Modern Locomotives Illustrated Magazine

[walrus]

..... I can't see that there's much in the way of locos not already covered unless they revisit past issues as an update on the classes.

Agreed on locos. First Generation DMU's are ripe for revisits to specific classes or manufacturers. The issue on this topic was a very broad brush.

[Clive Mortimore]

LMR/LMS EMUs, pre 313 and 317 type designs still need covering, but I am sure they are aware of which ones will sell to me.

 

Revisiting the larger classes like 47s, as walrus has suggested the modernisation DMUs and shunting classes.

[EddieB]

Sometimes it's better to know when a theme is exhausted and it's time to call it quits.  Perhaps we should just award CJM a vote of thanks and wish him a long and happy retirement.

 

As an example of going too far, one of the fore-runners of the "Locomotives Illustrated" series (that preceded MLI) was a reinstatement of the illustrious "Trains Illustrated" title, applied to a series that initially set out to cover the major pre-grouping railways - from historic to modern day (early 1970s).  After some twenty issues (of which two and a half were devoted to the GWR), it really lost it's way (IMHO), covering preserved standard, preserved narrow gauge, devoting seven editions to "express trains" and then wallowed in further coverage of the preservation scene until it eventually fizzled out.  The first parts were pretty good - the latter editions rather less so.

 

I think MLI will probably have gone as far as it can after covering the remaining locomotives and units.  There has to be a cut off point for classes still in service.  I can't really seen the point of a single issue devoted to, for instance, recent history of the class 47s, i.e. since they were last covered.  If MLI must go on, then perhaps a kind of annual summary covering fleet changes (maybe separate editions for locos and units), interspersed with any new stock as and when it appears.  Perhaps do a few track machines if there's nothing happening on the new stock front.  Quarterly at most, rather than bi-monthly.

[Kelly]

Departmental multiple units is one I'm waiting for.

 

There are a few more items they can do and cjm has an extensive photographic collection to draw from.

[Jamiel]

On 14/10/2017 at 14:21, EddieB said:

Sometimes it's better to know when a theme is exhausted and it's time to call it quits.  Perhaps we should just award CJM a vote of thanks and wish him a long and happy retirement.

 

As an example of going too far, one of the fore-runners of the "Locomotives Illustrated" series (that preceded MLI) was a reinstatement of the illustrious "Trains Illustrated" title, applied to a series that initially set out to cover the major pre-grouping railways - from historic to modern day (early 1970s).  After some twenty issues (of which two and a half were devoted to the GWR), it really lost it's way (IMHO), covering preserved standard, preserved narrow gauge, devoting seven editions to "express trains" and then wallowed in further coverage of the preservation scene until it eventually fizzled out.  The first parts were pretty good - the latter editions rather less so.

 

I think MLI will probably have gone as far as it can after covering the remaining locomotives and units.  There has to be a cut off point for classes still in service.  I can't really seen the point of a single issue devoted to, for instance, recent history of the class 47s, i.e. since they were last covered.  If MLI must go on, then perhaps a kind of annual summary covering fleet changes (maybe separate editions for locos and units), interspersed with any new stock as and when it appears.  Perhaps do a few track machines if there's nothing happening on the new stock front.  Quarterly at most, rather than bi-monthly.

I have to agree with EddieB, I looked at this month's issue on British Locomotives in use abroad and thought (not for the first time) that they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

If they are at a point where they have to recover some ground, then doing some issues covering the DMUs, especially the British Rail first generation in some detail might be an opportunity, that was very quickly glossed over in one issue. An issue on the Swindon Cross Country units, or perhaps one covering a few similar classes would be a huge improvement on where the magazine currently is.
 

That might just be a personal interest, but I can’t see it being any more obscure than the current issue. Perhaps they should go back and do Locomotives Illustrated all over again, updating the steam classes, I’m sure there are many like me who did not get these first time around and might appreciate a new glossy magazine giving the kind of detail we are used to for diesels and electrics.

All in all I do think the magazine has run out of topics though, and even my tendency to be a completist didn’t inspire me to part with even a few pounds for this lame issue.
 

Jamie

[Steamport Southport]

I agree they are dragging it out and probably time to round it up and finish.

 

However this issue is of interest. Not something I would buy a book on, but a £4.60 magazine is palatable.

 

 

Jason

[pete_mcfarlane]

16 hours ago, Jamiel said:

That might just be a personal interest, but I can’t see it being any more obscure than the current issue. Perhaps they should go back and do Locomotives Illustrated all over again, updating the steam classes, I’m sure there are many like me who did not get these first time around and might appreciate a new glossy magazine giving the kind of detail we are used to for diesels and electrics.

What I liked about the original Locomotives Illustrated was that it also ran out of steam covering mainstream subjects, and branched out into all sorts of relatively obscure areas like locos of the NCC, and 0-4-2 tender engines. 

[dj_crisp]

When I saw the title I also thought this would be a naff issue. However I bought the mag and rather enjoyed it. And I quite like the obscure subjects tbh. 

 

Totally agree that they could revisit DMUS as I was really disappointed with the first attempt. 

[EddieB]

18 hours ago, Jamiel said:

I have to agree with EddieB, I looked at this month's issue on British Locomotives in use abroad and thought (not for the first time) that they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
 

Jamie

Since you have kindly endorsed my comments, it would be churlish to disagree, but the current issue covers a particular interest of mine.  So, in this instance, I’m not complaining!

[EddieB]

Well the latest issue is now out, covering classes 68 and 88 in the now familiar format.

 

The next issue is on preserved diesels (yawn), which have generally been fully covered in the editions devoted to their particular class. It also happens to be the last issue of my current subscription.

 

So what comes next? The MLI website says the initial plan was for 66 issues, but there is now material for at least 80. What topics would fill another fourteen editions?

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Yes, I was thinking that. The next issue on preserved diesel locos does sound rather like scraping the barrel yet again.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Peter Kazmierczak

[Butler Henderson]

Might it will cover all preserved diesels, not just BR/Big4 ones?

Edited March 29, 2019 by Butler Henderson

[Kelly]

Some issues I skip, I will probably skip the preserved diesels one. Might pick up the 68/88 one as they look interesting (even if too modern for my modelling at this time).

 

There are a number of classes they could do updates on since the last issues on them (37s, 47s and HSTs for instance).

 

But I'd prefer if they went back to more service stock and similar items, as those are interesting. The SR/BR(S) EMUs ones could have been better spread out more I felt.

[dibber25]

On 14/10/2017 at 14:21, EddieB said:

Sometimes it's better to know when a theme is exhausted and it's time to call it quits.  Perhaps we should just award CJM a vote of thanks and wish him a long and happy retirement.

 

As an example of going too far, one of the fore-runners of the "Locomotives Illustrated" series (that preceded MLI) was a reinstatement of the illustrious "Trains Illustrated" title, applied to a series that initially set out to cover the major pre-grouping railways - from historic to modern day (early 1970s).  After some twenty issues (of which two and a half were devoted to the GWR), it really lost it's way (IMHO), covering preserved standard, preserved narrow gauge, devoting seven editions to "express trains" and then wallowed in further coverage of the preservation scene until it eventually fizzled out.  The first parts were pretty good - the latter editions rather less so.

 

I think MLI will probably have gone as far as it can after covering the remaining locomotives and units.  There has to be a cut off point for classes still in service.  I can't really seen the point of a single issue devoted to, for instance, recent history of the class 47s, i.e. since they were last covered.  If MLI must go on, then perhaps a kind of annual summary covering fleet changes (maybe separate editions for locos and units), interspersed with any new stock as and when it appears.  Perhaps do a few track machines if there's nothing happening on the new stock front.  Quarterly at most, rather than bi-monthly.

Sorry, but Trains Illustrated was never a forerunner of Locomotives Illustrated. In my time at IA I had editorial responsibility for both titles for a while. TI was for many years IA's signature title. Under the Editorship of Geoffrey Freeman Allen it became Modern Railways in the early 1960s.The title was revived some 20 years later, after relentless pressure from the sales staff who, in turn, had been pressured for years by the retail trade. From memory, it came back as a quarterly, and was later edited on a freelance basis by Nigel Harris and managed by me. It didn't fizzle out but adopted a different, 100% historical approach, as Steam Days. In the meantime, Locomotives Illustrated, in the capable hands of Brian Stephenson, worked its way through the major steam classes and wheel arrangements. It was always a significant exercise to decide which, out of several possible subjects, was likely to be the best seller, bearing in mind that each of the Big Four had to be covered in sequence. Pre-Grouping content was also influenced by how many top-notch glass plate negs in the LPC collection we could identify. After I left IA, the LPC collection was disposed of to the NRM and finding suitable material for LI must have become much more difficult. I seem to recall that, under direction from above, we did one diesel class in LI, the Deltics. That was the thin end of the wedge..... (CJL)

[EddieB]

On 01/04/2019 at 18:11, dibber25 said:

Sorry, but Trains Illustrated was never a forerunner of Locomotives Illustrated. In my time at IA I had editorial responsibility for both titles for a while. TI was for many years IA's signature title. Under the Editorship of Geoffrey Freeman Allen it became Modern Railways in the early 1960s.The title was revived some 20 years later, after relentless pressure from the sales staff who, in turn, had been pressured for years by the retail trade. From memory, it came back as a quarterly, and was later edited on a freelance basis by Nigel Harris and managed by me. It didn't fizzle out but adopted a different, 100% historical approach, as Steam Days. In the meantime, Locomotives Illustrated, in the capable hands of Brian Stephenson, worked its way through the major steam classes and wheel arrangements. It was always a significant exercise to decide which, out of several possible subjects, was likely to be the best seller, bearing in mind that each of the Big Four had to be covered in sequence. Pre-Grouping content was also influenced by how many top-notch glass plate negs in the LPC collection we could identify. After I left IA, the LPC collection was disposed of to the NRM and finding suitable material for LI must have become much more difficult. I seem to recall that, under direction from above, we did one diesel class in LI, the Deltics. That was the thin end of the wedge..... (CJL)

Strange to see this response to my posting of eighteen months earlier, which appears to pick holes in what I wrote.

 

I’m fully aware that the Trains Illustrated title was transformed into Modern Railways in the early sixties. However the title was adopted in the early seventies (not twenty years later) in a series initially devoted to covering the various pre-grouping railways.  It might not have been directly ancestral to Locomotives Illustrated, but my description as a “fore-runner” was applied because of similarities between the two series runs, Trains Illustrated preceding Locomotives Illustrated.  By similarities, I mean bi-monthly or quarterly issues, each devoted to a single subject (company or locomotive type). The issues of Trains Illustrated to which I refer were edited (largely) by Brian Stephenson, as were the later Locomotives Illustrated numbers.

 

Trains Illustrated went on to cover the other subjects I mentioned before - if it was relaunched as Steam Days, the format (monthly, range of topics in each issue, news, letters, etc.) was quite different to those of the Brian Stephenson days.

 

Perhaps CJL is protective that the title “fizzled out” during his tenure. It’s subjective, but I stand by that opinion, when comparing to the quality of subject matter of say, the first twenty issues (or so) against those that came after. 

[dibber25]

Had I realised that your posting was that dated, I probably wouldn't have responded. I happened to stumble across it. I wasn't 'picking holes' at all. I was providing the inside view of what actually happened. I know, because I worked there at the time. However, whilst the title may have appeared to 'fizzle out', I was trying to explain that actually it didn't. From time to time magazines require a re-launch, particularly if they are running short of 'saleable' topics to cover. Sometimes that re-launch may be a design or content makeover, others may go the whole hog and re-launch under a different title. I don't recall Brian editing TI during my time there but he may well have done so before I became managing editor in the mid-1980s. He and I worked very closely together on Locomotives Illustrated but it was becoming increasingly difficult to find subjects for that title, too. Big Four express locos had all been covered and when you get down to pre-Grouping 0-4-0Ts its impossible to sell enough copies. Whether or not you call that fizzling out or time for a re-launch, I guess depends on where you're looking at it from. (CJL)

[Legend]

Agree they could revisit dmus . Covering everything in one issue was a bit poor . Surely at least they could have separate issues covering Metro Cammell, Swindon, Derby , BRCW, Cravens and Pressed Steel units 

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, dibber25 said:

He and I worked very closely together on Locomotives Illustrated but it was becoming increasingly difficult to find subjects for that title, too. Big Four express locos had all been covered and when you get down to pre-Grouping 0-4-0Ts its impossible to sell enough copies. Whether or not you call that fizzling out or time for a re-launch, I guess depends on where you're looking at it from. (CJL)

 

The later issues were the most interesting and useful.

 

Plenty of information and photographs of A3s, Kings and Merchant Navies out there. There is very little information on normal and everyday engines available. In fact the most useful issue was the one on the Midland Railway 1907 renumbering.

 

 

 

Jason

[EddieB]

It seems that the two former titles have become muddled.

 

In my opinion Locomotives Illustrated was at its best when it got down to covering the less glamorous steam locomotives, or covered topics such as the Midland 1907 renumbering (issue 165).

 

My comment about "fizzling out" referred to the later issues of  Trains Illustrated.

[dibber25]

I loved working with Brian Stephenson on Locomotives Illustrated. We would spend many happy hours ploughing through boxes of glass plate negatives in a dusty store room, some of them larger than A4 size (if you held them wrongly they would just snap in half). That really old pre-Grouping stuff was really interesting but, sadly, once you got down to the more obscure subjects, they just didn't sell in sufficient quantities. I guess the modern subjects will suffer similarly. (CJL)

[Dan Griffin]

Hopefully some issues will get a revisit, class 37's stand out as they were covered in the first issue of MLI, which is nearly, if not over 10 years ago?

 

a volume on RTC stuff would interest me, not just locos/ but their extensive stock too, also maybe a London transport issue. covering Met locos + underground stock.

 

The preserved diesel issues that's forthcoming, will be interesting, especially as what is deemed as 'preserved' now-a-days is open to discussion, the issue could be out of date, even when sat on the shelves!

 

and one issue that wouldn't fit in with the title that I think CJM would do well on is preserved steam on the main line, two issues, one from 1968 to 1990, the another 1990 to present day! but that's wishing.

 

regards

 

Dan

 

 

 

[Dava]

MLI 237 on preserved diesel locos has turned up in WH Smiths 

 

Good overview & photos of preserved & disappeared locos. Shunters well covered though some photos have appeared before. 

 

MLI intends to revisit previously covered classes, starting with 'Class 37 the new era'. Maybe we will get 'HST the compact guide'.

 

This could go on indefinitely....

[Covkid]

On 04/04/2019 at 21:05, Legend said:

Agree they could revisit dmus . Covering everything in one issue was a bit poor . Surely at least they could have separate issues covering Metro Cammell, Swindon, Derby , BRCW, Cravens and Pressed Steel units 

 

 

I think a useful split would be long frame DMMUs, short frame DMMUs and then DEMUs.

The 64 foot framed TOPS class 114-127, and the 57 foot TOPS class 100-113 are natural genres in my opinion, obviously with the various prototype designs like the E>G Swindon cars in one, and the Derby and Met Camm "lightweights" in the other.

 

[birdseyecircus]

Class 37s the new era is out in WH Smiths.

 

Paul

[Butler Henderson]

The latest one on 37s is a slight bit misleading in its title as it covers 37s from the start not just the "new era", Taking 2008 being the start of the relevant "new era", as that's when  the previous MLI on 37s was published, focuses on that from page 34 onwards, but not exclusively, with a couple of photos of 37670 in DB livery, theres then a list of 2019 fleet. Theres 2 pages re Network Rail, 5 re Colas,  5 re West Coast, 12 re DRS (+ the cover), 2 re HNRC, 5 re Europhoenix  and 4 re Preserved which includes a photo of a tatty  EWS 37521 stated as being at the time part of the Barrow Hill collection but which is not listed on any of listings in the mag as ever being preserved,

Edited August 7, 2019 by Butler Henderson