RMweb is 15

[Worsdell forever]

Just recalling the 2011 Members Day in Stafford, on the Friday night we met in the Spital Brook just beside the railway and every time a train went passed everyone looked up! managed to eat every bit of steak that they had too, then there was the cider, can't remember what it was called but it was '10%ish'... 

[AY Mod]

3 minutes ago, Worsdell forever said:

can't remember what it was called but it was '10%ish

 

They had a problem with brand loyalty, people couldn't remember what they'd drunk.

[Accurascale Fran]

Congratulations Andy on hitting 15 years with RMWeb, an incredible achievement of longevity in the digital world, and it is easy to see why it has lasted and thrived this long.  I joined in 2009, and little did I know then that I would be one day working as a model railway manufacturer and interacting with people on RMWeb in a professional capacity. My life was the bright lights and broadcasting in London back then, and I am glad I left that all behind! It has been a wonderful way for us (Accurascale) to interact with modellers, gain ideas and inspiration and get feedback to help us move forward. 

 

Memorable moments? Well, the leaking of our Class 92 by a rival magazine and subsequent fall out on here was a pretty memorable morning in work.... 

 

 Thank you to Andy personally for his helping hand in our early days too. It really has helped us to get our name out there in a crowded market.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran

[Bloodnok]

On 14/03/2020 at 23:33, Dagworth said:

Funniest thing ever on RMweb was @Bloodnok and the Kestrel April fool. Pity it is lost to posterity but for Raymond Ginar-Don it's probably just as well.

I can't remember who it was that roped me into that, but it was a hell of a lot of fun. It did spur me on to work on the model and fix a bunch of shape errors in the days beforehand -- plus I got a textured version rendered just in time. It's still my avatar here ... and pretty much everywhere else too.

The thing that makes that prank all the more hilarious is ... we got upstaged. By Heljan. Who announced a Kestrel, for real, and while the prank was still in progress.

Although it is to my eternal shame that I still have not yet finished/released the Trainz model the prank was based on. I guess "When you turn your hobby into a job, you find yourself in need of a new hobby" is just /that/ true. (Oh, that and I went down the rabbit hole of "Just where on earth would you get sound recordings of a 16LVA24?", and that turns out to be a depressing question to try to answer).

RMWeb has been a great community to be in over the years. It's got me back into modelling ... what, three times now? Once virtually (for that prank), and twice physically (both times after an international house-move).

[Mick Bonwick]

55 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 little did I know then that I would be one day working as a model

 

???

[PaulRhB]

2 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

They had a problem with brand loyalty, people couldn't remember what they'd drunk.

I’m amazed no one has ever produced, ‘I dunno what ‘tish, but shh gud!’, branded cider  

Edited March 16, 2020 by PaulRhB

[Liam]

52 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

I’m amazed no one has ever produced, ‘I dunno what ‘tish, but shh gud!’, branded cider  

 

I can’t think why, but I’m somehow reminded of this: 

 

 

[46444]

8 hours ago, gordon s said:

Here's a few more for posterity just in case I lose the links....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where's Kenton? Is he still on here? 

[beast66606]

10 minutes ago, 46444 said:

Where's Kenton? Is he still on here? 

 

Not been seen for several years now unfortunately, even though we argued a lot we also shared PMs meaning things weren't as bad as our public persona may have implied.

[Liam]

45 minutes ago, 46444 said:

 

Where's Kenton? Is he still on here? 

 

Equally, Horsetan disappeared suddenly in autumn 2018 and hasn’t been seen since. 

[Jules]

9 hours ago, gordon s said:

Here's a few more for posterity just in case I lose the links....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see my name in there - not sure why I was asking about Gresley coach diagrams!

 

Happy Birthday RMWeb!

[beast66606]

33 minutes ago, SVRlad said:

Equally, Horsetan disappeared suddenly in autumn 2018 and hasn’t been seen since. 

 

I think Ivans departure was for different reasons from Kentons and not so mysterious.

[toboldlygo]

On 15/03/2020 at 14:22, AY Mod said:

 

I've had a few calls from the RSPCA but I explained they all went to a lovely farm in the hills. Apart from the one Pipex* sent, he was a useless b*stard.

 

* you had to be there to experience the full misery. 

 

How your marketing of Hamster-Jam managed to get past the likes of the RSPCA (amongst others) was pure genius and the less said about their pelts being used to supply wig makers to the rich and infamous 

[Liam]

27 minutes ago, beast66606 said:

 

I think Ivans departure was for different reasons from Kentons and not so mysterious.

 

Oh I see, I was unaware of the circumstances. I noticed him one day and then his account went unusually quiet. 

[Barry Ten]

The forum was about a year old when I joined in 2006. I'd have joined sooner if I knew about it. At the time I was totally isolated in my modelling, living abroad and only occasionally getting over to the UK. Other than the thrill of spotting "proper" modellers among the RMwebbers already signed up - people whose work I'd seen and enjoyed in the magazines, such as Neil and Captain Kernow, the forum provided a way to share my own modelling with others and, just as importantly, to learn from those better informed. I think one of the first things I posted was a question about how to sweat two bits of brass together. Someone (Buckjumper, possibly) kindly explained that there were these high-tech things like clothes pegs and cocktail sticks that could be used to hold one piece of metal against another, instead of what had been my preferred option, fingertips. I won't say I never looked back - I still had a lot to learn about basic soldering - but it was a big step at the time, and enabled me to crack on with the kit I was attempting to build.

 

That said, I was still very much a lone wolf modeller. The thing that really opened up real friendships for me was the RMweb 6 foot challenge in 2006-2007. I built a layout which then travelled with me when I returned to the UK. Not long after, I was told that a local model shop was going to host a weekend of customers' layouts, so I put mine forward. Although it was my first time exhibiting, and not without its stresses, I made the first of many friendships that weekend, opening up contact with numerous modellers in the Cardiff area, South Wales and beyond. Those friendships have continued over the years, seeing me through some tough times and hopefully the same can be said for many of us in the same ever-expanding circle. It's now very rare that I go to an exhibition without spotting a familiar face, and my involvement in layouts and exhibiting has carried on right through to this week and the Basingstoke show.

 

Highlights? Far too many, but without naming names I could reel off several quiet acts of behind-the-scenes kindness done by various forum members, all of which were appreciated but one or two of which got me through some very difficult times.

 

Thanks to Andy and all who've made the forum what it is for many of us 

[Bazza]

I remember signing up right at the beginning of Rmweb and although I have not often contributed I have been an avid follower of a good selection of the threads that interest me. I have often marvelled at the quality of the models , and the passion and commitment to this wonderful hobby of ours. I have also marvelled at the patience and dedication of Andy and his team as they have dealt with the occasional bush fire when tensions have erupted into virtual fist fights. It feels not seem to have been 15 years since it started and it is quite amazing to see how the hobby has changed in that time. I'm sure rmweb has been a great 

influence and will continue to be that in the years to come. The next weeks and months may see record completion of projects and record attendance as we have to spend more time at home. Thanks again Andy.

 Bazza

[Michael Delamar]

I was in early on. 
 

Helped me so much beyond modelling.

 

When I look back at some of my early posts with text speak they make me cringe. It has helped me with grammar and writing better.
 

Greatest memory was Andy Y phoning me with career advice. Ill never forget that.

[westerhamstation]

Happy Birthday, thank you Andy, and all of you for making this such a caring and sharing forum. All the best for the future Adrian.

[Compound2632]

I would have done a lot less modelling over the past nearly four years without the RMWeb audience, so if nothing else it's fed my vanity and resulted in me building some things I probably wouldn't otherwise have built. But I am enormously grateful for the freedom with which members have given their advice on modelling techniques and information on the prototype - all of which has, I hope, improved my modelling.

 

That said, I might get more modelling done if I didn't spend so much time on RMWeb...

[PJT]

35 minutes ago, westerhamstation said:

Happy Birthday, thank you Andy, and all of you for making this such a caring and sharing forum.

 

Couldn't have said it any better.

 

Thank you.

 

Pete T.

 

[MartinWales]

Another one of the 15% who joined in 2006

 

Happy Birthday RMWEB and also thanks to Andy's patience and tenacity over that decade and a half too!

[Colin_McLeod]

Please remind me. What is the 15%?

[5BarVT]

Not even 5 years for me although I was watching for a while before then. Exhibitions involve far more talking to exhibitors now, and only because of RMweb.  It’s wonderful having links to people who know so much.  Rule 1 will apply more to those things I now know aren’t quite right, but it’s all going to be fun anyway.  Let’s face it, when Kestrel ends up on test runs through Snow Hill we all know it isn’t ‘right’ but it will bring back memories of 70s Newcastle.

Thanks for the journey folks and long may it continue.

Paul.

[chriswright03]

On 15/03/2020 at 20:49, Rhb Simon said:

I've been a member in one name or another since the early days. I remember Andy's wharf layout he built which was a nice bit of modelling. There was a diesel depot layout built in a challenge maybe around 2006 I think it was in EM it was beautifully built & the first time I thought that diesels were modelled & weathered correctly. I've learnt so much from this forum which has made me the modeller I am today. I've even featured in brm with a 2 page spread from the loco challenge which helped my mental health in a very testing time for myself. 

 

A brilliant platform to learn from. Many happy returns rmweb 

I too thought Quay Wharf (?) was really good modelling but then if you did hours at an exhibition with it like I did one day you would realise how bloody annoying those seagulls were!

[gordon s]

2 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

Please remind me. What is the 15%?

 

In the early days the forum grew so quickly, that both software and hardware had a job keeping up. On one particular update something like 15% of us, (particularly those of us who had been here from the beginning) seemed to fall down a hole between the two platforms and our joining dates and no of posts records disappeared.

 

We went from pioneers to tail end Charlies overnight......