Friday 22nd - Geoff, Stephen and 'guest operator' Chris Holmes (Laurence had decided to pass on this trip).
The main preparations for the show had been made on the the preceding Wednesday, so on Friday afternoon, Stephen arrived at Staines, the two cars were loaded up and headed down the M3 to Eastleigh. The hotel was visible from the motorway turn-off and booking in was quickly completed. Chris arrived in time for a cuppa after which we made the 5 minute trip to the venue. There had been uncertainty about how many car park passes we might be allocated, but on arrival at the college, all three were accommodated close to the entrance. Setting-up went smoothly. Worton Court was in the main hall, with more layouts, sales and association stands in adjacent spaces/classrooms. We were soon back at the hotel for dinner.
After breakfast, it was showtime. We needed two people on the stand - one operator and one on the fiddleyard, so there was plenty of time for the 'spare' to wander around the show. As with similar shows, a large number of exhibitors and visitors were known to us all and a great deal of time was spent catching up with friends and acquaintances, especially with the hiatus of covid.
The thumb turns on the trestles worked really well and made levelling the bases a doddle!
There were the usual minor mishaps, but generally, everything worked well. The additional figures certainly enhanced the layout and discussions regarding 3D printing were numerous. However, two features came in for particular comment - the fiddleyard display unit and the lighting. Most visitors want to see 'behind the scenes' and normally resort to peering over or around solid panels on other layouts. The perspex with shelves behind provides stock storage and display space, and allows views of the stock in the cassettes.
The other was the lighting - a strip each of bright and warm white LED's, gives a decent colour of light, virtually without shadows. We were constantly explaining how they developed and what the components were. One manoeuvre we don't remember using very often was having 'full's and 'empties' trains on the layout at the same time. It gave a perfect opportunity to show-off all of the bespoke wagons and demonstrate the overall 'rock delivery' process from quarry to mainline sidings.
