Yesterday I attended what was to be the last Arundel exhibition. The details and reasons for this are varied and I won't elaborate. For someone who has been there since almost the beginning of the nearly twenty year run, I find it sad. But is it? Model railway exhibitions, like much in life, have a natural span and being that that they are are in the main non-profit making for individuals, rely on goodwill and enthusiasm. The Arundel show has I feel run it's course and with (from my perspective ) a poor overall attendance yesterday compared to its glory days, I think it is a good idea to let it rest.
However Garn behaved itself all day-thanks to Mike Campbell for operating for a while - and there were some lovely pieces of work scattered around the hall. There was an enormous amount of conversation taking place and exchanging of ideas which is what this particular show has become known for.
The scratch-build competition (pushed here) was won by Les Coleman with (again!) a Lister rail truck. I really wouldn't have wanted to judge this one as the standard of those who entered was pretty high - 16mm Talyllyn tea car with working shutters, lights and full of crockery? Brilliant. My paltry entry, which may pop up here soon, looked pretty pathetic by comparison.
I didn't operate at all - that was Joshua :-)
ReplyDeleteWe had a good time anyway.
A real shame if it is the last one, as there aren't many shows like it; there just isn't the opportunity to take along a layout that might be rather unusual in its presentation to the vast majority of exhibitions. I, too, enjoyed it; now giving the modelling a rest for a short while as I need to get other things sorted out, but hopefully I will embark on experiments with alternative couplings (in conjunction with some kit-building) before long.
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