Saturday 14th Feb was the date of the NMRC annual show but as those members of the committee involved in the organising of it will no doubt testify things started well before then with respect to getting things in place for it. As a club member and a 'utility helper' at the show (doing a wide range of things) it helped open my eyes to what actually goes on behind the scenes.
For years when I used to do the 'model exhibition circuit' and as general member of the public visiting the exhibitions there was so much I used to take for granted when I entered the different venues. From time to time some of these exhibitions I visited changed their venue, just as NMRC did this year. Although I personally believe the show benefited from the change of venue, ultimately it will be down to the public to make up their own minds. From previous experience, there have been one or two shows that have fallen off my radar due to changes of venue: having visited the 'new' show I have gone away thinking that the exhibition 'had lost something'. Thankfully, this is not always the case.
Recently I made what had been an annual pilgrimage in my earlier life to the AMRSS show in Glasgow. This was 'Model Rail Scotland', held by the Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland. All the association members have their own shows but this exhibition brings them all together in one place each year. For a fair few years now its been held in the SECC (The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre), essentially in my opinion a glorified collection of hangers built on reclaimed land (old docks filled in with the rubble from St Enoch Railway Station) next to the river Clyde in Glasgow. Here, in one hall, they had over 150 stands, of which approx 50 were model layouts. The concrete floor in my opinion is the limiting factor as to how long someone could stay at the show for (this year I survived for 5 hours). Putting aside my gripes about getting food there I think the size of the show and venue has contributed towards its continued success and one of the recognised big shows up there in the league of the likes of Warley. If you haven't been, I would strongly encourage a visit, for one thing with it being fair bit away from Newbury there is a chance you havnt seen any of the layouts before...just think 50 new layouts to tick off the list at one event!
In the shows earlier years, back when I was a mere kid it was held in a Gallery on Sauchiehall Street. This venue had charm by the bucket load: it was a whole series of halls (with wooden floors being easier on the legs), many of these rooms were smaller than the halls used by the NMRC this year but entering into the different rooms and finding yet more exhibits was all part of the appeal. However, when I recall the balconies around the main hall having trade stands up there and the sheer numbers of people in there I can see why the change of venue has helped (just don't ask me what sort of politics went on behind the scene with regards to the venue change as I couldn't tell you). It certainly let the show grow. So whats the point of me writing this? In view of the NMRC exhibition finding a new venue for the show I know only too well that changes of venue can stir up thoughts good or bad. With this years exhibition being the largest for a number of years it would be interesting to hear other views on the subject.
Written by Alan Robertson