1st April

Well by the time you read this the 20s should be on their way to you. As you may have heard we are in the middle of a recession well all we can say is that if the cost of getting stuff in from abroad is anything to go by wow - Madness! We are finding it harder to get stuff as people don't keep stock and you have to wait - sort of becomes self-fulfilling. Anyway that's not going to stop us. There is still a few of you out there that don't seem to understand the way the glue works, don't worry call us we can talk you through, it could not be easier but I guess its easy for me to say, it did though take a while for me to see how easy it was. So pick up the phone and call, or ask us at Reading. There should be some new photo's next week of a new kit.

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10th March

BLOG - ON REFLECTION

I was both surprised and a little disappointed with the response I got at the Kettering Show last weekend, to the 'No Business Like Show Business' editorial.  Surprised at the major impact it had had and at the quite diverse views and comments prompted by it, but disappointed by some comments which indicated an apparent lack of understanding of the argument.  If, as some comments would suggest, I gave the impression in the article that my thoughts were provoked by my not having a successful show, then I apologise because that simply isn't true.  I had a fabulous show because I am fortunate in that I have a product that is unique. 

Anyone who knows me or knows of me, also knows that I am passionate about our hobby - and I make no apologies for that.  Everything I do, say or print in this regard aims to improve the state of our hobby for everyone's enjoyment and it's never just about me.   I feel qualified to pass comment and judgement because as I realised at Kettering at the weekend, I have been attending shows both as a trader and as a hobbyist since 1967!  As Bob Essrey reminded me I go back to the days of the old central hall shows!  Looking around the hall on Saturday, there were probably only 2 other traders and probably only 15-20 enthusiasts, or hobbyists as they call them now, who could claim such a pedigree.

Another misconception which I don't understand and one I would like to correct, is the idea that I'm against the out of the box modeller.  This is absolute nonsense and since I have my own brand with Hornby - The Waterman Collection - to denigrate it would be shooting myself in the foot!  There is undoubtedly a place for both disciplines but not necessarily under the same banner.  The problem to me seems to me to be a lack of understanding as to why we need small traders and I can understand that if we're only ever going to 'play trains' but modellers need the small traders' support - where else would they get their small bolts, nickel silver brass strips, plastic sheets - the list goes on for ever! It is my opinion that clarification is necessary so that attendees at the major shows know exactly what to expect and I suggest that the way forward is for major shows, that are not gauge specific, to clearly indicate in their pre-show advertising whether or not modellers are involved or state that there is a section in the show exclusively for models.  The price that traders are charged for space in the show should be reflective of the overall aims of the show.  This way at least everybody will know what the deal is and nobody will feel cheated.

As someone pointed out to me,  Scotland is probably the most complicated of all the shows as it is run by The Scottish Railway Clubs who all have the right to put in one of their own layouts.  It's a bit more complicated than the shows in England but looking at the shows in the diary this year, I definitely see a need for a clear and decisive indication from the show organisers.  The gauge O shows and the scale forums, which are modeller specific, are fine but we should not go down the route of having the two completely disengaged.

In other words people need to be inspired.  They need to see what can be achieved.  If, like me, you are constantly looking for new challenges and new ideas i.e. someone or something that makes you re-think what you're doing then here's a website to make you do just that.  I have no idea who this guy is or whether I've met him or not but I recommend you take a look at his website - albeit 4ml - www.nevardmedia5.fotopic.net/ this site belongs to Chris Nevard and although undoubtedly a fabulous photographer, he is also a fantastic modeller and this shows in his eye for detail.  Check it out!

Let's hope that the future will see more layouts with quality like this.  In line with what I sad after Wigan, the bigger the challenge, the greater the achievement and if one day we could see quality like this on the massive round and round layouts,  then we surely will have made it and met that challenge.

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24th February

No business like Show business . . . "Toy Trains or Modellers"

I have said for some time now that I felt our hobby could no longer continue in the vein that it has for the past 2 years and now I think the time has come to take a step back to consider our position and evaluate where we are going.

I attended Model Rail Scotland in Glasgow at the weekend and if this is the way that the year is to unfold then we all are in trouble!  The gap between the 'box shifters' and the 'modellers' is now too wide and although there is room for both genres, it is imperative that exhibitions make it clear to the visiting public which field they are focusing on. I believe that these shows can no longer be a servant to two masters.  So why do I say this?  Well, if like me you are a railway modeller then it's fellow modellers that you want to see but if the very person that you are trying to serve will not attend because he sees the show as an exhibition of toys or a swop meet, then your being there is pointless.

In the current economic climate you have to offer value for money and when you take into account the petrol cost as well as the entrance fee, your potential customer will think twice about setting foot outside his door if he is unsure as to what kind of exhibits he is going to see. To an avid modeller, seeing locos taken out of a box, running at speed around a track is not impressive and nor is seeing someone with all the members of one class of loco in all its colours.  If this is what the show is about then the modeller has wasted both his time and money because what he wants is to see is a like soul - someone who can inspire him - someone who has used their skill to produce a scale model.  This will not only maintain his interest but, hopefully, will also sustain our hobby.

I praised the Wigan show at Christmas and I felt it did an excellent job with the layout but now I think we have to look at what the shows need to do for the future.  Clubs have to decide whether they are for the family or for the modeller - they cannot do both.  I'm all for families attending shows but we now need to separate them because the small traders who have been the backbone of the model railway enthusiasts for over 50 years, are shrinking fast.  At the weekend I heard 2 or 3 traders saying that they'd had enough and they would retire.  If that were to happen then it would be a tragedy because some of these traders will never be replaced.  Sadly, this year has already seen some such experts go to the wall.

When I heard complaints about the Warley Show at Christmas I got very worried and not a little disappointed because this was one weekend that I'd looked forward to year after year but this has stopped me in my tracks and made me think.  We are suffering from being too big and outstripping the market place.  There is a fall in demand for our product and more importantly not enough layouts to sustain the interests of the visitors with too many of the same type of trade at the same show.

How many times over the last 10 years have you heard that all competition is good for the customer?  Well let me tell you, as an expert on the subject, it's nonsense!  It's a short term argument born out of panic because we now see that the market will collapse as the cake doesn't get bigger, the portions just get smaller and when you reach the point that the customer doesn't like paying for the smaller slice then things go bad.  Discounts fool nobody because if items can be sold so cheaply why are the prices so high in the first place? If this is good for the customer then I'll eat my hat!

I believe that it's time now to fine tune the amount of shows and to literally decide who the traders are in the hall and who is their target audience.  If we do not start, this year, with the aim of putting into action our thoughts for next year, then I confidently predict that there will be no shows thereafter to go to.  I therefore say to all the clubs do not bury your heads in the sand, I have been here before, we have seen this happen.

It's time to think about quality and not numbers and we should be bringing entrance fees down not increasing them.  If the venues charge too much then we need to find cheaper venues.  In terms of quality, compared with other hobbies of similar stature, we are lagging far behind and we need to address this.

We have to make up our minds now whether the shows are for toy train people or for the modellers.  The choice at the moment is yours - it may not be in the future.

Now is the time to act to save our hobby because that is more important than a few big shows.

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New Gresleys

Available from Easter will be a new range of Gresley's, this time the range will cover the 52' 6" stock. See Coach list for details. At this point we are now able to do any of the Gresley Coaches that you may need. Call Laurie and talk about what you see us adding to the range. Watch for more news soon . . . New Year . . . New models.

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