ruggedpeak

Moan alert - went to download the Virgin articles, had to provide email address etc to login into MR's website (fair enough), then had to create an account for Yumpu or login using Google+ etc. Tried using Google+, get logged into Google then Yumpu demands Yumpu.com would like to Know your age range and language View your email addresses Manage your contacts By clicking Allow, you allow this app and Google to use your information in accordance with their respective terms of service and privacy policies. You can change this and other Account Permissions at any time. Errr, no thanks. Not giving any of my details to some dodgy website. Clicked Deny and got an error message. So to "CLAIM YOUR FREE GIFT" I have to give all my personal details to some website I know nothing about - seriously? Not impressed and grumpy. Does MR not understand cyber security? Grump over. Rest of mag is great BTW. Much prefer "35 ways to improve your fleet" to last month's cover.

Phil Were they actually reading or watching Netflix/iPlayer etc? I commute into London 4 hours every day and those who read mostly read real books/mags - the screen users are mostly viewing tv/films or playing games etc in my experience [of spending too much of my life commuting!]. Personally I see very little reading from screen devices of any sort except for newsfeeds, Instagram etc rather than 'proper' published material (e.g. BRM!) but that is anecdotal. Tony

Agreed. Was at a local model railway show yesterday and there were lots of younger kids, which is good to see. But they had to be lifted up to see many of the cameo style layouts. Which is a shame as my anecdotal evidence is that these enclosed layouts with limited and contained field of view and only 1 or 2 things going on were far more interesting to the children than the big club layouts, where they struggle to process the enormity of them. Trouble is they couldn't get to see them. Teenagers were noticeable by their absence, but if I may speculate, attracting younger kids to smaller layouts is probably a good way to get then started. They will mostly lose interest in their teens but are perhaps more likely to return later in life if they get interested when they are younger. So cameos especially should, for general shows, but entirely accessible for small children for the sake of the hobby. Indeed I would make it compulsory! How doesn't matter, but they seem to attract attention. I feel a cameo Thomas layout coming on...... PS if you have a curtain over the layout stand bear in mind toddlers may think it is solid and toddle towards it expecting it to support them! Much hilarity as toddlers falls through curtain of cameo layout. Lukcily he didn't grab the curtain as he fell.....

This thread is precisely the sort of thing I really can't be bothered with trying to sort out. Horses for courses. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122563-Hornby-class-67-with-tts-sound-chip-programing-issue/&do=findComment&comment=2713196 ?? I am building a DC micro layout and have excellent slow running. Even over insulfrog points. Don't see how DCC provides better slow running unless you have stay alive fitted (more cost & complexity). I can get a lovely crawl off a 30 year old Hornby train set controller as well as my Gaugemaster. Indeed I was at show yesterday and watching a very good layout but DCC was causing problems, especially around slow running. The one bit that worked consistently well was the magnet/paperclip automatic uncoupling system that was entirely analogue.

The plastic part of the packaging for my Class 25 has been smashed to bits If anyone has one spare please let me know Thanks

Mike Couldn't make the show due to family issue. Could you update Sunday evening whether there are models left to reserve online on Monday and what time please. Thanks

I think it's a no. But in the OP it states there's no limit on how many can be ordered by one person so we need a friendly RMWebber with sharp elbows to take a bulk order in real time once we know what it is. Based on current Bacchy pricing this is presumably going to be a £170 loco.

Phil, thanks for taking the time to provide a comprehensive response I fully appreciate you need to sell magazines and it's a business, hence caveating my comments as purely mine as a consumer and probably not representative of what drives sales. The "ballsy" reference was a bit tongue in cheek, weathering steam engines seem to be a staple for magazine articles (not just BRM). No doubting the skill involved however. I'd definitely submit an article on converting a 68 to an 88 if I thought it would get published. Not sure you want an article on how to butcher a 68 and just be left with a pile of bits though! Amen to that.

That's exactly what happened with a car mag that I subscribed to for 20 years that is in the same stable as Model Rail. It became loads of ads with editorial that was a mix of product placement and lists. Beyond dull. But maybe other people like that and buy it? Not using non-hobby social media I don't know for sure, but it appears some magazines are becoming paper versions of Instagram or whatever with "celebs" giving us their vacuous opinions and product placement. If mag buyers just want to be spoon fed stuff to buy and journo's are just adding some credibility to a press release then good for them, may be that's what sells. Not for me.

Totally agree with your post. It seems plenty of people want to buy new locos without the DCC. I wonder what impact Bachmann's increase in DCC sound models is having on sales. Several new items I want (Europhoenix 37, ATW 150 plus others) are DCC sound only and grossly overpriced IMHO. Any model shop that wants my business can sell them to me for a reasonably competitive non-DCC price, having done a deal for the DCC kit with someone else. Otherwise I won't be buying them, plenty of other good non-Bachmann models coming out, and you can't have too many 68's! I like how Dapol offered 3 options on the 68's, DC, DCC and Sound. I wonder how it worked regardings sales? As for necessary, it isn't but equally its fine that there are options for those who want to use it and if it expands the hobby then great. The danger is that DC is pushed out and ceases to be viable - at that point DCC modellers are utterly exposed to be ransomed by a change in DCC standards driven by commercial interests. All of us should guard against any model rail business that is thinking along those lines It is standard practice in many consumer electronics markets, lets hope it doesn't infect model railways.

Yawn. Utter nonsense. As a user of IT and our digital world on a daily basis with whole rafts of whizzy digital things that never actually do what they were promised and fail at the slightest problem, the thought of spending yet more time with computer based stuff is tedium personified. I am not frightened of DCC but thoroughly bored at the prospect of having a hobby sitting pushing buttons on a screen or having to tweak codes and numbers to get the trains to work. Some people may find that exciting, I don't. Agree 100%. Less wiring is just another example of the digital BS. Modellers far more capable than me have realised this is not actually true and one of the many delusions of DCC for anything more than a simple layout. If people want to use DCC then fine, but perhaps they need to realise it isn't a religion and they are not smarter/wiser/better looking etc than those who don't use it. Although if Kim Kardashian switches to DCC I might review the situation....

Great articles on great subjects spoilt by presentation and the judgements on some layouts. It is also not clear where the mag ends and BRM starts. BRM 3 or 4 months ago was spot on (as I commented at the time). This latest iteration is spoiling what was a really good mag. As a monthly subscriber if it continues beyond next month I'll cancel and buy on an ad hoc basis. On p.61 the stars from the free clipart section of Word. Mmmmm. Tail Lamp - great, just needed to be more in depth over 3 or 4 pages. I'd be fascinated to know more about how LLC started and overcame its challenges. It seems to be shifting towards being personality based magazine, with references to being 'celebs'. If that's the future of model trains, being celebrity, social media and opinion driven, I'm out. I have the Daily Mail website for that sort of nonsense. Judging and commenting on other people's layouts personally I do not like. Much as the BRM team are good at modelling, we can form our own judgements based on what we see and read. Please concentrate on providing informative, well written articles with excellent [undoctored] photograhy. I also made the point over on the Model Rail forum about them following their parent company's policy of making every issue a list of "10 THINGS YOU MUST BUY NOW" or "10 LAYOUTS YOU MUST BUILD THIS WEEKEND" or whatever. That said it maybe the wider market likes that sort of thing? But I think they've come off the rails a bit as well. Clearly something is going on given various mags are continually tweaking their offering to be more mainstream and commercial like Hello and OK. I may be in a minority of one, but that's my view. I will reiterate the articles were mostly great, I really liked Barton Road and its photography, and Central Works. Mozzerdale was also a good piece, not sure about the comments at the end. Weathering a tank engine. Quite a common article these days. Would like something a bit more ballsy, say weathering and detailing a 68? Or converting it to an 88! As commented above, lose the gimmicks and little add-ons and concentrate on the fundamentals. Excellent, inspirational articles with great photography.

Latest job is to finish the baseboard and turn a bit of chipboard into something more robust. Sticking to my economy approach and using what I had available in the garage, various different sizes of timber were used to create a frame that will ensure the chipbaord does not warp. It was well glued and screwed together so shouldn't warp. The cross members are a shallower than the longitudinal pieces, but that reflects the lengths of timber I had laying around. They are positioned away from the points locations, as I was going to use point motors (hence the holes) but will now use wire and tube or just wire. I also had to widen the baseboard by a couple of centimetres in the scenic section as the viaduct sections that are the ends overhang by about 1cm or so on each side, and I didn't want them getting bashed and breaking up over time. On the front of the board this is the shallow darker coloured strip, whereas on the back I have created a small shelf for the operator, supported by the cross members. I may put a short piece of track or something on there so rolling stock or locos can be put safely there. I am also varnishing it post-build just for completeness. I found that Poundland do smalls tins of gloss yacht varnish and brushes. For this sort of job £3 (for 2 tins and the brush set) is a lot cheaper than buying from B&Q. If I had a yacht (!) I probably wouldn't use it, but the brushes have not had any hairs come out and for £1 appear to be excellent quality! For modelling type activity there is quite a lot of potentially useful DIY stuff in Poundland. The Metcalfe viaduct sections are designed to join together and to extension pieces that are then joined to scenery. As can be seen in earlier pictures this leave a bare cardboard end facing outwards, which is not great. Using scraps to make supports and modifying the walls from the left over adjoining sections in the kit, I've made this into brickwork. The join is covered with other left over brick sections from the kit, and I am pleased with the result. The next task is to fill the short gap between one end of the retaining wall and the station end viaduct. Fortunately Metcalfe provide various spare bits of brick section in their kits, so I have one that matches the retaining wall with its blue engineers brick. Then it will be onto track laying

Its the ticks that did my head in working up there. That and it rained every day for the entire summer.

Remember, an efficient and organised team of skilled individuals delivering the project quickly and efficiently does not make good TV. Whereas, on the other hand, a bunch of characters carefully put together to rub each other up the wrong way in a remote location renowned for rubbish weather and midges undertaking an arguably pointless task.......

Not necessarily. But I will be a little more positively disposed towards the brand since I know any purchase will benefitting a British company with onshore manufacturing.

It suggests Dapol have faith in the hobby and are prepared to invest in it and in the UK. Good for them and we should support them in doing so.

They outsourced that bit!

Cycling's no good, you can't carry as many trains and stuff home!

I agree, and I made a similar point regarding changes to BRM elsewhere on here. Another mag unrelated to railways but from the BRM stable many years ago went down the "10 things you must/have/buy" (strangely all available from major advertisers in the mag) and '10 lists we rehashed from a few months ago' route. I don't want to be told what to think or do, and personally I find the cover wording a bit irritating. I don't like being told what is "inspirational". Like beauty it is surely in the eye of the beholder. I get inspired by real people doing real stuff, not sub-eds telling me what they think. Surely modelling is a personal thing and the who "10 things you must do" culture is arguably the antithesis of this? I I have flicked through this issue on the shelf and it is not for me so didn't buy. I preferred how it was 6-12 months ago. Obviously this is just my personal view as a punter who buys' mags on spec.

What I fear is the t-shirts and playing cards and spin off nonsense, flogging the "brand" to within an inch of its life. I was there when Lego decided back in the early 2000's to become the biggest toy company on the planet by doing everything from software to clothing. Anton needs to clarify what he means, as Lego nearly went bust not so long ago, and only came back when it stuck to what it was good at.... http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/innovation-almost-bankrupted-lego-until-it-rebuilt-with-a-better-blueprint/ Indeed there are whole books on it. Bottom line, stick to what you are good at and what you are known for, do it really well and evolve (e.g. Lego licensing of brands like Batman etc). Hornby has been through this cycle once, it needs some stability to rebuild.

I shall flog myself verily until I am worthy of entering the finescale pantheon. In the mean time I'll crack on with my current project at my current skill rating of 'Ready to plonker'! Whatever happens there will no doubt be some cracking entries.

This looks like a key debate then. My micro layout is built using mostly Hornby and Bachmann track and Metcalfe scenic features (see here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/119429-modern-micro-layout/ ) and those were specific choices as part of the project. If cameo means finescale in a small space then this is different from just tiny layouts. To quote Mr Parker of this parish in his review of the book "There are a few hints at finescale snobbery - you CAN build cameo layouts in OO as several of Mr Nevard's models illustrating the pages show." Indeed my inspiration was from Paul Lunn's book "Building micro-layouts" from a competing publisher(!), which even has a section on the relative merits of Y points from Peco Streamline, Peco Setrack and Hornby. Is the cameo (as against "micro"?) concept more about finescale than RTR? I think it would be worth some clarification.

I think there should be some limit on size to avoid disputes later, or clear judging rules that ensure size does not confer any advantage There was suggestion earlier of 7 feet, which strikes me as enormous! Sadly I don't model anywhere near finescale so won't be entering, but will be interested to see the results. I do have a OO micro/cameo layout under way that is about 4 foot including fiddle yard and 10 inches wide, which seems about right.