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BRM December 2019


Howard Smith
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Welcome readers of RMweb to the last (but certainly not the least) issue of BRM for 2019. Packed with three layouts, inspirational subjects and practical article ideas, it's an unmissable issue for N, OO and O gauge modellers alike.

Plus, on this episode of BRM TV: Sit back and enjoy an episode filled with entertainment as we head back to model railway basics with Market Deeping's Model Railway Club. Learn or recap on the fundamentals, from baseboard construction to track laying, wiring and making card kits. Download your issue now from pocketmags.com/BRM, or pick up a copy in stores from November 7.

 

Watch our preview, here:

 

Inside this issue:

 

LAYOUTS

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- Kimble (O) GC/LMS joint line (1960s)

 

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- Feniton (OO) BR (SR) (1958-1964)

 

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- Greenside Vale (OO) East Midlands (1950s/1960s)

 

 

PRACTICAL BRM

 

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- Make an HRA from Bachmann's HTA

 

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- Build a rail replacement diorama

 

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- The BRM Christmas 2019 office layout

 

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- Enhance your RTR locomotives with TMC

 

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- The Billy bookcase layouts roundup

 

PRODUCTS AND FEATURES

 

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- BRM meets: Market Deeping MRC

 

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- BRM meets: P&D Marsh models

 

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- Top finds at Gaugemaster

 

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- Review: Bachmann J72 (OO)

 

LMW.jpg.e0d36db1e8e4bfaf75b83f6a3c644b78.jpg
- Review: Locomotion Models Western (OO)

 

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- Review: Dapol Class 50 (N)

 

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- Review: Hornby R&H 48DS (OO)

 

- Tail Lamp: LocoLadies from the Great Model Railway Challenge

 

Download your issue now from pocketmags.com/BRM, or pick up a copy in stores from November 7.

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On 30/10/2019 at 14:04, Howard Smith said:

Welcome reader

 

1885684770_Railreplacement.jpg.b1e045f5edbcd5ae2cbed0e689106632.jpg
- Build a rail replacement diorama

 

 

I trust your bus will have the correct 'headcode' as used on the Seaford to Lewes services extensively in 2016, although we are very much a 3rd rail electrics zone, but perhaps a bus company wouldn't appreciate the difference.

 

Rail Replacement logo Seaford 15 0 2016 4net.jpg

Edited by phil_sutters
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That would've been an interesting little detail, and not something I thought about when making the diorama, admittedly. That said, from what I recall, the bus/coach in question isn't quite young enough to feature fancy LED matrix lighting!
(As a rather silly aside, on first glance, I wondered why there was a man on a platform having a shower next to a train in that matrix display!)
On a more serious note, that would be a neat little (literally!) electronics project, although I suppose the "easier" solution is to make some sort of stencil by poking tiny holes in a bit of near-black card, and lighting it with a single LED from behind?

I'm sure someone's done it, somewhere!

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1 hour ago, Pint of Adnams said:

or is the photographer awaiting a present of 'Head and Shoulders'?

 

 

Unlikely...

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53 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

Unlikely...

 

Oi! I didn't take those! :biggrin_mini2:

 

Actually there is a relevant point I have mentioned to Bachmann that under studio lighting there iare often fine particles visible under magnification which image processing makes more visible than they may be when viewed with the naked eye. It's more evident on black surfaces and I've often had to do some 'digital dusting'.

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1 minute ago, AY Mod said:

 

Oi! I didn't take those! :biggrin_mini2:

 

Actually there is a relevant point I have mentioned to Bachmann that under studio lighting there is often fine particles visible under magnification which image processing makes more visible than they may be when viewed with the named eye. It's more evident on black surfaces and I've often had to do some 'digital dusting'.

I did, 

 

And I did dust the model off beforehand - honestly. Perhaps the 'snow' drifted down from one of the images above. 

 

Don't some critics have sharp eyes? 

 

And I don't need Head & Shoulders!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Don't some critics have sharp eyes? 

I have been house-trained/conditioned by 'er indoors - who can anticipate even the smallest mess I might make even if I'm just thinking about doing a spot of modelling...:hunter:

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Last month Howard asked for comments and feedback.  Well, the December issue  has the headline "Turning Point" on its cover, and it is a turning point for me.  After several months swithering I have decided not to renew my subscription.  I have become used to the errors, lack of layout plans,  multiple shop / subscription / online versions and the relentless promotion of other Warners products.  I am sure Warners know what they are doing and I have praise for the editorial team (Phil's comparison of the three Billy Bookcase layouts was an interesting finale to this series) , but since the loss two or three years ago of an editor who was an experienced railway modeller (I see there is  now a product brand manager, whatever that is) the contents have become mostly adverts, either directly or as promotional editorial features, with little hard factual information.  BRM seems to have become a railway modelling magazine for people who are not railway modellers.

 

If I may give three examples:

 

Greenside Vale looks interesting, but how can I relate it to what I may build?  It says it is 18 ft long, and the pictures suggest that this includes the fiddle yard, but this in not clear since there is no layout plan. The text is more philosophical than factual constructional details, which seems to be the current BRM style.  It says and looks OO in the magazine but is described as N at the top of this thread!

 

The replacement bus diorama could be a good article, but it needed editing. The Harburn item is not in the "shopping list".  Picture 7 shows the walls in place while the plaster is painted, but construction and placement of the walls is then shown in pictures 8-11. Some glues do not melt polystyrene, they dissolve them...  

 

The Market Deeping article- I do not need five uninformative pictures of men drilling, hammering and gluing.  Was there excess space to fill in the magazine?

 

This is intended as constructive criticism as to why BRM has lost a subscriber.  I may still buy an occasional copy of BRM but it's clear that it has evolved in a way that does not appeal to me.

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Hello Mike,
Thanks for the feedback, good or bad, it all helps. Your objection to the different platforms on which we offer BRM aside, the layout owners who are offered a template which they can choose to follow or not. It's worth noting that not everyone who builds a layout is as keen at writing an article about it. Some authors need a little encouragement and are very wary of repeating what has been said many a time before. I'm assuming you are a modeller and will hence appreciate that the article on 'Greenside Vale' needn't cover how the track was ballasted with PVA and water in a 50:50 ratio? We have practical articles for that sort of thing, though I'd argue these are strongly more factual than philosophical... Each author has their own manner of writing. We work closely with layout owners to ensure what we bring readers are informative articles, though until the first draft of the copy is received, there's no guarantee as to what has been written. Believe me, these vary in the quality (and length of written words)...

 

The Market Deeping article was a change from our usual format and was a different way of highlighting a club that has shared a lot of media limelight recently. BRM is working with the club to help promote the hobby to a wider audience which is something it urgently needs. Phil and I will be building a layout with the Market Deeping club at our Peterborough show, on December 7/8.

Where practical articles are concerned, we are trialling new contributors, reaching out to different people. Some of the projects we have lined up for the coming year are very exciting, and we aim to continue to strike an even balance between eras and the gauges we represent. As with every new contributor, we relay information and work with them closely to encourage them to continue their work with us. Jamie Warne is a talented young modeller, the likes of whom I often feel is often cast aside by the model press and 'elitist' modellers. 

 

Perhaps this issue wasn't to your taste, maybe next month's issue will be? Taste is a subjective thing, but trust me, BRM has evolved little over the past few years. Feel free to PM me your modelling interests (and perhaps projects!).

Thanks 

 

 

 

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27 minutes ago, JohnR said:

Whats in the £60 Goody bag in the subscription offer? If most of the value is taken up by the Warley tickets, its less appealing, as I wont be able to go to Warley. 

 

John - I'll check and get back to you tomorrow when our goody bag 'filler upper' is back in.

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Mike, 
Indeed, having re-checked what I sent in, somehow I glossed over the Harburn item on the shopping list; my apologies! Goes to show that even proof-reading things multiple times (with multiple people) doesn't mean you'll catch everything. Thank you also for telling me about the incorrect terminology, I've certainly learnt something new today.

 

As for the photo of the plaster being painted, I haven't had a chance to sit down and look at the final article, but I did mention in my original caption that we'd talk about the walling in the next step. I was actually away from home during the first week of construction, and didn't have my paints to hand; otherwise I would've painted the plaster before building the walling. I was hoping to keep the steps in a more logical order than I ended up doing them myself; although I can see how it would raise a few eyebrows, and potentially cause mild confusion. Lesson learnt for next time!

 

I am really appreciative of these comments, and I have no problem acting upon politely worded constructive criticism. On the whole, I'm glad that you liked the article; it was my first commission as Howard alluded to, so it's nice to know that even if I made a few mistakes, it was still a good final result. (See also my last paragraph below)

 

Howard, thank you for your very kind words!

 

One thing I feel I should say about BRM (and this is 100% off my own bat, for the record) is that whilst we (as contributors) work to a brief, it's nice to have a feeling of relative freedom, and to be let loose with coming up with our own scenarios and takes on things; all in our own writing style. There's encouragement, but it's not at all hand-holding; which I feel creates a more "genuine" feel to an article than you might find elsewhere. I only mention this because I feel that it's something that really stands out, and appeals to me; it seems to be a more inclusive approach, even if that means a potential headache for the editorial team! I know there have been a couple of occasions where I had to clarify my intention when something that I had written didn't quite flow correctly!

 

In any case, as Howard stated; it's a difficult balance between producing a practical guide, and rehashing common knowledge. It's impossible to cater to everyone in one magazine edition, let alone one article. This is made more difficult when you consider there is such a huge variety in our hobby; some people may just be starting out, some may have been modelling for years, and some may be professionals. Then you add to that all the different scales/gauges, prototype interests, preferences of article types... there are just too many variables.

 

Anyway, I will always offer those with questions about any of my articles to contact me, or mention me (@ me) in a forum post. To me, railway modelling is more about sharing ideas, tips, and inspiring others. The rail replacement bus article was one way in which I was given the opportunity to hopefully do just that. And again, if people have constructive criticism, I am absolutely fine with taking suggestions on board.

 

All the best,
Jamie Warne

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1 hour ago, SouthernRegionSteam said:

Mike, 
Indeed, having re-checked what I sent in, somehow I glossed over the Harburn item on the shopping list; my apologies! Goes to show that even proof-reading things multiple times (with multiple people) doesn't mean you'll catch everything. Thank you also for telling me about the incorrect terminology, I've certainly learnt something new today.

 

As for the photo of the plaster being painted, I haven't had a chance to sit down and look at the final article, but I did mention in my original caption that we'd talk about the walling in the next step. I was actually away from home during the first week of construction, and didn't have my paints to hand; otherwise I would've painted the plaster before building the walling. I was hoping to keep the steps in a more logical order than I ended up doing them myself; although I can see how it would raise a few eyebrows, and potentially cause mild confusion. Lesson learnt for next time!

 

I am really appreciative of these comments, and I have no problem acting upon politely worded constructive criticism. On the whole, I'm glad that you liked the article; it was my first commission as Howard alluded to, so it's nice to know that even if I made a few mistakes, it was still a good final result. (See also my last paragraph below)

 

Howard, thank you for your very kind words!

 

One thing I feel I should say about BRM (and this is 100% off my own bat, for the record) is that whilst we (as contributors) work to a brief, it's nice to have a feeling of relative freedom, and to be let loose with coming up with our own scenarios and takes on things; all in our own writing style. There's encouragement, but it's not at all hand-holding; which I feel creates a more "genuine" feel to an article than you might find elsewhere. I only mention this because I feel that it's something that really stands out, and appeals to me; it seems to be a more inclusive approach, even if that means a potential headache for the editorial team! I know there have been a couple of occasions where I had to clarify my intention when something that I had written didn't quite flow correctly!

 

In any case, as Howard stated; it's a difficult balance between producing a practical guide, and rehashing common knowledge. It's impossible to cater to everyone in one magazine edition, let alone one article. This is made more difficult when you consider there is such a huge variety in our hobby; some people may just be starting out, some may have been modelling for years, and some may be professionals. Then you add to that all the different scales/gauges, prototype interests, preferences of article types... there are just too many variables.

 

Anyway, I will always offer those with questions about any of my articles to contact me, or mention me (@ me) in a forum post. To me, railway modelling is more about sharing ideas, tips, and inspiring others. The rail replacement bus article was one way in which I was given the opportunity to hopefully do just that. And again, if people have constructive criticism, I am absolutely fine with taking suggestions on board.

 

All the best,
Jamie Warne

 

Jamie

 

Many thanks for taking the time to reply. 

 

Despite my criticisms, I really liked your article, and am surprised that it was your first, as it was packed full of useful tips and explanations.  Please keep up the good work.  The concept was first class and it showed how much variety can be included in a small area.  That's why I read it through thoroughly, to understand what you had done and see what I could learn from it.  That's when I realised that the way it was presented in the (written) magazine was confusing me.  Some while ago I edited a specialist scientific magazine and while contributors all had and were allowed their own style (within reason), as the editor one thing I did was to read through each article to check that the content and presentation meant that readers could understand it.  That's also what I do when I write articles myself.  This is where I feel (and it's only my opinion) that BRM's lack of an editor to provide this review and checking mechanism beyond proof-reading  means that some good items could have been even better.

 

Best wishes

Mike 

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Mike,

You are very welcome, and thank you for the lovely comments.
I absolutely agree that an article must be able to be followed in a logical and naturally-flowing manner; and I'll definitely be giving myself more time to check things through more thoroughly next time before sending it off to the BRM team for final review/article assembly. One thing I will say though is the difficulty in compressing everything into such an article; captions in particular had to be re-worded several times before I was happy with them. It was too easy to go into too much detail, and it was a very delicate balance between explaining things well enough that someone could follow along, and not writing wordy captions that ate too much into the article length. I'd love to spend hours writing lengthy articles explaining the whys, wherefores etc. of the decisions made, but there just isn't the room; nor do I think that the majority of people would actually want to read such essays.

 

With all that said though, I'm pleased with the response to this particular article, and it's taught me a few valuable lessons which I can take forward to the next one!

 

All the best,
Jamie

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On 11/11/2019 at 15:05, JohnR said:

Whats in the £60 Goody bag in the subscription offer? If most of the value is taken up by the Warley tickets, its less appealing, as I wont be able to go to Warley. 

 

John, I'm told it's 'A mixture of things – from a book to kits/magazines and DVDs'

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As the writer of a layout in this edition I thought I might comment. It is the first time I have done so. Yes I had a template but that was merely a guide. I chose to do a mix of my thinking about the concept of the layout and the issues around building a layout on my own. In my case in particular using  time saving proprietary items. Given the wide range of readers and their different skill levels it is always going to be difficult to please everybody in each article. I look at articles in magazines to inspire as there are plenty of sources to give specific technical help. For example I didn't cover anything about the electrics and control systems as I think that is better covered by other people in a specific focused article. Anyway just my personal view. 

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Just got my January issue of BRM through the post, enjoyed reading it as always but there is one thing that is bugging me. Can we have track plans back please? I asked about them a while ago via an e mail and got told that it was costly to prepare and print the artwork, fair enough but how about a basic no frills picture of a layout plan. For me it helps to get a sense of scale of a layout and also gives me some ideas and is as much a part of a layout as the photos.

 

 

Edited by sb67
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