No longer taking place.

I guess that everyone may have heard by now that the Warley Show at the NEC has been cancelled for the forseeable future.  From what I can gather it's due mainly to old age catching up with the Warley Club membership, together with the fact that no younger people are coming forward to take over the organization and running of the event.  I'm sure that the Warley Club website might throw more light on the situation.

Terry

I think, from what I've read, you're right Terry - just the organisers getting older and tired.

I've never been and admit, I'm not a huge fan of these larger shows - too crowded for my liking so usually very difficult, if not impossible, to study the layouts in much detail.

Having said that, I'm sure there must be a "critical mass" for exhibitions - too big and these overcrowding problems become very evident, too small and the overheads quickly kill it off.

From our own small efforts all those years ago in Cornwall, we know how costs can quickly become overpowering, particularly the cost of the venue.  Heaven knows what the NEC costs for the weekend ……

There was a piece about railway modelling,  the cancellation of the Warley Show and the Hatton's closure on the 'BBC Breakfast' program this morning.

You can catch it on BBC iPlayer (UK Only I think) just before 8:00am.



Ed

(Repeated 09:25am)
 

The coverage in the press would appear to be alarmist in tone, "We are all going to die because one model shop is closing and one exhibitiuon is not taking place in future!"  Maybe not quite like that, but you get my drift.  Model shops have been closing ever since the first one opened - Allan Brett Cannon (ABC) of London Bridge, Hamblings (The Home of OO), Hobbytime of West Wickham, Modelmania of Norbury Station, W&H of New Cavendish Street,  The Home of O Gauge at Raynes Park, Beatties of Holborn, Kings Cross Models of York Way, and the model railway shop at the City Arcade Liverpool Street.  These are just the closed model railway shops known to me personally in the London area.  My point is this, despite the closure of all of the foregoing, many of which were big names in the hobby, the hobby has continued to flourish.  New shops have opened and many online businesses have been created.

As for the Warley Show.  Sad, but these large shows have never done a lot for me personally.  I much prefer the smaller shows where you can get up close to the layouts and have a conversation with the owners and operators.

The loss of one shop and one show does not signify the end of the hobby. Logically, the hobby will continue until the last railway modeller 'bites the dust!' (Sorry, my love of Westerns is showing itself!)

Ever Optimistic,

Terry

Yes, I saw that Ed.

Not a very good presentation I thought and did little to reverse the media suggestion that railway modelling is dying.

On the other hand, maybe the media have a point.  The average age of modellers is increasing with relatively few youngsters coming into the hobby and prices are increasing at an alarming rate.  Model trains are fast becoming a rich man's toys ..................  Thank heaven one can enjoy railway modelling without the need to buy much in the way of rolling stock. 

I am in the process of installing a sound chip in an existing "OO" Gauge locomotive and in total, there's little change from £300.  That is way outside the budget of a pensioner !!

I can imagine the time when "O" Gauge becomes more popular again because layouts will, by necessity,  be small and therefore only 1 or 2 locomotives and a few wagons will suffice.  I'd guess the costs could be far less than the average "OO" Gauge layout where buying a new loco is an almost monthly requirement - so that it can join the others sitting on a shelf because the layout is already overcrowded ..........................

Collectors of course, are different beasts altogether - they're not "railway modellers".

The second broadcast at 9:25am was a bit more informative and did imply that the hobby was still growing, even among the younger generations.

However the media and some posters on other forums, seems to have forgotten that railway modelling is not exclusively a UK hobby.

If the internet is anything to go by (I know, risky) there are plenty of people modelling railways in the Americas, Europe, Australasia and Asia, and who have probably never heard of the Warley model railway exhibition and who have never bought anything from Hattons. unless of course they happen to model British outline.

Railway modelling in decline?

I don't really think one retailer shutting down and one show being cancelled is really a good indication.


Ed