A welcome return – in this observer’s judgement...

Welcome to the December issue of EIM – and as I write these words I’m thinking back to a very enjoyable day doing something we haven’t done in three years – going to a show! We always give the Midlands show plenty of coverage – well we do sponsor the event – but this year the first of John Arrowsmith’s two reports is a little larger than usual. The first show since 2019 highlighted what model engineers have been up to in the intervening period – every visitor I spoke to commented that the quality of the models produced was particularly high, partly of course because we were effectively getting three years’ worth of engineering excellence.

In one of the loco classes, for example, we reckoned there were engines that in other years could each have won the class, but this time had to be ranked into first, second and third.

I saw the challenges of this process close up, as for the first time I joined the judging panel – it was an eye-opening and highly enjoyable process, but also not at all easy. Our discussions before deciding the winners were long and involved!

There was only a slight disappointment for me, and a surprise in that there were no entries in the class for locos up to Gauge 1. Many readers know my background is in 16mm and I know there is some excellent and highly skilled model engineering going on in that scale, as there is in the other smaller scales. Perhaps those working in the smaller scales did not realise that their efforts would be highly appreciated by visitors, and could win an award? Hopefully they will seize the opportunity at next year’s event (12th-15th October, get your diaries out).

Yes the show was slightly smaller than in the past but after the Covid uncertainites that was to be expected. Comments I heard during the event and read afterwards on social media were hugely positive, everyone seemed to have a great time – it’s good to have the show back.

This is quite a loco-centric issue of EIM, which is fine, but as again you will read in our Midlands show report, model engineering is a much broader church. We’d like to see some more clocks, model boats, stationary engines and workshop equipment and techniques in our pages, so why not spend a little of the festive break (Season’s greetings by the way) pennning something for your fellow readers (and earning cash to help with next year’s potentially show award winning project...)?