Page last updated 15/05/07
by Steve Jones
Rail Express Modeller
Friday morning - 20/02/04
Well, this was a pleasant start to the weekend indeed! Leading modern traction magazine "Rail Express" includes issue 1 of pull-out D&E modelling supplement - 24 very encouraging pages. Note that this is part of the magazine proper, not a disposable item sealed in a barf bag, so you can have a look and check the quality before you buy. Suffice to say I bought...
Many of us bemoan the poor state of our hobby's magazines on a regular basis (it's pretty much a standard topic of conversation over a pint if you're not the sort who 'does' football or the weather) and not without justification. I have many hobbies (model railways is nowhere near to being my main interest) and none is so poorly served in the periodical department. To summarise, we have:
- Model Railway Journal - superb, to my eyes, but not monthly and regretfully not available in any newsagents that I frequent. Strong leanings towards making models that look like the real thing, and not afraid to call a spade something to bury less-than adequate models with.
- Model Rail - best of the monthlies, in my opinion, in a balanced, all-rounder kind of way. Often shows a few rough edges - no doubt due to it's ambitious range of content - but better to have a go and fall short on occasions rather than not try at all, I suppose. Avoid the reviews at all cost, though, many of them are inaccurate in the extreme.
- British Railway Modelling - used to be my favourite but these days seems to be dumbing-down at a rate that would scare even the producers of saturday night TV. In the average issue the twee and the peripheral get more pages than mainstream D&E (this month is a welcome exception)
with Nigel Burkin's contributions all too often standing in splendid isolation. Reviews? I wish I lived on a planet where I could buy some of the double-superlative-squared products those guys get their hands on.
- Railway Modeller - great for adverts if you haven't got internet access. 'Nuff said.
A fairly gloomy picture, isn't it? The main complaint of us D&E types, of course, is the lack of D&E coverage, and there's certainly a bizarre perspective to be had on the shelves of your local newsagent. Buy RM and you'll think the majority of modellers spend their time building narrow-gauge layouts, whilst BRM suggests that the typical enthusiast likes nothing better than hammering the two halves of a whitemetal kettle boiler into shape. But look in model shops, on stands at exhibitions, or in adverts, however, and this doesn't seem to be what the consumer is consuming at all - steam or diesel-wise.
On the D&E front, the only real escape from the illusory matrix of the establishment comics for a good while now has been those much-thumbed modelling pages at the back of "Rail Express" every month, so it's good to see them stepping things up a notch or two. I don't know where all this will lead, of course, but I think it's worth taking the red pill to find out how deep the rabbit-hole goes...
