Poor Show Public Exhibition Layouts

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I'm not talking about Club/Commercial Exhibitions but static layouts open to the public either paid or free. In the past month I've visited two such exhibitions, because I was already in the vicinity, one was free entry the other was paid for as part of a larger attraction. The problem with both was that the only maintenance appeared to be wheels and track, the scenery wasn't being kept clean Having recently given my scenery a spring clean, reapplication of flock and static grass and the trees a quick blast of green from the airbrush, I can appreciate what the owners/operators are up against, but it doesn't give the general public a good impression of the hobby. In one case it was being run single handed by the guy who built it, he was obviously getting on in years and I don't think the idea of getting some help had occurred to him. The rolling stock that moved was immaculate but anything that stood still was covered in thick dust. He was probably having difficulty in reaching to clean the track as there was minor damage at points where it was necessary to reach over.
The other was being run as an adjunct to shop and outside attraction the bits that were behind glass were fine but a large N gauge layout which should have been a focal point was again thick in dust and inoperable, probably for want of some loco servicing. In the first case I hope that there's a local modeler who might offer the owner some help, The other one, well they are operating as an attraction in a visitor hot-spot. It might be being cruel to be kind but modellers should give them an honest but negative review on one of the "where to go" websites.

[Richard08]

A great many moon ago I visited the model railway on the seafront in Weymouth quite often, living nearby. To the right as you entered there was a derailed Frightliner train coming out of a tunnel. Getting on 30 years later, just before the model railway closed, me and my driver were wondering around Weymouth having worked the 'Weymouth Wizard' summer only service (which gave us with 6 hours to kill) wondered in (free entry!) - that Freightliner train was still there. Interestingly, it was only then I noticed the moderately extensive layout had no points.

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The large layout at Alton Towers, was pretty well maintained, at least up to the time I last saw it. It had many points which were purely scenic embellishments, where track switching was needed it had hand built points of enormous length where the switch points were moved as were the wing rails at the frog giving a totally supported rail throughout the junction. What was amazing was that most of these were 3 rail, early in its development 3 rail had been used to simplify automation and I presume it would have required a lot of rebuilding to eliminate it.
The one time I saw a seriously derailed train there, resulted in a section of scenery lifting up, an operators head and shoulders appearing out of it armed with a grabbing tool and the problem quickly rectified. There were often patches of scenery that showed signs of recent rejuvenation.
The airbrush and the electric tea strainer (static grass) have made giving the scenery a quick brush up a lot easier.

[Richard08]

The large layout at Alton Towers...

Removed and sold off in 1993 - thought it's odd I'd no seen it (used to deliver Land Rover parts there, sometimes used to take the, cough, 'wrong' door when leaving ). Ok, yeah,I googled it... Quite impressive https://www.towerstimes.co.uk/history/p ... l-railway/

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The stock and many of the buildings might have been removed and auctioned off, but the layout itself would have taken a chainsaw to dismantle. I saw it during construction. Brick piers 8"x2" timbers for support, scenery based on 2"x1" heavy mesh and concrete.

[Bigmet]

I would suggest that standards have improved significantly since the heyday of permanent 'visitor attraction' layouts. To see a physically large layout with a range of varied trains, some of full 'mainline' length, was automatically impressive; but that was before the likes of High Dyke, Stoke Summit and Copenhagen Fields were on the exhibition circuit. Main line operation with close observation of the prototype in all of the trains, fixed railway hardware and the surrounding scene.

Even the very fine O gauge set up David Jenkinson left to the NRM is a challenge to maintain operating properly and of good appearance...

[Mountain]

Been replying to things on more than one site but some of my replies dissapear from sites the day after I wrote them so could be the internet playing up.
Once asked at an exhibition any hints to building a decent portable exhibition layout and was told by this one exhibitor that he soldered all his points shut in one position and soldered up the flangeways so the layout just became a basic oval of track. All the rest was for display purposes only. He said he did this to give excellent running as the public needed to see models that could crawl well and run to the best of their ability.

To me soldering up ones points is pointless! Why not just make an oval? I would say I would not do that but my home-made diamond crossing may one day get this treatment as it was built for display to make it look like the track went somewhere further, so maybe if I do this I will be copying, but I do jot intend to have non-working points as to me, I like things to work, as things need to operate and not just be a display.