October 2010 issue of Railway Modeller

[APOLLO]

We do not know our luck with the 4 (mostly) excellent current mags. 5 if you count the Model Railway Journal.

 

I have quite a few 1960 / early 70's Railway Modellers and Model Railway Constructor mags. 'Modern Image' back then was D1733 in blue & XP64 blue & grey carriages !!

 

I buy a couple of mags (after a quick browse) most months, depends on content, though I agree RM seems to be best overall for content / value.

 

Also being an American O scale modeller, I find the current American mag Model Railroader is not at all very good value these days. I rareley buy it. Also the American Trains mag seems to have gone down the nick, too much (Yank) politics.. Classic trains mag however I allways buy (4 issues / year) - a brilliant mag.

 

Whenever I go into WHS in Wigan, allways an excellent selection of mags availiable - perhaps too many - and there seems allways someone browsing the railway / model railway shelf, a good sign.

 

Brit15

[westerner]

'Modern Image' back then was D1733 in blue & XP64 blue & grey carriages !!

 

Thats because it was!

[Andy Y]

the establishment have already received theirs and issued the nauseating tributes and kowtowing gratitude. .

 

Not necessarily so at all and a comment that several reviewers would understandably find offensive; some reviews are unnecessarily harsh, some miss things, some highlight and address areas of concern. Some present facts, some present opinion but in the main they are reasonably balanced and more considerate or courteous than the 'end of the world' criticisms that some armchair experts drag up because they can (rather than should) when the last thing they bought was in a Lima box.

 

 

 

[John B]

 

Also the American Trains mag seems to have gone down the nick, too much (Yank) politics..

Brit15

 

What other type of politics were you expecting? American, perchance?

[Pennine MC]

 

... But then would any of us just do the same, probably, or it would be a one off and potential loss of advertising revenue.

 

Strewth, that must be the most well-worn cliche in the whole history of cliches. If that had come from a newbie, I wouldnt have been too surprised, but...

 

 

[bike2steam]

Lovely stuff, just got round to buying a copy today while in 'Casterbridge', good to see our layout (Blandford) in there before the main article goes in, in the new year.Just a pity the picture of Wimborne Road bridge wasn't included, maybe next time:) .

[edward66]

I completely agree with the poster who objects to magazines sealed in a plastic bag if they happen to have a free booklet or something. When you have a choice of 4 mags each month I for one will never buy the one that I can't flip through before purchase.

I wonder what difference it makes to sales figures?

 

Edward

[Mod2]

I completely agree with the poster who objects to magazines sealed in a plastic bag if they happen to have a free booklet or something. When you have a choice of 4 mags each month I for one will never buy the one that I can't flip through before purchase.

I wonder what difference it makes to sales figures?

 

You may object Edward, that's your right; but we won't be having any lengthy debate about it, I'm afraid. It's a condition imposed by retail chains, we've done it endless times before and it never leads anywhere productive.

 

Thanks for your co-operation.

[tarifa]

I declined to buy it now the price has crept up to £3.60 and IMO it does have the same old stuff regurgatated.

 

Mike

[Neil]

I declined to buy it now the price has crept up to £3.60 and IMO it does have the same old stuff regurgatated. ...

 

I enjoy the Modeller and I write for it from time to time so I do have some vested interest but rather than leap to a 'oh no it isn't' defence I think it's worth coming at the 'same old stuff regurgitated' from a different angle. I too find it harder to find truly fresh stuff in the modelling magazines (I don't think that RM can be singled out here, and I will include niche market publications like MRJand NGIRM in my statement) thought being that it may have something to do with the number of years I've been in the hobby. If you've already seen lots then there's a likelihood that new layouts and models will contain echoes of something that has gone before. As the global sum of model railways increases it becomes harder to innovate. This is no doubt compounded by the recent (last ten years?) surge in rtr quality, excellence can now be bought rather than built again making it far harder to achieve stand out models that really take ones breath away.

 

Excellence, the new mediocrity?

[Wummyock]

As someone who has an interest in modelling the 1980's and have already made a start on a layout could someone tell me which one of the main mags I should purchase...? as most of them seem to me to have a bias towards western/southern practice, indeed HM seems to be stuck in the southern region RM in the GWR/Western region and as for MR they dont know what side of the fence they want to be on..! with all the new D&E locos/rolling stock and layouts now available I would have thought that the mags would have started to lean more towards this period. I would have thought that the time was right for one of the main mags to lean more towards the D&E period..?

 

 

There was a Modern Image mag out a year os so ago?Something to do with BRM,Modern Railway Modelling (I think) was the title only lasted 12 or so issues.

[johnstreet]

Modern Railway Modelling was brought out by the same company that publishes BRM and it just started to get nicely established when it was knocked on the head.

[lmsforever]

The RM has improved and is theno,one,BRM is not as good as it used to be MR has gone down hill since Mr Lee left Last months RM was extremely good with a wide spread of interests I have read it since the 1950,s and have seen many changes all for the better,it is encouraging that we have so many mags to read now good for the hobbies future.

[HerbertHopkins]

Modern Railway Modelling was brought out by the same company that publishes BRM and it just started to get nicely established when it was knocked on the head.

 

IIRC, MRM lasted for about three years but sales never really took off. Sad really, there has been an explosion in D & E modelling in the last few years, so a mag dedicated to it should have done well. Unfortunately this did not prove to be the case.

[Oldddudders]

I think I have to raid WH Smug on Euston Weds afternoon, and see what I can find!

Well I did pick up a few mags at Smugs in Euston a couple of weeks ago, although I didn't get much time to read them in the UK. Now have BRM and MR here, so am happy to say they are really quite good, but maybe not a subscription item for me. RM, on the other hand, I inadvertantly managed to leave on the Eurostar...... Doh!

[johnstreet]

Indeed, in the same way that ivy gets established and clings to a brick wall, MRM was doing exactly the same to Smiffs shelving!

 

 

Yes, that's the problem with any mag which is not published monthly!

[kevinlms]

If you assume for a moment that RMweb is the only forum existing and has 9k members, taking RM, (I think) having a circulation of about 40-50k, would mean there is still a large potential market to capture off-line with traditional analogue media. Throw in an easy to use and find website and your market exposure is much larger than concentrating on one or the other,

 

If we consider that as true, then within a few short years the Railway Modeller will be dead.

 

Personally I fail to believe that 80% of modellers don't use the internet. A recent club membership listing reveals that about 50% give an email address. Obviously some chose to *NOT* do so, presumably because of fear of spam. Nevertheless, that is enough to suggest that the majority DO use the internet and it is hard to see that figure ever going backwards.

 

 

Kevin Martin