Sunday, February 20, 2022

The Festival of British Railway Modelling 2022

Little Salkeld bridge

You know what you can't do while wearing a facemask? Drink. 

Which is why I'm typing this and trying to rehydrate myself after consuming little more than 500ml of liquid between show opening and leaving the venue yesterday. Yes, I am an idiot, but in my defence, I was busy taking photos and video and didn't really think about it. 

As the first major show in the sort-of-post-Covid era, no-one quite knew what to expect. My guess was that numbers would be down as people avoided crowds. I was wrong, they held up nicely. The audience seemed unmoved by any warnings, and for the most part, ignored the posters asking them to wear masks too. Brave or foolish? Only time will tell. 

Those posters meant that I wore an FP2 mask all weekend - which apart from the lack of drinking, was very comfortable. It also made walking through the crowded areas, and there were plenty of those, worry-free. My thinking was nothing more than "We are asking you to wear a mask, so the least I can do is lead by example."

Anyway, the show was typical Warners fayre - slightly heavy on trade, but with some really excellent layouts. There really wasn't a duff one amoung them, but since you expect me to have favourites, I love Sandy Bay and Locktern Quay, both models I'd be proud to have built, and tick the box for tiny model railways. 

Sandy Bay 

The trade was interesing too. A stand from Southestern Finecast was full of whitemetal loco and vehicle kits, and according to the owner, did very well.  I could have picked up a selection of model boat bits from Vintage Miniature Models too. Just two new stands to the show. Yes, there were RTR models on sale, including several new Hornby APT's (mines' still on order from the local shop) and some cracking second hand stock. I had to resist a couple of original 3-packs of Graham Farish wagons for £12.50 each. Not that I want them for any other reason than my first train set included some...


Cake-wise, the show was a bust - until a kind RMwebber arrived with some of his wife's delicious millionaire shortbread. I'm not normally much of a fan, but this stuff was brilliant. The caramel wasn't bitter, which it can be. 

Anyway, a good show, that seemed to go down well with the crowd. Maybe it's the lack of events recenlty, but those that came stayed a long while, although things dropped off around 3pm a little, by the end of both days, there were visitors to be cleared out of the hall. The trade seemed happy too, all that pent-up demand for model bits? Or just the joy of being able to wander around looking and being tempted. 

If you dropped by for a chat, thank you very much. If you shoved a mobile phone in front of me with some modelling on it, thank you too - we saw some cracking stuff and have lined up some feautures for the future with a bit of luck.

Chatting, buying and being inspired, it's what shows are all about. 

A few photos from the show on Flickr.

3 comments:

John Fletcher said...

I'm happy to report that, despite opting not to wear a mask, 8 days later I've had no suggestion of covid. (Masks mess with my hearing aids!) It was good to chat with you, Phil, and well done for setting the good example. It was shockingly crowded though, and I did wonder how many punters were dispensing covid...

Anonymous said...

The problem is that wearing a FP2 mask has more to do with protecting others from you than it does protecting yourself. If you want protection you really need FP3.

Remember that a lot of poeple with Covid have no symptoms but can still pass it on.

Phil Parker said...

FP2 offers more protection than cloth or surgical masks for both wearer and others around them. FP3 is better still, but still not as good as forced air ventilation systems. Ideally, I'd have gone that route, but couldn't pin one down in time. Arguably, though, when you get that far, it makes far more sense simply never to leave the house.

It's all a balance. I've tested negative twice since the show, so I seem to have got away with it.