeing) layouts I had memories of.

So why was I so disappointed, and stayed at the show for such a brief time?


In a word, atmosphere. Or rather the lack of it.


So that is hard to define, and harder still for the organisers to create. So these are very personal observations. I will say though that I arrived at midday and met a steady stream of people leaving the show.


Let's start with the good.

The venue was accessible, in all senses of the word, with wide aisles, all on one level, and ample seating and aisle widths. The catering seemed popular, but, yet again, I didn't sample it because of the queue.To be honest, in Manchester you are spoiled for choices outside of the exhibition hall.

The stewards were friendly, there was a real effort to involve children, and trade stands didn't interfere with those wanting to look at the layouts.

And, perhaps a personal thing, a great mix of big layouts and micros.

Finally, they made great use of QR codes to provide information on the layouts.


So my gripes?

Every layout seemed to be surrounded by an often bad-tempered scrum. I got one nasty comment myself whilst trying to grab a photo of Copenhagen Fields, and I heard someone else loudly proclaim they were going to deck the next person who jostled them. I watched a grandmother with a pushchair struggle to navigate around a layout because people were pushing past her, separating her from the grandchild.  And yes, it is a cliche, but I did get hit in the face by a couple of rucksacks, and I gave up any hope of using my real camera because often I struggled to even get my phone in position.

Then there was the venue itself. It was very much a sports hall. Had it been a small, local show it would have been fine, but it felt wrong somehow.  I can't quite define it, but it felt too big,light and airy. Now, often you would see that as a good thing, but if you look at museum displays, you'll see the care that goes into creating a setting that focuses on the displays. Here layouts could have just been stalls at a car boot sale.




The Layouts

I hinted at one issue early on. There were too many layouts where literally nothing happened. Now I'm a fan of the micro as diorama, but not when it comes to layouts taking up a lot of space, and that visitors might have travelled miles to see. There were at least four layouts where I didn't see a single train move. I won't name names. 

The mix was good though, and once again N gauge/2mm was there on merit, not for novelty. There were a couple of layouts that didn't appeal to me, but they still got a decent crowd.



Copenhagen Fields


I have to start here. A layout I have loved for so many years, and one that is so clever in so many ways, including the use of theatrical tricks

Laramie

An MPD scene done right

Dewsbury Midland

A layout that brought out my inner Brian Monaghan. 

Grantham

I have never seen a streamliner on this layout, but I owe it a great debt since it converted me to Kadees.

Bron Hebrog

Superbly done. I half wish they hadn't included a station in the scene, because it is so great at portraying a railway in a landscape.

Craig & Mertonford/ Dundreich

I wish I knew how much of this was original. Perhaps you should never meet your heroes.

Ffarquhar

Coming in Part 2, Trams, showcasing the past, and an empahsis on micros.