RMweb Premium TheQ Posted March 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2017 (edited) I was at a recent large show, looking at a layout, when a couple of elderly gents passed behind me and I heard one saying " what's that one? I've never heard of 009". i've had to explain various gauges, to various people over the years including to members of an MRC...... EM and P4/S4 particularly... Edited March 28, 2017 by TheQ 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted March 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2017 I was at an exhibition just before Christmas, I carry my exhibits in a small trailer which I loaded up in the hall after the exhibition closed. I parked my car near to the doorway but making sure that the exit was clear and went to collect the trailer. When I returned to the car I found a van parked close to my drivers door so close in fact that I couldn't enter my car. The van was also parked on a grassed area in front of the door despite there being a hardstanding a couple of metres away. When I asked the people to move the van I was told that I would have to wait until they've finished loading. I complained to the exhibition manager and he got the same reply. The people concerned will not get an invitation to that show again and a few others around informed me that they do not receive much in the way of invites to other exhibitions due to their attitude My club had an exhibitor who left his stand for the rest of the club members to look after. First time we saw him, was when he turned up at 2.00 pm on Sunday and informed us that he was ready to pack up and go home - hours before closing time. He was quite rude when informed that the exhibition still had some time to go and we'd prefer him to wait until official closing time. He insisted on packing up, an obvious bad look and a hazard. Needless to say, he never got another invite! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davknigh Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 i've had to explain various gauges, to various people over the years including to members of an MRC...... EM and P4/S4 particularly... If you think that is fun in the U.K. you should try the same thing on my side of the pond. The Great Gauge Debate is a total mystery to people in Canada. Cheers, David 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 i've had to explain various gauges, to various people over the years including to members of an MRC...... EM and P4/S4 particularly... That's an experience I share. I've met a number of modellers who aren't aware of anything outside N, OO or O gauges (and often don't know what "scale" means) Perhaps it isn't so surprising when you consider the exposure of various product ranges in magazines, which tends to concentrate on the mass market /gauges/ranges. While "other" scales and gauges get mentioned, there is usually no in depth explanation of what that means. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andytrains Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 (edited) Make all the exhibitors and traders wear high vis jackets at set up and break down. (Oh they did at Aly Paly). When asked why I was not wearing one, my reply was. My navy blue jacket is high vis unless you have poor eyesight! Edited March 28, 2017 by andytrains 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted March 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2017 If everybody who's supposed to be taking part in set up and break down is wearing hi-vis, anybody who's managed to wander in in the off-chance of nicking something will stand out through not wearing it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andytrains Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 If everybody who's supposed to be taking part in set up and break down is wearing hi-vis, anybody who's managed to wander in in the off-chance of nicking something will stand out through not wearing it. The security were all wearing their high vis black outfits. Probably one of them then that stole a tree off a stand? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted March 29, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 29, 2017 That's an experience I share. I've met a number of modellers who aren't aware of anything outside N, OO or O gauges (and often don't know what "scale" means) Perhaps it isn't so surprising when you consider the exposure of various product ranges in magazines, which tends to concentrate on the mass market /gauges/ranges. While "other" scales and gauges get mentioned, there is usually no in depth explanation of what that means. It is of no surprise that the product ranges & media concentrate on N, OO & O Gauges. That is what the vast majority of modellers/collectors want, so their needs are met. Many EM/P4 modellers (and their equivalent in other scales), often dismantle the R-T-R ranges to modify them, put better wheels, some form of better track control, etc, etc. So how does the mass media & internet, properly describe this in depth? Fine scale modelling is very much a personalised approach and why should it be any different? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Kevin, forums such as RMweb do that, so do the EMGS and S4 websites , as do WSP do it through their excellent books, by the likes of Iain Rice, John Hayes, Gordon and Maggie Gravett, Barry Norman and others (other publishers/writers are available). What the mainstream magazines don't do, as far as I can see, is provide a simple introduction to the "alternatives". A sidebar next to a EM, P4, OO7, etc. layout article, explaining simply what is the scale/gauge and how you find out more for example, might begin to increase peoples awareness. Unless people know what the alternatives are, how can they decide if they want to explore further? Jol 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted March 29, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 29, 2017 Kevin, forums such as RMweb do that, so do the EMGS and S4 websites , as do WSP do it through their excellent books, by the likes of Iain Rice, John Hayes, Gordon and Maggie Gravett, Barry Norman and others (other publishers/writers are available). What the mainstream magazines don't do, as far as I can see, is provide a simple introduction to the "alternatives". A sidebar next to a EM, P4, OO7, etc. layout article, explaining simply what is the scale/gauge and how you find out more for example, might begin to increase peoples awareness. Unless people know what the alternatives are, how can they decide if they want to explore further? Jol Hi Jol But I have seen such information provided in mainstream magazines, in recent times at least. As an example, I have Railway Modeller for December 2016, right in front of me. On page 1032 there is an article on Chipping Compton, a 3mm layout (12mm gauge) by a Bob Brown. The subtitle for it says in the description "He changed to 3mm scale in 1977 so as to focus on what he says is by nature 'a builder's scale' ". In the text he says 'My personal modelling philosophy is to make everything and not relying on taking stuff out of boxes'... On the description of the trackwork it says 'I make use of 3mm Society flexible track and hand-made pointwork produced by 3mm Scale Model Railways (3SMR)'... So I believe Bob and Railway Modeller have made a significant contribution on what 3mm scale is, how to obtain supplies and pointing out that it is a "Do It Yourself" scale. Sufficient information is supplied for those who are curious and might wish to try something different, to go looking for more details. Is that not what it is about? I must add a disclaimer, that I have never tried 3mm scale or TT, so I'm hardly pushing this scale. Model Rail has featured some 2mm scale layouts in recent times, with similar background information on what 2mm represents. As a lapsed EM modeller, (my circumstances have significantly changed, and it is most unlikely I would build anything in EM again or even try P4). So I'm not totally naive, on what is required on modelling something that isn't mainstream. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TT3 Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Kevin, 3mm and TT is a great deal of fun, it can be as DIY intensive as you like. The level of commercial support is great with the exception of no RTR. However even that is not a problem if you buy from the 3mm Society secondhand. The trouble with TT is the it is almost unknown to most people, I was at a small model railway display at a local tractor pull and somone had a display showing relative scales Z, N H0, 0 and so on, good idea but not when I asked where the TT was, "oh forgot about that one didnt think anyone did it", decided not to ask about some S scale, gauge 1 or anything else provocative... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted April 1, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 1, 2017 After reading the Ally Pally thread it is obviously very easy to get lynched by the punters if you are an operator and there is more than 11.456789 seconds between trains being seen to move on the front. Jamie 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 After reading the Ally Pally thread it is obviously very easy to get lynched by the punters if you are an operator and there is more than 11.456789 seconds between trains being seen to move on the front. Jamie <Nerd voice ON> Actually, I think you'll find it's 11.456788 seconds....<Nerd voice/OFF> 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 <Nerd voice ON> Actually, I think you'll find it's 11.456788 seconds.... <Nerd voice/OFF> There's always one, isn't there... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Zero Gravitas Posted April 1, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 1, 2017 There's always one, isn't there... Or in this case, 0.000001... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 i've had to explain various gauges, to various people over the years including to members of an MRC...... EM and P4/S4 particularly... I often have to explain them to myself. Geoff Endacott 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ColinK Posted April 1, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 1, 2017 And how many people understand all the narrow gauges? Eg On30 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted April 1, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 1, 2017 Has anyone done OO3 yet? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 re high vis, I arrived towing the trailer to be met with hazard warning lights must be used in the hall. My tow car does not have them due to age ! Suddenly the lack of them was not a problem. pa the trailer was too heavy to push up the ramp. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castlefinn Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 As i'm presently exhibiting four 4mm layouts using either 9,12 or 21 mm gauges , i spend a lot of time explaining the difference between gauge and scale.I had one person at Ally Pally ask if Castlederg was Z gauge.Still all part of the educational process,Andy. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted April 1, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 1, 2017 And if I ever decided to do the Listowel and Ballybunion in 7mm scale what on earth would the gauge be, zero? I think I would have enough trouble explaining that the locos were 0-3-0 + 0-2-0. hey that's an idea with 3d printing I might even be able to produce the A frames............................... Jamie 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Has anyone done OO3 yet? Perhaps someone could do a layout based on the train chase in Octopussy. When asked what gauge it is the response would be, of course, 007. Hat, coat, run!!!! 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ColinK Posted April 2, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 2, 2017 I was reading a article in a magazine last night (albeit a specialist one) where a chap said he had modelled in 0 gauge, HOn3, Sn3, On2, 0n3, 0n30 and Gn15! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium The White Rabbit Posted April 2, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 2, 2017 Has anyone done OO3 yet? I've got the parts for this - but I was thinking of describing it as "OOT" (cue bad jokes about night-time and owls or Scottish bar-tenders at closing time)... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Spencer Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Is this thread still open? Run a modern-day layout. In the run up to the show, repeatedly announce that Flying Scotsman will make occasional appearances during the exibition. Make sure this is spread over social media. Morning of the show, announce that the timings have been withheld due to the risk of trespassers. Operate a layout based on South Western Railway. Have train announcements. Make them audible from some distance. Include "See it, say it, sorted...." ad nauseam... 2 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now