RMWeb - A Must For New Modellers?

[Right Away]

Perusing some of the requests for assistance the other day, I couldn't help but ponder: "How much poorer we would all be without the available knowledge and assistance that is so generously given by all."

 

Regardless of how long we have modelled and/or had a sincere interest in railways, there will always be much to learn to fuel such an absorbing subject.

 

Remember that day when, during an operating session THE PROBLEM decides to make its presence known. It might be wiring, mechanical  or a combination of other scenarios; it might even have been a paint issue. Try as we may, with all our experience the problem still persists and the inevitable must eventually happen - we seek online guidance.

 

Enter the RMWeb and thankfully too.

 

For people new to the hobby and with local model railway shops being somewhat "thin on the ground" in many areas, assistance face to face is not always forthcoming. These people might well benefit from the retailer bringing to their attention the RMWeb as a very useful source of information at the time of their purchases, be it direct or online. 

 

 

 

 

[tomparryharry]

I'll say! There is a vast compendium of knowledge stored within the pages here. I'll dip into the information without mercy when needed, and hopefully, I'll continue to use the facility. It provides education, inspiration, humour and viewpoints at the touch of a mouse (button), anytime day or night. 

 

Like all of us, you will meet saints & 'erberts, in equal measure, but by & large, it's all good stuff. 

 

Put me down for the 'aye' vote, please....

 

Ian.  

[Harlequin]

I wonder how many new modellers go to the big social media platforms when they need help these days?

 

From my experience the quality of discussion and information on those platforms is much lower than here on RMWeb.

 

[The Johnster]

Preaching to the choir, Harlequin; I have browsed other similar websites and this is by a handsome margin the best, most informative, most erudite, and most generally helpful.

 

Back in the day, we had to blunder around in our own way repeating and mostly compounding our stupidity and mistakes because there was no internet, and no access to such a body of experience and expertise.  I had my first train set in 1957 when I was 5 years old, a Triang Black Princess, and was immediately aware that it could be improved on, used ridiculously sharp curves, and was underscale in length and pulled underscale coaches with unrealistic couplings.  I wanted better, and about 5 years later started actually making things better (or at least what I thought was better; I'm horrified by much of what I did now!).  My first kit, completely successful, was a Kitmaster Restaurant Car and I was immensely proud of it's interior; I have thought of myself as a railway modeller since then.  

 

My inspiration was mostly Airfix and Meccano Magazines, which would contain articles such as how to go about making basic scenery, alter kits to represent other things, motorising your Airfix railcar.  I 'graduated' to Model Railway Constructor in about 1964, and magazine were my main source of advice and information until the advent of the internet, at which point I stopped buying them unless they contained and article of specific interest to me.

 

We had to blunder around in the dark a lot, and many of our results showed it.  Tell kids terday that we didn't have t'newfangled interweb thingy in our day, they don't berleeve yer.

[Philou]

Funnily enough, I remember the article on how to motorise the railcar. It was in the Railway Modeller. The article showed the use of TWO motors (yes - two). IIRC, there was a standard X04 for the main drive, and a much smaller (possibly TT sized) in a piggy-back arrangement. The idea was that there was a resistance (can't remember the value) that would prevent the X04 from taking off at low voltages but the smaller motor would rotate with a couple of volts and the railcar would vibrate 'realistically' (probably made sound, too).

 

Now there's an idea for DCC - fourth dimensional stuff. Sound AND vibration whilst ticking over in yer MPD. Drive everyone nuts, that would!!!!

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[kevinlms]

30 minutes ago, Philou said:

Funnily enough, I remember the article on how to motorise the railcar. It was in the Railway Modeller. The article showed the use of TWO motors (yes - two). IIRC, there was a standard X04 for the main drive, and a much smaller (possibly TT sized) in a piggy-back arrangement. The idea was that there was a resistance (can't remember the value) that would prevent the X04 from taking off at low voltages but the smaller motor would rotate with a couple of volts and the railcar would vibrate 'realistically' (probably made sound, too).

 

Now there's an idea for DCC - fourth dimensional stuff. Sound AND vibration whilst ticking over in yer MPD. Drive everyone nuts, that would!!!!

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

Improbability Drive? 

 

No perhaps not.  In actual fact it was called Free Motor Drive. It was even described in MRJ No. 86 and some following issues.

[peterl]

But worth remembering that RM Web is not the only model railway forum!

Peter

[The Johnster]

No it’s not, bit I reckon it’s far and away the best!  I don’t bother with any of the others any more.   This is of course no more than my personal opinion and I would not want to influence anyone else’s, but this is still the best!

[rob D2]

You can always expect an answer on rmweb.

thats why I’ve been here 11 years !

 

The only model site I look at daily TBH.

[HonestTom]

I didn't start out with a particular preference for this site, but I would inevitably find that if I Googled a query about model railways, this site would inevitably pop up. That was what convinced me to actually get an account. I'm a member on a couple of other forums, but I've never found them quite as comprehensive.