Rob MacKinnon, Aberystwyth University

[Robert MacKinnon]

Introducing myself

I would like to introduce myself, my name is Robert MacKinnon and I am a PhD Researcher from the Institute of Geography & Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, undertaking a three year Aberystwyth University funded research project that includes taking a look at model railways. I have to say first off I have not been a practicing modeller for about a decade or so, my object of being with RMweb is to engage with the hobbyist community about my research work and I would like to thank Andy York (RMweb editor) for agreeing to me setting up a blog with open arms.I am interested in both indoor and outdoor model railways, looking at the identities, spaces, motivations and practices (doings) bound up with making and engaging with them. My research project is not entirely take up with looking at model railways, I focus on two other case studies in an attempt to take a look at why and how we make, use and encounter material ‘models’. These other case studies being a historical and archival based study on the work of Britain’s Hydraulics Research Station from c1945-1970 (modelling coasts, rivers and harbours) (anyone with experience in physical hydraulic modelling are welcome to contact me) and then a historical/contemporary study on the tourists’ miniature model village (Babbacombe, Bekonscot ect). Questions as to what ties all these three together conceptually is most important, I have no definite answer at the moment, ‘abstraction’ is an obvious one of sorts but I really need to focus on this.

 

 

Research outputs

A lot of academic research is a ‘closed shop’ to people from beyond the academy. This is not really a problem to place at the feet of scholars, certainly within my discipline of geography scholars want to bring their research to a wider audience and geographers have sought creative ways of doing this. Rather, the space in which scholars in geography as in a number of other disciplines have to publish or otherwise peril – international academic journal articles and these are published by a handful of huge academic publishers -can only be accessed through a hefty subscription payments for people not in University (a great deal of a University’s expenditure goes on journal access). My blog seeks to do one thing. I want to post questions and my thoughts (works-in-progress) about things that I am doing. Comments are sought after. Some of the research findings that will come out of the project will hopefully be turned into some features from 2014-15 within British Railway Modelling Magazine.

 

How am I going to undertake the research?

A variety of ‘research methods’. Firstly, looking through texts (i.e looking through magazines such as British Railway Modeller, railway books ie books like Ian Rice and Barry Norman’s excellent stuff, blogs, websites and forums like this). Secondly, unstructured interviews with modellers through a visit to their home and layout talking about their hobby and layout (if you live in S.Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffs, Wolves and 'Brum', please get in contact if you are interested in talking to me about the hobby and showing me your layout) as well as talking with exhibitors. Thirdly, observant participation at several or so model railway clubs and at exhibitions. I should say that over the past six or some months here on the forum I have seen some absolutely fascinating and conceptually infused debates. For instance ‘Does something get lost as the scale gets bigger?’; ‘How to get lynched at a model railway show’, ‘Modelling railway accidents’, ‘How do you arrange your book collection?’, ‘Why are some of us obsessed with nostalgia?’, ‘What is "nitpicking" and how to "be constructive”’, and ‘Watching the (model) trains go by - with binoculars’ among many others.

Looking through magazines on issues that I am interested in (see the extensive ‘word’ list with descriptions way below) is important and have spent most of the past few months doing this kind of research and such textual research actually allows for a really developed discussion on issues relating to my research questions (below) and naturally my extensive ‘word’ list (see way below). Someone asked me why do I need to talk with people, in lieu of the fact that some pretty good stuff is coming out just passively looking through magazines and forums such as RMweb in particular. Textual research is crucial but needs I think to be supplemented by visiting modellers. For instance, part of a recent paper that I wrote for my supervisors focused on some ‘motivations of a layout theme’ for modellers and used books, videos, magazines and forums which was set around issues of ‘memory’, ‘challenge’, ‘rythmn’, ‘nostalgia’, ‘the didactic’, ‘landscape’ and ‘atmosphere’. Because I could only read what the writer had felt important to say, I often could not engage with them in the sense of drawing-out some of what they were talking about or clarifying certain issues.

 

Research Questions for the project

 

Core Research questions for the project on all three case studies (these may well develop and change);

 

• Why model and what is modelled? What are the motivations and identities?

 

• How is modelling practiced? What are the decisions, contexts, materials, knowledges, techniques, and constraints?

 

• What are the affectual qualities of modelling as practice? Modelling as ‘pain-staking’ and ‘meticulous’, modelling as consuming, tedious, fantastic and exhilarating.

 

• How do we play with, use, and engage with model worlds/look after (if at all) and change/encounter their environments?

 

• What are the affectual qualities of them, including issues of the miniature?

 

• In what ways are issues of power, control and discipline bound up with modelling and model worlds?

 

• In what ways are models and practices of modelling debated and contested?

 

• What are the spaces in which modelling is practiced and models encountered?

 

As I briefly mentioned earlier, I will be looking at outdoor railways as well. This I find interesting in the sense of a gardening-modelling nexus (planting and landscaping ect), issues of materials and weathering. Both indoor and outdoor modelling have their differences as well as similarities, I cannot start a blog on a garden railway forum so some musings on outdoor modelling particularly when contrasting with indoor modelling with find themselves here.

I have a very busy schedule of things to do but intend to write at least one blog post a week or so, sometimes more depending on what I am doing and they will not be as long as this one! Besides commenting on postings, modellers are most welcome to message me here on RMweb and also contact with me through e-mail (rjm11@aber.ac.uk ) about postings, issues for me to consider, critiquing’s ect. I used to be a railway modeller some time ago but even so in a relatively short space of time I have had to become familiar with the hobby again and in particular get an overview of the hobby. I claim absolutely no ‘special knowledge’ on anything whatsoever, merely all I do is write about what you think and do and try and shape these into the slipstream of academic debate. Do visit my webpage at Aberystwyth University http://www.aber.ac.u...taff/phd/rjm11/ , my Academia.edu page at http://aber.academia...RobertMacKinnon and I have thought about creating a dedicated website for the whole research project although I am loathed to part with the money at the moment (c100 pounds) I will at some point have to get something going since everyone else doing other research projects is doing this.

If you have got this far then thank you for taking an interest. From here I want to draw attention to what I understand to be ‘model’ and ‘modelling’ before then discussing my research questions on model railways and then some ‘words’ important to the model railway project in alphabetical order. I assure you none no other posts on my blog with be this long!

Before I go on, my research focuses really on the modeller’s making of a layout including in this the practical making and/or placing of things for a layout, encountering and engaging with a layout (layout does not have to be finished btw, of course most are never really) and the modeller and the space and spaces of modelling. There is much to be said for exploring for instance the relational dynamics between modellers and producers (Woodland Scenic’s, Bachmann ect), magazine and book publishers and their editors (BRM, Hornby Mag ect) including online forums such as RMweb, stockists (Hatton’s and independents) and traders (stockists and/or online traders). The idea and the modelling of the ‘model railway’ emerged (and continues to evolve) through a network of personalities, clubs and societies and from publishers in creating dialogue spaces in print or online, disseminating ideas and knowledges, to finally manufacturers and firms catering for modellers needs.

Through my research I want to explore modellers engagements with magazines, books and online-spaces related to the hobby, however from another angle I think it would be a good idea to explore the ‘production’ of these texts from a current editorial or even perhaps archival perspective. For instance, in what ways are debates and ideas in modelling shaping/shaped by the content of in magazines, what is BRM’s, Hornby’s, and the MRJ’s idea of its audience, and how this shapes editorial content. How do editors/moderators have a particular hand in shaping either online or in print a text’s passage into this world? As geographers Withers and Keighren (2010) in their study of narratives of travel and exploration in the 19th century assert, ‘publishers acting as editors could and did alter their author’s works in order to serve different demands’ (p.561). Interesting to hear for instance from people who have undertaken writing in magazines or writing for a book on their publishing experiences and vice versa from editors. In RMweb where it is quicker and easier to publish than in print does BRM use RMweb as a tool to keep in contact with modellers, do people from Hornby, Bachmann ect look at this forum (and magazines) in particular looking at topics under the ‘products’ section? Why has Bachmann decided to produce a replica of Highley station, why has Woodland’s Scenic’s gone for that particular texture of mimetic grass or that particular material spatiality to an Oak or why do we not see black or fat people in any of Hornby’s figures?

 

 

Research Questions for the Model Railway project

 

From here I want to outline the research questions to the model railway part of the project (as of Oct 2012!);

• What are the motivations and feelings for and in the practice of modelling, how does modelling fit around family life, where is modelling practiced in the sense of the space or spaces?
  

• What are the affectual qualities of modelling as practice? Modelling as ‘pain-staking’ and ‘meticulous’, modelling as consuming, tedious, fantastic and exhilarating. What are one’s modelling techniques, how are materials worked with or used, what are one’s kinds of tools used/use and products used liked.
  

• What are the motivations, knowledges and practices that went into/go into making/maintaining/displaying a layout (through particular things to do with it/on it)? From inspiration, planning, to actually making it, and looking at imaginations, memories, photographs, drawings, jottings and research files and collection of articles, magazines and books. How are layouts displayed, worked on, cleaned, maintained, altered, broken-up, recycled and stored?
  

• In what way are layouts brought to life? Through movement and rhythm’s, through stories and histories. How do we encounter layouts and the life what are the stories and histories that may weave a narrative (from parked cars, people in the street to the history of the town/station ect). What are the feelings/experiences in operating a layout?
  

• What are the spaces in which models are located? How have some spaces been altered, specially designed or I am interested in the space that your layout may be located, looking at how you have perhaps altered your home for a layout or built a shed, how you have decorated it and what you have in there and what this place means to you?
  

• How is modelling being held together through a ‘community of expertise’ (e.g. fellow model-makers, collectors, manufacturing companies), via modelling clubs, fairs, exhibitions and magazines?
  

Some Research Themes for the Model Railway Project (these are not all of them)

 

 

Affective Atmospheres – ‘Affective Atmospheres’ is a particularly fashionable concept to look at within human geography at the moment and the term is basically about atmosphere-as-feeling, i.e to quote Barry Norman on one of his layouts for instance; ‘(w)hen I modelled Lydham Heath I was attracted by the atmosphere of the station (…) something about the neglect and sadness of this frail railway struggling to exist in a beautiful part of Shropshire’ (Norman, 1997, p.1). For Norman here, signs of ‘neglect’, and personal musings on its ‘struggling’ situation – coming together in a feeling of ‘sadness’ - created an affective ‘atmosphere’ that just had to be modelled - this model was to capture and arouse feeling, as he goes onto say - ‘I wasn’t just trying to model the station as it may have been; I wanted more than that. I also wanted to encapsulate the atmosphere of the place’ (ibid, p.1). As human geographer Ben Anderson (2009, p.80) has noted ‘atmospheres are ambiguous with regard to their location. It is difficult to say ‘where’ an atmosphere is since “(t)hey seem to fill the space with a certain tone of feeling like a haze” (Böhme, 1993: 113–114)’. Creating atmosphere is fundamental to modelling, like many other things such as interior decoration ect. I am interested in how modellers are caught up and think with affective atmospheres, how they are ‘engineered’ through modelling practices and how affective atmospheres are intrinsic to in engaging with layouts, at home, in the garden, at exhibitions.

 

Authenticity – The idea of ‘authenticity’ is important to the hobby. Ideas of authenticity can find themselves within debates on the ‘unprototypical’, the ’wrong’, ‘prototypical’ and the ‘right’. Modellers are often keen on being ‘appropriate’ in terms of place and time, as well as of course on a variety of other issues such as colour. Debates over these things are very much bound up with personal judgement often based on knowledge. Of course being ‘authentic’ is not the be all and end all for many modellers, or manufactures and essentially I am interested in the personal decisions modellers went/go through in what to include/exclude on their layouts, why are they are there essentially.

 

Challenge – The idea of ‘modelling challenge’ - something challenging to one’s conceived ‘skill’ and inclination - is a particularly interesting idea to look from two related perspectives. Firstly, the perspective of the motivations to undertake ‘challenging’ work (and of course this is subjective), such as personal satisfaction both in making and showing to people and a desire to impress modelling-peers, giving status within a club, society and/or within the hobbyist community. Secondly and related to the earlier, to explore how modellers perceive certain things, ideas and spaces as challenging to model, perhaps requiring certain skills with tools, knowledges about materials and how to get a desired effect, issues of time and size, and practiced dexterity for detail and precision and suchlike. For one modeller; ‘I enjoy the feeling of achievement at having completed something that I have never successfully done before - but that does not mean that there has not been a considerable amount of carpet chewing frustration along the way. For me, part of the pleasure is in problem solving - figuring out how to make something work and possibly learning a new skill or technique along the way.’

 

Copying – Copying is a vital performance of model making practice - thinking about choosing and replicating or imitating material and spatial forms and also the importance of colour and colouring. Exploring the materialities, observational practices and performances bound up with the act of copying are a major element to this study.

 

Display – I am interested in how layouts are displayed, by ‘display’ I mean a number of things. I am interested in backscenes (painted, photos ect) and the idea of the ‘diorama’ which ameliorate the harsh boundaries between the ‘model world’ and the ‘real’ world giving the illusion of its non-finality working alongside a variety of other ‘staging’ effects (forced perspective ect, I will talk more about dioramas and illusion under the word ‘illusion’). Obviously a lot of indoor layouts don’t have any backscenes which is interesting in itself neither are there illusions of distance such as forced perspective. ‘Display’ in the dioramic sense with outdoor layouts in an interesting one. Whilst some of the small plants and their scenes may be bound up (if there are any) in a ‘model world’ (I tentatively posit this as something that performs in the imagination (a layout, length of track or a track and a cutting for instance) resting on real space in some way full of things that hold-out for something else) judicious background (wherever this may be) illusionistic practices (again if there are any) can include particular plantings and other kinds of camouflaging’s. This is by no means to suggest that I am interested just in illusionistic practices, I am also interested in how whether outside when ‘playing’ with the layout one apprehends buildings, conifers, tall trees (blocked out to an extent in the imagination?) or inside maybe wooden beams and of course even the room. Beyond issues of the indoor diorama and testing some of these issues in the outdoor context I am interested in some of the elements involved in positioning layouts in terms of height (issues to do with perspective and many other things, in the outdoor context higher easier to get to) and also related to the diorama, if not a part of it, the materialities (glass/plastic screen, cloth (hiding the storage area beneath the layout), information, maps, photos, railwayana) at the front of the layout especially at an exhibition alongside issues such as positioning the lighting. I am also interested in how a layout is primed for ‘display’ such as at an exhibition or having friends practices such as cleaning, tidying, inspecting, testing, experimenting, fiddling, patching-up, repairing and suchlike.

 

Exhibiting - Tying into some discussions on ‘display’, I am particularly keen - through talking with exhibitors and hopefully modellers who exhibit - the motivations and practices that go into putting a layout into an exhibition. I read an article in a 1980’s Railway Modeller some months back, but don’t have access to it at the time of writing this, that looked at ‘how’ a layout should be exhibited and some of the ‘rules’ ie no coffee cups in view, no touching or leaning on the backscene and many other things that I have forgotten about. This is an aspect I am interested in as well as some of the rules or general etiquette expected of viewers as well as looking at how they more generally engage with the layouts on display, watch them, chat about them and ask queries or maybe sometimes more charged questions sometimes to elicit debate. Of course, some layouts will be planned with the exhibition circuit in mind with modellers motivated to produce work of certain kinds and demonstrative of somekind of high effort or skill which is another interesting aspect.

 

Experiment/Experimentation - A core practice in modelling (as life more generally). Straightforwardly, I am interested in thinking about how and why modellers undertake experiments. The practice of experimentation requires curiosity and particular knowledges, methods, and observations.

 

Family and the space of the home (outdoor railway could be family and the space of the garden) – Basically I am interested in where and when modelling is practiced. I am Interested in how modellers may work their hobby into their family/everyday life, their daily time-space routines perhaps (if one even lives with relatives) and your life more generally. I am very interested in the specialised use of particular spaces in the home for modelling and the layout, if modellers have set up a dedicated space or number of spaces, and this can include the garage, shed, loft, spare bedroom, cellar, whatever. I am interested to learn how the space may have been adapted specifically for spending time modelling and hosting the layout and collections (better insulation against damp, heating ect, maybe sound proofed) and so on and how it has been decorated and what is in there (tools, posters, notebooks and scraps of paper, research files, computer, magazines, books, stock collection ect). On the family’s time-space routines, I mean for instance how modellers may fit their activities into the spatial and temporal activities of other family members maybe engaging in modelling or ‘playing’ (I don’t mean this is a derogatory sense) with layouts and even reading RMweb and right now this blog when other members of the family are out of the house or doing their personal and sometimes privatised activities such as watching the tv, kids upstairs in their bedrooms on their PlayStation ect. I am also interested in how modellers may actually take their modelling from the private and into the very social within the home, maybe for added company amongst many other reasons. What do other family members, relatives or non-modelling friends think about one’s hobby and layout? Do they take an active interest in it, furthermore who has charge of these modelling spaces, are they entirely one’s own dominion? I am also interested in what these spaces – which are places - mean and how they are experienced, perhaps bolt holes from the vaster world of reality?

 

Illusion - Arguably everything about a railway layout, especially one that is at an exhibition is about hiding or camouflaging certain things from a certain perspective. I am extremely interested in issues of creating the illusion of distance, layered backgrounds, low relief buildings and forced perspective modelling. Beyond this I am interested in how certain things are hidden from a viewing perspective such as the layout’s lighting as well as issues such as the ‘entry and exit points’ of a layout, the stage on, stage off, where the entry and exit points are to be ideally be hidden. Some of the same points can be made with regards to the outdoors, especially relating to decisions on planting.

 

Knowledge – On the one hand, I am interested in what modellers do to actively seek ‘explicit knowledge’ about what they are modelling. Whether this be field-visits with sketchpad, camera and note-book, drawings, maps and plans, talking with people, using photographs, particular books such as old timetables and rule books, Google Earth and websites and archival material. I am also of course interested in the ways in which modellers may use personal memories and experiences as a basis for knowledge or a basis for more information. Knowledges can also of course be acquired through ‘experimentation’. I am very interested in whether you may have a personal archive of reference material (which will include magazine collections) where and how it is stored (computer, bookcase, files) and how things are catalogued if at all.

 

Materiality (of objects) – Materiality of objects (whether a leaf, tree, bit of gravel, road surface) is very important to this research project. I am interested in how modellers think and work with materials in the pursuance of ‘mimesis’, in the sense of thinking about for instance what kinds of materials and their textures best give a desired effect and/or how are they malleable. Furthermore and related to this how do modellers mess about with materials to get a desired effect. The issue of scale is centrally important in the sense of choosing, making and altering materialities. Although not often related to physical materiality of object, modellers often attempt to depict ‘weathering’ effects of objects through painting although materials are of course used as well and I am interested in this. On materiality and weathering I am interested in the knowledges, practices and techniques that go into weathering objects, whether a train carriage or a road surface. I am also interested in how indoor models may suffer from extremes of heat, cold and light and am interested in how you may mitigate this which relates back to my query under ‘Family and the space of the home’ on how you may adapt or design space, if you don’t this is interesting in its own right. On the out-doors scene to some extents a lot of weathering does not have to be simulated, since weathering of materials such as stone can occur ‘naturally’ (although whether this is ‘realistic’ in the sense of scale is debatable but subjective) and am interested in how modellers and manufacturers think and work with materials for the outdoor model railway.

 

Memory and the Past - The past as perpetual coming into being – I am interested in what modellers think about ‘the past’ i.e what the ‘past’ is that they are trying to recreate (if the layout is set in the past). As the title suggests through I am interested in thinking about how ‘the past’ is inherently constructed in the present so in other words I want to look at how modeller’s perceptions of the past (which can also include personal memories) are influenced by the here and now. Some of this will have links in with ‘nostalgia’. On the one hand, I am interested in how ‘the past’ arrives in our encountering and engaging with layouts. Joseph Martin in his 1960 book ‘The world of model railways’ - which was aimed at young boys - suggested; ‘I particularly like the idea of (modelling) a holiday railway (…).Throughout the winter when we give most attention to our railway, we are still re-living that wonderful week or fortnight when we felt as free as the sea-wind’ (p.29). In Railway Modeller, Andrew Bartlett (I have lost the reference to it) writes of his layout that ‘as with many other people, my model railway provides me with a means of delving into the past, and reliving those fond memories of years gone by’. So, on the one hand I am interested in how engaging with models and layouts may animate memories or imaginations of the past perhaps enabling a comforting, utopic experience. On the other hand, but of presence in my previous discussion, I am interested in talking with modellers about how the past is bound up with the present as to refer to Urry (1996, p.48); ‘each moment of the past is constructed anew. There is only the present in the context of which the past is continually being recreated’. For instance, Alan Turner in the introduction to an article on his layout in the ‘Model Railway Journal’ mused of his layout as ‘an attempt to recreate a scene from the past, of something long gone and of the life which we shall never see again’(2011, p.243). For Hugh Dougherty, talking about his Victorian timed layout in a 1977 edition of ‘Railway Modeller’ the layout ‘recreates for me the peace and quiet of County Donegal and brings me back into an ever more peaceful era before the internal combustion engine began to make in-roads into this last haven of solitude’ (1977, p.23). Or another layout, ‘Abbotsford’, where for Bury St Edmunds Model Railway Club in a 1978 edition of ‘Railway Modeller’ the layout ‘as a whole represents an East Anglian railway system at a time when diesels had not obtained a stranglehold in the area’ (1978, p.138). In these vignettes the past is related with the future or present.

 

Movement – Movement, things actually in motion (not represented as in motion) is a key part of the model railway. In a world that is for the most part completely still, I am interested in how modellers may prize movement and movements, especially train movements as a visual focus for the layout but I am also interested in movements whether real or not (simulated) that envelope this, in this latter aspect of simulated movement in the still, I am interested in the modelling practices that go into trying to depict movement such as waves or rippled water. I am also interested in modellers’ sensibilities towards simulated movement in the still (cars on the middle of roads, figures posed in-between movements, stormy seas ect) and modelling practices bound up with these sensibilities. Debates on this have been had in books and in RMweb but I am interested in hearing a broad range of personal sensibilities on this matter since there is no right or wrong answer only different sensibilities to these things.

 

 

Other issues include Story and narrative, scale, and rhythm besides many others, I will write about what I mean by these 3 in a later post.

 

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Edited October 23, 2012 by Robert MacKinnon

[Coombe Barton]

Interesting.

 

What do you require from us immediately?

 

And have you seen/read this thread? http://www.rmweb.co....e-for-a-change/

 

If you haven't may be a good source of information about the more public side of the hobby.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Coombe Barton

[Andy Y]

In RMweb where it is quicker and easier to publish than in print does BRM use RMweb as a tool to keep in contact with modellers, do people from Hornby, Bachmann ect look at this forum (and magazines) in particular looking at topics under the ‘products’ section? Why has Bachmann decided to produce a replica of Highley station, why has Woodland’s Scenic’s gone for that particular texture of mimetic grass or that particular material spatiality to an Oak or why do we not see black or fat people in any of Hornby’s figures?

 

what is BRM’s, Hornby’s, and the MRJ’s idea of its audience, and how this shapes editorial content. How do editors/moderators have a particular hand in shaping either online or in print a text’s passage into this world?]

 

Hi Robert,

 

I can see some questions in there that I can directly answer and in the case of the second quote maybe give a general overview.

 

Yes; BRM as a magazine finds it beneficial to have the relationship with modellers via RMweb to a) promote the magazine and b.) receive feedback be it general or specific.

 

Yes, the manufacturers read and engage with RMweb members to varying degress which I could generalise as follows:

Hornby - largest producer for the UK market but without anyone particularly dedicated to engaging directly with the modeller through this medium but they do include RMweb in their press releases and there is occasional dialogue.

Bachmann - employing a PR manager who actively promotes Bachmann information directly to me as 'editor' and actively identify and where possible address any issue identified by members.

Dapol - smaller but more dynamic in their engagement via their product development manager with open communications at this level and also directly with individual members which has resulted in mutually beneficial product improvement.

Heljan - there is no dialogue at an official level as their danish management don't have much of an awareness or interest in this medium in the UK market but there are unofficial relationships through individuals.

 

Why did choose Highley station for a product range? I can't answer that specifically as to "why Highley?" but Bachmann have had a history of working with preserved railways such as the Great Central, Bluebell and Severn Valley as well as Pendon Museum to produce models which may not just have wider modeller appeal as recogniseable structures but also to tap into the gift market being sold through the relevant preserved railway as a customer and in several cases delivering a financial benefit to the railway in consideration of the co-operation.

 

The dynamic of ethnic representation is an interesting one and is possibly a reflection of the ethnic representation (or statistical deficiency!) of the modelling fraternity, to fully answer that one would involve detailed socio-economic investigation as to why white working or middle class modellers model compared to ethnic populations. A study in its own right. I've seen model figures of fat people but they tend to use more plastic.

 

I don't think any magazine can truly be confident in what its audience is; maybe MRJ could most accurately prophecy this but I doubt they'd undertake a marketing survey to do so. Most magazines carry out reader surveys but it can never be truly accurate as it's down to the effort of respondees and of course it's difficult to find out why people don't buy a magazine as they won't see the survey! I am looking how we can get better data in this context for a point next year. The best indicator of what people do or do not like in a magazine is the sales figures and trends and consider how future content can deliver improvements.

 

Sitting in between RMweb and BRM I do take the opportunity to identify opportunities for the magazine where there is suitable modelling on RMweb and approaching the member to see if they would like to feature in the magazine and/or our digital magazine 'Modelling Inspiration'. In the free form of RMweb we don't seek to shape online contributions (apart from necessary action if there are rule breaches or contentious issues) but of course there may be further support or information needed to bridge a move from online to print content.

[Coombe Barton]

Rob - some links on here that have covered some of this ground. Other people may have more - these are those that I remember:

• http://www.rmweb.co....-the-winner-is/ - Exhibition Layouts - and the winner is.....What qualities do the best ones have?
  
• http://www.rmweb.co....y-inspired-you/ - Which layouts have really inspired you?(Please name three only)
  
• http://www.rmweb.co....ling-doncaster/ - An exhibit wishlist - The Festival of British Railway Modelling, Doncaster
  
• http://www.rmweb.co....it-your-layout/ - How do you exhibit your layout?advice for a complete 'newby' to the exhibition scene
  

Edited October 13, 2012 by Coombe Barton

[Guest Phil]

A very interesting, and very time consuming project Rob, which will hopefully bear fruit for you, and maybe for the hobby too.

 

The one very useful tool for you, which may well provide you with the insight of the modeller, or at least, the forum attender, is the "view posts" option in this forum. You could perhaps select half a dozen modellers on RMWeb and view their contributions - which will probably give you an idea how they think about railway modelling, and modelling in general. We are all quite different, and it might be useful tov you to consider how each of us considers a modelling issue.

 

Feel free to PM me offlist if you wish to. My layout is actually just a partially erected wooden framework with piles of boxes of stuff around it, in my 12'x12' loft. I voluntarily agreed to suspend my modelling to write a book, and plan to return to my project next year, when my book is hopefully published.

 

Good luck

['CHARD]

Sheesh! Last time my 'How Many Left?' thread became the time-hoover! I'm going to print the OP off and read on the commute tomorrow. This is fascinating.

 

For the sake of their sanity, I hope a few friendly faces on here don't see this - mind you, they're not Midlands-based, so can probably avoid the temptation of exploring your dissertation content with you over a pint and a curry!

 

Best of British with this, it fits my frequent head-scratching over what it is the hobby means to us and what we try to achieve, or why the garage is in the state it is. Like Phil says, feel free to PM us.

[Andy Y]

This is fascinating.

 

It is potentially a very interesting approach to considering such matters and so that it hopefully gets better exposure with intelligent input (and without arguments!) I've moved it to Modelling Musings.

[Coombe Barton]

And when you have the early responses sorted out there's always the Members' Days to talk to people - Taunton in April and Stafford in July.

[Robert MacKinnon]

Hi Robert,

 

I can see some questions in there that I can directly answer and in the case of the second quote maybe give a general overview.

 

Yes; BRM as a magazine finds it beneficial to have the relationship with modellers via RMweb to a) promote the magazine and b.) receive feedback be it general or specific.

 

Yes, the manufacturers read and engage with RMweb members to varying degress which I could generalise as follows:

Hornby - largest producer for the UK market but without anyone particularly dedicated to engaging directly with the modeller through this medium but they do include RMweb in their press releases and there is occasional dialogue.

Bachmann - employing a PR manager who actively promotes Bachmann information directly to me as 'editor' and actively identify and where possible address any issue identified by members.

Dapol - smaller but more dynamic in their engagement via their product development manager with open communications at this level and also directly with individual members which has resulted in mutually beneficial product improvement.

Heljan - there is no dialogue at an official level as their danish management don't have much of an awareness or interest in this medium in the UK market but there are unofficial relationships through individuals.

 

Why did choose Highley station for a product range? I can't answer that specifically as to "why Highley?" but Bachmann have had a history of working with preserved railways such as the Great Central, Bluebell and Severn Valley as well as Pendon Museum to produce models which may not just have wider modeller appeal as recogniseable structures but also to tap into the gift market being sold through the relevant preserved railway as a customer and in several cases delivering a financial benefit to the railway in consideration of the co-operation.

 

The dynamic of ethnic representation is an interesting one and is possibly a reflection of the ethnic representation (or statistical deficiency!) of the modelling fraternity, to fully answer that one would involve detailed socio-economic investigation as to why white working or middle class modellers model compared to ethnic populations. A study in its own right. I've seen model figures of fat people but they tend to use more plastic.

 

I don't think any magazine can truly be confident in what its audience is; maybe MRJ could most accurately prophecy this but I doubt they'd undertake a marketing survey to do so. Most magazines carry out reader surveys but it can never be truly accurate as it's down to the effort of respondees and of course it's difficult to find out why people don't buy a magazine as they won't see the survey! I am looking how we can get better data in this context for a point next year. The best indicator of what people do or do not like in a magazine is the sales figures and trends and consider how future content can deliver improvements.

 

Sitting in between RMweb and BRM I do take the opportunity to identify opportunities for the magazine where there is suitable modelling on RMweb and approaching the member to see if they would like to feature in the magazine and/or our digital magazine 'Modelling Inspiration'. In the free form of RMweb we don't seek to shape online contributions (apart from necessary action if there are rule breaches or contentious issues) but of course there may be further support or information needed to bridge a move from online to print content.

 

Hi Andy, many thanks for your really extensive and insightful comments I am really grateful, interesting as you say to look at why modellers buy or don't buy magazines or choose particular magazines (some may buy many tho). For those who do, to quote the title of one of your online publications it may be for 'modelling inspiration' (as well as gaining knowledge, product news etc). These are some discussions I will take up with modellers when I talk to them, as well as at exhibitions

[Robert MacKinnon]

Sheesh! Last time my 'How Many Left?' thread became the time-hoover! I'm going to print the OP off and read on the commute tomorrow. This is fascinating.

 

For the sake of their sanity, I hope a few friendly faces on here don't see this - mind you, they're not Midlands-based, so can probably avoid the temptation of exploring your dissertation content with you over a pint and a curry!

 

Best of British with this, it fits my frequent head-scratching over what it is the hobby means to us and what we try to achieve, or why the garage is in the state it is. Like Phil says, feel free to PM us.

 

Thank you Chard for your post, would very much like to hear your thoughts and comments on the project, lots of criticism/other concepts/areas of research/links between things(!) since this will only help.

cheers

Rob

[Robert MacKinnon]

 

The one very useful tool for you, which may well provide you with the insight of the modeller, or at least, the forum attender, is the "view posts" option in this forum. You could perhaps select half a dozen modellers on RMWeb and view their contributions - which will probably give you an idea how they think about railway modelling, and modelling in general. We are all quite different, and it might be useful tov you to consider how each of us considers a modelling issue.

 

 

 

Hi Phil, thanks, this sounds brilliant which check this out,

cheers

Rob

[rodshaw]

Hi Rob

 

Sounds fascinating.

 

As regards 'grown men playing with toy trains', one comment I would make is that although we are essentially playing, children couldn't possibly put in all the detailed, lengthy and quality work that adults do in building a model railway, so good model railways are very much an adult perspective on the real thing. They are no more toys than, say, an iPad or an MP3 player.

 

Good luck

[Theakerr]

I would suggest that one area you might find interesting for your program is why there is a relatively large number of expats who model British out-line. So m uch so that both north America and Australia (New Zealand?) have their own Associations (BRMNA and BRMA). I suppose an interesting corollary might be why there are a number of UK residents modelling overseas prototypes (NA primarily)

[Bernard Lamb]

I would suggest that one area you might find interesting for your program is why there is a relatively large number of expats who model British out-line. So m uch so that both north America and Australia (New Zealand?) have their own Associations (BRMNA and BRMA). I suppose an interesting corollary might be why there are a number of UK residents modelling overseas prototypes (NA primarily)

 

So you reckon NA has a bigger following than the mainland?

German railways have a large following in the UK.

Switzerland is an interesting case due to some extent to the habit of the upper middle classes taking their holidays there in the past.

A topic worthy of study in it's own right.

Come to think of it their must be a higher percentage than the norm in several groups of people.

Clergy

Army Officers

Racing cyclists

Just a few that come to mind.

Not all having "come out" but several people in these groups have spoken to me knowing my interest in the subject.

Bernard

['CHARD]

Not forgetting serving and past railwaymen, musicians and police officers.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Hello Robert,

I think you initial contribution must be the longest first post in the history of RMWeb by far. Well done!

 

I've read and re-read it and, having also looked at your Aber site, think I've got a basic handle on what you are delving into.

 

May I ask why you're concentrating on model villages, hydraulic engineering models and model railways? To me it appears that one very large facet of modelling is totally omitted, namely that with a military element (soldiers, plastic aircraft/battleship kits, battlescene reinactments, military dioramas.

 

Also the three aspects you are looking at all have an historic angle. What about architectural models/plans which were looking forward rather than back, eg those produced for the Post-War Abercrombie Plan.

 

Just interested.

 

Regards,

Peter

[Happy Hippo]

Robert,

 

Now there's a face from the past!

 

Drop by and see me in Horton next time you're home

 

Regards

 

Richard

 

just as a matter of interest, do you still have the time to volunteer on the SVR

[The Lurker]

I may have missed this in your original post (and apologies if I have) but you almost need to ask the fundamental question "what is modelling?", and how this can be distinguished from grown men (or indeed young boys) playing with toy trains. Is there a clear defining line, or is it more fuzzy?

[Pacific231G]

I may have missed this in your original post (and apologies if I have) but you almost need to ask the fundamental question "what is modelling?", and how this can be distinguished from grown men (or indeed young boys) playing with toy trains. Is there a clear defining line, or is it more fuzzy?

 

It's pretty crucial I think to recognise how wide the range of activities covered by the loose term "railway modelling" really is: probably a wider range than almost any other hobby. The membership of RMWeb probably represents a relatively small subset of this totality as for every person trying to build a reasonably realistic representation of an actual railway (one possible definition of "railway modelling") there are probably several others simply running model trains straight out of the Hornby box around a couple of loops of track. What makes it confusing is that the same RTR loco may be a model train that one person plays with but for another a component in a carefully researched and realistically operated model of a complete section of railway. The vast range of activities it covers is probably one of the hobby's strengths but it also leads to misconceptions.

 

There are other activities that cover a wide range of expertise- a local drama group and the Royal Shakespeare Company are doing essentially the same thing though at very different levels- but do Bradfield Gloucester Road and the tracks running around a large baseboard in James May's Top Toys programme really represent different levels of the same thing or fundamentally different activities related only by their association with railways?

 

One aspect that Robert mentions is the relationship between the practice of the hobby and the publications that support it and I think this has been crucial with different approaches by publishers making a huge difference in how the hobby has developed at least so far as can be seen. In the USA, Model Railroader has always put great emphasis on prototypical operation with the large lifelong layout seen perhaps as the aspiration. In Britain there has since the 1950s been far greater emphasis on the complete well finished layout that one modeller could plan, build (and possibly exhibit) before moving on to the next project so in some ways the layout is the model. In France the magazines have generally given far more space to the detailed modelling of individual items, especially rolling stock, than to complete layouts and articles on layout operation are virtually unknown. What is less clear is what is actually going on in the homes of the majority whose efforts never appear in magazines or at shows. I rather suspect that in the US it's the 8x4 board with an oval of track and a few sidings and its 6x4 equivalent in Britain.

 

 

Edited October 15, 2012 by Pacific231G

[Ruston]

Hmm...

Edited January 3, 2021 by Ruston

[newbryford]

Rob - some links on here that have covered some of this ground. Other people may have more - these are those that I remember:

 

Good list of links there CB.

Here's another link to a why do we/why don't we model a particular era/area/steam/diesel that are fairly commomn on RMweb.

 

http://www.rmweb.co....it/#entry537139

 

I'm sure others on RMWeb here can provide links to their own favourite "debates", such as those on gauge.

 

Cheers,

Mick

Edited October 15, 2012 by newbryford

[Coombe Barton]

That sounds like a complete waste of time. How on earth is knowing how and why someone builds a model railway going to help anyone understand the world?

 

No wonder the country's gone to the dogs when you've got people in universities wasting money on pointless excercises such as this.

On the contrary, modelling is a skill that needs teaching. I'm not necessarily just talking about physical models but also conceptual, mathematical and spreadsheet models. This is what generates and understanding of the real world, Unless we can produce models - then the understanding of real world problems becomes much more difficult.

 

And James Watt got interested in the working steam engines because he was given a model of a Newcomen engine to repair.

[Bernard Lamb]

That sounds like a complete waste of time. How on earth is knowing how and why someone builds a model railway going to help anyone understand the world?

 

No wonder the country's gone to the dogs when you've got people in universities wasting money on pointless excercises such as this.

 

The pursuit of knowledge can never be pointless nor a waste of time.

If you were to look into some topics that have been the subject of PHD studies you would soon realize that this particular case is very mainstream.

In view of your attitude I dare not tell you the full title of the project that my sister did recently for her PHD.

It would almost certainly be greeted with derision, but it is of immense value to the group of people that it covers and gives the authorities a new insight into their problems and needs.

I have also come across people with mental health problems and modelling has been a great help in their treatment. Any insight into the way the brain deals with modelling could be valuable in treating such patients in the future.

Bernard

[Andy Y]

That sounds like a complete waste of time. How on earth is knowing how and why someone builds a model railway going to help anyone understand the world?

 

No wonder the country's gone to the dogs when you've got people in universities wasting money on pointless excercises such as this.

 

Steady on Dave; Rob made a courteous approach and it's interesting material so it doesn't merit that sort of comment.

[RichardJones]

Ah "why do we model?" A good question I don't know the answer to! I do however spend a fair bit of time in Shropshire so if I can help let me know!