A new venue!
After several years at Stoneleigh Park, the owners decided we were no longer welcome, presumably they preferred the empty hall, so we headed back into town with the first show at Mid Warwickshire College.
The building has recently undergone a massive re-fit and they are keen to rent it out. We were there first hirer's. As a show venue, it's a lot more complicated than the vast square box we've enjoyed over the last few years, but thanks to some excellent planning by Nick, everything fitted in pretty well. No-one found a pillar in the middle of their layout and we even made good use of the numerous curved spaces.
One such space was in the foyer, a round room with an open segment. You can't fit layouts in there but it is absolutely perfect for the second hand stall. And that's where I stayed pretty much all weekend.
As such, I can't really give you a proper report on the show. I did spend time with Charles Insley in the Narrow Gauge lounge - we'd grouped layouts where possible - where we talked unusual model locos. He'd got a couple of very nice 3D printed models that didn't look 3D printed at all.
On the layout were a couple of the Bachmann USA models from their Thomas range. More specifically, a Skarloey which Charles had de-faced and turned back in to Talyllyn. It looks great and runs well. Proper RTR 009. Sadly, the terms of the Thomas licence held by Hornby means these models can't be officially imported into this country, even if they were factory de-faced.
The only layout I had a proper look at was also narrow gauge. This time a tiny moving diorama set in a Dickensian town. There was much detail to spot and a very helpful paddle with all the information you needed to work out which building belonged to which story.
Another curved area was given over to the model boat club and they put on an excellent display of models. These were popular with the visitors, it's nice that not everyone is too blinkered and can just enjoy good modelling.
Sales on our stand were brisk. RTR models were selling, although the Hornby Dublo and Trix didn't shift. What we did sell were wagon kits. A couple of members took the opportunity to clear collections and despite insisting on a maximum of 20 items per person to avoid becoming overloaded, we let them stick in an extra box half way through Saturday to fill the table up again.
If you came to the show, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to all those who stopped for a chat.
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