john new

It has been said before but everything around this series should be making us rethink whether what we do currently regarding recruitment, into which ever part of the wider railway interest group/hobby we are active in, could achieve more if approached differently. I know as SLS PRO I will be re-evaluating the recruitment posters I will be using over the next three major shows we have stands at. No time to do much else before Warley, first of the three, but I have an idea or two for Ally Pally and York.

Announced at end of programme about applying for series two. Whether you do or don't want to particpate personally it is excellent news for the hobby that a 2nd series is on the cards.

Maggie is one of the York MRS kids corner crew too. Always a popular event.

Interesting challenge overcome tonight. Old solid wheel Jinty (47606) given to grandsons as a runner a while back but it had now stopped. Took body off, checked for the obvious (A bent in pick up causing a short to the chassis), oiled it and away it goes round the test track. Little bit of running to work the oil through and with the Gaugemaster it will even crawl. (Job done - not!) Put the body back on properly and screwed it on - dead as a door nail. Body part on (but loose at front end) and it runs. Problem I think was that the springyness in the wiring was pressing against the body and lifting the brush off the commutator. Never had that happen before in umpteen years of running Tri-ang. Took a fair bit of fiddling with the wires to get it to avoid it recurring.

These ideas are not new. Back in the early 60s (or even late 50s) there was an article in one of the then extant monthlies called "No points but not pointless." Simple oval, memory suggests TT, with very, very basic scenery and buildings but aimed at getting beginners to see what the hobby was. Not for regular shows but going out "on the road" to fetes and the like. Sadly it is rarely, if ever, done these days. The first step along the journey is always the hardest one.

This is a good idea, and I have seen it done but not recently. It is an idea I have already had, therefore it possible you may see something resembling the suggestion on the SLS stand at Alexandra Palace. Not enough time to do anything other than GMRC related posters before Warley.

The other snag is finding volunteers able to do these modern set-up tasks, even if the Committee/Board (or whatever its called in XYZ Society), accepts it needs to be done and the existing role holder is prepared to accept the changes.

Bearing in mind the recording (rather than showing) order of these episodes as I was watching this heat one recording last night my thought was 'did their mountain inspire the 'high heels" for the Scrapbox challenge?' That was in the last heat to be recorded.

By coincidence spotted that series on YouTube yesterday (after searching for something else) but have not yet had any time to watch it.

It was suggesting addresses in the 2,500 range. If it was a genuine list, then from the perspective of sending a mail-shot out to a targeted audience buying such a list (of ticket purchasers?) could appeal to some businesses.

Thank you

Can a rep from Warley club confirm that the emails received today by both the SLS and YMRS asking us to buy the address list for attendees at the show are issued as SPAM? We are not interested and are just deleting the emails but I can see some businesses might want such a list if it is genuine sale offer (although how would it pass GDPR?) so could fall for the scam if that is what it is. (NB Mods please move post o the Warley thread if more appropriate there)

Yes. Through to Queen Victoria. A fair bit done on Huntingdon Beaumont (very definitely pre-steam) then through the Napoleonic War era and why the horse got displaced by what was then the upcoming first modern image i.e. steam. Through the reign of the Georges and then Q Vic.

Just watching E3 again. Anyone else notice the bloopers - all three layouts were given the same track plan! (Edit - First time round - correct later)

The scenes are wide ranging, so far we have ranged from - Flanders in WW1 South Coast in WW2 Modern electrics in E London ?? On the Dr Who layout Several parts of the world on Laurie's Sc-fi layout Inland and coastal settings. Had some 009 on the Flanders layout. Had some N on this week's winner Forced perspective techniques (In week 1 and week 3) Urban (Missenden and the E Enders layouts) Rural and desert settings. Ordinary - v- fantasy settings. Out of the box thinking (with varying success) in the scrap-box challenge. It has gripped two of my four grandchildren and is encouraging my daughter to think about doing more with a new end to end layout for them as the small roundy-roundy I refurbed for them is an awkward fit for the space available. It has also, along with Clive's Sheffield thread, re-sparked my own interests in making something rather than just researching Early (pre-steam)/Georgian railways. It is succeeding as what it is for the target audience.

Otago - Jack Dugdale. See https://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5022

Definitely recommended. Used it too on a previous layout.

I am not the John referred to but if the people turning out to watch the Dorset Coast Express (and similar) arrive at Weymouth is typical then the interest in steam is high across all ages with a fair turnout, diesel specials the crowd is less but still there (although with less small children brought to watch) daily electrics hardly any interest ever seen. The above is not conclusive, but as anecdotal evidence it supports the proposition made as regards active interest and the "attraction factor' of trains as a thing to go out to see as a particular event. It needs a young, contemporary traction modeller, to explain what drew them into the hobby; probably though a topic for a spin-off thread.

Carlton was the nearest we found. They have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/carltonrailwaysociety/

Agree with most above but not the challenge to my statement re shrivelling slowly. The central spine of our hobby will be strong until it is the last man/woman standing. That will disguise decline in the periphery. I hope I am wrong, and that GMRC is a catalyst for change.

Whilst I can see your point, and it has some merit, there is a saying in business (Henry Ford's?) "that if you do what you always do, you get what you've always got." Whichever bit of the railway scene, full size or model, most interests you/me/us Is irrelevant; we can't hide the fact the traditional structure of the railway interest group is slowly shrivelling from the bottom up. We have to adapt to survive. This may be a way to adapt and evolve. I am certainly thinking of ways to make our Society stand build on the GMRC, possibly not time for anything significant before Warley but in time for Alexandra Palace. As I posted previously, the pyramid is shrinking from the bottom up not the top, we have to attract the newbies of any age. Talking to a fellow enthusiast in the model shop yesterday suggests that target is middle aged retirees not necessarily youngsters. What matters is we grip the attention of today's prospective modeller. If the animations and 'off the wall' ideas do that in the same way Tri-Ang's giraffe car, helicopter and rocket wagon did for my generation then it is good. It does happen. When I was ten all those years ago boys didn't do Barbie dolls, then someone thought differently and introduced Action Man! My younger cousin and his mates were hooked on dolls for boys. The right thing at the right time can change things - I may never choose to model a space port, but remember the Tracey Island phenomenum, equally I will never model the LNWR in P4. I am however part owner of an LNWR live steam locomotive. This is something different, for mass entertainment, that the hobby may well benefit from.

Although I think we do need good modellers to show the examples I do concur with your view too - it is why the end of my post reads ".....It is how to get our 6-7 year olds to keep interested and progress from something simple like this to something less like a train-set. However, even if they only ever get a bigger train set does that matter if they stay with running trains?"

Despite my personal research projects being somewhat detailed and esoteric and being on the SLS Board (another group at the serious end) we have to embrace the lower end of the hobby and bring on beginners. Where I am now with knowledge was not where I started. If I take three of my childhood hobbies model trains, real trains and football - Football - never progressed beyond weekend village league standard but enjoyed myself. Model trains - improved a lot, certainly knowledge of what to do is there even where skills are rusty or inadequate. Real trains - in my own area of expertise probably at least Championship (Old Div 2) standard. I think some railway modellers forget two things - that to progress from Sunday league upwards takes a blend of skill and practice and that Sunday league football still has its place for those playing it. Some layouts out there are crap, you only have to look at YouTube to see that but crucially the people who made them enjoyed it and are proud enough of what they have achieved to put them on YT. We need to encourage this not decry. Hopefully, they will see the better stuff on YT and try to emulate it. 2fs, P4, S7 et al have their place, so does a set-track oval and some home made cardboard buildings. The world has changed but luckily there are still plenty of old, robust, affordable, trains out there. If we can't get new modellers, of any age, in at the bottom to enjoy making things (Sunday Pub league equivalents) we won't get the next generation of top-line modellers either. It is a pyramid, sadly the current pyramid is shrinking upwards with a steadily narrowing base. It is how to get our 6-7 year olds to keep interested and progress from something simple like this to something less like a train-set. However, even if they only ever get a bigger train set, does that matter if they stay with running trains? Layout made for my grandsons.

But they did at least watch it to the end.

OS Grid squares IIRC are 1km.