Morning folks. Anyone who is heading to the NEC today, for day 2 of the Model Live exhibition, I hope you have as good a day as I did yesterday. The show, in my opinion, is superb. One thing to remember, this isn't based on what Warley was, and to be honest, I'm pleased. This is bigger in terms of overall footprint, but much better spaced out, so no cramped areas, pushing against others. There was nice wider spaces to escape to if you needed to step aside for a while too. One of the retail stands explained that the organisers changed halls for a bigger one fairly late on in planning, just to accommodate everything. It was fairly easy to browse stands from early on, then again from mid afternoon. Peak busyness seemed to be 11am to 2pm. I'd say 80% of the show was railway related, with the other areas including model planes, remote control vehicles, boats, and other model genres. Some amazing stuff to see, the remote control trucks and excavator stand, moving piles of soil around was fascinating. Some great large exhibits too, such as a real class 37, the amazing truck that brought it, 2 real army tanks, and more. Personally, I had a brilliant day. I arrived at 09:45 and left at around 3pm. So much to see. I had a lovely chat with Pete Waterman, whose massive layout was still having shorting issues throughout the day, at one point nothing ran for over an hour, but it was still fascinating to see the incredible size and detail of it all. Once he got stock rolling, the crowds gathered. Many of the well known big retailers were there, although I didn't see Rails of Sheff or Cavalex, shame, they both missed a treat. Rainbow Railways had a large stand, and they took a big chunk of my money (more info later), as did the many tools and sundries type stands. A dedicated corner of the hall had refreshments vans, selling an array of yummy goods, including a mobile bar! This helped ease the crowds in the usual NEC food outlets. There was some seating in the hall, but not enough, however, just step back into the foyer and there's plenty to find. Leaving and returning was easy, just an ink stamp on the hand gave the freedom to come and go as you pleased. So, I think it was a great day out, good value for money, and catered for a much wider modelling audience. I only left at 3pm as I was tired out and skint!! Defo going again. 👍

Posted by Dave - derbytrainfan at 2024-04-28 08:03:08 UTC