SMRS Annual Exhibition

  

Hi Mark and thanks for reminding me of this superb exibition. I went to the 2017 show and it was magnificent and well worth the trip over from France.

I'm due to be over in late February for a dental appointment in Romsey, but will tomorrow try to rearrange it to enable me to attend the show.

Hopefully I'll see you there and Nick as well with Much Murkle!

Best.

Bill

Pleased to say that I'll be at this show and I definately don't need anything at all at the moment, so it will be interesting to see what comes home with me!

Happy to meet any other members if you're going as well.

Cheers,

Bill

I also attended this show in 2017 and can also confirm its well worth a visit much bigger than i originally thought with many first rate layouts and exhibitors.

Bill, look forward to seeing you again at Southampton and anyother YMRers there.
 

I'll try my best to get there on Sunday.Does anyone know what parking is available?.

Hi Alan,

There is parking on site and I was pleasently surprised last year to park easilly just before the 10h00 opening. Other parking is available, the large nearby leisure centre being a good bet, or the station car park a little further away at a 10 minute walk. Have a look on Google maps.

Hope to see you there, PM if you need a phone number.

Nick, looking forward to seeing you and MM again too. Today, I'm mainly working in plastikard and Ratio sides!

Bill

Just found this on the SMRS site:

Parking…
Despite the additional parking that has been provided at the  college in recent years however, we recognise that there will probably  still be insufficient spaces at busy times.
To assist with street parking, please note the following:

• The long lay-by in Chestnut Avenue is free and unrestricted at weekends.
• Street parking in the roads on the south (Southampton) side of Chestnut Avenue is not subject to restrictions on Saturday or Sunday.
• Street parking in the roads to the north (Eastleigh town side) of the College is restricted on Saturday, but are mostly unrestricted on Sunday.
• There is a small free public car park in Chestnut Avenue, on the left hand side a few hundred yards after the junction with Stoneham Lane, about 5 to 10 minutes walk from the College.

Bill

Thanks Bill.

I look forward to seeing all of you who have responded so far to this post at our show.

At 6'4" tall I am easy to spot so please come and say hello. I am also one of your duty first aiders so please try and stay healthy!

I am mostly on duty at the information desk just inside the front doorbut will be having a wander every now and then.

With regard to the parking please see the above post as the information contained therein is accurate and needs no added confusion from me.

Bill, whether or not you can rearrange your dental appointment you are welcome to come as my guest to our clubrooms. As we have 3 club nights a week you should be able to fit this in. Do feel free to bring something to run.

Mark Lancaster

[user=1729]MarkL71A[/user] wrote:

At 6'4" tall I am easy to spot so please come and say hello

At that height you should be one of the few people able to look Bill in the eye without looking up :mrgreen:   

Haha, you beat me to that one Nick and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

I didn't manage to switch my dental appointment Mark, so still have a few days over again in February and will be very pleased to take up your kind offer to visit the SMRS.

Best,

Bill

All packed and Much Murkle is ready for the scrum setup later this afternoon.

Look forward to seeing those who are going over the weekend.

Thanks to all who managed to make it to our 2018 exhibition.
Great to meet Bill and renew my accaintance with the Much Murkle crew.
We had good numbers for the whole weekend and look forward to seeing even more of you next year.
I will leave it to others to comment on the quality of the show.

MarkL

Sorry i couldn't make it. Hope you had a great day.

Well after some 'fun' with a puncture on the drive to my return ferry on Monday and subsequent new tyres, delayed return and an extra stop-over in Normandy, I'm back home preparing for the arrival of winter guests tomorrow.

Just time to say hello though and confirm that the SMRS's 2018 Eastleigh exhibition was a joy and even better than 2017.

It was a pleasure to meet Mark and look him straight in the eye and I'm looking forward to visiting the society's club rooms next month. Our very own Woody's Much Murkle was as good as ever and Nick's new cassettes work a treat and I enjoyed chatting to Nick and his crew on both days of the show.

The quality of the diverse range of layouts was remarkably high and it is difficult to single any one railway out over another, but on a purely subjective basis, I greatly enjoyed Cornwallis Yard, Trewithick, Much Murkle, Llanfair Caereinion, Burntisland 1883 and the remarkable Wickwar, which does pretty much everything in its' own particular inspirational way.

I must bring a proper camera with me next time, as my phone cannot do the indoor stuff justice, but here's one of Trewithick and there's another in my gallery:







I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I didn't actually need to buy anything right now, although I did stock up with some consumables and a number of road and rail kits at givaway prices. However, the surprise stock to come home with me was a new lined Dean Goods from Oxford Rail. I'm aware of it's short comings in the detail department, but in the flesh, it's a lovely model and fills a gap in my 1920s schedule. The decider however was the discounted £75 price tag and I also picked up two different pewter crews designed specifically for this model from Martin of Masterpiece Figures. He does an extensive range, both painted and unpainted and is possessed of a refreshing and positive outlook in providing his merchandise.

Having spent three days researching the goods shed for my Burbage plank, after much chat, I joined the Great Western Study Group, as they will always probably have someone who knows more information than me on a particular issue. They also provided me with an almost impossible to find copy of Russell's GW Wagons Plan Book, while the demonstrator of the one to one weathering demonstration gave me a wagon to practice on!

This is an extremely good show and I'll be there again in January 2019.

Best wishes to all,

Bill

Pleased you enjoyed it Bill but sorry to hear of your tyre woes - exactly that happened to me when I last crossed over ot Southampton.  I'd put a pair of new tyres on here before the trip but picked up a screw close to the tyre wall somewhere on the docks.  That was the worst milleage I've ever had from a tyre - about 700 miles !!!  At least in UK they only needed to fit 1.  Here in France, they'd have insisted on a pair.

When I go over, I go to the north east so have to try to coincide with exhibitions up there.  Not always possible if I'm to see family as well.  They don't have many mid-week exhibitions !!!

I have seen a couple of the layouts you mentioned - Cornwallis Yard and Burntisland - both excellent layouts.

I'm toying with the idea of going to Doncaster next month but, having just moved house, not sure I'll make it.

Unfortunately, the wheel nuts on the affected corner had either been secured by a Russian shot putter or by overenthusiastic use of the air gun, possibly both, but even with scientific use of my wheel brace, I only managed to loosen two nuts! My pal Brian duly arrived with trolley jack and a big wheel spider and after a visit to his tyre man, the Kangoo had two good branded new tyres for £96, so I'll be back soon for a new set for the TR4!

I hope your house move recovery permits your Doncaster visit Peter, as a good rail exhibition works wonders for the mojo!

Also bon courage finding all your stuff. We still have a surprising number of unpacked boxes in various outbuildings, several years after our move from the UK. 

Best,

Bill

 

[user=1814]Longchap[/user] wrote:

I hope your house move recovery permits your Doncaster visit Peter, as a good rail exhibition works wonders for the mojo!

So do I, as I'll finally get to meet you Peter. Much Murkle will be there in the Nijinsky Suite.

Just re-checked the dates and there's no way I'm going to make it - it's next weekend and I have to be here both the Friday and Tuesday for previously arranged appointments.

Such is life immediately after a house move.  Another one later in the spring - hopefully.