john new

8 hours ago, MartinRS said:

The Illinois history site has been on-line, then down, then on-line again several times. I think its status was discussed here on RmWeb a couple of years ago. It looks to be down just now. The Wayback Machine link is https://web.archive.org/web/20130801000000*/https://www.illinoishistory.gov/ps/construct_mainstreet_aledo.htm

An example of the yo-yo state of public finances in the USA?

5 hours ago, john new said:

Several. Try a Pinterest search for card buildings to get lots of images with links to the various websites. Quality is variable. Also search free card kits, you should find a site that lists many many links, the downside some of the links are now dead.

 

..snip..

The Papermaua/Mather’s site @MartinRS links to is the one I was thinking of.

Several. Try a Pinterest search for card buildings to get lots of images with links to the various websites. Quality is variable. Also search free card kits, you should find a site that lists many many links, the downside some of the links are now dead.

There are also some free to download  on the Illinois history site. I think that is the correct state. Been a while since I visited it. 
 

There is, or was, another free site that has downloads for basic  Christmas village buildings.

Hope these help.

15 hours ago, TechnicArrow said:

OK, another long ol' post incoming! It's been a week of dark, cold evenings - which of course means lots of modelling...

 

We started this week with a purchase from Wizard Models. This was initiated by the need for some replacement Roof Vents for the old Airfix B-Set. In the best of traditions, things were added... more on those in later.

 

First, making a mess!

 

I removed the remnants of the moulded vents with scalpel and sandpaper (and tried to remove some of the more offensive paint streaks). Then I added the new vents. They come in a pack of 24, which seemed like a lot given I only needed 9 per coach. I discovered why as soon as I cut one off the sprue - they are very good at pinging off the bench, and are tiny enough to never be seen again!

 

The second coach received the similar treatment, but with a lot less work since the roof is still the original white. I am intending to keep the roofs different colours for a bit of variety, but will probably need to do some form of weathering. And sneaking into this photo is one of the additional purchases - some etched signs, being painted.

 

The other item in the basket was a whitemetal GWR bufferstop. The Peco Bullhead one I've been using up until now was a little bit too modern and overkill for a rural station, this one fits a lot better.

 

It is simply two cast-metal sideframes, with some wire for tie-rods, and a wooden beam. The sideframes include the rail in the moulding, to match Code 75; they do need some sleepers to clip into, but I seem to have hoards of them anyway. One advantage is that by butting up to the track, instead of clipping onto it, I effectively gain two inches of siding - very useful!

 

This was a pleasant evening's work - gluing down the siding and sleepers, then fixing in the frames, adding the tie-rods and beam, and giving everything a coat of black paint. The base rail and chairs were painted in the same reddish-brown I've used for the rest of the trackwork to blend it in, and a blob of extra paint hides the gap necessary to ensure the cast-metal frames don't cause a short! Some spare rails stored beneath it complete the look. I still haven't painted the face of the beam, but I might just leave it bare for now.

 

 

The next item I added showed up during a tidy-up of my modelling draw (aka the dumping drawer), and I thought I should add it before I lose it again! It's a point lever for the front siding, since it wouldn't be controlled from the signal box. I cut some extra sleepers to "extend" out from the point, then added the lever and some wooden footboards to either side. It's been placed far away enough that even the Autocoach won't hit it when passing into the siding, not that it should ever need to!

 

Painted up, and with a shunter posed nearby, it adds a lovely focal point to the scene, viewed from the Yard Gate. And oh look, there's one of those signs too...

 

And finally (I did warn you it's a long post) - the bridge. No, I still haven't painted it properly, I've been building some more structure instead. Once again, it all starts by making a mess!

 

The goal here was for the bridge to look (and be) solid, especially with the wing walls - but since the lever frame has expanded to 8 levers, it takes quite a chunk out from where I would usually put formers. It also means the fascia and "Inner fascia" around the lever frame don't really have much to secure to. Nevertheless, here it all is! I've topped it off with a card road deck, and a strip of paper for the embankment; I'll come back and papier-mache that once I've sorted the rear wingwall too.

 

But there's a trick up my sleeve - so that I can still get to the levers and/or trackwork to fix any problems that may arise, the entire structure is removable. Achieveing this meant even more cutting and gluing was involved, to keep it solid without gluing to the baseboard! There are a pair of low wooden strips glued to the board which locate the bridge in position, but everything else is held together with corrugated card formers, UHU, and hope. It's honestly surpringly solid! Now I just need to paint it...

 

So finally, can I get this week's work in one photo? Not quite, sorry bufferstop!

 

, I've just spotted I've got some black paint on the backscene... that's joing to be a right pain to hide. Oh well, you can't win them all!

Like the use of card, a very much ignored medium these days.

On 18/01/2024 at 19:49, relaxinghobby said:

Just because a railway company had any particular region mentioned in their name did not actually mean they ever got any where near it, just had aspirations to reach there someday in a future expansion. For example the Mid Wales Railway which never quite reached either end  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Wales_Railway ) or the during the Railway Mania period of the1830s.

Another would be the Manchester and Milford Railway never got to Manchester or Milford Haven.

https://longlostrailways.blogspot.com/2013/01/manchester-and-milford-railway.html

 

Must be many others.

Hull, Barnsley & WR Junction. Hull (tick) Barnsley (close but no cigar) but did reach collieries in the West Riding.

3 hours ago, mullie said:

That sounds like an adventure!

 

We haven't even got as far as deciding where to live, to stay here or move closer to where our children live which is also closer to where we are from.

 

South Dorset is a stunning place to live but can be frustrating to get anywhere else as connections are not good. Everything is good while I am able to drive long distances.

 

Needless to say our children don't want us to move, we were the same about our parents moving house from where we grew up.

 

We still have time to ponder as we both have a few more years at work.

At the risk of going off topic we have just been through the same dilemma as the family are all now over 300 miles away but by random happenstance grouped within a 30 mile radius of each other. That includes both our children/grand children but also both my sister and my wife's sister. We have decided to stay put as whilst moving appears good on paper neither of us likes the prospect of having to restart building the social support network we have here as a consequence of living here on the Island just short of 37 years!

Outcome we are investing in a new garage roof (warm type) so that the space can become a proper hobby area without all the condensation and white mould issues that have cut that opportunity out for all the time we have lived here. Everybody will be different but the social network where you currently live, if you have a strong one, is a very significant anchor. Knowing you I am pretty sure you have a similar strong social network too.

Plus as you say, a stunning place to live despite the periodic gales. (66mph forecast for tomorrow evening!)

1 hour ago, melmoth said:

There was a builder in Weymouth called Crumbleholme. No longer trading.

True, and one of the better one's too. On same lines there were two in York I recall from living there in the late 70s and early 80s:-

C Hopcutt (A butcher's shop on Burton Stone Lane)

A Buckle & Son (Joiner's shop, which IIRC was on Gillygate).

A possible is very careful use of a scalpel point almost parallel to the glazing and gently scraping off the no-smoking text; sort of as  as you would use a chisel on wood. I recently used it as a technique in getting some white paint off the glazing strip on an r-t-r coach where the previous owner had, for some unknown reason, blocked off several of the windows which on the prototype MK1 full brakes were clear glazed with bars behind.

2 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

That's a bit of a stretch as an argument, though, as there's no "RTR" equivalent of the football, opera or pub to offer a choice.

But there is/are the televised game(s) and home drinking options, so I believe that it is a reasonable, if not exact comment.

My tuppence worth re kits -v- rtr, at least for locomotives, is that there was a step change that occured around the time of Model Railway Journal's introduction.  Not the the only factor, MRJ  wasn't cause and effect by any means but it was a reflection of the changes. Etched brass kits of varying buildability and a higher standard of fidelity was being promulgated as the way to go. Around a similar time, if my memory of forty to fifty years back is correct, Wills bodyline kits to go onto modified r-t-r chassis also stopped. That didn't stop the expert builders but did cut out a stepping stone progression. That is especially true for locomotives needing valve gear. Loco kits would perhaps begin to reverse their decline in popularity if the valve gear came as a pre-built item. Sadly, as the r-t-r market has changed getting hold of spare chassis as separate items is also more difficult as evidenced on threads like the Jintystiens one.

We still have relatively easy to build plastic kits from several manufacturers  but then a gap to what, for beginners in loco building at least, appears a daunting jump into etched kits. 

I can't speak for others but I have decided that I need to overcome that issue (Is fear the word?) and have booked a Missenden course so that I don't screw up the B!6 kit I have in hand to make. I can solder brass, and have done so but as the brass chassis kit I tried as my first attempt didn't go well I didn't try another. The descriptions of having to hammer brass pins in valve gear, having to work with several different melt point solders and the like was off putting.

To sum up, I do still build stuff, and enjoy making things, but over the last few years or so that effort seems to have gone more into assisting my wife in making theatre props than into my model railway items. With that it has been simple weathering jobs.

1 hour ago, Darius43 said:

YouTube videos of exhibitions are nice but I find the background noise of everyone conversing quite distracting.  I don’t notice it attending exhibitions so I must be tuning it out.  That’s not really possible with YouTube.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

Just turn the sound off, for those videos. I never have it on for exactly that irritating background noise reason. I'm not that bothered if I miss any DCC sound layouts as a consequence.

On 17/01/2024 at 14:51, ELTEL said:

My concern is that are we losing visitors to exhibitions because they wait for a YouTube video to be uploaded 

I guess some of the YouTubers may be actually taking revenue away from visitors who would have paid admission to the exhibition.

 

Any thoughts 

As someone who does view YT mod-ex videos I don’t think it is what determines my wife and myself to make a go/no go decision to visit the shows in easy reach. Living where I do most shows are (1) over an hour away to drive (2) SWMBO has the car on Saturdays for her interests so although we can arrange alternatives for her to get to choir it is a pre-plan event. YT also means I get to see top class events that are located way out of our area.
 

What does make a difference to whether or not I visit a local show or not is the distance to it, can it be combined with other visits and most importantly the on the day weather. A thought of whether it will or won’t be on YT isn’t a factor for us.
 

Last Saturday as an example, we planned to go to the small Beaminster show and went, if it had been hammering down that would have been a no-go decision due to roads flooding. It is on YT now as it happens but we still went. 
 

Where firstly DVDs and now YT probably HAS made a difference is society meetings. Back in the 70s if you wanted to view trains it was by going to a club/society event for a cine or slide show presentation. The same for hearing talks back in the day. Those have been replaced by YT etc.

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

A thought: Clubs and individual modellers might consider having a Toob presence*, and try to gather some followers/revenue that way, rather than losing the revenue and exposure to other Toob streams! 

 

* For example, a club might appoint a "Media Exposure member" to the committee.  They'd probably have to be one of the younger members...

 

The SLS have been trying to do so and find a replacement for me as I stepped down recently as PRO after around 20 years in the role. It comes back to the whole demographic of club and society members. The current role model of clubs and societies peaked in the 50s and 60s Any volunteer(s) to take this forward into the current era?.
 

We would happily consider granting a complimentary membership to a suitable volunteer as there is a precedent. PM me if interested.

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

From a retail perspective a lot will depend on commercial variables and business model, just the same as for manufacturers. The fact that one retailer or manufacturer is thriving or going downwards doesn't necessarily say anything about any others. Some businesses have lower costs, are more efficiently managed, understand their business better and are just better at what they do. Businesses thrive and businesses fail. Of course there are macro issues affecting business, but again the particular impact on a given business is not an immutable force of nature but is influenced by how it responds to conditions and adapts. Too many people see the plight (or achievements) or one business and assume it represents an entire segment of the economy.

Overall the numbers may be changing; however, I suspect it is like the clothing supply chain. Some biggies over my lifetime have gone (C&A and BHS), others are doing less well (New Look, John Lewis and M&S) but we all still buy clothes just from other outlets.

i haven’t stopped buying new models but recently Hattons as one amongst several haven’t been my first choice, like those clothing product purchases mentioned above other suppliers (TMC, Rails  and Kernow) have for whatever reason been my preferred choice. 

26 minutes ago, MartinRS said:

The prototype is often seen from some distance and not unusually from a vantage point higher than the railway. As far as realism goes I remember seeing the layout Gransmoor Castle which mimicked this view. Its high level of detail and rolling scenery worked well. Some years later I read in a computer magazine (or book) that a virtual reality effect started to trick the brain when a constructed object (in that case a computer screen) occupied a certain angle of the observers field of view. (IIRC it was 85°). I have since wondered if the effect could be replicated with a large (floor to ceiling?) layout. I have no intention of constructing such a layout though I suspect the impact on the brain would be interesting to experience.

Fully concur. I mentioned somewhere ages ago in a past thread one of the railway magazines I read in my youth, so late 50s or early 60s, covered viewing angles and perception.  If you imagine a triangle with the eye at its apex it widens as it leaves your head. IF you break that triangle with a close in but tall object such as a backscene board, low relief buildings or similar (i.e., tall & on a narrow baseboard) it looks as big as a flat wide baseboard with low level scenery. All comparable to that idea of the 85%.

Re floor to ceiling layouts wasn't that partially done IIRC with the Chee Tor layout in N and by Robin ?? De-Fraiesnet* in his large narrow gauge layout. The opposite was the MRC layout (Chiltern Green?) in that was very wide to get the same effect. What they have done too plus other effects with Copenhagen Fields.

* not sure how his name is spelt.

10 minutes ago, RJS1977 said:

Well said, Wombat!

 

Whilst the modern railway may not capture the imagination to the same extent as it did in past years, there are certainly young people about who are just as fascinated by it as I was 30 years ago. There are two young lads in my club who seem to spend most of the time at the clubhouse discussing (and showing video of) what they saw last week and what they want to go out and see this week. A lot of it goes over the heads of some of the older members....

 

What the modern railway does lack though is the operational complexities of things like shunting, and turning locos.

I made a very similar point in a recent Editorial in the SLS Journal regarding there being youngsters out and about filming etc. There is interest out there, but their cohort consumes and enthuses in a modern way not a 1960s way.

1 hour ago, Mark Saunders said:

Nothing travels faster than bad news and good news doesn’t sell newspapers!

 

 

Fully agree, when do you read a headline story after a Bank-Holiday saying something like "5 million car journeys made safely yesterday"? It isn't that people are ghoulish but they are curious. 

Future of the hobby. Perhaps a good exemplar is use of the horse. At the turn of the 19th into the 20th I suspect the long-term future of the horse was being debated in similar terms. Project forward a century and a quarter and yes there are far less horses around but use of horses hasn’t died out.

3 hours ago, Market65 said:

Good evening, everyone. This evening, thanks to John Law, knoxrj, Philip Wheldale, all on Flickr, we have four more photo’s to enjoy.

 

The first one is a view of H&BR, 0-6-0, number 37, on Springhead shed. This is undated.

 

 

The second photo’ is at South Cave station, on the H&BR, with an unidentified 0-6-0, which appears to be number 118, if I have read the number on the bufferbeam correctly. Again, no date is given.

 

 

Third, we have a photo’ of D49/3, 335, Bedfordshire, with oscillating cam operated Lentz poppet valves, rather than the rotary cam valves of the /2 Hunts. It is seen at the Bessingby bridge, Bridlington, on Sunday the 11th September, 1932.

 

 

Finally, here’s a photo’ of 47623, departing Hull, on train, 1A24, the 15.15 Hull to Kings Cross, on the 18th June, 1989.

 

Best regards,

 

Rob.

The top one is surely a 2-4-0 not an 0-6-0?  Good photo despite the caption error.

I think one point being missed is that the age and volunteer thing is three levelled, perhaps even four levels if you split my (1), it isn’t simply young versus old. (1)  School age- through to parenthood/kids leaving home (2) the middle band and (3) are/have been involved but becoming less able physically to assist in grunt work.

My wife and I plus other friends have noticed a drop off in volunteers coming forward across all hobby/pass time areas for example in youth theatre and dance schools, parents not offering to assist in plays and shows their kids are in and so on. What I first noticed in the late 90s was that the middle age band was decreasing in volunteering and joining clubs, I.e. the late 40s-50s age group. At the time I noticed it I was on the camera club committee, we’d always been pretty much a join around retirement age type of club and that didn’t matter whilst the new blood of age 50ish newbies continued to match the drop out rate. That inward recruitment of what I roughly categorised above as band (2) was decreasing which did matter.

I think something similar is happening now for model railway clubs, that inward stream of people with free time after the children have left home is a smaller volume than the club membership fall off as the more elderly members become less able and finally unable to do the heavier grunt work at show set-up and breakdown. I am still active in the hobby; however, as I am now 71 there is less I can physically do to assist at a show however much the brain tells me I want to.
 

Add to this changes in modern society all result in the hobby being consumed differently. As an example my wife and I did a few things yesterday over towards Bridport because the club had a small show over at Beaminster which we took in and enjoyed. If we hadn’t physically gone I could have caught up with it today on YouTube. 
 

4 hours ago, class26 said:

I wasn`t suggesting for one second UK trains should travel with doors open , keep your hair  on , merely trying to stimulate debate. Of course I have no idea about other services on other days but H & S in the UK is turning people into brainless morons unable to think for themselves. H &S in the UK is out of control and common sense in many (not all) instances would suffice. It stops people thinking for themselves 

A simple example which we have all seen is on coffee cups "warning, the content of this cup might be hot" and similar, If I buy a coffee I hope it is hot. if I turn on the hot tap in a hotel it had better be hot,. I don`t need to be told it MIGHT be hot. 

Re the coffee cups warning, very sensible precaution from the supplier to give a warning and also, presumably, try to exempt them from complaints when the machine delivers water that is too hot. I guess many of us have occasionally been hit by almost scalding water from a vending machine (I have been) hence the warning. Whether that overrides any claims arising from water dispensed that really does scald due to a faulty or badly set machine is ?????.

3 hours ago, stewartingram said:

Changing the subject a little, but still relevant to the Warley NEC show...

 

Does anyone have a complete list of all the 1:1 exhibits that were shown over the years? Including not only the 'centrepiece, but the extras such as n.g. locos, wagons, and buses etc ?

Where would our 1/6 scale live steam “Orion” fit? We had it on the SLS stand one year.

9 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

With the Warley Club's decision to no longer hold an exhibition, it's struck me that this is likely to be an increasing pattern for the near future - because of the advancing ages of the various organisers. 

 

I'm reminded of the loss of the likes of Wolverhampton's, Southwold's and Woking's, all of which it's my privilege to attend and all excellent shows. Which will be the next to go, I wonder? 

I thought the decision was to review and downsize (I.e. back to their show roots) away from the NEC, not abandon having a show.

20 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Especially if they're a load of old blokes who have known each other for thirty years.

The genuine problem of recruiting new club and society members is how to make them welcome? This is compounded if all the prospective younger newbies (say under 30-40) on first arriving see is just a swathe of grey and white hair. 

There is also the time of day issue, one of the local groups I am in (not a modelling one) meets on Monday mornings, suits us as we are either retired or relevantly self-employed. That time though discourages newbies from those who aren’t as they will be working. The other local club (WMRA, A Rly model club) which I have rejoined after a several years break is evenings, there are a few younger people but the wet and dark evenings for driving can deter attendance at times.

50 minutes ago, ruggedpeak said:

Not entirely accurate to say the cruise ship hordes don't spend much money or arrive not hungry. Cruise ship spend varies enormously according to the port. Escaping the ship and its food and drink can be a priority for passengers. The Norwegians claim they don't spend much as no one gets off at Bergen, but then no one goes on a fjords cruise to look at Bergen, it is for the on-ship experience of being in the fjords. However try and find a taxi or restaurant table in Funchal, Madeira when a cruise liner arrives, or get on any of the well known attractions and you will have your work cut out. The entire city changes its dynamic when the cruise ship approaches.

 

According to WCR the Jacobite brings £20m to the economy, whilst cruise passengers contribute £40m+ across Scotland according to Visit Scotland:

 

"Visitor spend
2.9 It is estimated that £40.6 million was spent directly onshore by cruise passengers and crew in Scotland in 2019, representing 0.4% of all (overnight and day) tourism spend in Scotland. This,
however, is a conservative estimate and does not include indirect and induced effects or some spend on tours booked through the cruise operator that is retained in Scotland. In addition, the contribution of cruise spend as a proportion of the local tourism economy varies significantly from port to port and their hinterlands and is estimated to be 2.54% of all tourism volume and 1.50% of expenditure in the Highlands region.4 Spend is focused in parts of the Highlands and Islands and the Central Belt. The five marquee ports accounted for £9 in every £10 spent by cruise passengers and crew in 2019."

 

https://www.visitscotland.org/binaries/content/assets/dot-org/pdf/research-insights/cruise-tourism-in-scotland.pdf

 

So cruise passengers do spend money and contribute.

 

All of which begs the question, if the train is so important to the Highlands and WCR reportedly care so much, why on earth would they waste money on expensive lawyers to engage in a futile and counter-productive JR rather than do the work required by law and just get on with running trains?

 

Back in the Autumn when the asylum barge was arriving here at Portland Port there was a threat of a violent protest between the pro and anti factions and a cruise ship as a consequence missed out the Portland stop. Local press coverage stated that that one day lost stop cost the south Dorset economy circa £400K. Cruise ships bring money into an area from the berthing fees paid to the port, hiring transport to/from the port plus any spend by the tourists locally. The boat may also get victualled by local suppliers etc. It even trickles down to things like the local choirs hired to serenade the departing vessel and the canon crew from the local fort museum who fire a shot as it departs. 

1 hour ago, David Bigcheeseplant said:

I have been to Warley at an exhibitor, trader and a paying visitor in 2023 and was exhibition manager of Railex in Aylesbury from 2005-2019. I had heard rumours after the last show it would be the last one so was not surprised to see the announcement.

Putting Warley together is a huge undertaking with eye watering costs done by volunteers just organizing Railex for me was a major undertaking and with no shows for a couple of years due to covid made me realise I wanted to step down, as the effort to organize a show became a chore not a pleasure. I expect this what the organizing team at Warley felt too.

I had noticed that the number of smaller suppliers at Warley had been getting smaller year on year. I think the cost of taking a stand and the costs just didn’t make it viable for most traders. I think my only purchase in 2023 was a book.

What of the future of model railway show? We have lost some major shows since covid, and I sadly think there will be more. Nobody will stage a show if it’s going to make a loss. Just because shows have been a success in the past does not guarantee they will work in the future. Many local shows still have the same look and vibe as they did in the 1970s and 80s. Costs are increasing and staging a show is a major undertaking plus finding the people who want to and are capable of organizing an event is always an issue.

I must admit Warley did drain all life out of me, although but I think that was the NEC venue itself and the November dates.

David

Total cost of attendance including the accommodation, general expenses and van hire etc., was why the SLS stopped taking a stand. We were still taking income from selling our Society books and photographs but overall making a loss. Warley club were excellent hosts, the stand fees weren’t excessive, but overall it ceased to be worthwhile. Add to that the previous volunteers were giving up, the age demographic again, and younger people (by that I mean even the 50+ age band) were not coming forward therefore those doing it were all either already 70 or getting close to it.