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Out and About
National Group Reports
As well as the regular Area Group meetings that take place, regular national meetings are held around the country.
The next national Group meeting will be the AGM on 21 June 2008. For further information, click here…
See previous meeting reports by clicking here…
Thames Valley S7 Group Spring Meeting
Rob Thompson took upon himself the challenge of providing a new venue for the Group’s spring meeting. Not far from Pendon Museum and the historic town of Wallingford in Oxfordshire, the village hall at Brightwell-cum-Sotwell proved to be an ideal venue. The weather was bright and sunny, although there was a chill in the air, but that didn’t stop over forty people from attending the first show at this venue.
The hall, which appears to be a converted Victorian village primary school, was large, light and airy. Rob had gathered four S7 layouts for the day, his own Tinker’s Green Sidings, Peter Drost’s Tanat Valley Line, old stager New Radnor from rejoined member Eric Ramsay, and the latest small layout from Simon Thompson. Trade support was from Exactoscale, Perfect Miniatures and Laurie Griffin. There were demonstrations of wall casting from Peter Mann, track construction from David Nicholson and ZTC DCC controls from Alan Benson. Paul Prior brought a selection of items of rolling stock and tools for sale (from a gift to the Group) and a demonstration of “virtual modelling” on his laptop, while your correspondent flitted here and there wielding the camera.
As with many S7 meetings, there was a lot of discussion about our hobby, sharing of ideas, and a general feeling that we were all enjoying ourselves. We left at the end of the day with a great feeling of well-being, and generally being more enthused to get on with our own projects.
So, our thanks to Rob for organising the day, and to April for virtually single-handedly feeding and watering the gathered throng.
The London Festival of Railway Modelling, Alexandra Palace, London (29–30 March 2008)
The London Festival has become something of a fixture in the exhibition calendar, and with the gentle guiding hand of the Model Railway Club, Warners have managed to raise its game somewhat each year.
However, this year’s show was under new management from the Warners side, and while the trade support was good, despite the over-abundance of box shifters as ever, and some of the layouts were excellent, there was something indefinable lacking. Your correspondent can’t put her finger on just what was missing, but several visitors voiced similar concerns. Perhaps we should wait for 2009 and see if the new broom improves on their first experience this year.
The ScaleSeven Group stand this year had been taken on by members of the South East England Area Group, under the leadership of David Cooper. The result—while still as yet incomplete—was a very professional L-shaped presentation, with attached free-standing rostrum and the loan of Richard Chown’s Furnaces diorama. The whole thing is designed to show models off, both static and moving, the latter on both DC and DCC. Demonstration material for wagon, loco and permanent way, is stored on trays, which can be brought out from a discrete storage area when a visitor asks for further information.
Over the weekend, the stand was manned by David, Eldred Clark, Richard Carr, Ian Norman, Rob Thompson and others. Assistance was also given by other members if they visited the show, as well as your correspondent and the Chairman. We were both attending as show Stewards, but were available to cover as required.
Comments about the new stand by the visiting public were positive. The team took the show as the stand’s first proper “shake-down” event, and were prepared to learn from suggestions and mistakes over the weekend. The primary aim is to present the Group in a professional manner, with the possibility that the stand can be used at many exhibitions in the future.
By careful planning by the show organisers—thanks, Peter Mann!—the society stand was coupled with Richard Chown’s magnum opus Allendenac.
Anyone who has seen this layout in the flesh will already know the scale is stupendous! With a high viewing and operating level, there is a very high backdrop and comprehensive theatrical lighting, which provides an imaginative and impressive impression. Allendenac positively dominated the end of the West Hall, and I believe that many visitors were completely unaware that the MRC’s own Happisburgh 7mm layout was lurking behind it!
