Connectedness, Concern, Contradiction and Conclusion
I have recently been honoured by having an article entitled “Slow Modelling - an alternative way forward” published in the Model Railway Journal (No. 274, page 276).
This described some of the recent changes in my modelling practice and the relationship between modelling and wellbeing, but it did not really get to some of the underlying problems. The original, first draft, of the article included what might be seen as more contentious comments about the natural of railway modelling as we are confronted with a radically changing world.
I have posted some of the originally text here. I hope this makes sense without the article as published. The original pieces of text are in italics. I am sorry this is a rather longer post than usual!
Firstly, some addition comments on the relationship with models having used the article to outline the importance of scratch-building that gives a strong degree of connectedness with models made.
“For many modellers of my age the desire for connectedness is not new. This connectedness often focuses on a nostalgia for the dying days of steam and is supported with a wider range of very high standard ready-to-run models of a then ever before. However, ironically these models have little connection with the audience and are produced by people for whom they are culturally alien. The ‘craftsmanship’ may have been done on a computer or even directly scanned from the original, but the owner of such an item has no real relationship with the model. Technology has produced a model ‘for us’, but it is not a model made ‘by us’ or ‘from us’. Technology has reproduced a piece of the past and presented it to us in the ‘now’, to support our connectedness with the past.
“The act of purchasing and possession, of ownership, is more abstract than the act of making something. We surround ourselves with artefacts that are produced remotely, often of materials that are not sustainable and in working conditions that might be considered as less than desirable. Indeed, there might be a similarity between our knowledge of the model railway factories and what was always said (but often untrue) about city children, that they did not know where milk came from. However, for many of us the desire for instant gratification far outweighs less assured and more distant rewards to be found in scratch building. What really counts is the process; the process of working materials into the artefact by way of taking our hands and brain cells for a walk. In so doing one changes the relationship between oneself, the materials and the process to make something that is ‘of you’ and not just ‘of your list’. (Or should that be ‘off your list’?)”
The canopy at Axminster. I have always liked these fairly bold canopies found on many of the old LSWR stations west of Salisbury, often in association with a station buildings designed by Tite.
Laser cut LSWR station canopy in 1/64th scale. Of course there is no commercial model version of the canopy in any scale let alone 1/64th. So I went for a little laser cutting project for this. It could have included the roof flats and the skylight surrounds, but that would be over the top (sorry about that!), so it was just the valance that was laser cut. This seemed important as the repeats of the up and downs and the curves would be very hard to achieve with the necessary level of consistency when working by hand.
Secondly, for a great deal longer than many, part of the function of being a geography teacher, I have been aware of what has been going on in the global environment. This awareness, which developed from the 1970 onwards (Yes, the early evidence was there as long ago as that!) has lead to an examination of how to proceed in what will most likely be the last decade (hopefully two) of my life. This paragraph raises wider issues about the nature railway modelling, nested as it is at one end of the spectrum in the toy industry and at the other in model making.
“For some years I have been increasingly concerned about the human fascination for injection moulded petroleum based plastic and the way this fascination, or perhaps I should say addiction, is passed on through contents of the average child’s brightly coloured toy box. (Although I hear that Lego are going over to bioplastic.) It is also a concerning to look at the environmental impact of modelling as with so many other products. This is not just about the materials used, but the whole pyramid that imports of finished models stand on, dodge chemical industries, industrial pollution, international shipping (a very dirty industry), packaging, production energy, etc. It’s no good saying that we do not need reduce our carbon-foot print while China continues to pollute. We exported our (the UK’s and our individual) carbon-foot print industries to China, a shedding of responsibility that seldom seems to be mentioned in the media. But then the media does little to improve the understanding of economics, trade and the environment.”
While it is easy to write such words, it is not so easy to act upon them. It is all too easy to hypocritical in comments on this topic… to offer “do as I say” advice rather “do as I do”. Actions speak louder than words.
“Indeed the last year has seen some fast action with the introduction of a far reaching rationalisation programme applied to my modelling projects. Dr Beeching would have been proud to see those with a low return (measured in fun, creativity or challenge) being cut back and the rapid disposal of redundant equipment would have gladden his heart. There are siren voices warning against such quick and decisive action... while others greet me with what are you selling today! With just a few final items on eBay and some esoteric bits being offered to more specialist markets the clearance is nearly done. Interesting that one of my eBay customers was someone who helped operate my Cornish opus - St Juliot, at RailWells some years ago.
“But as I type these last words, I hear the bang of the carriers van door and by the time I get to the front door there is a parcel with my next set of laser cut plywood baseboard components! These are made to my design, but the cutting out would now be beyond the capabilities of my recently refurbished workshop, which is now more of a studio. Indeed, I would have designed them differently if they were not to be laser cut. I can still take short cuts and perhaps I have to settle for being ‘selectively concerned’ about the impact of my modelling. The reality is that we are drawn into modern production systems and that resistance can only be limited… whatever the scale! at sixty nine I may need to take some short cuts to produce even the smallest of projects. The fact that these boards are circular with a width of 100mm and a centreline radius of 571.5mm, automatically limits the size of one’s project.”
There is, of course, a paradox or contradiction here. What to do with the ‘stuff’ one already has and would really like to keep? My collection of German (German by both prototype and manufacture) 1/160 scale (N Gauge) has nowhere to run. It was purchased for sentimental reasons and I would like to make a little layout, using one of these test tracks and some extension materials remaining from previous projects. As mentioned above, this design was originally made for a friend but was developed with a view to marketing these simple and rather useful items. However, this idea has not been followed through, partly as it only encourages further modelling developments.
Klein Holtzapffell
This layout developed out of the idea of a circular test track base to carry a circle of Peco Number 4 set. With the rolling stock from the original Holzapfel layout to hand, felt the need to have somewhere to see it run. This circular formate has the great constraint of size limitation, so greatly reducing the potential amount of material required to complete a layout. The missing, forth board between the tunnels will carry a simple fiddle yard with four fixed roads in the middle and two 'traverser points' at each end.
‘Arkade Tunnel’
Made on baseboard already laser cut, using extruded polystyrene off-cuts already purchased. The tunnel mouth by Faller has been recycled from the original Holzapfel. The only new purchase seen here has been the Faller foam ‘arkade’, which was a cheat to get the retaining wall built quickly.
Now called the Kapelle Arkade, the chapel has been recycled from the previous layout, while the walls are finished off with some copping stones cut from art-board card off-cuts, as are the cable throughs. The white Plastikard is not the most appropriate material for the inner retaining walls of the little under-bridge, but it was to hand from the scrap box. This will be hidden when the stone retaining walls are put in place once the bridge design has been finalised…. Stone arch or girder?
But this questioning is only part of a series of actions:-
This is the left hand end of St Juliot in 1/64th scale. The track is the most resent offering for bullhead track from the S Scale Society, with the centre line being the through road. The van has a resin cast body; the bicycle is a Southwark Bridge etch and the basket on the platform is a piece of white-metal produced for 7mm. Apart from those items, everything was scratch built or hand made mostly with off-cuts and recycled card. The trees and the grass pose a bit of a problem but care has been taken to keep the waste (overspill) materials from these operation in the waste bin rather than being washed down the sink. These sorts of micro fibres are able to escape the waste water treatment plants and end up in the marine environment…. Along with the fibres from fleeces and other recycled ‘plastic’ clothing!! The whole layout has been passed on several times and is now probably being recycled into some other configuration.
Draft plans for Mellstock Intrinseca. The boards and some track are made for my one large project. However, since this picture was taken the thing has been scale back a little more to give a much greater sense of space and to reduce the the amount of materials required for the project to be completed. But it is all scratch building, so should keep me busy for a while…..
Conclusion
While some will no doubt thick my words here are rather extreme, I am of the view that some modellers (perhaps I should call them ‘glazed box openers’) are rather more extreme. I recently came across a layout which included multi-storey fiddle yards with capacity for 140 sets of coaching stock. Whatever is the point? They probably require more space to store the empty boxes than most people have for layouts.
However, such extremes become more balance when one starts to to live by the creed of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The most important of which is Reduce… Such an alternative approach has also caused me to think carefully about the role of exhibiting. Having switched from exhibiting layouts transported by road, I proved to my satisfaction that it was possible to take layouts to exhibitions by public transport. I have now got to the stage where I feel exhibitions are just a means of encouraging dissatisfaction and of the initiation of new plans and further consumption.
While the quality of finish of a scratch built model may not compare with the very best of the those resource consuming mass produced items, the benefits to the modeller of producing something of your own with your own hands far outweigh the short-term adrenalin rush of buying a glazed box or receiving an order from a bespoke model supplier. Increasingly, it is also of benefit in much wider, if very small, way in the future management of our environment and our resources. Is railway modelling very high on the list of human activities that can be sustained in a future society concern with these issues and a world with a more equal sharing of resources?
I rest my case!
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