2023 AGMRC Book Appearance

After making a rare book appearance last year at a model train club open day on Brisbane's northside, this year I ventured south of the river to the All Gauge Model Railway Club's sale day held at the Belmont Shooting Complex on Sunday 30th July.

What is dubbed as Queensland's largest model railway table sale always draws a crowd, and I've been coming to these events in search of a bargain from as far back as the mid 1990's. Aside from standing on the opposite side of the table this time, hawking my latest book Model Railway Weathered Wonders along with my other 4 Philden Model Railway titles, very little has changed over the years.

All 5 of my Philden Model Railway books...

Buy-and-sell days are normally a hit-and-miss affair at the best of times, depending on how many modellers are clearing out collections ahead of building new projects, or dare I say it... friends or family are there to help sell-off a deceased estate. Money changes hands at a frantic pace all morning long, as punters scrounge through collections of second hand models, books and DVD's and seem to enjoy haggling over a $5 item in the hope of fetching a bargain. For an author such as myself, it becomes even more hit-and-miss given that I am essentially selling a new book alongside tables full of second hand ones. In 2022 it was a huge success for me. But 2023... no so much.

Was that quite possibly my final stand-alone book appearance?

Occasions such as this have become a bit of a rarity for myself since my days of touring Australia's east coast as an aspiring author. Along with this year's huge All Gauge MRC July sale day, I had already committed to hosting a book stand at this year's British Railway Modellers of Australia Convention being held in my home city of Brisbane over the weekend of the 22nd to 24th September. Given that I will shortly sit down to write my 23rd and final book, I dare say there won't be another event such as this for me again. Conventions aside, it's just not a conducive environment for an author to be amongst.

Still, the morning doubled as a social outing, an excuse for a chat with people who follow the Philden Model Railway blog, and a chance to see what items of interest I could fossick through amongst the tables. It was equal parts nostalgic... and a little sad, knowing items that were once of great value could be found in various states of repair for a few bucks. Who knows? Maybe one day my own books will be sitting there on a table alongside a box set of Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journey DVD's with a $5 price tag on it. That's how it goes right?

I only hope I'm not around to see it!