Wright writes.....

[Clive Mortimore]

Well reading is part of dyslexia so I have to re-read most things. 

 

I would say "On Friday and Saturday nights from 1 am, night train services only depart from Flinders Street"

 

But having a "problem" I possibly would be wrong.

 

Edit And miss the train........

Edited March 12, 2019 by Clive Mortimore

[CF MRC]

The demise of model railways as a hobby has been predicted many times in my lifetime.  It just doesn’t seem to happen. 

 

Tim

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Will I really care? Speaking selfishly, not a jot. As alluded to, I have far more kits than I have years left to build them (in the traditional way). As long as I have electricity..................................  

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Hi Tony,

 

Soldering Irons on the gas stove; clockwork motors......

I've a feeling you'd soon find a way

 

Cheers,

Brian

Edited March 12, 2019 by polybear
typo error

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, Chamby said:

I would add a couple of points to Tony’s comments above....

 

Whilst the average age of railway modellers has changed dramatically over the last few decades, we seem to have reached a point where a succession of new retirees is topping up our population, as the old soldiers fade away.  I don’t see a decline as yet, just fears of one based on the changed age profile.

 

Secondly, whilst I am the only railway modeller in our neighbourhood who attends a club, my postie has advised me of at least eight railway modellers just on his post round who receive items from model shops and subscribe to magazines.  The are many more silent railway modellers out there than we perhaps realise...

 

Phil

It's interesting because a number of serious ephemera collecting hobbies also allegedly involve those of a considerable age but as somebody pointed out to me a while n back there is always a new supply of pensioners coming along even if prices move in peculiar fashions (some collecting hobbies are very prone to fashions as it happens).

 

As far as books are concerned there is still some excellent stuff appearing on the market - Wild Swan is alive and kicking strenuously in the hands of its new owner while Lightmoor Press/Black Dwarf is pumping out some truly impressive volumes of very high quality work.  Secondhand books however generally command very poor prices and auction lots were reflecting this several years ago which reflected the way the retail trade was going.  However some official publications seem to hold their prices well while there are some which more than keep price with inflation in both auction and retail price terms - i.e. they aren't getting any cheaper (unfortunately).

.

[Talltim]

6 hours ago, Chamby said:

Whilst the average age of railway modellers has changed dramatically over the last few decades.

 

Has it though?

[Clem]

18 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Just in case anyone hasn't seen the end result of the J6 article of mine in the RM.............................

And here's my latest contribution to the Nucast J6 topic. It's running with its prototypical load of 23 loaded coal wagons for the Derbyshire & Staffordshire extension... 

 

 

It's hard to beat a good J6 or two on the layout! 

 

[Tony Wright]

1 minute ago, Clem said:

And here's my latest contribution to the Nucast J6 topic. It's running with its prototypical load of 23 loaded coal wagons for the Derbyshire & Staffordshire extension... 

 

 

It's hard to beat a good J6 or two on the layout! 

 

Note only is that a lovely loco (and wagon), Clem,

 

That's top-quality trackwork, too.

[Tony Wright]

41 minutes ago, Talltim said:

Has it though?

Perhaps the hobby has always been perceived as (mainly) an 'old man's one'. 

 

My evidence of the average age of the participants going up is only personally-anecdotal. 

 

I visit many shows in an 'official' capacity. Most visitors I speak to are in my age range - 65-75. Many traders are of the same age. A quick look around will reveal a sea of 'stooping/balding/greying/muttering/expanding old gits like me! I visit many clubs, still take quite a few layout photographs, and the age situation is the same. Most visitors to see LB here are of the same age. This week will see a total of five/six visitors, ranging in age from late-60s to early-80s. Next week, much the same, and so on................

 

What's interesting (or at least to me) is that in my time in the hobby where I've been writing/exhibiting/demonstrating/judging I seem to have been always around the 'average age'. 

 

As mentioned, WMRC will not survive much longer. Though other clubs seem to report an increase in (young?) membership, the three I'm involved with still, do not - quite the opposite. This year's Southwold Show has been cancelled because the Waveney Valley Club members (in the main) have just got too old to lug stuff around (hopefully, next year it'll be revived with help from further afield). 

 

When I was President of the HMRS, the list of those deceased members each year was always longer than that of newcomers. 

 

I don't think the hobby will die out totally, though it'll become more specialised. Ironically (and happily?), I believe that there'll be an inevitable decline in the RTR market, which will mean (in my view) a return to the actual craft of personally making things. As long as supplies of materials for this are still available (at a greatly-increased price?), then I predict a bright future. 

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Perhaps the hobby has always been perceived as (mainly) an 'old man's one'. 

 

My evidence of the average age of the participants going up is only personally-anecdotal. 

 

I visit many shows in an 'official' capacity. Most visitors I speak to are in my age range - 65-75. Many traders are of the same age. A quick look around will reveal a sea of 'stooping/balding/greying/muttering/expanding old gits like me! I visit many clubs, still take quite a few layout photographs, and the age situation is the same. Most visitors to see LB here are of the same age. This week will see a total of five/six visitors, ranging in age from late-60s to early-80s. Next week, much the same, and so on................

 

What's interesting (or at least to me) is that in my time in the hobby where I've been writing/exhibiting/demonstrating/judging I seem to have been always around the 'average age'. 

 

As mentioned, WMRC will not survive much longer. Though other clubs seem to report an increase in (young?) membership, the three I'm involved with still, do not - quite the opposite. This year's Southwold Show has been cancelled because the Waveney Valley Club members (in the main) have just got too old to lug stuff around (hopefully, next year it'll be revived with help from further afield). 

 

When I was President of the HMRS, the list of those deceased members each year was always longer than that of newcomers. 

 

I don't think the hobby will die out totally, though it'll become more specialised. Ironically (and happily?), I believe that there'll be an inevitable decline in the RTR market, which will mean (in my view) a return to the actual craft of personally making things. As long as supplies of materials for this are still available (at a greatly-increased price?), then I predict a bright future. 

Although from the opposite end of the spectrum various shows I have attended recently - including Basingstoke last Saturday - seem to have far more younger visitors than a year or so back.  Often there are family groups of some kind or other with a major component being children (whatever the adult mix happens to be).  I have formed the impression, rightly or wrongly, that this increase has followed from the Channel 5 'Great Model Railway Challenge' and it is particularly noticeable that 'layouts' that featured in that series  attract a considerable number of viewers, including youngsters.

[96701]

21 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Has there ever been an article on building a 4mm Semi before? I suppose many will say 'Why bother building it? Hornby's latest is so good'. They'd be right in some ways, of course, but by asking the question it proves that they know little (or nothing) about the 'buzz' one gets from actually building locos.  

I thought the term 'Semi' only applied to those that had the sreamlining removed and did not sport a round smokebox at the front.

[Michael Edge]

Maybe originally but as trainspotters we called them all semis.

[Theakerr]

 In Canada I am not sure what is happening with the modelling demographics but I do see a reasonable number of younger people at the various modular layouts.  In the US if the various bits of Ken Pattersons "Whats Neat" and his "Whats Neat this week" programs (especially #67 from Colorado) are representative, the Hobby is very much alive and well.  Interestingly, there appears to be almost no rolling stock construction partially I believe because the quality of their RTR is so good and they seem to have mastered the process of producing the same loco/ car with different numbers.  However, there does seem to be a significant  interest in scenery construction, watching trains go by, DCC, automation and operation.

[Enterprisingwestern]

6 minutes ago, Theakerr said:

 In Canada I am not sure what is happening with the modelling demographics but I do see a reasonable number of younger people at the various modular layouts.  In the US if the various bits of Ken Pattersons "Whats Neat" and his "Whats Neat this week" programs (especially #67 from Colorado) are representative, the Hobby is very much alive and well.  Interestingly, there appears to be almost no rolling stock construction partially I believe because the quality of their RTR is so good and they seem to have mastered the process of producing the same loco/ car with different numbers.  However, there does seem to be a significant  interest in scenery construction, watching trains go by, DCC, automation and operation.

 

Not forgetting weathering of said high quality rolling stock.

 

Mike.

[petrovich]

The hobby has one new member as of this evening who wishes to construct locomotives wagons and carriages.  I will keep you updated as the project progresses. 

 

Regards

 

Peter

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Well reading is part of dyslexia so I have to re-read most things. 

 

I would say "On Friday and Saturday nights from 1 am, night train services only depart from Flinders Street"

 

But having a "problem" I possibly would be wrong.

 

Edit And miss the train........

Like the old lady (other age- and gender-identifications are available) who phoned to check her train time and was told 2211, so she got to the station at half-past-ten thinking she had ten minutes to spare only to find that the train had left almost twenty minutes earlier. Serious point: why time the train to leave at 2211 in the first place? A published time of 2210 (even if it didn't actually set off until a minute later) would have meant that she would have had a longer wait but would still have caught it.

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, 96701 said:

I thought the term 'Semi' only applied to those that had the sreamlining removed and did not sport a round smokebox at the front.

Phil,

 

Though I must have seen quite a few of of the 'Princess Coronations' with a sloping smokebox, the only one I can remember is 46246 CITY OF MANCHESTER which was a late recipient of a new smokebox.

 

As Mike Edge has pointed out, every one which came into view, whether it was originally streamlined or not, was greeted with the yell of 'SEMI!' And, it was a term of reverence, for they were highly-prized locos for us trainspotters. 

 

I'm told the term was prevalent from the Midland northwards. In the south they had the epithet 'Big-Uns', a name I never heard used. No, 'Semis' they all were, and always will be.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

Though not wishing to prolong the debate about kit-built and RTR locos, this afternoon it occurred to me (I'm slow, remember) just how many of the loco types I've kit-built down the years, both out of necessity and the pleasure of doing it, are now available just by spending money and opening a box (actually, the same is partly so for a kit, but there is a big difference). I've, thus, taken some pictures of my examples. Since I own so few RTR equivalents, I cannot do comparison shots as it were. I offer the images below, not to claim that what I've done is better than current RTR, just more-personal.

 

 

o

 

I built this 9F from a DJH kit and Geoff Haynes painted it. I would have painted it, but it was part of a barter. 

 

 

A DJH A1, this time painted by Ian Rathbone.

 

 

And a DJH A2, this time painted by Geoff Haynes. Where a heavy kit-built loco scores over its RTR equivalent is in haulage power. A Bachmann A2 wouldn't look at this 15-car rake, all kit-built apart from the leading horse box. 

 

 

A SE Finecast A3, painted by Ian Rathbone.

 

 

I honestly believe that neither the Hornby A4 nor the Bachmann A4 come close to this Pro-Scale example (there, I've already contradicted myself), especially with the paint finish achieved by Ian Rathbone. 

 

 

I'm told that once Bachmann's Austerity 2-8-0 became available, sales of the DJH equivalents fell through the floor. A pity, because it was not too long after Markits introduced the proper Austerity wheel. No need to 'employ' a top painter to do this for me. I must alter that leading wagon. Hornby doesn't seem to know its ar$e from its elbow with regard to which end had a door! 

 

 

This B1 actually has an RTR body; an old Replica one. Obviously, the nasty split-chassis has long-gone, and I made a Comet one to go underneath it. Again, the finish is all mine. 

 

 

 

There's no doubt Hornby's B17 is rather good (apart from its bogie wheels and 'plastic' finish) but I still prefer my Crownline one, especially after Geoff Haynes painted it.

 

 

Hornby's K1 is also good, but I don't own one - I'm happy with my DMR example (and I've got another Nu-Cast one to build). I painted this and Tom Foster weathered it. 

 

 

 

I will stick my head above the parapet with this one. I think this SE Finecast K3 is far superior to the Bachmann one. And, all my own work in every way here.

 

 

An Ace O2/2 here, built and painted by me and weathered by Tim Shackleton. Actually, Heljan doesn't do an O2/2. I wonder if they ever will? 

 

No need for a pro paint finish on this O4/1. Built from a Little Engines kit.

 

 

And finally a V2, built from a Crownline kit and painted by Ian Rathbone. Though Bachmann's V2 now has a much better chassis, the body is still rather poor. 

 

Granted, the best of the above have been painted by two of the best, and I still think a pro paint finish just has the edge over a proprietary one, no matter how good. 

 

Comments, criticisms, observations, disagreements, please...............

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Like the old lady (other age- and gender-identifications are available) who phoned to check her train time and was told 2211, so she got to the station at half-past-ten thinking she had ten minutes to spare only to find that the train had left almost twenty minutes earlier. Serious point: why time the train to leave at 2211 in the first place? A published time of 2210 (even if it didn't actually set off until a minute later) would have meant that she would have had a longer wait but would still have caught it.

What time does the train leave?

 

Nineteen hundred hours.

 

What time does it arrive?

 

Twenty one hundred hours.

 

I better buy a big book if I am going to on the train for 200 hours.

[96701]

Speaking as an outsider to you kit builders of steam locomotives, I do prefer the appearance of a kit built chassis to a RTR chassis. Everything looks finer and more nuanced on a hand built chassis while RTR looks clunky in all areas.

 

Body wise, some kit built can look pretty poor when compared to RTR, but my belief is that that is down to paint finish on a kit and the detail that the RTR boys can apply these days.

 

Haulage wise, RTR cannot hold a candle to a kit built with suitable weight in.

[Clive Mortimore]

13 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Though not wishing to prolong the debate about kit-built and RTR locos, this afternoon it occurred to me (I'm slow, remember) just how many of the loco types I've kit-built down the years, both out of necessity and the pleasure of doing it, are now available just by spending money and opening a box (actually, the same is partly so for a kit, but there is a big difference). I've, thus, taken some pictures of my examples. Since I own so few RTR equivalents, I cannot do comparison shots as it were. I offer the images below, not to claim that what I've done is better than current RTR, just more-personal.

 

Tony's pictures edited out

 

And finally a V2, built from a Crownline kit and painted by Ian Rathbone. Though Bachmann's V2 now has a much better chassis, the body is still rather poor. 

 

Granted, the best of the above have been painted by two of the best, and I still think a pro paint finish just has the edge over a proprietary one, no matter how good. 

 

Comments, criticisms, observations, disagreements, please...............

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Tony

 

Many moons ago I cobbled this thing out of a pair of Hornby class 21/29s.

Today, 3 days short of 11 years since announcing their Big Warship, the first of the Kernow customers are receiving their model. I hope the long wait is worth it and the modellers who have them enjoy their models as much as I have mine.

 

I wonder if opening the box is as much fun as sourcing information, drawings etc and then working out how to make it and actually making it.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Clive Mortimore

[96701]

10 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

 

I wonder if opening the box is as much fun as sourcing information, drawings etc and then working out how to make it and actually making it.

Says Clive, tongue firmly planted in cheek.

[Lecorbusier]

I was interested that as a 40 year celebration of the scalefour society, at scaleforum Ian Rice put together an exhibition of the development of the society starting from as early as he could find still existing examples of modelling. What this really hammered home to me was two things ..... firstly how far things have developed from the early days .... and secondly how lucky we now are with what we have available and to a large extent take for granted. I would hazard that this trajectory is equally true for EM and all other finescale branches of the hobby (00 included).

 

From my perspective (in my 50s), even if RTR falls back and the wider hobby contracts in terms of numbers, things still appear to be pretty positive.

 

As far as clubs are concerned, perhaps society has changed? People are far more atomised now (at least that is my experience) and in general are much less coherent as groups than they appear to have been in the past .... you can see that by how many pubs have closed or been converted to flats etc, not to mention the rise of social media as a way of life.

[RBAGE]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Though not wishing to prolong the debate about kit-built and RTR locos, this afternoon it occurred to me (I'm slow, remember) just how many of the loco types I've kit-built down the years, both out of necessity and the pleasure of doing it, are now available just by spending money and opening a box (actually, the same is partly so for a kit, but there is a big difference). I've, thus, taken some pictures of my examples. Since I own so few RTR equivalents, I cannot do comparison shots as it were. I offer the images below, not to claim that what I've done is better than current RTR, just more-personal.

 

 

o

 

I built this 9F from a DJH kit and Geoff Haynes painted it. I would have painted it, but it was part of a barter. 

 

 

A DJH A1, this time painted by Ian Rathbone.

 

 

And a DJH A2, this time painted by Geoff Haynes. Where a heavy kit-built loco scores over its RTR equivalent is in haulage power. A Bachmann A2 wouldn't look at this 15-car rake, all kit-built apart from the leading horse box. 

 

 

A SE Finecast A3, painted by Ian Rathbone.

 

 

I honestly believe that neither the Hornby A4 nor the Bachmann A4 come close to this Pro-Scale example (there, I've already contradicted myself), especially with the paint finish achieved by Ian Rathbone. 

 

 

I'm told that once Bachmann's Austerity 2-8-0 became available, sales of the DJH equivalents fell through the floor. A pity, because it was not too long after Markits introduced the proper Austerity wheel. No need to 'employ' a top painter to do this for me. I must alter that leading wagon. Hornby doesn't seem to know its ar$e from its elbow with regard to which end had a door! 

 

 

This B1 actually has an RTR body; an old Replica one. Obviously, the nasty split-chassis has long-gone, and I made a Comet one to go underneath it. Again, the finish is all mine. 

 

 

 

There's no doubt Hornby's B17 is rather good (apart from its bogie wheels and 'plastic' finish) but I still prefer my Crownline one, especially after Geoff Haynes painted it.

 

 

Hornby's K1 is also good, but I don't own one - I'm happy with my DMR example (and I've got another Nu-Cast one to build). I painted this and Tom Foster weathered it. 

 

 

 

I will stick my head above the parapet with this one. I think this SE Finecast K3 is far superior to the Bachmann one. And, all my own work in every way here.

 

 

An Ace O2/2 here, built and painted by me and weathered by Tim Shackleton. Actually, Heljan doesn't do an O2/2. I wonder if they ever will? 

 

No need for a pro paint finish on this O4/1. Built from a Little Engines kit.

 

 

And finally a V2, built from a Crownline kit and painted by Ian Rathbone. Though Bachmann's V2 now has a much better chassis, the body is still rather poor. 

 

Granted, the best of the above have been painted by two of the best, and I still think a pro paint finish just has the edge over a proprietary one, no matter how good. 

 

Comments, criticisms, observations, disagreements, please...............

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the interest of modelling fidelity, does the WD 90146 have the correct boiler for period portrayed? Whether it's Bachmann or DJH, it looks wrong to me.

Edited March 12, 2019 by RBAGE

[Woodcock29]

On 12/02/2019 at 05:18, Atso said:

 

Hello Tony

 

I'm struggling a bit with posting on the revamped RMweb. Everytime I want to post something it brings up my previous post which is easy enough to delete except when there is a quote like the remnants of that above from Steve which I can't seem to delete.

 

Anyway enough of that. What I wanted to ask is whether the revamped NuCast J6 includes 2 alternate chimneys? It should because there were two main types fitted - GNR and up to wartime (WW2) followed by the shorter version from about wartime into BR days.

 

I think the LRM kit only provides one, but I could be wrong as my unbuilt kit was second-hand.

 

Andrew

[Northmoor]

2 minutes ago, Woodcock29 said:

Hello Tony

 

I'm struggling a bit with posting on the revamped RMweb. Everytime I want to post something it brings up my previous post which is easy enough to delete except when there is a quote like the remnants of that above from Steve which I can't seem to delete.

 

Anyway enough of that. What I wanted to ask is whether the revamped NuCast J6 includes 2 alternate chimneys? It should because there were two main types fitted - GNR and up to wartime (WW2) followed by the shorter version from about wartime into BR days.

 

I think the LRM kit only provides one, but I could be wrong as my unbuilt kit was second-hand.

 

Andrew

I have been irritated by the same problem, Andrew.

 

Please, could I also ask that contributors selectively quote in their replies?  It is a bit frustrating to scroll through a page that only contains a few messages, because all the (frequently lovely) photos in the original are repeated, with just a few new lines at the bottom of every message.  It's easy enough, you just click on each image in your reply and press Delete.