What better way to start a Saturday morning than to rise slightly before the lark at 5am, load a model railway into the car and drive for a couple of hours down the M40 and M25.
Yes, the exhibition season is upon us again and our first show in the autumn session was at Shenfield for the Mid-Essex exhibition. Although only a one day event we have taken all three layouts there because it is a nice day out and we're well looked after by the organising club. The rest of the exhibits are of a reasonably high standard and the trade is good too. It's an odd venue - the show is bisected by a swimming pool which meant the organisers have to issue tickets to traverse the corridor between the two halves. There are two big halls though so only a couple of classrooms are needed imparting a better atmosphere than that at events made up of a series of small rooms.
Access for set up was good and we found our spot in the hall without difficulty. You think this would always be the case but some venues are like mazes and you're more likely to find a Japanese soldier who thinks the war is still going on than anything to tell you where to put the train set up. Others are big halls which can be even worse as there are no landmarks to guide you.
Anyway, once set up we toured the halls to see what goodies were on sale and who the public would compare us to. In the same hall we were next to a small EM gauge station (Rixworth Green), 016.5 model (Getsup St Anne), wartime layout (Manston Airport) and brewery (Blackwells Brewery Co - look at the initials Ho Ho). All of these looked to be OK especially the wartime model and brewery which I've seen before any enjoyed in the past.
The day was busy, numbers were well up apparently, and there were plenty of questions from the crowd. At least one pair of gents stayed with us for over an hour chatting and looking the model over (hello to those who admitted they read the blog, nice to meet you). By the end were pretty hoarse ! This is great - operating the layout is OK but chatting is the real reason we like to exhibit models. You get to learn a bit, help others a lot and laugh loads. Of course there are some who take it too seriously and wander around looking like they are are funeral with toothache. While I'll do everything properly (no gimmicks or silliness on the model) it is supposed to be a hobby and fun.
I missed one photo during the day. On an American prototype layout (Purcell) in one hall there was a lovely visual joke. A line side hoarding advertised "Trailers for sale or rent" and the hotel next to it offered "Rooms to let 50c" in larger painted letter. Funny and subtle.
Our crowd stayed until around 4pm when we started to have time with no one in front of the model. The appearances of paying public became more sporadic until abut 5.30 when it seems they had all gone home. Everyone stayed put until the 6pm finished although there were signs of heavy preparation for packing up and perhaps the odd bit of light dismantling. Certainly had anyone fancied trying to see the show in the last 10 minutes (it happens, honest) they wouldn't have seen as good a display as at 10am. Mind you if that's your game it serves you right.
Flockburgh ran well all day. Perhaps it was the chlorine in the air from the pool but there wasn't a hint of dirt on the track by the end. Some of the locos were bit sticky but I put that down to the long lay up between events. Our 2F was a casualty - for some reason it was working far worse than normal, stalling and the tender kept spreading itself over the pointwork. It was quickly relegated to the engine shed siding and will be attended to before Uckfield, but then I've said that before. Having said this everything has been put away now and won't be touched in the hope that if we leave well alone...
As usual there was much chat with the other exhibitors, especially our neighbours from Rixworth Green. Apparently the indulge in a bit of 3mm scale modelling too and I coveted my J50, which I promptly shut in the display case for security reasons. Mind you, anyone who can assemble a Jidenco kit for a Beattie Well Tank wouldn't have any trouble with the Finney kit !
No comments:
Post a Comment