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On looking into Old Railway Modellers


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We had a few old magazines in the clubroom, no one else seems to have touched on this yet. Look at the adverts look how cheap everything was £7 for a class 37 if only it was that cheap today!!!

Yes I know inflation better models etc

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Blunt's was my local shop until they closed around 2000. I cleaned them out of their stock of spare Portescap final drive gears.

What a surprise - not!

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jud

 

Copying Neighbours then?

 

...going by the more-or-less continuous flow of such stuff my good wife watches between the Heartbeat/Doc Martin/70s sitcoms/gameshow threshold about 7pm, and the 9pm watershed when it's too dark and cold to be out in the garage and I insist on having something else on, it seems to be pretty much the norm all round these days :P

 

however, RM: two layouts which must impressed me but haven't had a mention, John Allen's "Gorre and Daphetid" (I wasn't aware of the intended pronunciation for many years) and an almost entirely scratch built loft layout called Thistledome and Fishhook, from somewhere in the 1960s - stud contact, I think?

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Interesting to read these reminiscences, many of which I share. I started subscribing to RM in October 1963 (I'd just started secondary school) and have subsequently accumulated umpteen volumes, mostly bound, stretching up to the late 1990s - at which point I ran out of space and stopped.

 

Whilst the 1960s editions have a certain charm (the Berrow branch was one of my favourites; wonder if Mac Pyrke is still an active modeller?), and I occasionally leaf through them as a nostalgia exercise. However, I think the 70s, 80s and 90s were a bit of a fallow period magazine-wise. Much of the photography was of pretty mediocre quality, generally low contrast monochrome, and consisted mainly of "helicopter" views of layouts. I've made a couple of attempts to dispose of my magazine collection for notional prices, but there has been little or no interest. Most people have simply advised me to throw them in a skip, which seems a bit of a pity. Shameless plug, therefore - anyone who'd like a fairly complete set of RMs from this period please PM me for details. No charge, but you'd need to collect from West Sussex!

 

Over the last ten or fifteen years the quality of magazines - and of the modelling they cover - has vastly improved. The RTR scene is truly impressive, and whilst some may regret the loss of the build-it-yourself-culture I think that one consequence has been the emergence of much more convincing model railways in the wider sense.      

 

David C.  

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....I've made a couple of attempts to dispose of my magazine collection for notional prices, but there has been little or no interest. Most people have simply advised me to throw them in a skip, which seems a bit of a pity.....

 

I got lucky years ago when I wanted to get rid of what had become about five years' worth of RMs, and traded them in at a model shop.

 

Time has moved on, and now I seem to have about 15 years' worth of MRJs.....

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I started taking the Modeller in October 67, and carried on until the late 80s I think. When I sold my house and went travelling in 2007, I filled my van up with them and spent some days flicking through them, taking out just the pages that interested me. This was mostly drawings, and articles on the broad gauge and pre WW1 GWR, plus a few other odd things that interest me. It's not a very big pile, but useful. The rest of the magazines were recycled. I'm actually more reluctant to do it to my rather patchy collection of MRN, Constructor and a few others, but they don't take up anywhere near as much space as the Modellers did. I started with MRJ at No 0, and gave up somewhere in the hundreds, and still have them. I've now got space for what may be all my magazines, and I'm gradually getting them out of heaps dumped under the sofa into proper order. If they don't fit in the space, more will go!

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My Dad got the Modeller pretty much all the way through the 70s and, as I got old enough to take an interest, the articles that did it for me were David Jenkinson's Little Long Drag series and the other one that stands out was the 'Allied Marine' layout.

 

The only magazine I get now (and having rejoined the hobby about 3 years ago, I've managed to get a full set) is MRJ.

 

John

Edited by johndon
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I first bought RM as a kid in May 1985, and I have a lot of affection for the first year or so I bought it. Highlights included:

 

  • A series of articles on electric locomotives, including part 1 of a series on scratchbuilding a class 81. Part 2 never followed......
  • Several broad gauge layouts (GWR and irish). I'd never realised that such things were possible. 
  • Some fantastic layouts - two which stand out are 'Little Burton', and 'Thornbury Hill' in its original form as a 1920s pre-electrification Brighton main-line layout (before it changed hands and became just another generic 1960s Southern region layout). 
  • A lengthy article on Henry Holdsworth's (I think that was his name) 16mm scale Lynton and Barnstable layout. Again something I'd not seen before. 
  • Ian Beattie articles on obscure Welsh tank engines. 

Most of these would still stand up today. Nowadays I pick up RM in the shop, flick through pages of reviews and generic layouts, and then put it back on the shelf because there's nothing to warrant buying it. I'm another 'I only buy MRJ' these days. 

Edited by pete_mcfarlane
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Several broad gauge layouts (GWR and irish). I'd never realised that such things were possible.

1985/86 is when I started modelling the broad gauge, having thought it wasn't possible for about 18 years. I'd wanted to do it since I was about 12! There were certainly a lot of articles on it around that time, but I'm still waiting for RTR products!

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however, RM: two layouts which must impressed me but haven't had a mention, John Allen's "Gorre and Daphetid" (I wasn't aware of the intended pronunciation for many years) and an almost entirely scratch built loft layout called Thistledome and Fishhook, from somewhere in the 1960s - stud contact, I think?

 

Gorre & Daphetid info & photo website here

 

http://www.doug56.net/GD/page78.html

 

And absolutely tons of photos plans articles etc here

 

http://gdlines.info/G&D_links.htm#RMC_1968_Oct

 

Brit15

Edited by APOLLO
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the Berrow branch was one of my favourites; wonder if Mac Pyrke is still an active modeller

 

He used to be a regular at the Cardiff Show until a few years ago. He was always regarded with some reverence because of Berrow. I believe he is now playing with the big train set in the sky.

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Of course it was a large dog before they started their walk to catch a glimpse of the up Glasgow.

 

TONY

I first realised there was such a thing as a model railway magazine when I saw a Model Railway News on a news stand in1951. I was on my way to school, but bought it and put it inside a maths book. After that, I regularly bought the MRN, Railway Modeller (for the average enthusiast) and the Model Railway Constructor.

I never threw any of them away, and by the time my interest became pre grouping Midland in EM gauge in 1955, I had amassed quite a pile and kept in boxes. Over the next ten years or so after a couple of job changes and marriage, my collection was becoming a bit unwieldy. If I wanted any info on an aspect of modelling, it meant looking through piles of mags. So I created a card index system of Midland information, and kept the mags containing that info in box files, all labelled with the years. The remainding mags were kept in large boxes until I gave many away.

That card index system is still with me and has been invaluable over the years.

I found the RM's of the 1950's, 60's, 70's were most useful, with the 1980's quite good. The modern RM's although better photographs and better written, I don't find as useful. There isn't as much emphasis on doing it yourself, and scratch building, but then the world has changed considerably in the last 50 or 60 years.

Derek

Edited by Mrkirtley800
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My era for 'new' RMs was the 1980s, plus some late 70s back issues acquired at jumble sales. Already mentioned are Monty Wells' Diesel mods, plus that legendary April Fool Underground layout under the floorboards. There was an issue in 1982 that featured the 'largest private layout in 00', a huge setup in a large outbuilding. I was always fascinated by the modern image layouts, there was one about 1978 that had Liliput/Trix 81s, Transpennine units and Westerns in addition to the more familiar Hornby/Triang, Airfix and Palitoy offerings that looked incredibly exotic to me, and an article in 1977 that involved using sawn off sections of a pencil to make working destination blinds in a Triang DMU. Allan Downes' structure modelling set a bar few of us could hope to achieve too.

I remember in those pre-internet days correspondence that would take place over several months in the letters page - including a letter in the July 1980 issue that set off several months of discussion on class 03s, as well as the inevitable discussions about whether 40 106 had ever received blue livery.

I remember that Monty Wells 'improved' Hornby class 37 included bogie sideframes from the Kitmaster Deltic - OK if you were grown up and had a reasonable spares box but as an 11 year old the chances of finding a set were similar to meeting Lord Lucan in Bejam. Ironically, 35 odd years later it is of course much easier to find them, but not nearly so necessary as one no longer has to rely on the old Triang/Hornby offering if you want a 37.....    

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Andyman

 

I've long suspected that there are some chaps, with wicked senses of humour, who look in their scrap-boxes, find the weirdest, most unusual "leftover thing", then devise an entire project around it, in the full knowledge that nobody in the entire universe will ever be able to obtain the key component, without which the project cannot be completed.

 

Next, they write a really interesting, nine part, "how to do it" article, with loads of drawing and really tempting photos of whatever they have built, only revealing right at the very end of Part 9 (published after you've copied their method over eight solid months, consuming all of your leisure time, and spending all of your spare money on materials) the vital role of the unobtainable thing. Just for a laugh.

 

"All you will need is a left-handed 17BA screw, a shade under 11" long, with an octagonal head compatible with a Russian Standard No.27 spanner. I just happened to have saved on of these in my scrap box, after a Sputnik crash-landed in my mother's herbaceous border in 1954 .....,,"

 

Kevin

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It was c1968 or 1969 when I was a 14 year old that a friend gave me a copy of his dad's 'old' RM; October 1964.  Railway of the Month was Peter Denny's Grandborough Junction.  I can to this day vividly recall my disbelief that a model railway could look so real.  'Jaw dropping' probably wasn't an expression in common use then but that was my response on seeing this wonderful railway station!  I gladly endorse many readers' comments here, especially regarding fifties, sixties and seventies articles and modellers such as Denny, Ahern, Hancock, Jenkinson, Awdrey, Charman, Knife, Harrison, Dyer, Towers, etc.  Also, of course, the work of 'Robbo', Northwood, Essery, CJF and so many other inspirational folk.  Railway of the Month from RM December 1972  was mentioned; yes, another great model.  Plan of the Month from that copy was another favourite of mine - 'Mainly Operational'; a fab layout design and it's whimsical commentary on how it came into being is worthy of Allan Downes (what ever became of him, I wonder?)  All these such a profound influence on me - even Jock Armstrong, Angus MacTavish, Jock's bicycle and the dog (Craig, Dec. '67) still stay in my mind to this very day!       

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Andyman

I've long suspected that there are some chaps, with wicked senses of humour, who look in their scrap-boxes, find the weirdest, most unusual "leftover thing", then devise an entire project around it, in the full knowledge that nobody in the entire universe will ever be able to obtain the key component, without which the project cannot be completed.

Next, they write a really interesting, nine part, "how to do it" article, with loads of drawing and really tempting photos of whatever they have built, only revealing right at the very end of Part 9 (published after you've copied their method over eight solid months, consuming all of your leisure time, and spending all of your spare money on materials) the vital role of the unobtainable thing. Just for a laugh.

"All you will need is a left-handed 17BA screw, a shade under 11" long, with an octagonal head compatible with a Russian Standard No.27 spanner. I just happened to have saved on of these in my scrap box, after a Sputnik crash-landed in my mother's herbaceous border in 1954 .....,,"

Kevin

Google "Molesworth wizzo spacecraft" for the definitive account of this sort of thing...

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It was c1968 or 1969 when I was a 14 year old that a friend gave me a copy of his dad's 'old' RM; October 1964. Railway of the Month was Peter Denny's Grandborough Junction. I can to this day vividly recall my disbelief that a model railway could look so real. 'Jaw dropping' probably wasn't an expression in common use then but that was my response on seeing this wonderful railway station! I gladly endorse many readers' comments here, especially regarding fifties, sixties and seventies articles and modellers such as Denny, Ahern, Hancock, Jenkinson, Awdrey, Charman, Knife, Harrison, Dyer, Towers, etc. Also, of course, the work of 'Robbo', Northwood, Essery, CJF and so many other inspirational folk. Railway of the Month from RM December 1972 was mentioned; yes, another great model. Plan of the Month from that copy was another favourite of mine - 'Mainly Operational'; a fab layout design and it's whimsical commentary on how it came into being is worthy of Allan Downes (what ever became of him, I wonder?) All these such a profound influence on me - even Jock Armstrong, Angus MacTavish, Jock's bicycle and the dog (Craig, Dec. '67) still stay in my mind to this very day!

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As I started reading RM in '85 aged 7, my "classic articles" are all late 80s. One stand-out was the articles by one RMWeb regular on layout planning, particularly a three-part series on designing a fictional S&D branch, and producing a realistic timetable and operating sequence for it. The model's plan was loosely based on Hemyock, I believe. I particularly liked the author's draughtsmanship.

 

I felt the magazine started to go downhill when certain aspects of production changes in 1990. I didn't like the new headline font introduced in Jan 90, and definitely didn't like the new body font brought in a few years later. There was also a bit of a trend for spot colour which made some articles very hard to read - there was one early-90s Plan Of The Month (a fictional Norfolk station I think) with the plan printed entirely in yellow ink!

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"Google "Molesworth wizzo spacecraft" for the definitive account of this sort of thing... "

 

Well, Rocker, I tried that, and the only solid link that it yielded was to one of your other posts on RMWeb, giving another tantalising hint about the same topic ........

 

K

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....don't people read books anymore? Molesworth was a joy to me, during my (mostly unhappy) schooldays as an unwanted 11-Plus "scholarship boy" at a minor public school....

 

given the various comments on other threads about copyright, I can only suggest that you find a copy of Geoffrey Willans' "Down With Skool" or "The Complete Molesworth". I'm amused to see that it is now in the Penguin Modern Classics range, or on Kindle

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I felt the magazine started to go downhill when certain aspects of production changes in 1990. I didn't like the new headline font introduced in Jan 90, and definitely didn't like the new body font brought in a few years later. There was also a bit of a trend for spot colour which made some articles very hard to read - there was one early-90s Plan Of The Month (a fictional Norfolk station I think) with the plan printed entirely in yellow ink!

That is Aylsham M&GNR (Jan 1991), you're are correct, it's awful! Almost as bad as some issues of Model Railway Constructor (late 60s, early 70s, where plans & text were printed on colour paper. One was black text on dark blue paper = invisible ink that gave you a headache.

 

To bad too, for those after a plan of Furness Railway Class N1 4-6-4T!

 

I wonder if the problem was due to the use of computers? They might look terrific on a screen, but hopeless when printed on paper. I recall a Gaugemaster ad, where the ad appeared with yellow text on an orange background - unreadable.

These days, would a decent scanner be able to fix this, by altering the contrast? I have no working scanner at present, so can't experiment.

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A handful of my memorable layouts that featured in RM ->

 

"Tetbury" by H.H.Tetlow - another Great Western BLT that impressed me.

.

"Augher Valley" - Irish 00n3 - inspiring as well.

.

"Marthwaite" - my introduction to the work of David Jenkinson.

.

"Mill Dale" - superb upmarket 'rabbit warren' in 009

.

Brian R

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