Spalding '22

 My first model railway show for what feels like ages.

And yes it was good. 

But...

I'll get on to the buts later.

The Spalding Model Railway Exhibition is always worth a visit if you are within reasonable travelling distance. Every year there are a few layouts that justify the admission price by themselves. I must admit I never feel that I'm the target audience. Having said which it always gives me something to think about, even though I rarely spend more than 90 minutes visiting it. 

So this year's observations. a bit scattergun, I'm afraid.

The 2mm layouts were, overall, the most impressive. Some were generic N gauge layouts you could see anywhere, but others were superb. If anything let them down it was the ground textures. Less is sometimes more. 

I found those layouts using sound less jarring than in previous years, but I still have a thing about stupidly bright lights. Dim them down a little, especially in daylight scenes.

On the subject of lights, as at Warley I found those layouts with built in lighting hardest to photograph. Partly it is because they seem to use very warm lighting, but I also wonder if it is about the spectrum of the lighting.

There are layouts that I like whilst "not being for me." Copper Wort was a prime example this year. I loved it, there was a lot to see, but I wouldn't want to emulate it in any way.

Operations on some layouts hinted at how long it is since the exhibition circuit was in full swing. I noticed a lot of hand of god, but mostly it was silly things like forgetting how to set the right path for a train. Not a big issue, and I'm sure won't be noticeable this time next year. You can forget that some layouts only get erected for exhibitions.

A real plus point is I saw a lot of engaged conversations between operators and viewers.

Sprat & Winkle and Kadees still seem good choices for couplings. Unobtrusive and effective.

People still like trade stands. They all seemed very busy. Was money changing hands? Harder to say.

Highlights?

I've always loved Bewdley, not least because it is a location I know well, but it also seems to capture that location so well. I suspect for the period being modelled things should be a little more dilapidated, but I don't care too much.

St Ruth is exquisite, again a layout I could watch for hours.

A lot of layouts featured point rodding. My photos don't do them justice. To my mind, it makes a real difference.

The atmosphere.

Before we come on to the photos I have to address the buts.

It was incredibly crowded. A good thing in some ways. Trade stand opposite layouts often meant those looking at layouts could only stand one deep. Living in the area I wasn't surprised that the number of people with accesibility issues also caused problems with flow. I'm a massive believer that if we make things better for those with access issues we make it better for everyone.

What I'm less understanding of is the number of people who stopped dead in the middle of a congested aisle to have a conversation with a family member behind them.

I long ago gave up any hope of getting into the cafe area, the queue was snaking along a corridor.

Trade stands didn't seem very focused on box shifters. That probably comes back to me not being the target audience.

Every available seat was taken, with an elderly demographic that needs addressing. In fact most of the issues come down to the show being a victim of its own success. I feel it has outgrown the venue.

Finally, there was the show guide. It was glossy and in colour, but it felt dreadfully dated, and more to the point, wasn't a lot of use in the show or afterwards trying to recall layouts. A lot of effort has clearly gone into it, but it could do with a design overhaul.

If all that sounds negative it doesn't take away from what a deservedly successful show it was.

Before the photos a quick note.

I decided to try out the Q2M  even though I, correctly, suspected it wouldn't be ideal. My biggest issue was layouts were so crowded I couldn't get into viewpoints to exploit the things it is good at. I wasn't that upset because we spent the rest of the day in Hunstanton where it came into its own.

I was more disappointed with my Google Pixel 7 Pro.

My previous pixel 6 Pro was really good in this sort of situation. But this one seemed inconsistent in when it would open the camera app, proved hard to get the right zoom level, and worst of all sometimes refused to focus. I suspect the latter might have been a humidity issue. So, by some margin, these are the worst photos I've ever taken at an exhibition.

Modern TT

 With the house move now in prospect, I'm beginning to give serious consideration 120th scale. 

But in my heart, I feel it is going to fail commercially. And sadder still, I think the reasons lie at the heart of our hobby.

I joined one of the first 120th groups on Facebook set up after the Peco announcements. Like the swamps of RMweb it feels like half the membership represents the worst aspect of our hobby. You would almost think that some are diehard 3mm modellers who want the scale to fail.

You also get a vague feeling of "not invented here" as if a well-established scale gauge combination in other geographies is somehow totally new.

And then you have the people who make pronouncements about it who are clearly yet to model anything in the scale but are already "experts" which, being frank, I have to put up with quite enough in my professional life.

Then there is the trade.

Is it me or are PECO and Hornby pulling in very different directions? Now I could be wrong, that could even be a strength. Hornby's focus on the trainset world could lead people into Peco's more grown up approach aimed at modellers. To some degree that is what happened originally with TT, the failed trainset product turned into a rather good eco-system for 3mm scale modellers. I'll always have a soft spot for a 3mm scale layout, not least because TTn3 is a lovely combination.

I can't help thinking that for it to succeed we need a joined-up approach, whereas at the moment we have a scattergun one. Choose your era and part of the country and you'll find about 10% of the available products that fit, which represent about 2% of the period and era.

Take Minories, the classic CJF design, originally envisaged to exploit TT. I'm very, very tempted to try it out. I can use Peco track, the Hornby suburban coaches and.... an 08? A HST at a push?

So Elder Cottage is sold, STC, and now the race is on to find somewhere to move to. Neither Issy nor I would countenance viewing properties before we had sold.

We need to be near Market Drayton, and I have a feeling we are looking for a relatively short term property, not the house to see out our days.

What is clear is that we will have to make lots of compromises, partly because of the dearth of houses for sale in our top choices of location.

In a  way, that is a good thing.  First of all there is the health issue, for both of us. There are days here that leave me fighting for breath after dealing with the garden, and Issy, as well as some friends and relatives, needs somewhere with easily accessible facilities. Secondly it simplifies the future of the ELR. well sort of.

I've never wanted a massive line, just one that gives me somewhere to play. And possibly a base for doing other things like visiting other railways.

Teddy is ideal for that, he can fit in the back of a car. I doubt any future line will need to fulfill a practical role, so entertainment and fun becomes the driver.  In fact, I'm seriously thinking of downsizing to 5" gauge for the home line using the track I bought from Steve Purves a few years ago. That makes steam a practical proposition for me.

And talking of Steve and his portable railway empire... 

... He has taken on the custodianship of Tug and the coach. Even here Tug wasn't really a suitable loco. We have joint plans for an upgrade to make it a really useful club loco

Iain Rice

I'm sure many pages of blogs and magazines will be focussed on the sad loss of Iain Rice. It is hard to add anything to them except, like so many others, to acknowledge the massive debt I owe a man I never met and yet felt I knew. 

His books have a section of their own on my bookcases. His "bitsa" station concept is always at the back of my mind. There are layout concepts he created that I look at time after time and think "One day..."

What you suddenly realise though is it wasn't about those plans. It was about his ability to make the once esoteric fine-scale concept, in some form, available to all of us, and within the capability of the most ham-fisted of us. 

Much will be written of his legacy, but his real legacy will be seen in attics and spare bedrooms, scout halls and the NEC for many many years to come.

Cornwall and Covid

Things were going so well.

On  Saturday, our son got married to a beautiful girl and the wedding was incredible.

Then we headed down to Bude and a week with friends. One of whom developed a bit of a cough. How we laughed that it might be Covid.

It was, and whilst she got off lightly Issy and I have been really suffering. The current variants might not be that bad but every day feels like an unlucky dip of different  symptoms.

In the middle of which we seem to have sold the house for more than the asking price.

Stressed? Me?

Anyway, back to Cornwall. We did have a good time, though it was more food than railway orientated.

There was a lot of food.

The railway aspect was restricted to two visits to places I haven't been for perhaps 25 years. The first was a glorious visit to the Launceston Steam Railway on the last day of the season.  

The second was a trip on the St Ives branch. Last time I did it on a day trip from London and we literally just had time to take some photos and take the next train out. This time we had a full day there. The highlight was the food at Portminster Beach Cafe.

Signpost to the Future

 

So, here is the big news that I've been vaguely hinting at in recent weeks.

The decline in Issy's health, hopefully fixable by surgery, has made Elder Cottage a handful, especially if I end up back on the road racking up the Airmiles. Meanwhile, my mother and her partner aren't getting younger either, and more grandchildren are in prospect.

We have loved our time here, but we must be realistic about the future.

I will stress that the the ELR, in some form, will be resurrected.

Starting Them Young

Freddie, the grandson, is at the age where he is falling in love with Thomas the Tank Engine. Unfortunately, he seems more enamoured of the modern travesty than the originals, but it is a start.

On Friday he turned up clutching his Tomy Thomas and on his way into the house noticed, for the first time, the track of the Eaugate Light Railway.

He then proceeded to get confused about why his Tomy train wouldn't fit on the 7 1/4" track.

A diversion was clearly called for to avoid tears, so whilst Grandma took him out to do errands I had a frantic search for some of my old Faller track and loco.


Result.

It isn't ideal, still being a bit fiddly for him. And that is all the working Faller stock I have. Somewhere I have a stash of Big Big Train Rustons, but no compatible wagons.

The solution? A quick visit to Phil Sharple's webshop

(Note: I'm experimenting with fonts to make the text more readable for the neuro-diverse. There is a font I would like to use, but unfortunately it won't work on the web unless you have it installed)