Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, Jesse Sim said:

I might be buying a new motorcycle.......anyone want to see pictures? 
 

 

I’ll get my coat 

'I might be buying a new motorcycle..'

 

Make sure you've got enough bucks left to pay for the C2, Jesse...............

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, PMP said:

Apparently not Re the set up and testing. I know of at least one that meets that criteria and I’ve seen it a couple of times at shows. It’s running was poor. I’ve never understood that mindset, if one of my layouts goes out it, and it’s stock/lighting etc is all checked in the week preceding. To me having a layout run poorly or fail at an exhibition is not an option, it’s ‘my name above the door’. Friends layouts are also prepared with the same mindset, including larger layouts. 

 

That preparation also means things like spares lights/controller or workarounds for any reasonably anticipated problem. So far so good!

 

 

Good post, Paul,

 

I know of several layouts which can only be put up in full at exhibitions; either a club-room is too small or the layout won't fit in a home space. Some I've known of spend their lives in a trailer between shows! 

 

That being the case, the conscientious hire a village or church hall, or a school hall. There, the layout can be fully shaken-down and thoroughly-tested, and (vital) operators trained in how it's run. To not do this is a recipe for chaos (I've seen it) and the excuse 'I don't have space to put it all up' won't do. 

 

Which brings me back to my original point. Seeing the latest 'cancellations' in the current RM, stretching well into next year, I cannot see a future for many exhibition-only layouts. For one, there won't be any exhibitions in the near (or distant?) future for them to attend and, two, too many of the current builders fit into the 'at risk' groups, if only because of age (myself included). 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Tony Wright
to add something

[Jesse Sim]

50 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

'I might be buying a new motorcycle..'

 

Make sure you've got enough bucks left to pay for the C2, Jesse...............

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Well I’m getting a loan for the bike, I don’t need to, but I’d like to get my credit rating up for the future. Might get a bit extra out, throw away the soldering iron and take up the pen and cheque book. What do you think? .....

 

 

I was supposed to go to the bank last week, but I ended up being in self isolation after I had to get tested for covid-19, it was negative as expected, I had no symptoms, still don’t. A sigh of relief! I have to go tomorrow to speak about this loan, so I’ll be sure to send some cash your way my good sir. 
 

  
 

 

[grahame]

2 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

Well I’m getting a loan for the bike, I don’t need to, but I’d like to get my credit rating up for the future. Might get a bit extra out, throw away the soldering iron and take up the pen and cheque book. What do you think? .....

 

 

So long as it's a quill pen and you've plenty of liquid ink, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

 

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

Well I’m getting a loan for the bike, I don’t need to, but I’d like to get my credit rating up for the future. Might get a bit extra out, throw away the soldering iron and take up the pen and cheque book. What do you think? .....

 

 

I was supposed to go to the bank last week, but I ended up being in self isolation after I had to get tested for covid-19, it was negative as expected, I had no symptoms, still don’t. A sigh of relief! I have to go tomorrow to speak about this loan, so I’ll be sure to send some cash your way my good sir. 
 

  
 

 

Thanks Jesse,

 

 'Might get a bit extra out, throw away the soldering iron and take up the pen and cheque book. What do you think? .....'

 

What do I think? 

 

A chequebook modeller is something you'll never ever be (I know your quip was in jest). 

 

I'm delighted you wanted something 'made by me', and I don't think that constitutes 'chequebook modelling' at all. I'm privileged that you've considered me a 'mentor', and to have something made by someone you respect is wonderful; and I say that from personal experience. I possess things made by others whom I deeply respect, and, in many cases, I bought them by writing cheques. 

 

The term 'chequebook modeller' is occasionally used in a pejorative sense (I was discussing a layout, where everything on and in it was the work of others, with an editor once, and he dismissed it as just that. 'That's not railway modelling to me' was his response. 

 

However, as I've said many times before, those who keep professional modellers in work should not be derided. They're really patrons and facilitators. If their skills are too limited, yet they want a 'better' model railway, and they have the fiscal resources to enable this, then good on them. The only caveat I'd put on that (and I've seen more of this now through electronic media, where some folk gain 'status' somehow) is that they must always credit whose work it is and should never take accolades for the creations of others. With regard to the first point, some don't, and with regard to the latter, some do. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[APOLLO]

I wonder how Heaton Lodge 40 will fare. One layout I was really hoping to see sometime, a huge undertaking.

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/110677-heaton-lodge-junction/page/64/

 

(warning - he likes cats also !!)

 

Brit15

 

 

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

7 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Jonathan

 

A wee bit more advanced than mine is at the moment.

 Plastic card sides.

That's extremely neat work, Clive,

 

My compliments.

 

One thing, though. May we please (one day?) see a picture of a carriage you've finished? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

7 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

I wonder how Heaton Lodge 40 will fare. One layout I was really hoping to see sometime, a huge undertaking.

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/110677-heaton-lodge-junction/page/64/

 

(warning - he likes cats also !!)

 

Brit15

 

 

 

 

 

Is this the most-awesome model railway ever made? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Clive Mortimore]

58 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

That's extremely neat work, Clive,

 

My compliments.

 

One thing, though. May we please (one day?) see a picture of a carriage you've finished? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

All will be done by January 2028, when the 10 years build is finished.

[thegreenhowards]

14 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Odd (or is it?) that several things discussed on this thread (the future of exhibitions, for instance?) have their own threads?

 

It must be very hard to have put hours and hours of work into building/detailing/completing an exhibition layout and, particularly, building masses of stock for it, only to have the prospect of it never being seen. Many exhibition layouts can only be set up at shows, their being too big for a home or clubroom. Do they have a future, I wonder? 

 

2021's show diary is already showing casualties..................

I don’t share your pessimism on the future of shows. I have faith in human ingenuity and we will beat this virus one day. I don’t know how, but I’m sure it will happen. At that stage exhibitions will be back. There may be less shows, but I’m confident that there will be venues for future exhibition layouts.

[Jesse Sim]

4 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Jesse,

 

 'Might get a bit extra out, throw away the soldering iron and take up the pen and cheque book. What do you think? .....'

 

What do I think? 

 

A chequebook modeller is something you'll never ever be (I know your quip was in jest). 

 

I'm delighted you wanted something 'made by me', and I don't think that constitutes 'chequebook modelling' at all. I'm privileged that you've considered me a 'mentor', and to have something made by someone you respect is wonderful; and I say that from personal experience. I possess things made by others whom I deeply respect, and, in many cases, I bought them by writing cheques. 

 

The term 'chequebook modeller' is occasionally used in a pejorative sense (I was discussing a layout, where everything on and in it was the work of others, with an editor once, and he dismissed it as just that. 'That's not railway modelling to me' was his response. 

 

However, as I've said many times before, those who keep professional modellers in work should not be derided. They're really patrons and facilitators. If their skills are too limited, yet they want a 'better' model railway, and they have the fiscal resources to enable this, then good on them. The only caveat I'd put on that (and I've seen more of this now through electronic media, where some folk gain 'status' somehow) is that they must always credit whose work it is and should never take accolades for the creations of others. With regard to the first point, some don't, and with regard to the latter, some do. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Of course it was all in jest, you know me, I like to stir the pot, type/speak before I think and then watch everything become total anarchy........... its hard being a one man comedian but someone has to do it....

 

 

In all seriousness, I totally agree with you, I see no problem with people paying for stuff to be built, as long as credit is given where it’s needed. But again, we’ve been over this and I’ll leave it at that, so as to not start a debate on something we have already debated on 10 pages back. 
 

In other news, the bike I was going to look at sold, maybe it was for the better, instead of a rush buy I can now take my time and fine the one that suits me- lower, faster and louder, oh yes much better........

 

 

Anyway, back to the modelling 

 

I’ve been giving the railway room a good clean and realised I needed to crack on with relaying one of the curves at the North end scenic break. That is now finished and wired back up with a much better flow and trains seem to just wiz round now. I’ll finish tidying up, give the track a good clean and I’m thinking of doing another YouTube video, how does that sound? 
 

 

All the best

 

Jesse 

[Atso]

14 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

And that's not ingenious?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

To be honest, I'm not sure. Nothing I've done is original, just ideas borrowed from others.

[Jesse Sim]

Well the NE wagon is now finished, this is my first that I’ve built for someone else. All through bartering, he’s sent me a book and is helping me produce a wagon I need, so I’ve built one for him. First one in BR, I think it looks alright. He sure is happy with it. 

[Tony Wright]

14 hours ago, Atso said:

 

To be honest, I'm not sure. Nothing I've done is original, just ideas borrowed from others.

It's being clever at contriving, Steve. Contriving to seek out what others have done, sift through it, then choose what suits you the best. 

 

Anyway, if you borrow ideas off someone else, that suggests they should be given back. 

 

In all my modelling, I don't think I've ever had a truly original idea. However, I've been lucky enough to have had some remarkable mentors from whom I've selected ideas and methods which best suit me, effectively combining things to produce something which 'works'. If there is any ingenuity about it, it's to combine methods/techniques/ideas which might not have been tried together before, though, truly, 'there is nothing new under the sun'. 

 

The most important thing from this in my view is to always appreciate and value the work of those who've 'shown the way' so to speak. Then, once that's understood, try to show others how to do things as well, always acknowledging those to whom you (the generic 'you') are indebted. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Northmoor]

19 minutes ago, Jesse Sim said:

Very nice wagon and I love the way the out of focus fence(?) panel behind looks like a scale model of an apartment block.

 

[Tony Wright]

14 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

Of course it was all in jest, you know me, I like to stir the pot, type/speak before I think and then watch everything become total anarchy........... its hard being a one man comedian but someone has to do it....

 

 

In all seriousness, I totally agree with you, I see no problem with people paying for stuff to be built, as long as credit is given where it’s needed. But again, we’ve been over this and I’ll leave it at that, so as to not start a debate on something we have already debated on 10 pages back. 
 

In other news, the bike I was going to look at sold, maybe it was for the better, instead of a rush buy I can now take my time and fine the one that suits me- lower, faster and louder, oh yes much better........

 

 

Anyway, back to the modelling 

 

I’ve been giving the railway room a good clean and realised I needed to crack on with relaying one of the curves at the North end scenic break. That is now finished and wired back up with a much better flow and trains seem to just wiz round now. I’ll finish tidying up, give the track a good clean and I’m thinking of doing another YouTube video, how does that sound? 
 

 

All the best

 

Jesse 

Another YouTube video sounds great, Jesse.

 

Yes, please.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Jesse Sim]

22 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Very nice wagon and I love the way the out of focus fence(?) panel behind looks like a scale model of an apartment block.

 

Thanks heaps, it’s some sort of arch way, serves no purpose whatsoever, a light breeze could blow it over- useless things, they were built 50 odd years ago and I always bang my head on it. 
 

I never thought of it that way, it does doesn’t it. 

[Tony Wright]

14 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

I don’t share your pessimism on the future of shows. I have faith in human ingenuity and we will beat this virus one day. I don’t know how, but I’m sure it will happen. At that stage exhibitions will be back. There may be less shows, but I’m confident that there will be venues for future exhibition layouts.

Ingenuity again? 

 

I have to say I find it an extremely 'arrogant' (not you personally) notion that mankind will one day 'beat' this virus. Perhaps a vaccine will be found, but then things will mutate or even a completely new strain will emerge. If we'd (the generic 'we'd') not abused nature so much, then this dreadful covid thing might never have appeared. 

 

But this is about shows, and why I'm 'pessimistic' about their future. Perhaps it was inevitable that there'd be fewer shows, anyway. A glance at the events' pages in any of the mags a year ago would see dozens of shows, overlapping and overlapping over the weekends, especially as the new 'season' was emerging. Could they have all been sustained? 

 

I've mentioned this before but I know that some shows are no more; not through a pandemic, but because the staging club members are now too old or infirm. This was going to increase, anyway. 

 

I'm sure you're right that there will be future shows, but how many 'at risk' group members will consider attending? Even assuming a vaccine is found, will it be 100% successful? Last year I know someone who had a winter flu vaccine, yet still caught it! 

 

Speaking personally, despite being over 70 I have no 'underlying health issues' (I'm on no medication and haven't seen my doctor for nearly a decade apart from an 'MOT' test), I'd be very wary of attending a 'crowded' event. If social distancing were applied, any show might not be viable - 'bums on seats' are needed to make a profit, and if there aren't enough seats....................

 

Another thing I've found as well (and I'm astonished at this) is that I haven't missed shows anywhere near as much as I thought I would. Last year Mo and I attended over 20 shows in our roles as demonstrators/loco-doctors/collecting for CUK. In one spell in the late-winter/early-spring we had six consecutive weekends attending! All were great fun (apart from Warley, though that had nothing to do with the host club), well-organised and most-enjoyable. But (there's always a 'but'), come the following Monday we were both 'done-in'; knackered! 

 

In fact now (assuming we're invited and shows return) it is our intention to do far fewer, especially where long distances are involved (excepting Glasgow, which is too good to miss). 

 

It's not just being knackered, either. From my observations (other than the more-specialist events) more and more shows seemed to have layouts where just about everything on them was RTR, in some cases not always altered/improved; in all scales. Could it be a case of more shows having to chase the fewer and fewer (and thus rarer) layouts where things had actually been made? Add on to that the disappearance of the smaller, more-specialist traders and the proliferation of the box-shifters taking their places, then what appeal does a show where this is the case have for the likes of me? I look at a layout and see masses of RTR on it, turn through 180 degrees to find exactly the same things, but still in their boxes! No thank you. 

 

I'm not blaming exhibition managers, but I was seeing more of this sort of trend. 

 

Anyway (rather selfishly, I admit) I've used the non-exhibition time since lockdown to finish my trainset and to build umpteen more locos and carriages. Yes, I know that sounds like 'I'm all right Jack', but the future for me would appear to have more guests visiting LB; in safety, of course. That, and helping to complete Retford.

 

In fact, I'm rather looking forward to it.

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

[Clem]

57 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Very nice wagon and I love the way the out of focus fence(?) panel behind looks like a scale model of an apartment block.

I genuinely thought it was!

[Clem]

23 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

I have to say I find it an extremely 'arrogant' (not you personally) notion that mankind will one day 'beat' this virus. Perhaps a vaccine will be found, but then things will mutate or even a completely new strain will emerge. If we'd (the generic 'we'd') not abused nature so much, then this dreadful covid thing might never have appeared. 

 

But this is about shows, and why I'm 'pessimistic' about their future. Perhaps it was inevitable that there'd be fewer shows, anyway. A glance at the events' pages in any of the mags a year ago would see dozens of shows, overlapping and overlapping over the weekends, especially as the new 'season' was emerging. Could they have all been sustained? 

 

I've mentioned this before but I know that some shows are no more; not through a pandemic, but because the staging club members are now too old or infirm. This was going to increase, anyway. 

 

I am a full-blooded optimist but even I feel that railway modelling at best will mutate into something far different to what it is now. In the 40s and 50s, the path to the future was pretty clear. Old sods like us building our nostalgia out of joy and obsession with youngsters modelling the railway of the day. As the 70s, 80s and 90s progressed, we got steadily older but as we died off, younger modellers filled the gap, even in the post steam era, modelling the blue diesels. 

The problem is, as I see it, that today's railways have lost their soul and no longer have the same head-turning fascination for the young that they had in those previous times. At present, railway modelling still has a large following, supporting many businesses, a few quite large ones and many small cottage industry type businesses. I can only see it diminish in size to a small niche hobby, which may have little or nothing to do with the historical side of the railway. 

People such as Jesse and Jamie do give me some hope, plus the fact it is being recognised more and more that this type of hobby/activity is very beneficial to mental health (try telling me that when I've pinged a tiny spring across the floor, never to be seen again!).

Right... back to doing something useful. :-)

[Dragonboy]

21 hours ago, APOLLO said:

I wonder how Heaton Lodge 40 will fare. One layout I was really hoping to see sometime, a huge undertaking.

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/110677-heaton-lodge-junction/page/64/

 

(warning - he likes cats also !!)

 

Brit15

As was I at Warley this year. At least he doesn’t have a problem putting it up between exhibitions.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Dragonboy

[mullie]

I hope the hobby will evolve as it has always done. I remember as a teenager taking the Ongar MRCs model of near to a local fete where it attracted quite a crowd because it had local interest. That would have been around 1978 so everything would have been kit or scratch built. Could a model that can hold an audience have a place at community events? I suppose a bells and whistles roundy roundy as well as a genuine historical layout could have a place?

 

When I was nearing the end of my HLF Portland Railways project I was given approval to retain some of the unspent funds to develop  railway models to take to community events as well as exhibitions. Sadly closure of the CIC I was running due to matters beyond my control precluded this happening but it showed that modelling could attract funding if approached in a different way. I do have three renumbered models in the local museum and it is still my intention to develop this idea once the models are given back to me possibly next year. Being Portland there is the possibility of modelling the gravity worked tramway, narrow gauge railways, traction engines and road vehicles (including steam vehicles) as well as the branch.

 

Perhaps we need to rethink our potential audience.

 

Martyn

[Chamby]

Like a lot of things, the model railway exhibition scene will undoubtedly look very different post-Covid.  I have some optimism though because many exhibitions are an important annual fundraising event for the organising club, and the revenue from them will need to be made up somehow.  

 

At my local club, we are in the process of relocating to new premises with a bit more space, which will enable us to have three of our club layouts permanently set up.  Our monthly subs have been increased by mutual consent, and the medium term future of the club is looking reasonably secure, but we’ll still miss the exhibition revenue.  But all six events that we were booked to attend with our club layouts in this year and next have been cancelled.

 

Local, modestly sized exhibitions should be possible to resurrect quite quickly, when Boris allows it.   A dozen layouts in a village hall, with visitors in the low hundreds: Pre-booked entry times and limited numbers in the hall at any one time would work, indeed this might improve the event by spreading attendance evenly throughout the day. 

 

Not so easy for the bigger shows though, it will be a much greater challenge to meet the need for social distancing when rather larger numbers of visitors are needed though the door to offset the high overheads. 

 

 

[johndon]

25 minutes ago, Chamby said:

Pre-booked entry times and limited numbers in the hall at any one time would work, indeed this might improve the event by spreading attendance evenly throughout the day. 

 

The problem I see with that though is that you will get visitors who may say for an hour and others who will book for the show opening and then stay all day so, at any given time of day, you have no idea how many visitors you have unless, as well as a pre booked time, visitors are only allowed to stay for a fixed length of time...

[Clearwater]

39 minutes ago, johndon said:

 

The problem I see with that though is that you will get visitors who may say for an hour and others who will book for the show opening and then stay all day so, at any given time of day, you have no idea how many visitors you have unless, as well as a pre booked time, visitors are only allowed to stay for a fixed length of time...

Ive been to several museums since lockdown restrictions eased who operate on the principle of fixed arrival slots.  If it works for them, it will work for model rail shows.  Yes, you can’t control how long people will stay but let’s be frank.  Firstly, at crowded shows you can spend a lot of time waiting to get to see a layout.  Secondly, which would you prefer, no shows or shows with restrictions (with the caveat that some may still feel they don’t wish to attend/exhibit).  Thirdly, whatever system is in place you can pick holes in it.  Reopening stuff will be the art of compromise and accepting more risk relative to the option of just staying at home.  If timed entry slots help manage that risk, then great.  

 

David