(23 Jun 2016, 5:57 pm)Andreos1 wrote I may be stating the obvious (and I do understand it isn't an easy one to fix at all), but regardless of any of the valid comments regarding attitudes and organisation - is seeing the same vehicles over and over, not an issue?

Thousands of pounds have been spent and many hours have been dedicated to the cause, but there are only so many vehicles in the region that have been restored and those same vehicles are attending the rallies up and down the north east.

You can produce loads of glossy guides, have exciting new venues and an open attitude from organisers - but apart from the odd example and until another vehicle is seen in public for the first time, we are seeing the same stuff over and over.
Eventually (despite all the effort and money spent by various groups and individuals), are people going to tire of seeing the same vehicle?

As an example, I love the stuff that was floating around in service in the 70's and 80's. The vehicles I had a connection with as a kid.
I have seen them out on the road, I have seen them at events and seen them on YouTube. I have admired the detail and the time & money spent on them. I get the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, when the engine starts and I look at the liveries from times gone.
It might just be me, but I don't want to go to a car park in Durham, and a field at Seaburn and a another car park at the MetroCentre time after time, just to see them again.
It may be a bad comparison, but no matter how much you admire a film, there is only so many times you can watch it before the novelty wears off.

Of course there will be new enthusiasts and there will be people who haven't seen these vehicles at all or since restration and ultimately, these are the people organisers want to attract.
Whether they come time and time again, is the question that needs answering.

I think that enthusiasts tend to be divided those who love to see their favourite preserved vehicles over and over, a bit like a favourite aunt, and those who wish for more novelty and variety.

The non-enthusiast general public, though, will most likely attend their own most local meetings, so Gatesiders go to the Metrocentre, North Tynesiders (and people who happen to have gone to the seaside for the day) to Whitley bay and so on. If the rallies are well promoted, then there should be plenty of new human faces at each event, so most people visiting wouldn't be seeing the same vehicles over and over.