Wright writes.....

[Clearwater]

I think the point around club membership is an interesting one.  I'm not a member of a model rail club but this forum arguably provides much of the source of advice and encouragement a club could do.  Without being a member here, I doubt I would have attempted to burn my fingers and broaden my profanasaurus!  Nor do I think I'd have thought as much about what my own modelling vision and ambitions.  40 years ago, the Wolverhampton club would have been largely limited to the skills of the people within the immediate vicinity however as the Black Country Blues and LNER's Streamliner/Grantham threads, amongst others, show the internet can act as a positive force to bring bands of modellers together who otherwise may not have met. 

 

However, there is a problem that needs addressing.  However much the internet is great, I like attending shows and recognise they need people to organise them.  I don't think that lack of volunteers is a problem unique to railway modelling.  I'm a hockey club member.  Getting volunteers to run the committees and the admin side of the club is as much of a challenge as it is in the model rail world.  Inevitably, those who are newly retired end up taking the burden of running much of the admin. 

 

I also think that joining social clubs / hobby circles, call them what you will, is in decline across the country as a whole.  I'm sure if you tried to compare memberships of a number of different organisations from the 60s/70s to now, you'd see similar trends.

 

David

 

[jukebox]

21 minutes ago, Coach bogie said:

My wife is quite high maintenance

 

What a co-incidence: My ex-wife is very high maintenance. 

 

I wish I could spend what I send her on my hobbies...  well, actually I wish she would spend all of what I send her on our daughter, but that's a whole different quagmire.

 

Scott

[Coach bogie]

Although I model 1930's steam, I like my first generation DMU's and have several in blue era. I call them my indulgence purchases. I would not pay £300 for a steam loco form my era. My last purchase was a Derby Lightweight, for just under £90, before Christmas about half the original price in one of those warehouse clearance sale at my local models hop At that price I will make an indulgence purchase. 

 

This is the risk when prices reach this level. You really must want one but you reduce the number of purchases as the 'oh go on then'  buyers look elsewhere. 

 

Mike Wiltshire 

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, MJI said:

Just been reading a thread about new Bachmann DMUs.

 

As usual complaints about the wrong type they want, liveries they want and the ability to mix and match.

 

However they are in the region of £300.

 

That is just too much for me and I see no reason to replace my 5 Lima 3 car sets.

 

Are they actually cost 4 times the price of a second hand Lima set with DMS section and Shawplan glazing? Especially when the razor saw comes out. Even if you remotor the Lima still around half at most.

 

Would be interesting to know Clives thoughts.

Hi Martin

 

The model looks very good until one sees the couplings, they make the Lima tension lock look discrete. The recommend retail price is far to high for my liking. Both the dirk huge couplings and the high price are results of pandering to the DCC noise and lights brigade, us simpletons who are amazed that our trains go backwards and the other way have to pay the price of on board gadgetry that we will never use. Maybe  the manufactures will learn this one day and offer the same model without these bits at a price us Luddites can afford or willing to spend.

 

Thankfully I don't think I need another Western Region DMU for my Eastern Region based layout.

 

 

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Chamby said:

Owning a boat was my biggest money-pit by far. 

As the saying goes, boating is like standing under a cold shower tearing up 50 pound notes.

[Killybegs]

3 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

As the saying goes, boating is like standing under a cold shower tearing up 50 pound notes.

 

Rallying was much the same but not quite so wet!

Edited June 10, 2020 by Killybegs
correction

[john new]

4 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks John,

 

I did express the perils of generalisation in a recent post.

 

Might we conclude, then, that model railway clubs will (naturally) die out - some in the not-too-distant future? And, because clubs are responsible for putting on the majority of shows, many of these will go as well? 

 

I'm lucky enough to belong to three clubs; two are still doing 'all right', but one is in terminal decline and I'll be surprised if it lasts more than 18 months. Of the others, though still with a healthy membership, one has an average age of 'retirement'. The other is the only one to have a junior section, but that's always in a state of flux, because, once further education occurs, few come back. Thus, there is always  big 'gap' in members' ages. 

 

One problem with junior members in clubs is that they must always be supervised by a 'qualified' member, or by an adult turning up with them - parent/relative. When I first joined Chester MRC, my friend and I just went along (being scolded for running our crude 'toys' on hand-built track!). We always felt 'safe'. 

 

Could it be then that Covid 19 has, unwittingly, given us a glimpse of the future of railway modelling? A virtual 'reality'! One where no tables/chairs have to be moved to clear classrooms for a show, nor great big layouts lifted in and out of vans, having travelled hundreds of miles? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

My experience currently is more with societies than MRCs and I don’t think they will disappear; however, for long term sustained viability mergers are likely and probably essential. The comparison I made recently in another situation is with the trade and enthusiast market supporting the horse - it still exists, will undoubtedly continue to do so, but compared with the size of it in the 1820s it is minimal.
 

MRCs are in a different situation as they are, of necessity, within a physical catchment area. Local circumstances, even down to cost and availability of a club room, will be more likely to determine survival there.

 

Shows - if the attendances hold up and they generate an income organisations will run them. What is more likely is continuation of the trend for bigger shows, with venue staff paid to clear the hall. With shows the full costs of a stand for smaller traders/versus income received is I suspect a bigger issue for the long term, which is only mirroring what is happening in retail generally with rents and costs versus income thro’ the door of physical shops.

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by john new
Added the shows section.

[JamieR4489]

I was 13 when I joined the Ely club. Before that they had had no junior members for quite a few years and at first they weren’t willing to take in another but I think the good Mr Wealleans had a chat to the other members after we met at Ally Pally and I sent some pictures of my first steps into building things. After seeing some pictures of my work, they said they’d be happy to alter the constitution and allow junior members to join provided they’re always with an adult who is also a member of the club.

 

I’m very much in the minority for my generation and in 11 years of education I only met one person who was also interested in railways and model railways and I’ve never met someone my age who builds kits and modifies RTR. I think people are surprised when they find out how young I am, especially considering I’m trying to accurately model the ECML in 1938. The stereotype for my age is someone who doesn’t care about prototypical accuracy and will happily run, say, a GWR engine on Mk3 carriages passing a class 92 on PO wagons. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as they’re enjoying themselves, but it’s not for me.

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, Hollar said:

Like most men in their 70s, I can get irritated by some aspects of our more formalised society.  But safeguarding definitely isn't one of them, and when I was a cricket coach and umpire I was always perfectly happy with the bureaucracy surrounding children in clubs and with my responsibilities in law.  And I've seen too many predators coming through court to think that the current situation is foolproof.

 

Tone

I'm fully in agreement, Tone,

 

Children should (indeed must) be protected from predators.

 

There are, however, circumstances where 'bureaucracy' can stifle what goes on.

 

I've probably mentioned this before, but my brother was a scoutmaster. He was in the cubs as a kid, in the scouts as a boy and then, in adulthood, was a scoutmaster at our local church. I loathed the cubs so much I never graduated to the scouts, and abandoned the church after I learned the foolishness of superstition. However, that's beside the point. 

 

My brother is no longer a scoutmaster. Why? The final straw was 'risk-assessments'. Years ago, I used to take the vicar (who didn't drive) to the big scout camp at Sandiway, near Northwich where my brother and his pack were camping. We'd swim in the mere (not the vicar) and have great fun. On one occasion, the scouts built 'houses' in the trees. One day, one scout fell out of his and, on landing, broke his wrist. A rapid trip to Northwich Hospital meant his wrist in plaster (which everyone signed), before returning to finish the fortnight. I used to help ferry the scouts home (in a Ford Zodiac, with no seat belts and me and two scouts on the front bench seat!). On dropping the lad off, he was soundly scolded by his parents for being careless. 

 

Before my brother resigned, he told me he'd never dare take such a risk in these times. He was even told that lighting campfires was too dangerous. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Northmoor]

2 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

I'm fully in agreement, Tone,

 

Children should (indeed must) be protected from predators.

 

There are, however, circumstances where 'bureaucracy' can stifle what goes on.

 

I've probably mentioned this before, but my brother was a scoutmaster. He was in the cubs as a kid, in the scouts as a boy and then, in adulthood, was a scoutmaster at our local church. I loathed the cubs so much I never graduated to the scouts, and abandoned the church after I learned the foolishness of superstition. However, that's beside the point. 

 

My brother is no longer a scoutmaster. Why? The final straw was 'risk-assessments'. Years ago, I used to take the vicar (who didn't drive) to the big scout camp at Sandiway, near Northwich where my brother and his pack were camping. We'd swim in the mere (not the vicar) and have great fun. On one occasion, the scouts built 'houses' in the trees. One day, one scout fell out of his and, on landing, broke his wrist. A rapid trip to Northwich Hospital meant his wrist in plaster (which everyone signed), before returning to finish the fortnight. I used to help ferry the scouts home (in a Ford Zodiac, with no seat belts and me and two scouts on the front bench seat!). On dropping the lad off, he was soundly scolded by his parents for being careless. 

 

Before my brother resigned, he told me he'd never dare take such a risk in these times. He was even told that lighting campfires was too dangerous. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Tony, as a former teacher you will appreciate the situation that affected the profession when I was at school in the 80s.

 

We did a school trip to Germany without too much trouble but one evening, two lads (they were idiots) climbed on the roof of the chalets where we were staying.  They weren't hurt and nothing was damaged but they got an earful from the teachers.

 

Not long after we returned to the UK, there was the tragic accident where two children on a school trip died when they fell over the cliffs at Lands End.  The teachers were prosecuted and my German teacher vowed never to run a school trip again as he felt there were so many things outside his control, but which he could potentially be ruined for not preventing.

 

Elf 'n' Safety gets the blame for this, when really it is down to the legal profession and (not in this genuinely serious case where children actually died) parents smelling the compensation payments.  The teaching profession rightly defends itself in the only way it can, by avoiding anything remotely risky, hence the stories of schools banning the playing of conkers etc.

 

Rob

[Tony Wright]

My, we do fizz along (which is great).

 

Perhaps the ever-rising cost of RTR will mean a return to folk making/adapting things themselves, and not just be RTR-reliant. That said, the cost of loco kits tends to outstrip any RTR equivalent, when everything is bought.

 

Wives? In that respect I must be the luckiest railway modeller alive. Mine (up to lockdown) regularly entertained (in the hostess way) the many guests who came to see LB, opening our home to them with not the slightest moan (though she didn't always go up to the pub with us - too much railway talk!). 

 

She attends exhibitions with me and is totally-supportive of what I do. 

 

Up to a few years ago (until, because it became too much) on each Christmas Day she would have bachelor or divorced mates of mine over for turkey and all the trimmings. 

 

She's still more than happy to have railway guests staying with us, frequently doing their washing. 

 

I know several friends whose wives are not only entirely disinterested in model railways, but in some cases are openly hostile. 

 

Things which are money-pits? Because my 'hobby' is effectively 'self-funding', then there's never been a problem with how much I spend on railway modelling. I suppose the TVR was my real indulgence, until the prospect of keeping it on the road became daft. 

 

What's the next point of discussion, I wonder? 

[Tony Wright]

Lockdown has meant my taking of far fewer model railway pictures (other than of my own trainset) than 'normal'

 

However, just prior to 'isolation', I did take pictures of layouts. One at Glasgow and two at Preston.

 

 

Pictures of Scarlington were taken at Glasgow. This N Gauge layout will feature soon in the RM.

 

 

Another RM commission was Eaglesham, in OO; taken at Preston. 

 

 

And one for BRM - Falahill, in N Gauge. 

 

 

 

 

[grob1234]

Hello All,

 

Some lovely accounts of how we 'got into the hobby'.

 

My love of trains stems from Thomas the Tank Engine. That progressed into a Hornby 125 Train Set, which my late Father and I set up in the spare room as a layout. I remember my first steam train very clearly - an A4 in Garter Blue - Sir Nigel Gresley. That set my path on all things ECML and LNER in particular. Teak coaches (old style Hornby) and the Flying Scotsman followed. My interest in the model railway declined as I grew older, reaching the point where we advertised the railway items for sale in the local paper. Fortuitously whoever was going to buy it didn't show up, to my relief it turns out - I was too attached to let the trains go. University and early life in the RAF saw my interest fall to near zero, but whilst stationed at RAF Linton on Ouse in Yorkshire, I made a visit to the Railway Museum in York. This reignited my interest in railways, and I began searching on-line for models (TRAIN MODELS!!!!). Single, with low living costs and a relatively high disposable income meant I could afford Hornby's new offerings. I was amazed at the quality, and how much they'd come on since I was young. I began collecting locos. This on/off interest continued, then we moved to Hong Kong. I decided that having a model railway was now essential, but due to size constraints, I opted to model in N-Gauge, GWR due to the availability of stock in RTR.

I built a fictional model called North Moreton, which I still have, and still intend to finish. This also brought me to the N Gauge Forum, and subsequently to RMWeb. By now I was fast learning that there were other aspects to the Hobby, other more interesting stuff that ran on railways in days gone by that weren’t available RTR. I found this thread and others detailing kit-building. With a lot of kind encouragement from Tony in particular, I started kit building. The rest as they say, ‘is history’.

 

And that brings me back to today.

 

A D&S Pigeon Van to Diagram 120. Which do you prefer, brass, or works grey?

 

 

 

Also, the Silver Jubilee rake is going through the paint shop. It requires endless masking to get the finish I desire. Currently 5/8 coaches masked in readiness for the next paint stage. There’s more on my workbench thread if anyone is interested.

 

[Barry Ten]

As a follow-on from my query about the inter-compatibility of the new DJH motor/gearbox combos with the old. I've heard from DJH that it's not a simple matter to fit one of the new motors into the older gearboxes, so I won't be going down that road.

[Tony Teague]

3 hours ago, Chamby said:

 

You’re obviously attracted to the wrong sort of woman.  I am very lucky, Having found one who is not high-maintenance, still loves me to bits and fully supports my hobby.

 

 

I should say, out of great loyalty to my second wife who died last November, that it was my first wife, and in particular gaining a divorce from her, that was the most costly transaction of my life!

 

My second wife was wholly supportive of my hobby and greatly indulged my interest in it.

[MJI]

2 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Martin

 

The model looks very good until one sees the couplings, they make the Lima tension lock look discrete. The recommend retail price is far to high for my liking. Both the dirk huge couplings and the high price are results of pandering to the DCC noise and lights brigade, us simpletons who are amazed that our trains go backwards and the other way have to pay the price of on board gadgetry that we will never use. Maybe  the manufactures will learn this one day and offer the same model without these bits at a price us Luddites can afford or willing to spend.

 

Thankfully I don't think I need another Western Region DMU for my Eastern Region based layout.

 

 

 

Problem is I need too many.

 

Settled on two 117 sets and two 116 sets, I can get away with one 118 set as most were in Devon and Cornwall.

 

Still short on 101 and 120 though.

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

I'm fully in agreement, Tone,

 

Children should (indeed must) be protected from predators.

 

There are, however, circumstances where 'bureaucracy' can stifle what goes on.

 

Much edited

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Hello Tony

 

I have mentioned before that my uncle was a professional footballer and later a coach and manager. We were talking one day about children playing organised football as both my son and his grandson had recently joined teams. He mentioned that the CRB checks were a very good idea but was horrified that the coaches were getting the children to do things that were beyond the physical capabilities for their age which could cause them long term problems. This was echoed by a physiotherapist friend who was helping teenage girls that had joint injuries normally associated with older people who had done physically hard jobs all their lives. All these girls were in a school gymnastic team, a very successful one. Are parents trying to live their dreams through their children and the coaches are pandering to the parents with little regard to the children's long term health?   Yes the bureaucracy that has built up around many children's activities may seem a little too much but is some of it hiding other issues?

[Barry Ten]

Brakes on and cylinders/slide bars test fitted. Now for the fun part...

 

[The Johnster]

My current partner is low maintenance and supportive, deffo a keeper!  She thinks I'm nuts, and I think she might be right, but admires the creativity of the hobby.  I have a bottle being filled with 1p and 5p coins which is to go towards the Baccy 94xx to which she wilingly and enthusiastically contributes.  She likes to drive and is a natural at controlling locos, and is beginning to work out shuniing moves for herself and observe signals, and might have a go at the next wagon kit.  One of us, one of us...

 

The child abuse thing came up last year in another activity.  I'm involved in the local community Samba band, Samba Galez (google us), and the gig organiser was arrested, tried, and convicted for offences to do with a vulnerable pre-teen girl.  He was an affable sort of chap and there was nothing about him that flageed him up as 'off' in that way.  Fortunately we have a robust child protection policy; band members can bring children  to workshps and rehearsals and we have a policy that encourages teenagers with appropriate supervision, and this miscreant was not able to offend within the band, but he was clearly a predatory and clever operator who showed that this matter must be given constant attention and dealt with by a robust and practiced policy.  It's horrible, and no good saying that we never had to do it in the good old days, whatever they were, but absolutely essential.  Sexual predators will seek out such situations, and manipulate their way into important roles within them, hiding in plain sight.

[Barry Ten]

15 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

All these girls were in a school gymnastic team, a very successful one. Are parents trying to live their dreams through their children and the coaches are pandering to the parents with little regard to the children's long term health?   Yes the bureaucracy that has built up around many children's activities may seem a little too much but is some of it hiding other issues?

 

You only have to look at the average tennis player these days to see the toll that professional sport takes on the joints if started early. Federer is one of the few to have found a playing style that is less impactful. Compare with Nadal and Murray, both excellent players, but now racking up the surgeons' bills. My wife played basketball from an early age and also had to have corrective surgery fairly early on. Aboyt thirty years later, when she needed work on the same knee, in a different country, the surgeon looked at the scar from the older work and said "that' so-and-so's work, isn't it".

 

Talking of CRB checks I read an article in the Guardian a few days ago about the billionaire property market in London. Turns out you probably need a criminal background check just to get a viewing at some of these obscene mansions. And supposedly, there are around 100 JCBs entombed in these deep basements that have been dug out for swimming pools, private cinemas and so on, because it is less expensive just to leave them in place.

Edited June 10, 2020 by Barry Ten
formatting

[bbishop]

Both my parents came from railway families: father LSWR, mother LNWR (North Wales).  So when she had me on the pram and my sister in it, the daily walk was to the nearest railway (LCDR) to watch the trains go by.  I learnt to read with "The Little Blue Engine", so naturally I was hooked on railways.  I commuted to school on my own from the age of seven and from nine I was allowed to catch a train from school on Wednesday half day up to London and travel round the termini.  From Holborn Viaduct, it was usually Liverpool St, Kings Cross, St Pancras, Marylebone and Waterloo.  I can't remember why I didn't visit Euston, had rebuilding started in 1961 or was it difficult to get to the platform ends?  Two conditions:  I had to catch the Bakerloo from Marylebone to Waterloo (remember the LSWR connection) and show the four pennies (for the emergency phone call) once I got home.  I would leave Waterloo when I was hungry.  

Obviously Waterloo made an impression on me as I became an LSWR enthusiast.  Indeed I'm in the process of cataloguing the South Western Circle's photographic collection.

Bill

[Northmoor]

My earliest memories were/are mostly railway-related, so they must have made an impression (that and half the books in the house being on the subject....).  I thought my earliest memory might have been witnessing the S&DR Cavalcade at Shildon in 1975, but a clearer early memory is sitting in the back of our Morris Minor - no seat belts! - on the way home from the playgroup my Mum ran with two friends (there's an industry that's now completely formalised and which has become unaffordable for many as a result).  We would call into the local town for a few groceries then sometimes as a treat have a bag of chips for lunch, eaten in a lay-by a few miles from home, alongside the main railway line through Pembrokeshire.  We probably saw nothing more exiting than a 3-car DMU, if anything, but I was hooked.

[James Fitzjames]

The only familial railway connection I was aware of, until recently, was the yard that 'supplied' the family with coal during the war, while grandpa was busy banjoing the Japanese. My father and his brothers would creep into the yard at dead of night and somehow always manage to make off with just enough to keep the family's fires burning, before the 'man' spotted them and gave chase. My dad's affection for the LNER made me draw the conclusion that the LMS 'man' just down the road must have been more diligent, or less socially-conscientious, depending on your point of view My initial interest in the LMS was met with complete apathy, so I hope dad's stopped spinning in his grave now I've seen the light...

Edited June 10, 2020 by James Fitzjames
Clarity

[FarrMan]

My family connection with railways was limited to my grandfather working as a clerk on the railway in Edmonton, Alberta, but as he left Canada in about 1923, ha cannot have been there long.

 

I do not remember my own first experience of railways, but I am told that at the age of three (1952), I made what must have been my first railway journey, from Peterborough to Cardiff. Apparently as I walked down the platform between these  trains that I was not used to, my eyes were going from side to side in wonder.

 

I do remember a later incident in the mid 1960swhen, having traveled by train from Wolverhampton to Paddington and spent the day spotting in various locations in London, I then kipped down on a bench at Paddington Station overnight to wait for a special to Swindon and Eastleigh works the following day. A policeman woke me up in the middle of the night and I had to produce my ticket to convince him that I had not just run away. Ah, the days of innocence.

 

Lloyd

[FarrMan]

5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I loathed the cubs so much I never graduated to the scouts, and abandoned the church after I learned the foolishness of superstition. However, that's beside the point. 

Tony

 

I am sorry that you feel that way. Having just been preparing a class on arguments for the existence of God for my Bible Class this Sunday, and working on one on the reliability of the Bible for the following week, I would not agree with you, though I fully respect your right to that point of view. Unfortunately, in too many churches these days it is little if anything more than superstition.

 

Lloyd