'The Green Howards' is black and 'The Black Watch' is green!
Great Scot...
Currently On My Stereo: Fish - 13th Star
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Top scientists today announced that the exact formula for 'finescale' has been discovered. For years man* has sought the meaning of 'finescale', with some of the more spirited debates on the subject now being re-enacted on a semi-regular basis by the Sealed Knot Society. Some believe 'finescale' centres on producing models that look that little bit more like the real thing, whilst others think it's exclusively about track gauge, producing a re-wheeled Lamer 37 as if to back up their claim. A considerable body of opinion says that 'finescale' is purely a matter of scratch-building the right steam locomotives, at the same time quietly sniggering at the alternative notion that it's largely about nodding sagely when the latest MRJ is discussed. Another faction, with some conviction, insists that a 'finescale' is a small tweed posing pouch.
Now, after much painstaking research and observation, experts have once and for all defined 'finescale' as per the above formula, where M represents members of your immediate family (excluding pets) currently claiming to have built Mostyn and C is the total number of compensation or springing systems you've given your name to.
Isn't science wonderful?
* Curiously, it has never seemed to interest women in the same way that shoes do.
Currently On My Stereo: Ian Hunter - You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic
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It's a rare day when I don't get at least moderately enthused* by a new Bachmann wagon release. Squadrons of reasonably priced and basically accurate freight vehicles enable me to think beyond the plank in a way that I've never achieved with etched brass and pipe dreams. However, having inspected a few samples of the new TEA bogie tank in the last week, I've decided to leave them on the shelves.
Now, I don't think Bachmann's TEA is a fundamentally bad model, or even just a poor one. If pressed I'd say it's slightly below par when compared to many other Bachmann releases, and I'd write 'must try harder' on the end-of-term report, but every range has it's ups and downs and the contemporary VAA/VBA van is certainly an 'up' to my eyes - so it's not as if Bachmann has completely lost the plot. Unfortunately for me, I personally can't get on with the ill-fitting ends and dangling-bogie look of the tank wagon. If I'm still going to have to travel down the filler and repaint route then the new Bachmann wagons offer me no real gain over the large pile of ancient Hornby equivalents already languishing in the loft. I'd emphasise that this is a purely personal perspective when it comes to retail therapy, more a result of stocks of unfinished projects accumulated over the decades than anything else. I'd probably be buying the Bachmann offering in quantity if I was starting afresh and I'm sure it'll prove to be the proverbial useful/popular addition to the range in the coming months, but why on earth am I in a position where I'm even thinking about typing this?
From the old 'Good Of The Hobby' perspective, Bachmann's TEA doesn't signal the end of the world, but, equally, if a brand new product doesn't completely wipe out an aged Margate clunker that must be around 40 years old, it must surely give pause for thought. When I've got 1980s vintage European tank wagons that wholly eclipse (wheel flanges like Odd-Job's hat-brim excepted) this recent release, I'm likely to spend the odd moment or two contemplating which way the hobby is heading.
Over the last month or so, a good many chat-channel folk have expressed concern that the general standard of UK D&E RTR seems to have peaked and even started to decline slightly. I'd certainly agree with that, although I couldn't hazard a guess as to whether it's anything other than a momentary blip. Bachmann's 47, whilst appealing in many ways, also has a definite air of the retrograde about it in some areas, especially the bogie and tank department. These steps backward have already got modellers ordering older Heljan spares to upgrade the newer model, indeed I can see why many enthusiasts who aren't too fussed about accurate shape might plump (sorry!) for the older Heljan model where I'd personally opt for Bachmann. I'm not trying to say there's a right or wrong choice here, but I am saying there bl**dy well should have been.
With a smattering of prominent but slightly lacklustre recent releases, an increasing number of detail/livery errors and a whole tide of tired old Lima re-issues, it's no suprise if the average D&E enthusiast begins to have doubts. The rise of the post-pancake UK product lines started late and could easily be thought to have peaked before reaching full potential. Whether this is true or not, only time will tell, but I can understand people's fears. Although I'm 100% convinced that there's a largely untapped market out there for better quality products, I can't see why any of our existing manufacturers would want to try and exploit it. If you have limited production slots in an eastern factory and can already sell the majority of your relatively small production runs quickly enough to an existing and safe market, why bother taking any further risks? Crank out the lowest quality product you can get away with for the highest possible mark-up - If I were a corporate bean-counter I'd be watching the current Italian renaissance with glee.
As I said, I don't honestly know if we've peaked and I'm certainly not in a doom'n'gloom frame of mind. But the possibility does worry me. Whilst I've always believed that theoretically ranges of products for both more and less discerning tastes would happily exist side-by-side, indeed overlap to a fair extent, I'm no longer convinced that this will happen here in the UK. Quite possibly we were too late off the blocks and have been overtaken by the restrictions of limited production slots.
Someone once said to me that we get the models we deserve. That seems fair enough to me, but increasingly I'm worried that I'll always be getting the models somebody else deserves. That isn't quite so fair..
* By design, I'm avoiding tea-related punnery for the duration of this ramble. Those feeling short-changed might like to substitute 'infused' to alleviate any resultant discomfort.
Currently On My Stereo: Ian Hunter - The Artful Dodger
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Another fallow period for this website, gentle reader, regrettably one likely to continue for the remainder of this year due to an unreasonably intense workload coupled with a nasty dose of commuting. Having been blessed with the ability to work largely from home since the tail end of the last century, this has come as something of a shock to the system, I can tell you. I suppose I haven't really got much of a right to moan when I consider that some poor devils have to do the c-word for their entire working lives. But, by 47081's beard, it's getting on my wick...
Being something of an anoraky-nerdy-transpottery sort of chap, I try to travel by train whenever possible. Deep down I know it's A Good Thing, in a 'get you into heaven without having to go to church or be a vegetarian' kind of way. I stubbornly persist in the belief that, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, it's still a practical and efficient way to get from A to B when you live and work outside of the corner of the map with London on it. Even as I'm bullied, boiled, squashed, deafened and generally customer-processed (for my safety and convenience) en-route I'm still determined to enjoy myself - silly b*gg*r that I am. Strange as it might seem, I do actually manage this from time-to-time. I'm endlessly fascinated by observing the expanse of concrete that used to be the GWR's Walsall Street yard, or the state of play around Wolverhampton Low Level. I love to see the rose bay willow herb where a long gone secondary route used to join the main line, or the dense buddleia plantations where carriage sheds once stood. However, I can't help but notice my fellow travellers don't seem to share my increasingly desperate enthusiasms.
The train service between Shrewsbury and Birmingham (a section of line I can't avoid, no matter where I'm heading) is one of the worst in the land. I say this not with a typical commuter's unrealistic if understandable fixation with his local line's failings, but with the certainty of someone who spent the best part of 2006 travelling all over the country. I clocked up a colossal amount of rail miles last year, very pleasantly at someone else's expense. Whilst delays and problems were commonplace nationwide, the biggest struggle was always that last gammy leg of the journey, between Brum/Wolverhampton and Telford. Whatever little trials I'd had in Bradford or Bermondsey were always put very firmly into perspective.
Half of the services are advertised, if not run, by Arriva Wales and West, the remainder by Central. Whilst the latter outfit is not without it's failings, typically the provision of 2 car units on rush-hour services (if only a newspaper reporter had been on hand last week to see two young mothers with pushchairs being turned away from a train at Wolverhampton because it was physically impossible to force any more 'customers' through the doors) it's the one that seasoned commuters nevertheless aim to catch. It is, as they say, better to travel hopefully than Arriva. Whilst this story on the BBC site might seem at first glance to be typical of the anti-rail sensationalism beloved of our media*, it is in fact very much a 'day in the life' for my fellow commuters and I. It is, unfortunately, a very factual piece - Arriva cancels it's trains at Wolverhampton on a daily basis, leaving stranded passengers to make other arrangements for travel to Wolverhampton in the hope of an onward connection. If your employer isn't the kindly sort who lets you out early to catch a preceding train that might just connect, then hard luck. In a typical week I suffer at least 3 cancelled trains, this week it's been a gob-smacking 5. Give me a break! There're only 5 days in the working week, you useless b******s!
I don't, I must admit, know much about the law, something a solicitor friend of mine is all too keen to point out. I'm sure he'd be the first to emphasise that nothing fraudulent or criminal is going on. Hell, there's probably some obscure old law that says I can't even put these people up against a wall and shoot them. Nevertheless, to a clearly ignorant layman, something is not quite right here. How can a company continue to take money for services it demonstrably isn't providing, particularly when it has a proven track record of not providing them month in, month out, year in, year out? Why is this company not held accountable for it's actions? Why, especially when we're all expecting it to be kicked into touch as regards future contracts, are we told that Arriva has amazingly been rewarded with the cross country franchise?
I do know enough about the law to not repeat here some of the comments I've heard from fellow travellers over the last couple of weeks. Suffice to say speculation about what processes go on at government level as regards these matters seem to have a markedly consistent theme.
This ongoing tale of woe, unsuprisingly, leaves me little time for the finer things in life. I haven't been up the loft for an age now, whether to play trains or photograph new products, which explains the absence of website updates. I haven't done much prototype photography, either, which is my excuse for the somewhat tangential stock images I've used this time. I almost managed a snap of a shy and elusive Arriva 158 the other week, but a bl**dy unicorn got in the way.
I can't go without some remarks about the recent Bachmann Class 47 release, however pressed for time I might be. Perhaps I'll find an opportunity for a more detailed look with photos at a later date, but for now I'll just say I like it. For the asking price, I think it's the sort of good, solid, basic model that Bachmann can do so well when it makes the effort. It's what I'd class as an entry-level model if there wasn't already a whole heap of UK time-warp offerings of a much lower standard in the shops to confuse matters. It leaves the field wide open for a Super Duff from any interested manufacturer in the future, but will nevertheless serve many modellers well in the interim. I certainly intend to amass a small fleet to replace my dependable Heljan workhorses, if only because the Bachmann model looks much more 47-like than the Danish equivalent.
As an enthusiastic Duff-mitherer, I'm not 100% happy with the cab windows and a tad disappointed** with the overly begubinned bogie sides. These are detail issues, however, and I'm trying to keep them in perspective, it's just that the latter problem hits me squarely in the 'will we never leave the Lamer legacy behind?' nerve. I'm sure I'll get over it if I don't undermedicate.
I'm also chuffed to bits about Bachmann's Ivatt 2-6-0, if a little miffed that the boiler bunnies once again get a slightly better deal. The clumsy loco/tender coupling/wiring arrangement leaves a little to be desired (an area that Euro-Kettle models have handled transparently for many years now) and I'd like to have seen tender pickups, but I still love it. Easily my best purchase of 2007 so far.
* Steve Jones is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. Some of them may have been written by journalists.
** The word 'disappointed' has been used under qualified professional supervision. No Britons were hurt.
Currently On My Stereo: Les Claypool - Of Whales And Woe
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They taught me Economics at school. Several times, in fact, once they'd confiscated my Locoshed book and put a couple of the burlier beaks on the main gate. They taught me some more when I went on to higher education (I was on the third floor, if memory serves) and I think that's just about enough for one lifetime. Obviously this gives me a far deeper understanding of the subject than the next man and the inalienable right to trot out pearls of wisdom as the fancy takes me, such as "manufacturers are running a business to make a profit, you know!" to a massed chorus of "F*ck me! Why didn't we think of that?" from the great unwashed. I'm truly grateful for wot they learned me.
The trouble is, it's often difficult to apply the sweeping generalisations of student economics to the real world in general and model railways in particular. Competition is a good thing, they tell us, as it drives quality up and prices down. As fine a truism as they come, I'm sure, but where is the overwhelming evidence of this in the comparatively small marketplace that is UK model railways? Some may cite Heljan knocking out TubbyDuffs at a reduced rate in the face of the imminent Bachmann release as an example, but such instances are few and far between. I certainly agree with the widely-held belief that the very presence of any decent modern products at all amongst Hornby's largely obsolete catalogue is purely down to the fairly healhy kick administered to the market by Bachmann, but what about individual products?
Take the Hornby Class 08, for example. Whilst the Hornby 'competition' will presumably have taken a slice of Bachmann's sales, I'm struggling to see any signs of Economic Forces producing a better or cheaper product. Seen by many consumers as more of a sidegrade than an upgrade, the Hornby Gronk has some better and some poorer features when compared to it's older rival. Certainly the two main areas of progress I'd hoped to see (working lights and a better representation of the springing) were conspicuous by their absence. True, the more recent Hornby product has a higher level of detail, but you get those twiddly bits as standard on models from that particular far eastern factory - in much the same way that, no matter what you order in a restaurant, you always get bl**dy salad.
No, as I see it, Hornby's Class 08 is entirely consistent with the rest of it's post-pancake D&E range. The loco is exactly what I'd expect Hornby to have produced, even if (and this is the important bit) the Bachmann 08 had never existed. Score one for the real world over schoolboy economics. On the other side of this particular coin, some might say the competition caused Bachmann to fit a DCC socket, whilst others would counter with the observation that Bachmann has been steadily upgrading anyway, driven by the impact of DCC rather than competition specifically.
A similar situation exists across the ranges generally, with almost no shred of evidence that competition has influenced quality or price so far. Older models are still churned out as before (barring changes inherent in legislation or manufacturing techniques) despite 'competition' from newer and better replacements. In fact, it's not unknown for the old clunkers to be more expensive than the newer products. Even when manufacturers have gone head-to-head in the past (Class 92s spring to mind) there's no sign of any effort to give a product the edge. Both Class 92s were, again, exactly what I'd expect from the respective companies.
I'm prattling on about this because, as you've probably guessed, I share the concerns of many folk about the remarkable similarity (if not exact duplication) of the forthcoming LMS 4-6-0 locos. Whilst I keenly look forward to the day when we're regularly faced with choices between the products of manufacturers who strive to out-do the competition, we're a long way off that now. After decades in the doldrums, the UK market has a lot of catching up to do and we're only just starting to scratch the surface. No doubt there are perfectly valid arguments about 'who thought of it first' and the ever-present risk of unintentional duplication. I'm not trying to have a go at Bachmann or Hornby here, merely to challenge the oft-expressed belief that such duplication is automatically the fabled competition that magically brings better products for less money. This isn't the motor industry, where we daily get more features as standard, this is the much smaller world of the train set. I'll give good odds that we're about to see some fine products, but not ones that significantly differ from what we'd have seen if the competition had been doing something else entirely. I'll wager that more consumers see this sort of duplication as a missed opportunity than not.
From where I'm sitting, the sum total of three or four decades worth of theoretically healthy competition currently amounts, in practical terms, to the opening doors on the Bachmann Class 37. Gosh.
Currently On My Stereo: Magnum - Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow
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B*st*rds! I've just found out my peerage is no longer valid! The missus bought it for me last Christmas, for a relatively reasonable fee, direct from the iBlair website. I've had the odd issue with it since, such as periodically needing to ring a premium rate number for a new activation code if I want to use it at a different site, but all-in-all it was money well spent.
Unfortunately, as iBlair went out of business earlier this week, I'm left with an unsupported product. It works fine at the last registered location (a pub not far from the beach in Sheffield) but I can no longer get a code to enable me to use it at home or work again. A new outfit is willing to re-sell me the exact same peerage, but claims it's not contractually obliged to support products brought from iBlair. I shall be having a nose around the iBrown site over the weekend, but I'm not hopeful.
Thank God software isn't sold in such a fashion. Or, heaven forbid, music...
Currently On My Stereo: Marillion - Smoke
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Apologies for the erratic availability of this site over the last week or so. This has been caused by the inevitable ISP problems that come to us all, compounded by the fact that my day job workload currently makes it difficult to ring up and shout at the culprits. Still, we're back online now.
Don't you just hate poseurs who refer to themselves as 'we'?
Currently On My Stereo: Semisonic - Feeling Strangely Fine
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Yesterday I added a subject index to the 'On My Workbench' pages of this site, a more formal version of something I myself have been using offline. It's somewhat basic at the moment but, as I've been 'getting around to it' for a couple of years now, I think something is better than nothing. At the very least it will help those who ask me how many 'Barwell Bobs' there are...
Currently On My Stereo: Les Claypool - 5 Gallons of Diesel
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I popped in to Expo EM at Bletchley on Saturday, as a result of a 'need something to do' scenario. Without wishing to irk the purists, this honestly isn't my kind of show under normal circumstances, but as I knew that before I set out I can't really complain. I prefer to see work in a variety of scales, plus I need at least some long trains in main line settings to really fire me up. However, there were a few layouts I specifically wanted to see and the overall standard was high, so I certainly had my six quid's worth even if it wasn't the kind of show that was going to hold my attention for a whole day. I also wanted to pay my twice-yearly visit to the Wild Swan stand in order to stock up on recent Model Railway Journals, which brings me to the main point of this ramble...
Model Railway Journal is an excellent magazine and I fondly remember buying issue 0 from Hugh Sykes' much-missed shop in Birmingham's Hawthorn Road all those years ago. To my mind, it's gone from strength to even greater strength under the stewardship of the current editor, yet I don't find it easy to buy. Back in the day I had it on order from my local shop and used to look forward to picking up the brown paper bag with 'Steve Jones' pencilled discretely in the corner. Then, when Hugh's shop closed, I put the mag on subscription direct from the publisher and plodded on quite happily until a couple of years ago. Frustrated by the poor quality of the monthlies (obviously this doesn't include MRJ) I cancelled all UK model mag subscriptions so I could check them in the shop beforehand and only buy the few issues containing something of interest to me. Unfortunately, as my local Smiffs no longer stocks MRJ, I've struggled a little with this master plan. In fact I've only managed to see 2 issues in over a year, both picked up by chance from the Smiffs branch at Manchester Piccadilly.
I don't pretend to understand magazine distribution, especially when it comes to the nation's main high street retailer. I have to move quickly if I want to snap up one of a handful of Model Railroaders or MRMs before they sell out and can't get MRJ at all. Yet it seems to me that forests of mathematically safe magazines such as Railway Modeller sit gathering dust on the shelves until they mysteriously vanish the day before a new issue is due, presumably to be pulped. I might be completely wrong about the mechanics there, but the end result is predictable. I subscribed to my favourite prototype and US mags a long time ago, and the high street has gradually lost my passing trade since.
Like many people, I often wonder how specialist magazines being squeezed out of the majors will impact me in the future, especially with the internet consistenly proving to be a better provider of much of the traditional content. Although I'm firmly a 'paper' man when it comes to relaxing in the conservatory or the smallest room, I'm probably an endangered species in that respect and I can't deny I spend more time on the internet anyway. Perhaps domestic printing of the future will be fast and cheap enough that I'll be happy to buy magazines over the internet in the way many grab their music already, an area where I'm also a luddite who prefers an original hard copy.
Whilst I'm sure other magazines will regrettably be joining MRJ in the 'difficult to buy' club, my immediate solution for MRJ is easy. As I bought every back issue I examined at Bletchley, this clearly is a magazine I can safely subscribe to. Taking it off subscription in the first place wasn't one of my best decisions, I guess, but back then I honestly thought I could pick it up from Smiffs with the rest of my shopping.
Currently On My Stereo: Half Man Half Biscuit - Trouble Over Bridgewater
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Fans of the late Douglas Adams will no doubt recognise the following snippet from 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.'
| 'And the wheel,' said the Captain, 'what about this wheel thingy? It sounds a terribly interesting project.' |
| 'Ah,' said the marketing girl, 'well, we're having a little difficulty there.' |
| 'Difficulty?' exclaimed Ford. 'Difficulty? What do you mean, difficulty? It's the single simplest machine in the entire Universe!' |
| The marketing girl soured him with a look. |
| 'All right, Mr Wiseguy,' she said, 'you're so clever, you tell us what colour it should be.' |
I'll wager I'm not the only one in the habit of recalling those words during interminable debates about OO track standards in general and a recent internet poll in particular. If you're putting toothpaste on the shelves of the nation's supermarkets, you don't ask consumers what pitch the thread on the top should have. Equally, if you want to wipe your *rse on something other than leaves, you'd better hope that a poll about perforation spacing, ply numbers and optimal absorbancy isn't standing between you and a crevice that'll be the envy of your friends.
There is a market for OO track out there, 'debate' and confusing questions won't make it vanish. A lot of 'average enthusiasts' just seem to want a consistent range of products exhibiting the non-HO cosmetic qualities already established by a couple of the flex-track only ranges. If spurious arguments about the track gauge being wrong, etc, had any relevance then these products would have disappeared long ago. It's a whole different market to that inhabited by the hardcore trackwork enthusiasts and it's completely untapped.
I strongly suspect that a decent OO range would generate a comparatively healthy short term return on investment for whoever takes the plunge in the future. If you think about the number of folk like myself who would replace their existing HO track at the drop of a hat, it's all money that wouldn't have gone into the enterprising manufacturer's coffers otherwise. Furthermore, I'd suggest that long term effects on the hobby would be beneficial, as for the vast majority of middle-ground enthusiasts it would completely remove the perennial OO/EM/P4 procrastination and experimentation that must be one of the biggest obstacles between wallet and till. You'd think that with the DCC explosion having demonstrated a few basic principles about something new making cash registers jingle, somebody out there would be looking for similar opportunities by now. You'd think that model railway consumers would be clamouring for new improved products to put them on par with other sectors. Things with va-va-voom. Things that do what it says on the tin. Things with polypeptides, wholegrain and omega 3, preferably in 3-in-1 tablet form.
Unfortunately not. The future of the hobby is over there, sitting around arguing over trivia and making YouTube videos about itself.
Currently On My Stereo: Radiohead - Paranoid Android
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I wouldn't want to read an article about building baseboards every month. Trust me, I just wouldn't. Yet baseboards are a pivotal part of our hobby, something that most of us have to contend with at some point.
I wouldn't want to read an article about building whitemetal kettle kits every month. Trust me, I just wouldn't. Whitemetal kettle kits are hardly a pivotal part of our hobby and are something that most of us don't have to contend with at all.
So why do most UK model magazines seem to revolve around lump-hammering?
Currently On My Stereo: The Flower Kings - Live Recording 2003
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Although I no longer model in P4, most of my formative years were spent pursuing that extra 2.33mm, right up until the moment I finally jumped ship in favour of all things American. I still like to think I'll return to P4 one day but, as my current layout aspirations lean toward the 'empire building' end of the spectrum, I've long since come to terms with the reality that OO is currently the only way forward for my personal goals. Nonetheless the fascination is still there, there's an inherent rightness about P4 that speaks for itself.
So I find it especially irritating when I come across some of the habitual bullsh*tters that plague the hobby in general and the P4 sector in particular. One fairly recent example is the claim that P4 wheelsets will often easily pop into an off-the-shelf chassis where EM won't fit. This is utter nonsense, not quite up there with the 'P4 is easier than OO' b*ll*cks but not far behind. I'm not sure where this drivel originated, but I've certainly seen it peddled repeatedly by one of the hobby's 'professional liars' as deliberate misinformation. While anyone with any experience would instantly dismiss this nonsense for what it is, beginners might accept the lie as fact - unfortunately I've seen a number of such instances in the last month or so.
In reality, EM wheelsets quite often drop into modern RTR wagons where P4 examples won't, simply because their overall width is less. If you're in any doubt about this then simply buy samples of each from a manufacturer such as Alan Gibson and compare like with like for yourself. Don't be misled by some grubby little spin-doctor waving a regauged set of old OO steamroller wheels around.
P4 doesn't need this bullsh*t.
Currently On My Stereo: Rush - Snakes and Arrows
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Whilst chatting on MS Messenger the other night, someone remarked that I seemed to have lost interest in 7mm scale. This took me by suprise at first, as it's rare for there not to be a work-in-progress 7mm wagon on my desk as visitors will atest, indeed the mineral and van pictured were started this week. However, what he was getting at, as someone distant enough not to be a personal acquaintance, was the marked absence of 7mm in these pages of late. Fair comment, I guess, but it's intentional.
I build 7mm wagon kits in the same way I might build a model of a Russian tank - just for the fun of it and without necessarily the longer term view of where it might fit in a layout context. I'm wary of continually recycling the half-built wagon theme just to fill space in this OMWB, yet equally I'm aware that leaving it out gives the impression of no activity. There really isn't a right answer to this conundrum, it's just one of those things. But if I can't motivate myself to climb into the loft and set up the lights to take a 'samey' shot of a wagon carcass, I think it's safe to assume that many interwebbers probably won't be too inconvenienced if they can't read about it either.
A more pertinent observation might have been that there's been no evidence of 7mm layout activity hereabouts, something that I'm personally very aware of. The reasons for this are actually quite interesting and are largely down to the market rather than any changes in my personal aspirations.
When I took the 7mm plunge in 1984, the UK hobby was very different to that of today. There were no RTR locos of any real quality unless you were willing to look to overseas prototypes. There were some reasonable RTR wagons courtesy of the Airfix and Mainline legacy, the after-image of an all too brief flash in the darkness, but again the bulk of the options were of US or European persuasion. So, UK modelling pretty much boiled down to kit-building and, although 7mm kits are more expensive than 4mm ones, time became the real factor for me. Layout progress was directly limited by my speed of kit-building, which was little different in either scale. There was nothing to lose by moving up to the larger scale and everything to be gained - it's true what they say about a good big 'un.
These days the available product situation is totally different. Although we'll never make up for the lost years, there's now a considerable range of RTR options in 4mm, largely thanks to Bachmann, and the wagon enthusiast is particularly well served. My layout building capability is no longer constrained by my kit building capacity and things can really get moving in 4mm scale. I can indulge my kit-building desires while bulking out the fleet with RTR, undoubtedly the best of both worlds from where I'm sitting. There have been some movements in this direction in 7mm too, in fairness, but 4mm now leads by a country mile and shows no signs of slowing.
So, where does this leave me when it comes to 7mm layouts? Well, my intentions are unchanged, the plans are still there and my interest has, if anything, increased as my eyes have got older. But all things 7mm must compete for my limited hobby time with 4mm, where my interests have, almost literally, gone through the roof. In recent years 4mm modelling has enabled me to explore my uncharted territories of 'big railway' modelling (it's true what they say about a good big 'un) rather than just plodding along my 'same old, same old' furrow. As it's now nearly 10 years since my last 7mm layout was dismantled, I've got to be realistic and admit that a replacement is looking more and more like a retirement project as the years hurtle by.
It's a market thing. Perhaps I should build a few more fruit vans...
Currently On My Stereo: Yes - Yesshows
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Modeller and enthusiast Alan Jones passed away on 13th April after battling cancer, his funeral was held today. I feel guilty about summing up a good man's life in fewer lines than I'd normally devote to a new wagon, but I'd feel guiltier still if I didn't make the effort.
Known variously as 'The Other Alan', '111' or 'Wickets' when online, Alan had been looking forward to his recent retirement for some considerable time and was planning to Get Some Modelling Done. Diagnosed with cancer just a short while before emptying his desk, I can't begin to imagine how he must have felt when his dreams were snatched away at the last moment. As is so often the case, this just seems so bl**dy unfair.
Alan was one of only a relatively small percentage of modellers with whom I felt any sort of kinship beyond our common hobby. Someone with whom I'd chat just for the sake of the banter, rather than sticking to the usual online question and answer format, he'd often amuse me. Something he'd said might pop back into my head later in the day and I'd grin, to my mind that's about the greatest contribution us regular folk ever get to make.
Despite working in London a lot last year, I never got around to meeting him and will now feel hugely guilty about that, too. The intention was there, and I was gently chided by him for not making it happen, but there was always going to be another day. One of his wryly-stated ambitions was to see me build a GWR branchline terminus, a goal that would have eluded him had he lived to the age of 111. It would have been nice, however, if he'd been around longer to see me not building it.
Alan, once you're settled in, seek out Brunel and give him a good slap from me.
Currently On My Stereo: Peter Hammill - pH7
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A couple of days ago I threatened to drone on a little about Airfix 16 tonners, and you've not escaped entirely. However, whilst in dinosaur/nostalgic/childish mode (delete according to taste) and crawling around under the eaves looking in dusty boxes, I got a little side-tracked. I ended up building a handful of childhood favourites just for the hell of it - being a bit of an Airfix collector I've got multiples of many examples so thought I could spare a few. I'll not dwell on the the non-railway items (suffice to say the Tiger tank and Westland helicopter brought back memories of the very first 2 bob baggies my grandmother bought for me from Woolies in West Bromwich) but move straight on to the trains.
I knocked-up one of the ubiquitous minerals just as I would have when I was a nipper, except the absence of tube cement means the trademark thumb-prints are missing. The kit is built straight from the box, warts and all, which explains the hinges, incorrect brake gear, etc, etc. I even used the horrible plastic wheels, not something I'd dream of doing normally but, as a nostalgia trip, it was kinda fun. Also, I built both wagons featured here before the CD I was listening to had finished - I normally spend longer than that just procrastinating. All-in-all this was very pleasant therapy in a week where I've been a tad unwell and confined to the house.
Although I said I wasn't going to drone on about these critters, I can't resist a few parting comments. With the availability of Bachmann and Parkside alternatives these days, you're unlikely to use the vintage Airfix kit if you're starting afresh. If, on the other hand, you're of an age where you've got loads stached away (I've got literally hundreds in the loft) then these old-timers still have a lot to offer. There's a little more work to be done because of the age of the product, something that's been covered many times in articles over the years, but the basic item is dimensionally accurate and quite well executed. This isn't something that can be said for most subsequent RTR offerings pre-Bachmann.
Given the vast quantities of the prototype that covered the British Railways network and the almost total absence of alternatives to the Airfix model for decades, this product is quite possibly one of the most important 4mm railway items ever released. Respect, I'd suggest, is due.
I don't see the infamous ventilated meat van in quite the same light, in fact the opportunity for a mild rant about this baby is what derailed my intention to scribe a lengthier piece on minerals. The model itself is well done. It shares a few of the compromises found in the mineral, such as the crudely-hinged doors for play value, plus adds another in the form of the thick roof. On the other hand the planking is much finer than most of today's releases manage and the brake gear is improved over the mineral. Pushing down the brake lever on either side would actually apply the brakes, as opposed to releasing them on one side of the 16 tonner.
It's not the model itself that flips my rant switch, but it's popularity. Given that there were, from memory, only 150 built as opposed to around a quarter of a million of the minerals (I really should double-check those figures, but I can't be bothered at the moment - you'll get the broad picture though) they should be relatively rare on layouts. Unfortunately they're almost as 'ubiquitous' as the minerals, a bizarre state of affairs indeed. Now, whilst I'd defend the right of the individual to do exactly as they please with their layout, when you're presented with zillions of these b*gg*rs at exhibitions and in mags (especially as grounded bl**dy bodies!) you can't help but notice. The meat van phenomena is the very antithesis of my quest for the mundane and everyday.
The plague of meat vans isn't just confined to Airfix kits, either. As well as 4mm RTR versions (including even within the traditionally wagon-lite Hornby range) there are at least two examples in 7mm scale that I'm aware of. Although taking advantage of common components could account for some of this (if you ignore the poor showing in 4mm of the more mainstream vans that would share these parts) I'm tempted to lay the blame squarely at the feet of Airfix. Such is the importance of Airfix kits to several generations that this relatively obscure van has become a seemingly automatic choice in manufacturer's ranges. We've got meat vans coming out of our ears, possibly other orifices too, yet we're still waiting for many everyday prototypes, 5 thou plastikard is difficult to get hold of, there's never been a decent Class 25 and most of my favourite Humbrol colours have vanished. It's a mad world, but I think those might be rants for another time!
As much as I admire those staunch fellows at Airfix, they've got a lot to answer for in this instance. I can't help thinking the world would have been a better place if they'd sat round a table and designed a bog-standard 12 tonner instead.
Currently On My Stereo: Mostly Autumn - Heart Full Of Sky
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I've a seen a few railway obsessives in my time, both at the lineside and exhibitions, but I know with 100% certainty that I'm not one myself - even if some relatives might disagree. The reason I know this is my pre-occupation with music makes any interest in trains seem insignificant by comparison. I don't know if I qualify as a music obsessive, in fact I don't even care, but it proves beyond doubt that I'm not a railway one. I suppose I should be relieved.
As much more of my online time is squandered on music rather than railways, I've often thought of adding a music element to this site. I've always resisted this temptation as I'm pretty sure it would take over completely within a week, so things aural are thus limited to the 'On My Stereo' line under normal circumstances. However, these aren't normal circumstances. Two brand-new albums from world-class bands have appeared in recent weeks and there's precious little going on in train set land, unless you're interested in the teddy-tossing and willy-waving of the club cliques and finescale factions. Personally, if I'd been cursed with a finescale willy, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't wave it around.
I've been getting excited (in a non-willy kind of way) about the arrival of Marillion's 'Somewhere Else' and Porcupine Tree's 'Fear of a Blank Planet' for some while now, something that just doesn't happen with model railway releases. Both bands are amongst my most admired. Both bands have a strong track record when it comes to producing albums that stand the test of time, indeed keep getting better the more I listen to them. Both bands' recent output has, arguably, been their finest ever. Both bands have, I think it's fair to say, my full attention.
The new Marillion album has a lot in common with the previous 'Marbles', so if you're familiar with that then you'll know roughly what to expect. Personally I find music of this calibre needs a lot of listens before I really get into it, but when it 'clicks' it clicks for life. 'Marbles' would be in my top ten albums of all time without a shadow of a doubt and, though I haven't listened to 'Somewhere Else' enough times to achieve this state of bliss yet, I think I'm well on the way.
Porcupine Tree's material normally grabs me slightly differently, in that I find it more immediately accessible. But it's still a grower that repays, in fact demands, repeated listenings. There are many layers to peel back and investigate before anything like a full appreciation can be had. Nevertheless, the greater accessibility and the obvious sonic links with the preceeding 'In Absentia' and 'Deadwing' means 'Fear of a Blank Planet' is already well on it's way to 'classic album' status with me.
Anyway, I think that's enough on music for the time being, this is a railway site after all. My apologies to anyone not remotely interested in this rambling, but at least it was a brief rambling. In much the same way that I don't write reviews of railway releases here, this is little more than a "it's out there - go check it out" plug for the products concerned. But, by God, if ever two products were worth checking out it's these two.
Incidentally, both of these albums mention trains. But I'm not obsessive about such things.
Currently On My Stereo: Marillion - Somewhere Else
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At times when things don't seem to be going quite right in the hobby I tend to retreat to the safety of wagon-building. It's what I spend most of my time doing anyway, so it's not too great a retreat, but when the industry seems intent on showering us with 80s re-issues and Legoland 37s it can be very therapeutic. Cheaper too, as I'm building from my stockpile of 'original' old models rather than paying inflated prices for old models in new boxes.
To be honest, though, this current bout of thumb-sucking-in-the-foetal-position is caused as much by the wagons in my previous posting as it is by a lack-lustre D&E release schedule. I'd decided there were too many errors to correct if I wanted to re-vitalise some of those LNWR wagons and it would be easier to build new ones.
I'm comfortable building wagon kits. I've built so many of them since I was a kid that, if I can't actually disengage my brain, I can at least let it coast for a bit while I listen to some good music. Plus I love building them, which is something that obviously shouldn't be overlooked in a hobby. However, it's amazing how many potential irritations I unthinkingly accept and take in my stride through familiarity with this ritual enjoyment. I mention this for two reasons...
Firstly, I've built a modest number of Tamiya 1/35 scale AFVs (that's tanks & stuff, if you don't already know) of late. Absolutely none of them had the inaccurate fit of parts seen in the above wagon photo.
Secondly, I was asked by a complete novice to recommend a couple of examples he could cut his teeth on. I had no idea how difficult this would be until I tried to come up with something that would hook him rather than sending him off to the plastic tank shop. So many of my staples and favourites need new floors, wholesale replacement of chassis components or general butchery that they're ruled out completely. The matter was resolved eventually, but it certainly gave me pause for thought.
It's good to step back and take stock occasionally, to reassess what you take for granted. My 25 years out of date memories had that Ratio LNWR wagon with the ill-fitting sides pegged as one of the better examples of it's genre - clearly it's nothing of the sort. Whilst I've become accustomed to rectifying gross defects (I hesitate to dignify such lack of discernment when shopping as 'modelling') it would have been a mistake to assume that a newcomer would automatically set his sights so low. Personally I'd never accept such short-comings on locos, yet I don't even raise an eyebrow when it comes to wagons - purely because I happen to like hacking them around. It scares me how easily I've become such a dinosaur.
Hand me my quill, an Airfix 16 tonner and some obsolete Humbrol railway colours. I feel an article coming on...
Currently On My Stereo: Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
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Something from the archive, courtesy of various pre-grouping discussions over the weekend. I must have built these Ratio LNWR wagons around 1980-ish and, whilst certainly not my earliest railway modelling, these were part of my first ever planned and coordinated 'proper' layout. I use 'proper' in this context purely to mark a personal watershed, my transition from youthful expediencies such as Kyle of Lochalsh powered soley by Airfix 31s. This was an attempt to produce something coherent and railway-like in terms of era, location and stock. This was what the grown-ups did. People who knew what they were doing. People with beards.
With their thirtieth birthday not too distant, it's easy to find fault with these early fumblings. They still have great sentimental value, however, and look pretty good as part of a train where the outbreaks of dirty-turps weathering are mostly concealed by distance. The yellowed varnish annoys my hugely, though, but you're largely spared that in the photos thanks to a quick poke at the auto-colour button, even if it has made the underframes a tad purple.
Cringeworthy modelling moments aside, (is that one in the middle supposed to be level?) the real point of these meanderings is the availability of information. Back when I was sticking these wagons together there was only a handful of wagon books on the market and information in magazines was, barring the inevitable and context-less line drawings, sporadic at best. The raw data was out there, I guess, if you had a beard and knew what you were doing, but as a spotty pre-employment youth I didn't have a clue where to look. My sole source of reference when building these models was the supplied instruction sheets, fortunately pretty decent thanks to the efforts of people who actually did know what they were doing.
These days I've got masses of books (even on LNWR wagons!) and, of course, there's the wonderful wide world web thingy. It's easy to forget how information-poor the hobby was just two or three decades ago - except at times of quiet reflection I tend to take well-researched and pre-packaged data for granted.
I've even got my own beard now, but inexplicably I still don't know what the f*ck I'm doing...
Currently On My Stereo: David Bowie - Earthling
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Here's a whole bunch of photos with no special significance other than they were taken exactly twenty years ago to this day.
I wouldn't have noticed this, but I used one of these pics to illustrate a point yesterday and someone observed that the photo was about to celebrate it's birthday.
Class 47s abound, as you might expect, which is something I've always tried to reflect when modelling.
The scene is still very much BR Blue based...
...although the more multi-hued liveries are by now well-established.
The modern Class 58s stand out from the more traditional traction...
...in that they were delivered straight into Railfreight Red Stripe livery...
...being born too late to carry BR Blue.
This wasn't a special day out...
...just a regular quick hop to Saltley via Duddeston...
...whilst I was presumably doing some CD or vinyl shopping in Birmingham.
The photos haven't been specially selected.
This is the entire railway content of the roll of film...
...presented in the order in which they were taken.
Some images are reasonably sharp...
...while others are a tad fuzzy.
The weather is hazy, going on dull.
The landscape is less than majestic.
But for all that...
...it's still an interesting slice of 80s life.
Currently On My Stereo: Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
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The efforts of the industry's assorted hangers-on are equally amusing and annoying, normally, as they stumble around in the dark looking for the internet's off-switch. On the one hand, some of the bend-over-backwards excuses for shortcomings can be quite entertaining. But on the other, it's sometimes difficult to have a serious discussion about a new product with the constant interruptions.
You know how it goes. Point out something's wrong with a forthcoming product and you're told to shut up, because it's only a pre-production sample. Point out something's wrong with a product after release, however, and you're still told to shut up - you should have said something earlier. Everything raises standards to stunning new highs, even though previous offerings were deemed to capture the look of the prototype perfectly. There's nothing wrong with even the most diabolical model, there's merely scope for modellers to indulge themselves. Major steps backward are heralded as 'value for money' even when they're more expensive than the better-specified competition. These hardy spin-doctors and thought-police have an answer for everything, absolutely none of which are convincing.
So, don't you dare say anything against their chosen masters, or you'll be put in the naughty book. You'll be told what to think, thank you very much, by the comprehensive review in next month's 'Parry People Mover & Narrow Gauge Modeller' - "It's got wheels, it's got paint. This one's blue and this one ain't."
I think, like most people, I've got used to this by now. I'd even managed to convince myself that I'd seen it all before, to the extent that I got a bit of a shock this week from possibly the most outstanding piece of model railway PC claptrap I've ever come across. I'm still trying to get bits of Weetabix out of my keyboard right now. Some poor unfortunate was ticketted by one of our train set traffic wardens for (and you may wish to remove young children from the room, so heinous is this crime) - get this - saying he was disappointed in something. Crikey! Seal all ports! Call out the militia! Karma police - arrest this man!
I must stress that the offender just mildly remarked that he was disappointed in manufacturer X's choice of Y over Z, nothing more. He wasn't in any way 'strident' (personally, I like to point out something's a crock of sh*te from time to time, just to make sure our self-appointed guardians aren't taking a crafty nap) or critical. I'm sure he was just as suprised as I by the muffled 'whup-whup-whup' of the approaching black helicopters.
Is there no limit to the ridiculous lengths these folk will go to? Have they no self-esteem?
Currently On My Stereo: Frank Zappa - You Can't Do That On Stage Any More, Volume 2
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Unbiased Al-Freebie Information Minister, Muhammed Saeed al-Shergar:
Western infidels, the interweb is closed! There's nothing to see! Move along!
Stay in your homes until the new state-run interweb is announced!
Currently On My Stereo: Frank Zappa - Strictly Commercial
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Having just reprocessed it, I was originally going to throw the above photo into the mix here purely on a 'Pwetty twain, Mommy!' basis. However, it does tie-in with a pivotal modelling issue of current times, specifically the lack of decent AC electric motive power.
Historically, electric locos certainly haven't been totally neglected by the trade, the pancake era alone produced 86s, 87s and 90s to name but three. But in more recent times, as we crawl slowly toward the standards of the rest of the world, there's been nothing at all on the electric loco front. We've had diesels aplenty, a vast number of wagons, rakes of coaches and a reasonable selection of DMUs. There's even an EMU on the horizon, something I'm sure many of us never thought we'd live to see. Electric traction now remains as the one significant area so far untouched - surely it's only a matter of time before we get a properly motored and detailed AC electric to modern standards? Or even (swoon) something for the Woodhead line?
One popular justification for this absence (some folk seem to find an excuse for everything) is electrics would need overhead wires and, as British ranges don't include them, there thus can't be any electric locos. This is completely mad, of course. Totally hatstand. Most manufacturers don't include stations, signals or even decent track in their ranges, yet it doesn't stop the (non-electric) locos from selling.
Currently On My Stereo: Steve Hillage - Motivation Radio
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I don't have much time for locos that don't run well, they p*ss me off. I know that a bit of TLC can go a long way with a recalcitrant product but, frankly, it's not something I hugely enjoy. If I wanted to spend my train time poking around with the lid off, I'd buy an old Lamer hulk from the charity shop. Having long since passed the 'more toys than I could ever possibly need' event horizon, locos that p*ss me off get put on the 'locos that p*ss me off shelf' above the layout while I carry on operating with more dependable items. This is a policy that works well, right up to the point where the shelf's so full that any further addition would threaten to send something tumbling onto the layout below. Now that would really p*ss me off.
So, with a full-on, full shelf guilt trip currently doing a black cloud number, this Atlas Dash 8-40CW has visited the workbench in the last 24 hours. It's never been that good a runner since I picked it up secondhand. It's fine once it's underway, but slow-speed start-up tends to be a little jerky and unreliable - not something you expect to put up with from the better US products. Last night and this morning I've cleaned wheels, checked pick-ups, tested wiring, looked everywhere for bits that bind - generally done everything a chap can do in these situations to make it healthy, bar feeding it designer yoghurt. But still, even on ye-olde DC, performance isn't what I expect.
As a last-ditch attempt to coax acceptable results from the machine before selling it on, I ordered some Zimo decoders this morning. Zimos have the edge on Lenz Golds when it comes to tweakability, an edge that I don't normally need but an edge that can nevertheless be a lifesaver in cases like this. With nothing further to do until postie turns up tomorrow, I tidied away the debris before any felines had ideas about the play value of decoder harnesses. At this point I noticed that the decoder hanging from the chassis didn't look quite like a Lenz Gold. Hmm, odd! Closer inspection revealed it to be a Lenz LE1035, not one of my favourite decoders at all. Two minutes to find and fit a Gold and, would you believe it, the loco now runs like a dream.
Good job I need some more Zimos anyway, or I'd really, really be p*ssed off.
Currently On My Stereo: Queensryche - Promised Land
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Tuesday's little problem with wandering DMUs turned out to be a simple one - just as well as the signalling scheme doesn't cater for quite that sort of bi-directional running. As predicted, the root cause was I'd not fully integrated a new track section into the software - two minutes to fix once I'd found the problem.
Since then, I don't mind admitting, I've largely been relaxing whilst watching the trains go by. Technically I've been testing out my Tortoise installations, if anyone asks, but in reality they seem to be 100% reliable and don't need any tweaking. So, with my chin resting on the edge of the baseboard, it's easy to imagine I'm peering from an overbridge and wondering what'll come along next. The fact that it's increasingly likely to be a DMU these days only serves to heighten the realism. Just as well really, when there's no bl**dy scenery!
I've mainly been running recent purchases, as it's a good way to discover any pitfalls that might be lurking. The containers aren't part of any layout plan, they're just holding a temporary backscene in place. I'm definitely not planning a Nick 'more containers than Branscombe Bay' Gurney, no matter how tempting those cranes might be.
The reason I'm playing around with a backscene is that, with the reliability issues (hopefully) out of the way, it's high time I gave some thought to presentation and the visual side of things. A similar angle from Tuesday shows the clutter I'm still putting up with.
Currently On My Stereo: Spock's Beard - Snow
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