Nearholmer Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Gents, I think that a minor miracle has occurred, or a dam has been broken ........ There is a full article about a retro-layout in the RM this month! A very good 1960s-style TT job, by one Mr Kevin West (no, this isn't unashamed self-publicity, my surname isn't West). Personally, I think this is A Very Good Thing. I'm neither hoping nor expecting to see RM suddenly morph into a UK version of Classic Toy Trains, but the odd bit of collectable/vintage, alongside all the other things they publish, would portray the full breadth of the hobby more effectively. Kevin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
detheridge Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Absolutely agree. Mind you, I still get some very curious looks when I espouse the delights of using Gem TT track and Triang chassis on my 00n3 and 5.5mm narrow gauge stuff! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Interesting. I shall look out for that in a couple of months when copies make their way down under. Once upon a time, RM did quite a few "retro" articles. For example, Crewchester (IIRC), Sherwood and Nigel MacMillan's 0 gauge layouts, whist wonderful and inspirational in many ways, did not, for the most part, represent the most up to date modelling practice in the 1970s when they were being featured. Going back a little further, there were one or two layouts featuring Basset-Lowke and the like low-pressure live steamers which, again, were not exactly contemporary at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold melmoth Posted May 13, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 13, 2016 I remember Crewchester being featured in Model Railway Constructor in the 1980s Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted May 13, 2016 Author Share Posted May 13, 2016 Very true, Pat. I was reading a jolly good article in a 1959 edition a couple of days ago, about a modest, but interesting, garden railway, where the chap had sought-out some of the better Hornby clockwork locos, Schools etc, to use as motive power, which were twenty plus years retro by then. At some point, they seem to have taken fright that retro might mean retrograde or retrogressive, or "toy collector", and damage any attempt to make railway modelling "serious". I've even heard muttering so that they wouldn't promote "retro" because it doesn't help Peco sell things, but I don't believe that. Anyway, if this small chink of light implies that they have realised that retro is legitimate, and a good way of understanding the history of our hobby, rather than a complete heresy or pure infantilism, whoopee!! Kevin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 I remember Crewchester being featured in Model Railway Constructor in the 1980s Actually, that might be what I'm thinking of. Now that I consider it, I'm not sure if Crewchester was in RM at any point during the period in question. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Fleece 30 Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 My Peco 3-rail Dublo layout is on the cards to be included in RM if I can get it a lot further on in the not too distant future. That may help sell Peco products. It was in Hornby magazine in February's edition as a readers project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted May 13, 2016 Author Share Posted May 13, 2016 Mr Fleece Yours was one of those that I thought ought to be featured in RM, so: excellent! Kevin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Fleece 30 Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Thank you Kevin, a lot of talk has gone on and a meeting with Steve Flint. If I had been able to do the layout as planned it would have been in now. Unfortunately the children we foster all got changed and the 3 we have now have not given me much time in the last 18 months. Garry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunwurken Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 Gents, I think that a minor miracle has occurred, or a dam has been broken ........ There is a full article about a retro-layout in the RM this month! A very good 1960s-style TT job, by one Mr Kevin West (no, this isn't unashamed self-publicity, my surname isn't West). Personally, I think this is A Very Good Thing. I'm neither hoping nor expecting to see RM suddenly morph into a UK version of Classic Toy Trains, but the odd bit of collectable/vintage, alongside all the other things they publish, would portray the full breadth of the hobby more effectively. Kevin My Peco 3-rail Dublo layout is on the cards to be included in RM if I can get it a lot further on in the not too distant future. That may help sell Peco products. It was in Hornby magazine in February's edition as a readers project. I may be wrong but I have sensed for a while there is a growing interest in retro or older layouts. It is doubtless a minority interest within our hobby and probably populated by older guys like myself who can recall the days when you had to build a model not just purchase it r-t-r. Maybe it is just a bit of rose tinted nostalgia / good old days, who knows. RM, more so than other mags, seem prepared to explore possible new avenues of interest and have for some years run an occasional series entitled "Whatever Happened to........." and which last year featured Craigshire. In such a large magazine there is always an odd page or two which the Editor can risk devoting to something off the usual r-t-r beaten track without rubbing his regulars up the wrong way. With regard to a 3 rail layout I recall in the mid 1970's taking a HD 3-rail layout to a large national show and getting quite a bit of stick from other exhibitors for daring to show the hobby as it had been and in particular showing a layout devoid of scenery. It was, the critics said, something we had just thrown together out of the box and plonked it on a table. One piece of praise we did receive was from one of the country's leading modellers!!! We were never invited back but at said show now you can often find 3-rail, old Tri-ang, tin plate O etc. The wheel has turned, however slowly, to where such exhibits can be viewed with interest instead of derision. Malcolm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKPR Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 One day, when I've got my fine scale EM and HO layouts back up and running, I fancy reproducing the Millport & Selfield (Classic coarse scale 3-rail O gauge that featured in the RM and MR back in the day) using old Tri-ang equipment (series II couplings and type 3 track only). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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