Benefits of joining the Gauge O Guild?

[cromptonnut]

All I can find on their website is:

 

"The Gauge 0 Guild itself provides members with a quality quarterly magazine, an in-house newsletter, probably the best technical manual on railway modelling that is available, three exhibitions a year and a membership of friendly expertise shared between beginner and expert, young and old."

 

That in itself isn't enough to persuade me to part with £24.  Obviously, items such as "friendly expertise shared between beginner and expert, young and old" is something I can get on RMWeb.  A technical manual, well don't know what that contains, exhibitions I may or may not get to also doesn't necessarily help much particualrly if they're open to the general public anyway.  The majority of the website's contents are hidden away behind "member only" links.

 

For those who are members, what do you consider the benefits that make it worth joining?

 

For those who aren't members, why not?

 

Just curious as I'd have thought "reasons for joining" would have been quite an important page to have had on their website - unless I've missed it?

 

My modelling interests are comparatively "modern" - ie 1980s, whereas many of the O gauge layouts I have seen tend to be steam orientated.

[Guest dilbert]

All I can find on their website is:

 

"The Gauge 0 Guild itself provides members with a quality quarterly magazine, an in-house newsletter, probably the best technical manual on railway modelling that is available, three exhibitions a year and a membership of friendly expertise shared between beginner and expert, young and old."

 

That in itself isn't enough to persuade me to part with £24.  Obviously, items such as "friendly expertise shared between beginner and expert, young and old" is something I can get on RMWeb.  A technical manual, well don't know what that contains, exhibitions I may or may not get to also doesn't necessarily help much particualrly if they're open to the general public anyway.  The majority of the website's contents are hidden away behind "member only" links.

 

For those who are members, what do you consider the benefits that make it worth joining?

 

For those who aren't members, why not?

 

Just curious as I'd have thought "reasons for joining" would have been quite an important page to have had on their website - unless I've missed it?

 

Thank you for reminding me that I need to renew my subscritption for this year.  The UK price tag of £24 p.a. is well worth the sub. fee just for the G0G Gazette, let alone the other extras that are available.

 

HIghly recommended...dilbert

[greenglade]

Hi

 

Well, I've only been a member for 1 year so can't give a full account of the advantages of guild membership but if nothing else it's worth it for the Gazette alone, also cheaper entry fee's to Guild events, I went to Kettering last year, my first event and have to say that I enjoyed it greatly , I'm sure other long term members will be able to give a good list of reasons for joining up. I still need to take advantage of the full facilities, once I can make a proper start on my layout I'm sure i'll get more out of my membership but as I said... the Gazette alone is well worth the money.

 

Regards

 

Pete

[PatB]

The Gazette is a superb magazne, published quarterly.  If nothing else, the kit reviews are almost worth the 24 quid a year alone as they are more a detailed "how-to" on the builds.  Not only that, but your subscription gives you access to an archive of all the G0G Gazettes, right back to No 1 in 1957 or so.  Admittedly the really early ones are of limited use to the modern 7 mm modeller except as historical pieces to show just how far 0 Gauge has come but, of course, there are all the more recent ones with their excellent articles too.  Personally, I've been having a wallow in nostalgia and rereading all the stuff from the late 70s/early 80s when I was previously a member.  I was pleased to see that my twin motored RC Hymek got a mention c1980, which I'd forgotten about .

[Gilbert]

Been a member for just over a year - highly pleased with the GOG

Chris

[Kenton]

The Gauge 0 Guild itself provides members with a quality quarterly magazine

 

Certainly is a good quality magazine, though not sure if it is worth the subscription.

, an in-house newsletter

 

A waste of paper IMO

, probably the best technical manual on railway modelling that is available

 

possibly, but probably the only, so no competition. Best of one is a sort of given. Personally not found it of any great use.

three exhibitions a year

 

Positive, but who can attend all three? Membership not compulsory to attend so not a benefit.

and a membership of friendly expertise shared between beginner and expert, young and old.

 

A bit like RMWeb then?

 

I am a member, but always find it difficult to justify. I model in many scales, gauges and eras, yet it is odd that 'O' Guild membership is the only one to have survived. I ask myself why each year and usually conclude why not?

[switcher 1]

I once joined & found them to be very elitist, model engineers; as against being railway modellers, in the main.

 

Technical manual was way over my head.

The gazette was like a set of kit building instructions, or else "here's how I scratch build everything".

 

Maybe it's online presence has made them see the light of modern day railway modelling, I don't know, but £24 for what I got made it of no interest to me.

[trisonic]

It's like most of the National Societies if you are an Overseas Member - you pay through the nose for the privilege (compared to UK members), the magazines are given over to promoting shows at discount rates that you cannot attend and you find that the information, photos and technical information on RMWeb is better..............

 

Just my opinon, of course.....

 

Best, Pete.

[Poggy1165]

I'd say the GOG Gazette is worth having as it is the only place where you will find adverts for certain O Gauge suppliers. The articles vary of course, as with any other magazine.

 

The other main advantage is the much cheaper admission price for Telford. Of course if you don't attend, this is no use.  There's also an online members' forum which can be useful for specialist advice.

[coachmann]

Not a member but I get to read the GOG mag and its a good 'un. Some Gauge 0 members got on my tit some years ago as they seemed to think that quoting their GOG number before asking anything else entitled them to discount. Skills don't come cheap anywhere and I concluded they were 7mm modellers with 4mm pockets.

[Katier]

Personally I joined both the 3mm and O societies.. 

 

While part of the reason the O one lapsed was that I ended up modelling 3mm, to be honest I wouldn't re-sub when I do try 7mm ( still something I want to do ) as the benefits are minimal. 3mm for the same price gives 4 members only events ( plus area events), access to probably the biggest society shop of all of them ( 2mm included) as well as the Journal ( Mixed Traffic ) and support for a scale which is less accessible outside of the scale due to it's smaller user base. 

 

In short - no I don't think the O-guild is worth joining.

[Ravenser]

All I can find on their website is:

 

"The Gauge 0 Guild itself provides members with a quality quarterly magazine, an in-house newsletter, probably the best technical manual on railway modelling that is available, three exhibitions a year and a membership of friendly expertise shared between beginner and expert, young and old."

 

........................

 

My modelling interests are comparatively "modern" - ie 1980s, whereas many of the O gauge layouts I have seen tend to be steam orientated.

 

 

There is al;so  MIGO+1  , which covers modern image Gauge O + Gauge1 :

 

http://www.migo.org.uk/mambo/

 

The fact that there is a seperate modern image society points towards GOG being more steam focussed . However GOG is a very large and very long established society,with all the potential benefits  of being a large established organi8sation, and I believe has a lot of area groups 

[BrushType4]

There is al;so  MIGO+1  , which covers modern image Gauge O + Gauge1 :

 

http://www.migo.org.uk/mambo/

 

The fact that there is a seperate modern image society points towards GOG being more steam focussed . However GOG is a very large and very long established society,with all the potential benefits  of being a large established organi8sation, and I believe has a lot of area groups 

Is MIGO still actually going?

[Fay Singpoint]

There is al;so  MIGO+1  , which covers modern image Gauge O + Gauge1 :

 

http://www.migo.org.uk/mambo/

 

The fact that there is a seperate modern image society points towards GOG being more steam focussed . However GOG is a very large and very long established society,with all the potential benefits  of being a large established organi8sation, and I believe has a lot of area groups 

 

The last time I looked, MIGO+1 was looking a bit moribund. The GOG is not itself steam focussed (its an association rather than a club) it's just that many of its members choose to model steam and there is a broad spectrum of kit manufacturers to supply them. D&E modellers in 7mm are now better served by the kit manufacturers and new kits are appearing.

 

The quarterly magazine is a good read and my technical manual (now some 3/4" thick) gets a regular thumbing through. The trade shows are extremely useful and I probably purchase over 80% of my annual modelling requirements at these shows.

 

Is it worth £24 per year?? For me personally yes, and have been a member for over 15 years.

[PatB]

I once joined & found them to be very elitist, model engineers; as against being railway modellers, in the main.

 

 

 

Which is an unfortunate experience but, I would argue, not universal.  I was a (very) junior member for 8 years and found the local membership to be a bunch of wonderful folk determined to have fun with largish model trains in a variety of ways and who were remarkably tolerant and generous towards a dumb and tactless kid.  Yes, we had a couple of model engineers in the group, though they were hardly elitist, along with a few like dad and I who were doing what we could with slender resources and the products of Lima and Triang, plus the older guys who'd amassed substantial collections of Bassett-Lowke, Milbro, LMC and the like equipment when it was dirt cheap in the fifties when 0 gauge was out of fashion, and, of course, Doug Moorcroft with his collection of beautiful, professionally built stock.  I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world.  Of course, I don't know if things are still like that.  Maybe, as standards have risen, some of the fun has leaked out.

 

However, on current value for money, the subscription cost, as an overseas member is comparable to what four issues of any British model magazine would cost me at a newsagent here.  The difference being that most of the articles in the Gazette are relevant to 0 gauge modelling whereas maybe 25% of the typical broad based magazine is of direct interest to me.  Ergo I consider my subscription to be decent, if not outstanding, value for the Gazette alone.  I have no problem with a lack of operational or scenic articles because such subjects are applicable to all scales and are well covered elsewhere.  I pay a membership fee to a specialist society in order to obtain specialist information.  The G0G is quite a reasonable fit with that, IMHO.

[Guest dilbert]

It's like most of the National Societies if you are an Overseas Member - you pay through the nose for the privilege (compared to UK members), the magazines are given over to promoting shows at discount rates that you cannot attend and you find that the information, photos and technical information on RMWeb is better..............

 

Just my opinon, of course.....

 

Best, Pete.

 

I don't understand what your point is... the 2013 sub. rates for ordinary members are UK = £24, overseas = £30... and you call that 'paying thru the nose' ? I'm an expat as well and those rates are excellent when you compare like for like... in some cases the RoW rate is more than double the UK sub. rate.

 

The G0G is also a registered PCL.

 

Back to the OP and basically the question asked "is membership tp the G0G value for money?". i would say Yes - the last time I travelled to central London on the Heathrow Express, a single ticket, 2nd Class, cost £15;50, about £1 per mile and that was about 5 year ago... dilbert

[cromptonnut]

Interesting.  Lots of the replies so far focus on the magazine - which of course until you're a member you have no idea what's in it and whether it appeals to your particular modelling interests or skills.  I also see a mention of some of the small traders not having a website but advertising in the magazine - which is an ongoing bugbear of mine, in the 21st century I want to browse and shop online first.

 

I keep seeing "other benefits" mentioned but so far nobody has actually really gone into detail as to what these are?

 

I see discounts at certain shows, which is fine if you're able to go to that show.  But what about traders, do certain traders give discounts to guild members?

[woodyfox]

I was a member for a year. 

The magazine was good - at 4x copies that equates to about £6 a copy if you do absolutely nothing else with the membership (that's not too bad IMHO).

 

The Guild website was ok - back issues were a good source of reading - BUT - the vast, vast majority of articles were steam era based with very little post '68 stuff (or diesel of any kind really). I model a more 'modern era' at the mo so this was a major consideration in letting my membership lapse.

The forum on the website was OK - but it wasn't up to even the 7mm + section alone on here. 

 

IMHO it is elitist with the same few contributors/references over and again in the magazine. I know articles could be offered but the same few names repeated themselves consistently. I remember the complaining letters following an article on the construction of a 1/43 scale boat... 

 

I suppose I almost got the impression that the editorial team were treading on egg shells even mentioning anything post '68 with the 'establishment' waiting to strike out at the heresy!

 

I would join MIGO+1 but it seems to be 'hibernating' at the moment. I would say that in all fairness the contributors and editorial staff do offer their services voluntarily and for this I respect them greatly. I suppose, on balance, if the Guild offered a more balanced approach with more modern articles I would subscribe...

 

Stu 

[trisonic]

 

 

I don't understand what your point is... the 2013 sub. rates for ordinary members are UK = £24, overseas = £30... and you call that 'paying thru the nose' ? I'm an expat as well and those rates are excellent when you compare like for like... in some cases the RoW rate is more than double the UK sub. rate.

 

The G0G is also a registered PCL.

 

Back to the OP and basically the question asked "is membership tp the G0G value for money?". i would say Yes - the last time I travelled to central London on the Heathrow Express, a single ticket, 2nd Class, cost £15;50, about £1 per mile and that was about 5 year ago... dilbert

Well it is if you've never been able to attend any of their functions - but you're right it is not as bad as some other Societies that I've left....

 

I left after reading a good review of the Skytrex(sic) DMU. And thinking this is the biggest POS I've seen for a while and they want how much for it?

 

 Jeez is that what it costs? I can't remember the last time I used the train in England. Fancy living back there? Not.

 

Best, Pete.

[cromptonnut]

I suppose it could be argued that if "post 68" articles aren't submitted they can't feature them - but that would be a different thing if articles were submitted and turned down simply for being "non steam".  Ok we may not all be the best writers or photographers but surely that's what the magazine staff are there for?

 

Incidently, "Heathrow Express" is expensive because it's a fast service.  There are cheaper ways, just slower ones like the tube.

[84B Oxley]

I've been a member for at least twenty years and consider it good value for money. Apart from the magazine, whose quality seems to improve as the years go by, there is the saving I get in attending Guild shows so I reckon I get my money's worth that way.( I realise that benefit isn't much use if you live in the Outer Hebrides or the Scilly Isles) I model both steam and diesel and have never found any particular steam bias or anti-modern era  sentiment. I've had plenty of leg-pulling over my liking for copper-capped locos though and put up with it with good humour, it's only done in jest. Being a member of the Guild has meant that I have got to meet a wide range of modellers of all skill levels, there is help out there for just about anything you need, and as your skills and knowledge widen so you can help others too. The Guild even has a system that will help your descendants dispose of your models when you drop off your perch.

The website is used more and more and covers a vast sweep of subjects, if you have a specific query and put it on there it isn't long before you get an answer. A team of members, myself included, is currently engaged in the mammoth task of creating a searchable database of O gauge related items from a huge number of manufacturers both large and small. The Guild News section will help you to see what your local, or nearest, O gauge group is up to. I am a member of the Preston Group and write the reports for the News, they have helped to bring people from far and wide to our Open Days, so I would disagree most strongly with views expressed on here about the value of that section of the magazine.

To sum up: tangible benefits-a high quality, single scale magazine, access to the website, and reductions on entry to Guild sponsored shows. Intangible benefits: membership of a worldwide community of like-minded modellers. Through the Guild I have met many people who have become firm friends. £24? Worth every penny to me. But, you pays your money................

[trisonic]

84B Oxley - That's a very good argument for joining if you live in the UK. I shouldn't complain really, it is one of the better national organizations. I'm just jaded by "national organizations" by definition, they can never be "all things to all men".

So, I'm leaving this discussion....

 

Best, Pete.

[Donw]

For £24 I suggest you give it a go.

I joined about 25 years ago. I went along to the local group meetings met some wonderful people and made good friends some of whom turned out to be very skilled modellers. I ended up editing the magazine for four years met and made even more friends.

To a large extent what you get out of the guild is up to you.

 

Rgearding the comments about the content of the magazine and it being elitist. I certainly never had any such policy and those who have followed have neither. Yes the same people often feature because they are the ones who send articles in. I was keen to feature modern image 0 gauge but recieved few such articles. In order to get enough articles I did some arm twisting of my friends mostly we shared an interest in steam days. Yes there were comments about the boat but there were many in support. At the time the magazine was the only forum for ordinary members to make comments so it was one area I did not try to censor except for offensive remarks.

 

Interestingly though I find the Guild on-line forum more cumbersome than RMweb.

 

Don

[The Nth Degree]

I'm a fairly new member of the Guild and, apart from the benefits mentioned already, the greatest 'possible' benefit is that of your own contributions to the magazine.

 

It's true, and fair, to say that the vast majority of articles and reviews are steam-era based but that is only because of the majority of contributors model that era. If more modern-era contributors were to submit articles you would see quite a substantial interest - and possibly continuation - of that scene.

 

Personally, I'd love to contribute something to the magazine, and almost certainly will (perhaps from a beginners point of view) at a later date when I'm more confident in my skills and have something worthwhile to offer.

 

There is a reasonably regular flow of complaints about limited modern-image modelling in the Guild mag, but it won't change until the membership changes it. More and more people are entering 0 and S7 - and those people are more often modern-era modellers - but if nobody offers their experiences for the benefit of others the same argument will continue to surface.

 

Steve

[Guest Isambarduk]

I have belonged to the Gauage 0 Guild since 1974 and during that time I have lived in the UK and overseas but I consider my £24/£30 (or whatever it was at the time) to have been exceptionally well spent. Others have extolled the many benefits of being a member but I think one has been missed (apologies if I've missed it as this thread developed rather rapidly and I have just speed read it). 

 

The missed benefit is the Gauge O Guild Online Forum that I find to be excellent and compulsive reading each morning and evening for the advice and views given, for the humour and for belonging to the 'solid' virtual friendly society that has grown up there. 

 

And, yes, I will say it, even here: the £24/year is worth it alone for access to the G0G Forum because I find it so much more valuable to me than the comunity that has devekoped here.  OK, you may kick me out now if you wish.

 

David

 

aka DLOS