Robert MacKinnon Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 In complete make-believe now if you could have a full size railway and its environment (place, landscape ect) of your dreams to yourself in someway (defying all possibility and historic and contemporary, lets say the railway ran for you and you could take a hand at what you like , enginedriver for the day, signalman ) would you still want a model railway? Please note that posts may be used for my research project (see signiature ) , posters will be kept anonymous when writing up the project Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 I would. and there are already plenty of preserved lines and stock I can go and ride on/look at so I don't think I'd go for a 12in-1ft layout. I might move up a couple of gauges on the modelling front though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jim s-w Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Id reject the full size one and stick with what im doing in a heartbeat. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted February 15, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 15, 2013 Rob, It's an interesting thought, but once you've shot all the logic to bits and you have your railway, you've still got to operate it. Even allowing for the fact the logic will allow free labour and no working overheads, you'd still require a huge amount of manpower, that also has to be coordinated. With no rules as such, you'd end up with the Brunel type scenario, where strong minded individuals would be trying to force each other out of the way 'with their superior velocity'. Regards Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaneofFife Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Yes a piece of or all of the Far North or West Highland Lines please. A heritage service using classic diesel traction 26, 27 and 37s and Mk1s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheffield Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 The problem with operating a full size railway is that the passengers and customers are real, and it is well known in railway circles that running the railway would be fine were it not for passengers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 15, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 15, 2013 The interesting thing is that I did (in some respects) - I have planned full size operations and track layouts (you can even see part of one of the track layouts in an RMweb thread - not even a thread I started as it happens) and I can go out and watch certain trains doing exactly what I envisaged in my mind would be the most efficient way to do a particular job before getting my lords & masters to accept my ideas and get someone to pay to do the necessary millions to turn them into fully signalled track layouts. I have planned train services from scratch and then watched them operate so overall I've probably had quite a good time doing things in 1:1 scale. Meanwhile modelling was constrained by lack of space & time but the urge has remained and hopefully will be gradually realised - but it is a tad more difficult to do it yourself instead of getting someone else to spend piles of money paying umpteen folk to create what you first thought of. And it's not unusual, although infrequent, to come across front-end railway operators who are also modellers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinWalsh Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Rob, Interesting concept but I doubt I would go for the full size railway, I struggle to find enough time at the moment for my duties and works on 1:8 miniature railway operations. That being said, we do operate our miniature railway to full-size practice and safety rules so I get a little of the taste of 1:1 experience without the intensity and pressure of mass movements. Kev Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Natalie Graham Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 My interest is in building models. Railways just happen to be what I build models of. So no interest in having a full size one rather than the model. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 I would take a model over a fantasy full-size line any time. I'm interested in trains, of all sorts and sizes, yet I rarely go and look at them. The idea of all the maintenance and preparation fills me with dread. I guess that's why I don't volunteer on a preserved line Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert MacKinnon Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 One of my (rather drawn out!!) model railways is supposed to be a reminder of when I did have my own selection of Single Line Terminii to play trains on - So I suppose the answer to that one is a "Yes, I would still want a model one" - You dont get half as wet changnig the points at 2mm scale Thanks for this, on the 'you don't get half as wet changing the points at 2mm scale' I guess in a sense then model railways might be seen as more comfortable railways without all the 'noise' if you could call it that (weather, hard work, passengers) something which other posters pointed out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 15, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 15, 2013 Thanks for this, on the 'you don't get half as wet changing the points at 2mm scale' I guess in a sense then model railways might be seen as more comfortable railways without all the 'noise' if you could call it that (weather, hard work, passengers) something which other posters pointed out. And it's cheaper - it is a rather different ball game when you've got someone laying out £18million to pay for what you've said is needed to do a particular job! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hi All, As I am part of the Didcot gang and a modeller, I would have to say that one hobby feeds the other. I am not the only one either. At last count I know of about 10 active model makers / model collectors in the loco works alone. So I guess I jointly 'own' (its a bit more complex than that but for the sake of this argument!) with my fellow society members a full size model railway as well as modelling in 4mm scale. Didcot is in many ways the ultimate model railway as it has all the features that people usually wish to incorporate on a model (engine sheds, station buildings, signal boxes, etc) with a range of locos and rolling stock from all areas of work from the smallest shunters to the largest express machines, but it is all full size! This in some ways is more so at Didcot (and places such as Mangapps, Fawley and they are real examples of one man's train set so it could be interesting for them to be interviewed about this subject) than it is on a preserved line as to some extent, they have to accept the track they are given and run a timetable whereas Didcot, apart from the loco shed and bits at the front that is quite rightly protected as is, the rest of the track was up for grabs and was laid out to be representations of things such as a chunk of branch line, fully operational signals, and so on. The Railmotor shed is the latest expression of this and future plans include the broad gauge engine shed, the building of the station at the back end of the site and the extension of the branch line to the front gate. So, like a model railway, it is never really finished either! I enjoy both the full size heavy engineering (more scientific in some ways) and the model (in 4mm scale a more artistic pursuit) but it doesn't mean that I like one more than the other. I suppose one appeal is that with the models, I am not constrained by such inconveniences as boiler certificates, large sums of money or cold winter workshops. On the other hand though, I greatly enjoy the camaraderie, the physical and mental challenge and the sense of achievement of working on the real thing. I wouldn't have one without the other. I hope this rambling effort helps somewhat! All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Isn't that a bit like asking a painter whether they'd bother to paint a scene if they could own it? Monet enjoyed his garden at Giverney but still painted it. In many ways a model too is an artistic representation of a real object or place not a poor substitute for it and much of the pleasure is in the creation of that miniature representation. Of course the model may be a miniature representatin of something you'd also like to have in reality but that's surely two different satisfactions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I went through a similar senario but with a full size double deck bus. When I bought it in 1971 the idea was to restore it to original livery and drive it along its old routes and watch as everyone around Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield drooled nostalgia at the sight of my old Daimler. Like isn't like that though, and one mans nostaligia is another mans indifference. We build miniatures for ourselves in private and we dont ask others to like what we do. When I wus younger I had a vision of buying the old Down Slow track between Rhyl and Abergele and running a local passenger service from the Goods Yard using LNWR Coal Tanks, 2-4-2T's and a Prince of Wales. Stock was to have been the old LNWR Camping Coaches, refurbished for passenger use and carrying full LNW plum and flake white livery. Dream on sunshine! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 On a full sized railway you could be driver, signalman, guard or shunter for the day. On a model you can be (and usually have to be) all at the same time and stop when you feel line a break without upsetting plastic passengers. Plus on a model you don't have to worry about injuring real passengers, killing entire forests of trees to print Elf and Safety regulations, the species of animal collectively known as "management" or, if you model between 1948 and 1994, the most dangerous hazard of them all - the British Rail sandwich. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 ..... the most dangerous hazard of them all - the British Rail sandwich. ^^ This in particular. Although occasionally an equally dangerous hazard is created when you try to make your own sandwich...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 ^^ This in particular. Although occasionally an equally dangerous hazard is created when you try to make your own sandwich...... Particularly if you are horsing around..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Reid Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 But then you would have had to come to us for Depot Access (at a premium to discourage you from getting in the way of our own work) and then what with the fuel and maintenance costs, you would have woken rapidly from that dream.... Stick to 1:76.2 - money scales down! The interesting thing is that I did (in some respects) - I have planned full size operations and track layouts (you can even see part of one of the track layouts in an RMweb thread - not even a thread I started as it happens) and I can go out and watch certain trains doing exactly what I envisaged in my mind would be the most efficient way to do a particular job before getting my lords & masters to accept my ideas and get someone to pay to do the necessary millions to turn them into fully signalled track layouts. I have planned train services from scratch and then watched them operate so overall I've probably had quite a good time doing things in 1:1 scale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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