Iain Rice

[teaky]

Sad news indeed.  A truly inspirational modeller who, through his gentle humour and easy to read articles and books managed to make the most atmospheric finescale modelling seem accessible and achievable.

[Ravenser]

I was a little shocked and dismayed to see Iain Rice's name next to Modelling Musings last night - with the obvious implcations

 

And I'm not sure seeing the name there of anyone else in the hobby I didn't personally know would have produced the same instant dismay.

 

I first came across his name while a teenager in exile out in Sydney - I bought a copy of the old Model Railways magazine and it had a Treggarick layout article in it. From that point an article by Iain Rice was likely to make a magazine issue a must-buy if I saw it . It was inspirational in the way PD Hancock's Craig and Mertonford articles must have been in the 50s and 60s . But this was also P4 - and in the 1970s P4 seemed to the outsider to have rather a forbidding culture. In those articles, and the East Suffolk to come Iain Rice gave us P4 with a human face. His work was about the joy of making a model world, not about the rigourous pursuit of absolute dimensional accuracy at all costs by an elite.

 

Almost a decade later, I saw the first issue of MORILL, in which Iain played a very large part. That magazine, and the associated MORILL Handbooks series , were without a doubt the biggest practical boost, support , resource and influence on my modelling. Iain Rice wasn't just an inspirational modeller in terms of the results he achieved, he was a very practical modelling writer who explained systematically the basics of how things worked, why they worked, and what needed to be done to make sure they did. I can't actually recall anyone else providing that extent of technical support in articles. The MORILL handbooks on wagons effectively got me into serious model-making . Suddenly I knew what I was trying to do and how it could be done, and all the vast possibilities on offer. And suddenly  my efforts worked.

 

A key word in Iain Rice's vocabulary was "pragmatic" . He did not believe that compromises were always unacceptable , and he recognised that for most modellers, much of the time , modelling "without compromise" was simply not practical. He did not let the best become an enemy of the good - he was prepared to write a book on  how to build soldered trackwork, instead of preaching that only the assembly of trackwork plastic chair by plastic chair was truly acceptable.

 

Several people have called him an "accessible" modeller .  He never treated OO - or any part of the hobby - as "beyond the pale". Having a stake in US HO he couldn't see why 16.5mm gauge couldn't be made to work as effectively as other gauges, nor why RTR was necessarily always incompatible with good modelling. I remember a little time ago a finescale modeller telling me that really there are two hobbies and I wasn't part of the hobby he was in. That was never Iain Rice's approach . As a result his writings (as a P4 modeller) give this OO modeller his biggest practical leg-up in the hobby. His writing made successful model-making practical for me 

 

His legacy will be not so much in the layouts he built himself, but in the huge practical assistance he has given through his writings to so many modellers in so many aspects of a hobby. If you had a problem or a difficulty or an issue - Iain Rice's books were one of the places you turned for assistance

 

I am sorry to hear of his illness and death,  and thoughts and condolences to his family and friends

[Stephen Freeman]

Sad news indeed, I remember meeting Iain over a cup of coffee, when he was the editor of MORILL to discuss myself writing an article for the magazine on the club layout, he had moved on by the time that it appeared in the magazine, strangely enough despite being involved in West of England interests he did have a connection with the NorthWest, for interest one of the many books he wrote featured a photo of the rail bridge at Greenbank, Northwich, which was quite close to where the club was situated at the time. I hadn't realised it until he pointed it out to me.  I seem to recall that in his younger days he told me that he did attend the Mid-Cheshire College (not sure of details/capacity) , which was also close by, hence the photo opportunity.

 

[Gravy Train]

Very sad news,

Iain was a huge inspiration to me, a great Modeller and writer, From way back in the days of Model Railways to his books and MRJ Articles.

I was glad To have met him on a couple of occasions.

As someone pointed out, there wouldn’t be many in the hobby who hadn't heard of Iain Rice, a huge loss to the Hobby and his family and friends.

His writings will go on inspiring others long after his passing.

my condolences to his family.

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Gravy Train

[Departmental]

First met Iain at one of his modelling courses at Chagford many years ago. A quiet, enthusiastic guy who was willing to advise and help all. My condolences to his family and friends. RIP Iain, you will not be forgotten

[D-A-T]

As an addendum to my post I do hope that, in the fullness of time, Iain’s layouts will be preserved just like the Rev. Peter Denny’s was. And, if possible, be exhibited as a tribute to Iain and his craftsmanship.

 

[New Haven Neil]

Also thinking along those lines, a Tame Duck anthology of his works would be a nice memorial - perhaps with some donation to a favourite charity of his? @Not Jeremy ??

[James Harrison]

Very, very sad news.  My thoughts go out to his family and friends.  His 'Mainlines in Modest Spaces' and 'Designs for Urban Layouts' are well-thumbed volumes on my bookshelf and never fail to inspire. 

[D9020 Nimbus]

I was aware of his illness but I'm still shocked at this news. I don't think I ever saw one of his layouts in the flesh, but first encountered him in the old Model Railways magazine in The Bringewood Tales and, of course, the East Suffolk Light Railway. To me he is simply one of the most inspirational writers this hobby has seen; the track planning books he produced for Wild Swan, Atlantic and Kalmbach were all, each in their own way, excellent. His writing was always insightful and frequently humorous too.

 

Oddly enough, few of his layouts appeared in the "mainstream" press apart from in Model Railways — the only one I can recall is Woolverstone in RM.

 

I believe he was working with Wild Swan on his autobiography. I've no idea how far along this was but it would be nice if somehow it could be published as a tribute to him.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Like others, I’m deeply saddened by this news.  A big loss.  Iain wasn’t someone I ever met in person, and I knew his work mainly through his US publications for Kalmbach, including his HO finescale project layout Roque Bluffs (Model Railroader 2003 to 2004).  It was a ground breaking project for MR at the time, but presented by Iain as entirely normal and eminently achievable - which was the point of course.  His Shelf Layouts anthology of layout designs remains one of my most read Modelling volumes:

 

 

It is a beautifully balanced volume that even has three pages of delightful insights into how he drew his plans.

 

To me, Iain was able to write about US practice in the same accessible way others saw in his UK work and layouts (I can’t comment further on his Uk work as think I’ve only ever read one of his UK outline books: “Mainlines in Modest Spaces”, though I read that several times before returning it to the Library).  
 

My condolences to his family, and many friends here on RMweb and elsewhere, Keith.

Edited October 9, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke

[GWR8700]

Very sad to hear this.

I have always enjoyed reading his books over the years

[finelines]

4 hours ago, Stephen Freeman said:

Sad news indeed, I remember meeting Iain over a cup of coffee, when he was the editor of MORILL to discuss myself writing an article for the magazine on the club layout, he had moved on by the time that it appeared in the magazine, strangely enough despite being involved in West of England interests he did have a connection with the NorthWest, for interest one of the many books he wrote featured a photo of the rail bridge at Greenbank, Northwich, which was quite close to where the club was situated at the time. I hadn't realised it until he pointed it out to me.  I seem to recall that in his younger days he told me that he did attend the Mid-Cheshire College (not sure of details/capacity) , which was also close by, hence the photo opportunity.

 

I could never work out where Iain came from, he often talked about the Lake District although he was living in Caterham. I got the impression that he had transferred to Reigate from some other Art school. His dad was an expert on chemical fires so I supposed they’d moved about a bit. One weekend we had planned to meet at the shop and I got a message to watch the news. There had been a fire at Fawley and he was driving him to the site with Blues and Twos escort so he wouldn’t be coming. He was excited to find that his dads car had one of those flashing blue lights you could put on the roof out of the window!

 

Roger

[Turin 60]

Gutted to read of Iains passing, I was lucky enough to have met him a few times and even been a member of a quiz team with him once (I was so out of my depth!).

His writings will I think continue to inspire for generations to come which is only fitting. I always said if Iain wrote a knitting pattern it would be  just as entertaining as the books!

 

Thank you Iain.

 

John Bruce.

[Camperdown]

Very sad news.  I just met Iain the once, at some exhibition when he had a Riceworks stand.  He was very helpful in rummaging through his box of casting rejects, looking for bits I could use for the 3F I was building at the time.  Some years later I heard he had built an Indian BG 4-6-0 (Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway A-class, in 16.5mm gauge I think) that later appeared on ebay.  I was building my own Indian (NWR) 4-6-0 at the time and he responded to my email enquiry with some very helpful tips.

 

A truly inspirational figure.  If his autobiography ever does come out, I for one would buy it.

[57xx]

Very sad to read this news, RIP Iain.

 

I have several of his books and a DVD with him in, they are amazing resources. Although I know some didn't like his style of presentation, I found it very endearing. He also had a hand in a lot of Mainly Trains products of which I possess (you can tell just by looking at the illustrations) and will be a sad loss to the modelling world.

[StephenB]

I never met Iain but I feel that I know him from his many writings over the years. A brilliant modeller has left us. RIP sir.

 

 Stephen

[polybear]

I was lucky enough to meet Iain at least once - IIRC the last time was at a Scaleforum Exhibition (the last one perhaps?) when it was at Leatherhead; Iain was there with his layout (though I can't recall which one now) and it was apparent then that his illness was making things more difficult for him - such as placing locos on the rails - he persevered though, to his credit.  I made a point of thanking him for all his books as I found them to be excellent (I have more M.R. books by Iain than by any other Author) - it was apparent that Iain was a little taken aback at first, and rather pleased I think.

Many thanks Iain - and RIP.

[Mark Hamlin]

Very sad news indeed.

 

I was very lucky to meet Iain when he came out to New Zealand and gave a great presentation at that years Model Railway convention. Lovely man. I enjoyed everything he wrote, a truly inspirational modeller

Edited October 9, 2022 by Mark Hamlin

[mudmagnet]

I met Iain a couple of times at various shows, mainly RailWells, but also when visiting Titfield Thunderbolt Bookshop in Bath.

 

I have always enjoyed reading his articles in Model Railway Journal and several of his books. His writing style very easy to read and understand, with a sense of humour.

 

Will be sadly missed, RIP Iain

[cjlangdon]

So sad to hear that  Iain Rice, who was a tutor in the early days of Missenden Railway Modelling weekends died yesterday (Saturday 8th October 2022).

 

Iain ran weekend courses from his Model Railway Study Centre in Devon. I went, and  learnt more about locomotive kit construction in a weekend with Iain than I ever did from years of “advice” for members of my model railway club. His courses were very much "hands on" and the inspiration for the structure of the Missenden Abbey weekends. Iain was innovative and a brilliant (if at times controversial) writer for most of the model railway press and was a key contributor to  MRJ. He also made major contributions to the hobby introducing new techniques and materials, which he incorporated in the many layouts that he built and exhibited.

 

He will be a hard act to follow.

Edited October 12, 2022 by cjlangdon
correction

[Mike 84C]

Ian Rice is the most prolific author on my railway bookshelves and the most read. I never meet him and now I cannot but when I read his books I always feel as if I've had a conversation with him.

  My thoughts are with his family.

[Geep7]

So sad to hear the passing of Iain Rice. I was never lucky enough to have met him in person, but his books and magazine articles have and always will provide an inspiration to me. His writing style was warm and welcoming, almost as if you were in conversation with him.

 

I too first discovered Iain's writing's through his Roque's Bluff HO layout written for Model Railroader, and his other Kalmbach books, but I also have many of his other layout planning books, and they have probably influenced the way I design my layouts now.

 

My condolences to Iain's family and friends. Rest in peace.

[Pacific231G]

That is terribly sad news. I met Iain a few times at exhibtions but can't claim to have known him personally. I do though have several of his books and he has surely taken a place among the great model railway authors whose names will be known for as long as our hobby.

 

My sympathies to Ian's family and to those who could count him a friend

Edited October 9, 2022 by Pacific231G

[Tom Burnham]

Very sorry to hear that.  What I enjoyed about his North Cornwall and East Suffolk articles in "Model Railways" was that he treated them as models of railways, where the people and the business were just as important as the hardware.  It created that intangible sense of place and time.

[2mmMark]

14 hours ago, finelines said:

I could never work out where Iain came from, he often talked about the Lake District although he was living in Caterham. I got the impression that he had transferred to Reigate from some other Art school. His dad was an expert on chemical fires so I supposed they’d moved about a bit. One weekend we had planned to meet at the shop and I got a message to watch the news. There had been a fire at Fawley and he was driving him to the site with Blues and Twos escort so he wouldn’t be coming. He was excited to find that his dads car had one of those flashing blue lights you could put on the roof out of the window!

 

Roger

I think Iain might have come from East London originally, thinking back to comments he's made in articles and books.  He also wrote about cycling around Suffolk in his youth and coming across various branch lines that inspired him.  No doubt his obituary will shed a bit more light on this.

Mark

Edited October 10, 2022 by 2mmMark