Caulfield Model Railway Exhibition 2010

The Caulfield Model Railway Exhibition is over for another year. This year marked the 40th anniversary of the exhibition run by the AMRA Victorian Branch. I went to the exhibition yesterday, flying down from Canberra, and had a great time.

There were 25 layouts out of 65 stands. The plethora of commercial stands at the one location made it very easy for shoppers to part with their money! Of most interest, were the Austrains Victorian Railways 4 wheelers (B, I, and IA) which sold out just after lunch on Saturday. I understand more packs were made available today from an express overnight shipment from Sydney. Austrains were also selling their newly arrived NR in Southern Spirit green and white livery.

A number of pilot models were on display at the Caulfield exhibition. Auscision had their forthcoming Victorian Railways GY 4 wheeler. Trainorama displayed their Commonwealth Railways GM and NSWR 48 class diesel locomotives. Elsewhere, the NSWR 48 class diesel (in four different versions) was on display from Powerline. Meanwhile, Eureka was also at the exhibition, fielding a number of inquiries about the continuing delays for the VR R and K class steam locos and the NSWR 40 class diesel. Ron Cunningham advised that Eureka were going to use a new manufacturer since they had been cut by Sandakan (Kader). However, I am not sure if the models previously announced have been cut by Sandakan or not. Perhaps Ron will explain more in due course on his website.

Of the layouts, the AMRA Victorian Branch were exhibiting their HO scale US prototype layout Wills Street for the last time. The layout was being offered for sale. The photo belows shows a BN&Q train heading through a rather deserted looking yard on Wills Street.

Another large US layout on display, and exhibited at the show last year, was from Glenn Brooks and the Latrobe Valley Model Railway Association featuring western railroad action based on the Union Pacific and Rio Grande. This layout was very impressive, both in terms of physical size and plenty of continuous train action.

The Coffs Harbour (NSW) Railway Modellers Group came all the way south of the border to display their large US-styled HO scale layout. The layout scenery and buildings are based on the US scene, but at different times during the day trains from the US, NSW and Victorian Railways all get a turn showing their wares around the layout under digital command control (DCC). The photo belows show US steam action with a long train of reefers.

VR-based layouts in HO scale included Benalta, Broadford, Coliban Valley, End of the line, and Tyobic. I hadn't seen Tyobic before and it followed the tradition of a VR country through-station with a yard. The layout had a split backscene, like End of the line, that sent a train through to the fiddleyard through a gap in the backscene just passed a nicely modelled railway crossing. The next two photos illustrate Tyobic.

In N scale, layouts on show included Georgetown (UK), Springhill Yellow Pine Division (US), and Enoshima (Japanese). I think Enoshima was being displayed at Caulfield for the first time and certainly drew in the crowds.

There were also two very different but very interesting layouts on display. The first, was the HO scale Howjadoit, that showed a small compact layout under different stages of construction. This display was a great demonstration of how a layout is constructed, something we need to show to the public more often.

The second interesting layout was the Oe scale Pierreville. Pierreville depicts a French railroad station where narrow and standard gauge tracks meet to transfer passengers between the systems. A nice feature of the layout was the fernicular railroad at the front. And I was quite intrigued by the system of getting trains on and off the layout (see photo below).

As well as enjoying the layouts and commercial stands, I caught up with several railway modellers that I know very well; most from Canberra or Sydney strangely enough. All in all, it was a great day out.

Further thoughts on the Sandown MRE

My blog post last evening expressed the positive aspects of the Sandown Model Railway Exhibition that I attended last Saturday in Melbourne. However, there are a couple of improvements to the Sandown Exhibition that I would recommend organisers look at for next year.

Firstly, layout lighting needs to be improved. Not all layouts had their own lighting and it was very noticeable that these displays were "in the dark" compared to the others. However, even most of the layouts that had their own lights really needed more lighting to really showcase their displays. Poor layout lighting was one of the disappointing elements of the exhibition.

The second issue related to barriers around layouts - for the most part non-existent. This has pluses and minuses. On the plus side, people can get close to the layout to see what is going on. On the downside, it is also very easy for some people to touch and knock over things on a layout, much to the consternation of exhibitors. One poor old chap was leapt upon by a frustrated layout operator after bumping the baseboard and causing a train to derail. It was totally accidental (and probably not unusual given the crowd and no layout barrier), but the poor chap was really quite astonished at the terse response!

Along one narrow aisle, between a row of commercial stands and a couple of layouts, there was no room for a barrier. In fact, the aisle was so narrow that there was little standing room unless one wanted to block a steady stream of patrons walking through the corridor or wanting to browse the commercial stands. Aisle width and barriers need to be addressed.

Lastly, there really needs to be some improvement to catering at model railway exhibitions. I say this because standing for thirty minutes or longer in a queue for lunch, served by a couple of overworked catering staff, is not good enough. Moreover, the wait was worse for people only wanting a can of drink or a cup of tea! Perhaps there could be a separate drinks line in future.

These comments are meant to identify some improvements for the next show. They reflect my "customer experience" and, from some comments I overheard at the show, were not unique.

As to the quality of the layouts on show at a public model railway exhibition, they were generally very good. Kids were well catered for with rides outside the exhibition hall, a U-drive layout, and a very imaginative "layout" featuring SylvanianCity figures and buildings. The train component involved an oval of track with a rather generic steam engine and a couple of carriages going around in circles. However, the "ambience" of the scenery and the figures was really quite engaging for young girls dragged along to a model railway exhibition with optimistic fathers!

An excellent idea was an area for young children to do colouring-in of line drawings of trains. Whenever I passed by this area of the exhibition, there were plenty of kids scribbling away attentively with coloured pencils. The more options young kids have at model railway exhibitions to do something interesting, and not just get dragged along (literally in some cases) by parents, the better!

Of what I considered high quality layouts, Totternhoe Mineral Railway, Dolly Varden Mines Railway, and Florey Springs were standouts. The Union Pacific/Rio Grande layout was spectacular because of its size and constant flow of train action, while the under-construction ANP Switching District demonstrated what can be achieved in an average-sized bedroom. Victorian-prototype layouts like Murranbilla, Benalta, Broadford, Cardinia Rail Link, and Coliban Valley catered for local prototype interests. Naturally, opinion is subjective and I am sure all visitors to the exhibition found something of special interest - and this is a good thing.

Overall, the Sandown Exhibition was a very good exhibition; showcasing a nice variety of model railway layouts of various scales and featuring a range of qualities. In addition, there was good commercial support, as well as a couple of excellent practical clinics and modelling demonstrations.

A small selection of photos will appear in my next blog post.