MRJ 250 - Contents Only thread

[t-b-g]

It would be very hard for the chap who has LLanberis to write an article about building it. He probably wouldn't have a clue.

 

If you look at many model railway magazines, many have a series of photos of completed layouts, without a "stage by stage" constructional article.

 

The only difference is that the layouts in MRJ are generally not full of RTR straight out of the box and are usually of a higher quality than those in the other magazines. I know there are exceptions but I am speaking generally.

 

I recall something I saw in an old magazine years ago, when a reader wrote into the Modeller complaining that it had carried an article on the great Norris O gauge layout. He had said that the magazine should not show models that for most people were simply unobtainable. The response in the next issue (I think from Jack Ray if my memory is working) was that most of us can't afford a Rolls Royce but it doesn't stop us looking at one and admiring the quality.

 

The fact that a layout has been built by professional modellers, who after all are just modellers who happen to earn a crust from what they do, shouldn't mean that something should not appear in print. Many of the great layouts have had much input from people other than the owner, often with money or modelling favours changing hands.

 

I have to say that, like some others, an issue of MRJ doesn't have the same impact on me as it did when new. When it came out, it was so far ahead of anything I was doing that each issue had a "wow" factor. Hopefully, since then, my own modelling has improved, to the stage where I have had my work published a few times.

 

So the "wow" factor may have diminished but out of all the magazines, it is still the only one I buy, read from cover to cover and keep referring back to.

[queensquare]

Sorry Jerry.

On a personal level 249 was probably the most disappointing as of late and prompted my decision to read before I buy. The emphasis on 2mm finescale was both understandable but least attractive to me at least. The photos of Paul Stephens S&DJR locations were smashing, urban grot was exceptional. The timber viaduct article whilst superb modelling did nothing for me as did the aerial photograph article.

Churston was the undoubted highlight for me.

250 was a return to form.

You will never please everyone. We are a group with some very catholic tastes so therefore some of us are pleased some of the time. It's inevitable.

Rob.

Hi Rob, I'm sorry you didn't like 249 much. That's fine, as you say you can't please all the people all the time. I do try hard to have at least one article from all the popular scales for balance. I had some S Scale as well but ran out of room - it will be in my next issue.

 

That said, I'm still a bit confused by the notion that there was an emphasis on 2mm Finescale. None of the articles you list in your post are 2FS, including the ones you liked, and the main layout article was Irish broad gauge in 3mm - granted not everyones cup of tea but beautifully done, unusual and also not 2FS.

 

Also, whilst the timber viaduct and aerial photograph article (or 2mm coaches come to that) may not have appealed, they are most definitely 'how to' articles by people who are making things. I do wonder sometimes that when folk complain about there not being any construction articles, what they really mean is there aren't any articles on how to build what they want to build.

 

Jerry

[2mmMark]

I can't get my head around the idea that a magazine has to match a readers specific interests to be of any value. Thinking like that will always lead to frustration and disappointment.

 

It'll also possibly dissuade budding authors, who could otherwise have something interesting to present.

 

I like reading about other people's approaches to modelling, even "chequebook" modelling. It all has a place.

[NHY 581]

Hi Rob, I'm sorry you didn't like 249 much. That's fine, as you say you can't please all the people all the time. I do try hard to have at least one article from all the popular scales for balance. I had some S Scale as well but ran out of room - it will be in my next issue.

That said, I'm still a bit confused by the notion that there was an emphasis on 2mm Finescale. None of the articles you list in your post are 2FS, including the ones you liked, and the main layout article was Irish broad gauge in 3mm - granted not everyones cup of tea but beautifully done, unusual and also not 2FS.

Also, whilst the timber viaduct and aerial photograph article (or 2mm coaches come to that) may not have appealed, they are most definitely 'how to' articles by people who are making things. I do wonder sometimes that when folk complain about there not being any construction articles, what they really mean is there aren't any articles on how to build what they want to build.

Jerry

Thanks for the reply, Jerry.

 

My fault, I described everything as 2mm F/s when in fact 2mm would have been more accurate. It just seemed to pop up throughout the magazine what with the build a layout challenge, S&DJR images, carriage build article,images of Fairburn and more layout challenge to finish off.

Too much for me.

You are also right, the Irish layout was not to my taste either but a lovely bit of modelling all the same.

Add this to the viaduct article and the aerial photos and this was an issue that should have stayed on the shelf from my personal point of view but was grabbed in the midst of a frantic lunchtime visit then read at home.

 

It was for this reason I cancelled my order for MRJ via my local model shop. Despite the content month in month out I always felt compelled to buy it as it was ordered for me.

 

This said, it is the magazine I am most likely to purchase every month as I no longer just purchase the 'tabloids' blindly either.

 

Sorry but you can't please all of us.

 

Do however, keep up the good work.

 

Rob.

[grahame]

Too much for me.

.

That, of course, begs the classis question of how much is too much?

 

Fine for one person but for a group, such as a readership, it's pretty much unanswerable. There are scales, gauges, eras, and railways companies that just a mention of is too much for me but I guess there are many who love and wallow in reading about them. We're all selfish to some extent, so as long as our particular interests are tickled occasionally we could be happy with overall content.

 

The question, or probably more accurately the issue is, can the publishers get that balance right with every edition? And is the magazine big enough (especially for those who want more of their favourite flavours)?

 

G.

[John_Hughes]

'Modelling by cheque-book' isn't exactly a new thing - there was a fair bit of it about in the 1930s, with such 'classics' as Gutland - what a mess it seems now, with its convoluted track-plan and 'erotic' sleeping-car passengers, but at the time it was highly rated.

 

Issue 240 was superb, in my opinion, but then anything by Peter Kazer is worth reading and emulating and that was by no means the only good article in that issue; since then there has been some excellent stuff, but no complete issue that's really reached that pinnacle in my opinion. Other valid opinions are available!

 

I'd love to see something in the mag about 3D printing or laser-cutting, though; I suspect that very few people these days have a lathe, for example, but presumably everyone reading this has access to a computer!

[Phil Parker]

I can't get my head around the idea that a magazine has to match a readers specific interests to be of any value. Thinking like that will always lead to frustration and disappointment.

 

I see reading a magazine to be similar to listening to the radio. If my ears are open, I'll find new music that I like, but at a cost of hearing stuff I don't like. If I only want to hear music that appeals to me, I'll stick a CD on but that way I won't discover anything new.

 

Not every article in any magazine grabs me at the time, but they might become relevant later or they might spark off a new interest now.

 

Sadly, for lots of people, if the magazine doesn't conform to their VERY narrow definition of what they would like, it's put into the "bad thing" pile and the publisher is pilloried on-line.

 

Returning to the subject, I'd like to have seen a bit more on John Webb's locos as these are serious eye candy, but then he was my friend so I'm obviously biased. Pete did an excellent job with the text though, and I know how much promoting scratch building means to him. Taken with the BRM photos a few months ago (I know, scratchbuilt, finescale, EM, pre-grouping in a mainstream mag, who'd have thought it?) I think these are a worthy tribute to an amazing modeller and lovely guy.

[Talltim]

 

Returning to the subject, I'd like to have seen a bit more on John Webb's locos as these are serious eye candy, but then he was my friend so I'm obviously biased. Pete did an excellent job with the text though, and I know how much promoting scratch building means to him. Taken with the BRM photos a few months ago (I know, scratchbuilt, finescale, EM, pre-grouping in a mainstream mag, who'd have thought it?) I think these are a worthy tribute to an amazing modeller and lovely guy.

Which BRM were they in? I'd like to see more.

[Bernard Lamb]

I found 249 the least interesting issue since I don't know when.

Too much "Johnny Foreigner", not enough on the 9F for my taste.

Now if it had featured German models then I would have found it more interesting, but I do not expect to find that topic in MRJ.

It would seem that I am not alone, as the local "place that can not be mentioned by name" had around six copies left on the shelf on publication of 250.

They usually sell out.

Bernard

[Phil Parker]

Which BRM were they in? I'd like to see more.

 

June 2016, 4 pages of Andy's photos and coverage on the DVD showing them running on a test track (all we could fit in the studio!).

[Captain Kernow]

I have remembered what the incredibly serious and erudite contribution was, that I had in mind to make.

 

I have actually been considering not renewing my subscription to MRJ when it comes up, and falling back on loitering in various branches of WH Smith, to see whether the content is sufficiently interesting to warrant my purchasing it.

 

Having said that, I've found virtually every one of the 251 issues so far to have had something of interest in them.

 

So why would I cancel a subscription to a magazine that is virtually guaranteed to have something of interest to me?

 

The reason for this revolves around 'having too much stuff' and also the decline in the value of mint collections of MRJ. Couple this with the fact that I rarely refer back to earlier issues, unless one happens to be lying around and takes my fancy, and I'm wondering why I bother to keep them.

 

So if I'm not going to keep them, why get them in the first place, unless there's something of sufficient interest in them?

 

Perhaps the ideal scenario here would be to get it out of the library, if only my local library (or probably any library, for that matter) stocked it.

 

The subscription isn't a huge amount of money, though, for what is undoubtedly a quality product, but neither can I quite bring myself to get rid of my collection.

 

I well remember the days when I used to get every 'Railway Modeller', which I kept in immaculate condition, from 1973 through to the early 1990s. In fact, to certain friends, this was scurrilously known as 'The Immaculate Collection'. When I moved house in the early 1990s, the whole lot ended up getting dumped in an old supermarket trolley at Bitton and wheeled into their hut, from which they sold second-hand magazines for 5p each, or whatever price it was.

 

And now I seem to be doing it all over again.

[Daddyman]

I have remembered what the incredibly serious and erudite contribution was, that I had in mind to make. [etc.] 

 

You disappoint me. I had high hopes that you were going to be the one that came out and said "I thought this was supposed to be the MRJ thread that wasn't full of inanity." 

 

Now all our hopes rest with Horsetan or Porcy.... 

[Jol Wilkinson]

I have remembered what the incredibly serious and erudite contribution was, that I had in mind to make.

 

I have actually been considering not renewing my subscription to MRJ when it comes up, and falling back on loitering in various branches of WH Smith, to see whether the content is sufficiently interesting to warrant my purchasing it.

 

Having said that, I've found virtually every one of the 251 issues so far to have had something of interest in them.

 

So why would I cancel a subscription to a magazine that is virtually guaranteed to have something of interest to me?

 

The reason for this revolves around 'having too much stuff' and also the decline in the value of mint collections of MRJ. Couple this with the fact that I rarely refer back to earlier issues, unless one happens to be lying around and takes my fancy, and I'm wondering why I bother to keep them.

 

So if I'm not going to keep them, why get them in the first place, unless there's something of sufficient interest in them?

 

Perhaps the ideal scenario here would be to get it out of the library, if only my local library (or probably any library, for that matter) stocked it.

 

The subscription isn't a huge amount of money, though, for what is undoubtedly a quality product, but neither can I quite bring myself to get rid of my collection.

 

I well remember the days when I used to get every 'Railway Modeller', which I kept in immaculate condition, from 1973 through to the early 1990s. In fact, to certain friends, this was scurrilously known as 'The Immaculate Collection'. When I moved house in the early 1990s, the whole lot ended up getting dumped in an old supermarket trolley at Bitton and wheeled into their hut, from which they sold second-hand magazines for 5p each, or whatever price it was.

 

And now I seem to be doing it all over again.

CK,

 

I too have all the MRJs back to Issue 0 in simple binders. Like the other publications in my "library", I do not continually refer to them although I find the online index useful. I also like to pick out a binder from time to time and look at  one or two issues. I find that I often get re-inspired or reminded of something worth knowing that I had probably forgotten. I doubt that would happen with RM, BRM, et al.

 

It is also a good way to remind oneself of how our hobby (the one where people make things) has evolved, the coming and going of contributors and traders, etc.

 

Jol

[Bernard Lamb]

 

 

It is also a good way to remind oneself of how our hobby (the one where people make things) has evolved, the coming and going of contributors and traders, etc.

 

Jol

Very much so.

I have just dug out issues 5 & 8 and read the remarks regarding the Alan Gibson/ K & L track that had recently been introduced.

Quite interesting if you read these notes and then have a look at the Peco Bullhead track thread.

Bernard

[Siberian Snooper]

An online archive for the MRJ and the now defunct Constructor and Rices short lived Model Railways illustrated as no doubt there is a lot of useful information contained there in, although some of it is probably totally obsolete with advent of new materials and techniques.

[BlackRat]

An online archive for the MRJ and the now defunct Constructor and Rices short lived Model Railways illustrated as no doubt there is a lot of useful information contained there in, although some of it is probably totally obsolete with advent of new materials and techniques.

Quite so.

 

One thing I've found is that the MRJ tends to (quite often) lead the way, with techniques and innovation.

 

We've gone from 'grass' made from lint, to teddy bear fur, hanging basket lining and now static flock.

 

Resistance soldering, etching and 3D printing.

 

You can't go back, but hopefully the MRJ will continue to innovate, educate and inspire.

An online archive for the MRJ and the now defunct Constructor and Rices short lived Model Railways illustrated as no doubt there is a lot of useful information contained there in, although some of it is probably totally obsolete with advent of new materials and techniques.

[Hroth]

I have remembered what the incredibly serious and erudite contribution was, that I had in mind to make.

 

I have actually been considering not renewing my subscription to MRJ when it comes up, and falling back on loitering in various branches of WH Smith, to see whether the content is sufficiently interesting to warrant my purchasing it.

 

Having said that, I've found virtually every one of the 251 issues so far to have had something of interest in them.

 

So why would I cancel a subscription to a magazine that is virtually guaranteed to have something of interest to me?

 

The reason for this revolves around 'having too much stuff' and also the decline in the value of mint collections of MRJ. Couple this with the fact that I rarely refer back to earlier issues, unless one happens to be lying around and takes my fancy, and I'm wondering why I bother to keep them.

 

So if I'm not going to keep them, why get them in the first place, unless there's something of sufficient interest in them?

 

Perhaps the ideal scenario here would be to get it out of the library, if only my local library (or probably any library, for that matter) stocked it.

 

The subscription isn't a huge amount of money, though, for what is undoubtedly a quality product, but neither can I quite bring myself to get rid of my collection.

 

I well remember the days when I used to get every 'Railway Modeller', which I kept in immaculate condition, from 1973 through to the early 1990s. In fact, to certain friends, this was scurrilously known as 'The Immaculate Collection'. When I moved house in the early 1990s, the whole lot ended up getting dumped in an old supermarket trolley at Bitton and wheeled into their hut, from which they sold second-hand magazines for 5p each, or whatever price it was.

 

And now I seem to be doing it all over again.

I don't know about earlier editions of MRJ but currently being a reasonably "slim" journal, with pages stapled together, it should be fairly easy to dissect each issue and scan it page by page, into your favourite computer and either leave it in the graphical image format of your choice (each page suitably named, eg: MRJ250_2275.jpg) or stitch the images back into a "magazine" pdf file for the issue. You might be able to store everyting on a single data dvd. If you want to keep the hard copy, then push the staples back in, or find a chum with a long-arm stapler!

 

Of course, with a library of 251 plus issues it might be a long, laborious task. One issue an evening would take less than a year, though it might cut into your modelling time......

 

hat, coat, etc.

[2mmMark]

I have remembered what the incredibly serious and erudite contribution was, that I had in mind to make.

 

I have actually been considering not renewing my subscription to MRJ when it comes up, and falling back on loitering in various branches of WH Smith, to see whether the content is sufficiently interesting to warrant my purchasing it.

 

 

That's why I have a subscription, to avoid the crowds of modellers in Smiffs arguing about the content in MRJ. Like we used to do back in the good old days before t'internet.

[Craigw]

Hi Rob, I'm sorry you didn't like 249 much. That's fine, as you say you can't please all the people all the time. I do try hard to have at least one article from all the popular scales for balance. I had some S Scale as well but ran out of room - it will be in my next issue.

 

 

Jerry

 

Jerry,

 

If it is any consolation, issue 249 finally prompted me to join the 2mm association and (last night) buy a few wagons to have a dabble in 2mm scale.

 

Much is made of the inspiration contained in MRJ. The 2mm articles in recent issues have inspired me.

 

'nuff said.

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

[queensquare]

Jerry,

 

If it is any consolation, issue 249 finally prompted me to join the 2mm association and (last night) buy a few wagons to have a dabble in 2mm scale.

 

Much is made of the inspiration contained in MRJ. The 2mm articles in recent issues have inspired me.

 

'nuff said.

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

Hi Craig, welcome to 2mm and many thanks for your comments.

 

I don't mind constructive criticism, you can't please all the people all the time and I've had lots of positive feedback. That said, it's a little disappointing when stuff is dismissed because it's 'Johnny foreigner'. The Urban Grot piece was included because when I saw the layout it blew me away, it was simply some of the most exquisite structure modelling I'd ever seen, the fact it was French was of no consequence. For me MRJ celebrates great modelling, scale, gauge, subject and period are secondary to that - even if occasionally (and we are probably talking half a dozen times in 250 or so issues) that means showcasing something that's not British. I have no interest in modelling continental railways myself but was inspired by it. I included Brian Harapp's wonderful Quai87 in one of my previous issues for the same reason - it's wonderful!

And I'll do it again if so inspired.........

 

Jerry

[Bernard Lamb]

Hi Craig, welcome to 2mm and many thanks for your comments.

 

I don't mind constructive criticism, you can't please all the people all the time and I've had lots of positive feedback. That said, it's a little disappointing when stuff is dismissed because it's 'Johnny foreigner'.

 

Jerry

I was being constructive Jerry. Just don't ever get on the wrong side of me when I am being destructive.

I did not dismiss the article or the issue. I just remarked that I found it less interesting than many other recent issues.

I do have a subscription, I have had a subscription for many years and do so as I believe it helps to keep a good cash flow for MRJ and in the early period this was important in keeping it on a steady footing. Without the support of people like me and others on here it would probably died long ago.

Bernard

[NHY 581]

I was being constructive Jerry. Just don't ever get on the wrong side of me when I am being destructive.I did not dismiss the article or the issue. I just remarked that I found it less interesting than many other recent issues.I do have a subscription, I have had a subscription for many years and do so as I believe it helps to keep a good cash flow for MRJ and in the early period this was important in keeping it on a steady footing. Without the support of people like me and others on here it would probably died long ago.Bernard

 

Interesting tone to your post Bernard, especially your opening couple of sentences.

 

Not quite what we're used to here. Opinion is one thing. This is something else and, for me at least, it does not sit well.

 

Rob.

[t-b-g]

'Modelling by cheque-book' isn't exactly a new thing - there was a fair bit of it about in the 1930s, with such 'classics' as Gutland - what a mess it seems now, with its convoluted track-plan and 'erotic' sleeping-car passengers, but at the time it was highly rated.

 

Issue 240 was superb, in my opinion, but then anything by Peter Kazer is worth reading and emulating and that was by no means the only good article in that issue; since then there has been some excellent stuff, but no complete issue that's really reached that pinnacle in my opinion. Other valid opinions are available!

 

I'd love to see something in the mag about 3D printing or laser-cutting, though; I suspect that very few people these days have a lathe, for example, but presumably everyone reading this has access to a computer!

 

Out of my immediate circle of friends, there is one person who doesn't have a lathe and around half a dozen who have one, or more than one. One chap has lost count of how many he has.

 

There are only so many ways that people can write "I drew it in CAD and had it 3D printed/etched/laser cut" and make it sound fresh and interesting, no matter how good the finished articles are.

 

When it comes to more traditional methods, there are many different techniques that people have developed for themselves and those are my best MRJ moments, seeing a particular tool or material used in a way that I had never thought of, especially if it is used in a way that I can adopt for myself. Or when somebody has invented a new tool or jig to do a job that makes it so much easier or allows the modeller to get better results. It is those types of articles that MRJ carries that don't seem to appear anywhere else that make it the best magazine for me. 

[Hroth]

There was a cannon on the model houseboat (or the twin screw launch as owned by the wealthy Barrow industrialist). That and the cliff of Darien seemed the be the only S&A references, beyond the idea for the layout.

Having finally got around to reading the article (as opposed to just looking at the pictures), I understand what you mean. 

 

That cannon is something else!  I didn't initially recognise it as one as my expectations of a "starting gun" cannon is of a typical late 19th century device, made of cast iron (so completely black in appearance ) of about 12 to 18 inches length and 1 or 2 inch bore, as sold to yacht clubs for starting races.  The cannon modelled on the houseboat looks more like a Napoleonic type, of up to 12lb shot weight suitable for main armament on a brig or sloop, perhaps even on a smaller frigate! I can see why its so large on the model, it had to be visible, but the weight of it would almost certainly pull the bows of the yacht under....

[Talltim]

Having finally got around to reading the article (as opposed to just looking at the pictures), I understand what you mean. 

 

That cannon is something else!  I didn't initially recognise it as one as my expectations of a "starting gun" cannon is of a typical late 19th century device, made of cast iron (so completely black in appearance ) of about 12 to 18 inches length and 1 or 2 inch bore, as sold to yacht clubs for starting races.  The cannon modelled on the houseboat looks more like a Napoleonic type, of up to 12lb shot weight suitable for main armament on a brig or sloop, perhaps even on a smaller frigate! I can see why its so large on the model, it had to be visible, but the weight of it would almost certainly pull the bows of the yacht under....

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a good layout, all the more so for being in a minority scale, I just felt that that having used the S&A idea, it wasn't really used to full advantage.

 

With regards to foreign layouts, I think they are good thing. Good modelling of interesting prototypes is good modelling of interesting prototypes the world over and the potential is there learn just as much from an S scale NZ layout as from a P4 UK layout. I wouldn't want MRJ stop being majority British, but some exotic dabbling is good for you. (suble hint time, I think an article on Bernard Kempinski's USMRR Aquia Line would suit MRJ splendidly. The man is an historian, engineer and artist, can write and can bring new ideas to the table. http://usmrr.blogspot.co.uk/)