A couple of Life-Like Proto 2000 SD9s have been through the electrical shops in the last 24 hours. Lenz LE1024E Back EMF decoders have been fitted and the grotty light bulbs replaced with nice, bright LEDs. Despite the high standard of detailing, there's much about these models that annoys me intensely, silly little design issues where Life-Like have dropped the ball completely. The SD9s are famous for having bodies that won't fit on the chassis properly, in fact on some samples it's physically impossible to join the two halves of the loco unless you make some alterations. Press the body onto the chassis too firmly and there's a very high risk of damage. At times like this it's easy to lose sight of the fact that they're about a million times better than most UK diesels and throw the whole lot out of the window.
This pair of locomotives is a testament to my impressionability. I originally bought them back in 1997 because they were being sold off for next to nothing and I thought they'd be a good source of donor parts, in much the same way that Bachmann Class 25s are. Unfortunately I fell in love with the Southern's elegant and understated livery, with the result that not only do the locos remain uncannibalised, but they've been joined by a good number of roadmates and a small library of books.
No plans for a Southern layout, though. Yet.
Currently On My Stereo: Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
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I've managed to complete the upper level baseboards, lay all of the track and install the wiring ahead of schedule. Granted, a lot of the track is not yet fixed to the boards (look at some of those dog-legs!) and some of the wires are swinging loose beneath the layout, but I'm pleased with progress so far.
You can see about half of the temporary return loop in this photo, the freight headed by three SD45s will swing to the right, crossing the precarious chipboard bridge (more supports required) high above the fiddle-yard before making it's way to the other side of the loft. Eventually it will reappear from the right at the far end and head back toward the camera, but on the left-hand track. The line dead ahead of the train is a long siding for off-layout storage.
The same train is seen from the opposite direction, approaching the point at which it will take the diverging route rather than continue ahead into the siding. The grey box to the right of the picture is the Lenz LK100 reversing loop module, balanced there for ease of access while I was testing the wiring.
The layout is an end-to-end design, but with return loops at either end any train left to it's own devices will eventually end up back where it started if nothing is in it's way. Once I obtain the required track-circuit modules, this upper level loop will effectively become a linear fiddle-yard, enabling through traffic to be more convincingly portrayed. But for the last couple of hours I've sat back with a glass of wine and just watched a couple of trains circling the loft, something I've not been able to do before. I was suprised to find that a train moving at a typical freight speed will take 20 minutes to return to it's starting point in the fiddle-yard. Nice!
Currently On My Stereo: Black Sabbath - Paranoid
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Since yesterday's photo I've installed the baseboard for the new running lines, seen here with the clamps still in place while the glue dries. As it's a temporary(ish) part of the layout I've used existing chipboard offcuts, which explains the long, straight stretch in the middle. Normally I'd go for a gentle curve in such situations.
The view the other way shows the final gap that needs filling before tracklaying can commence - hopefully I can get the last piece fixed in place tonight, but I've only got ten clamps so I need to wait for the glue to dry first. This is the fiddle-yard area, as you might have guessed, hence the tracks stacked one above the other with no thought for scenery.
Finally, a view across the new area, showing the relationships between the different levels. At the bottom are the return loops for the lower fiddle-yard, which dip down to this lowest point in order to give sufficient clearance - I use US stock for checking things fit, as vehicles such as autoracks and double-stacked containers are much larger than UK equipment. Crossing over the lower loops is the rising main line that has just left the low level station area and is climbing towards the middle level of the layout. At the top is the new line - the temporary(ish) high level return loop.
Almost all of this forest of timber and trackwork will be hidden by scenery in the fullness of time. Only the high level, where the green BN stock is standing, will be visible - and only then if you look along the layout...
Currently On My Stereo: Black Sabbath - Sabotage
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The latest developments on the layout are seen here basking in the funeral parlour glow of my cheap fluorescent tubes. Centre stage is the current construction, a temporary(ish) run linking the middle level with the temporary(ish) upper level return loops. So far the inverted, u-shaped supports are screwed into place, but the length of chipboard and the US freight cars are purely there to test for a correct and steady gradient. The pair of Southern Pacific Geeps to the right are peeking out from the soon-to-be-hidden low level lines.
As the two stumps just visible in the foreground testify, I've run out of timber once again, but if all goes according to plan I aim to have this temporary(ish) return circuit wired in and operational by the end of the bank holiday weekend. At long last this will facilitate through running on the layout, rather than the typical trainset terminus to fiddle-yard routine I'm stuck with at the moment.
Currently On My Stereo: Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
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There's been a very intensive US operating session here over the weekend, the stars of which, for my money at least, were my Kato SD45 fleet. Somewhat aged now, these models have been eclipsed in the detail stakes by virtually everything that's been released since - they're not exactly state of the art. But from a mechanism point of view, these beasts are second to none.
My party trick with the SD45s is to put two (any two will do) on adjacent tracks, rest a biro across the knuckle couplers, and drive both locos the length of the layout. The mechanisms are so perfectly matched that, barring dirty track or other mishap, the locos arrive at the other end of the layout with the biro still perfectly in place. This makes US style multiple loco lash-ups a pleasure to run - contrast this with my Bachmann Class 20s where I've yet to find two that match well enough to be assigned as a double act.
A great shame, then, that Kato fouled up the mechanism in the subsequent SD40-2 so badly. The electrical system is an unreliable nightmare, best stripped out and completely replaced.
Currently On My Stereo: Pearl Jam - Ten
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While I'm on the subject of ballasting, you can't pour ballast onto the average layout for too long before you realise you're getting a shoe full of the stuff - closer inspection reveals it's running down the wiring holes like sand through an hour-glass. The solution, obviously, is to stop up the holes somehow, and there's a variety of ways to do this. My preferred option is to break off little beads of expanded polystyrene from spare pieces of packing material and wedge them down the holes with the tip of a screwdriver. As long as you take care not to attack the wire with the screwdriver this is a quick and simple solution - the polystyrene will easily mould itself to fill the hole around the wire.
I make no claim that this is an original idea, I'm sure hundreds of people already use the technique. The reason I labour this point, however, is that earlier in the week someone forwarded a newsgroup post to me where a contributor was trying to lay claim to being the original inventor of another technique - one that many of us have been using since we were kids, suprisingly. I found the spectacle of a grown man behaving like this profoundly embarrassing.
The internet is a great place for sharing ideas, so if you've got one then pass it on. Two things are certain - somebody is already using it and somebody else is waiting to hear of it. Don't let the odd ego amongst the former spoil it for the latter - share the hobby!
Currently On My Stereo: Paul Rodgers - Muddy Water Blues
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Sometimes I'm amazed at my own stupidity. I know you shouldn't vacuum off excess scenic materials until they've been properly glued down and I know you have to wait until the glue is fully dry. Nevertheless, when I clambered up into the loft this morning and saw a few stray cork granules sitting atop yesterdays scenic work, I couldn't resist. They had to be removed - immediately.
So out came the vacuum and I delicately positioned it over the offending debris, thumb on one rail to prevent the nozzle getting too close. Of course, nothing happened, so I edged the nozzle a little closer until sluuuuurrrrrppppp - half the fassanwassandickdastardly scenery vanished in a bout of suction not previously seen outside of the Oval Office.
I've since patched this area and won't be making the same mistake again. Probably.
Currently On My Stereo: Hawkwind - Space Ritual
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I've been doing a spot of ballasting this evening, not one of my favourite tasks but a breeze compared to trying to take a photo of it. The ballasted area is too close to the front of the layout to light how I'd like, the roof timbers pretty much force the lights to be end-on, unfortunately. Hence the lens-flare, sparkling ballast and glistening rails - everything is still sopping wet.
What looks to be a smooth area of fine ash ballast in real life seems to be lumps of coal in the photo, and my 'just a hint of weeds' shows up as a meadow. Still, I'm very happy with how it looks in reality, I just need to learn how to photograph it better!
A lower viewpoint shows what a sodden mass of white glue and ballast the area is, I'd better go and move the wagons before they become a permanent fixture.
I'm amazed at how the grass stands out in the photos. It's really not like that in real life, in fact I was thinking I needed to add some more to get the effect I wanted. I'll wait until the glue dries before making the final decision, I think.
The MCA/MDA wagons are from Hurst Models resin kits, a rake of which I'd had sitting in my store-cupboard until Nigel Burkin could bear my procrastination no longer and built them for me...
Currently On My Stereo: Capercaillie - To The Moon
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Over the weekend I've finished off the high-level curve above the fiddle yard (both track-laying and local wiring) as well as adding more timber to support the upper level. None of this is especially photogenic and, to be honest, it doesn't look particularly different to the last time I snapped it.
As you'd imagine, all this construction eats up wood like there's no tomorrow, so I've awarded Burkin & Burkin (Timber Merchants to the Gentry, est. 2004) the contract to supply timber for the next phase of my layout - if nothing else it gives me the excuse to use a slightly more interesting photo than usual. I wonder if poor Sarah knows the trees are being cleared to make space for a 4-CEP?
Currently On My Stereo: Pallas - The Sentinel
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I've started to look at equipping more coaching stock with on-board lighting. This isn't a particularly challenging task in the age of DCC and LEDs, at least not in 4mm, but trying to install them into N gauge models is a little trickier than I thought.
Space isn't the issue. A typical Lenz LE0521A, seen here perched on a Peco turnout, measures a mere 9.1mm wide, and the more appropriate (for lighting purposes) Lenz LF100XF function-only decoder is only 12mm across. Similarly, modern LEDs are easily small enough to fit in these 1:148 scale models, as the tiny Express Models door warning light (meant for 4mm scale) clearly shows.
The issues are more to do with the way that the Graham Farish Mark 3s are constructed. Very much 'layout' coaches, in that they look fine from a distance but are less satisfying close-up, these vehicles are little more than a clear plastic box with the exterior painted on. The sides are actually quite thick, and when the light catches it, the inner face of the side gives a pronounced double-skin effect. This isn't something you tend to notice in normal use, (the harsh glare of the studio flash in the above photo is revealing but not typical,) however stuffing the insides full of LEDs highlights it quite significantly.
Another problem is that the printed sides are quite translucent when backlit. The photo above is deliberately staged to highlight this - interior lighting has a similar effect. The soft, red lighting gives the impression of a coach conveying, erm, seamstresses...
Terry Pratchett - Men At Arms: A survey by the Ankh-Morpork Guild of Merchants of tradespeople in the dock areas of Ankh-Morpork found 987 women who gave their profession as 'seamstress.' Oh ... and two needles.
The final hurdle, at the moment, is the gargantuan N gauge couplers that need to swing from side-to-side without obstruction. This is exactly where I tend to fit wires between coaches, and that obviously isn't going to work in this case. I prefer to hardwire 2 or 3 adjacent vehicles together in order to provide better pick-up and reduce the number of decoders needed - perhaps wires through the corridor connections might be a useful alternative this time.
None of these are insurmountable obstacles, they just need a bit more thought than I'd normally put into lighting before the project is given the all-clear.
Currently On My Stereo: Francis Dunnery - Tall Blonde Helicopter
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As predicted, things didn't go quite according to plan today because of the heat. The loft takes a long time to heat up in the morning, so a pleasant few hours can be had even when the sun is already scorching the lawns outside, but afternoons are something else altogether. As my soldering gear was down at the fiddle-yard end of the loft, behind the water tanks, I squeezed through in order to retrieve it, a process that doesn't seem to be getting any easier despite my rigorous adherence to a calorie-controlled, Guinness and Madras diet. So having got down there, I decided to do a spot of tracklaying and wiring - I prefer to lay track when it's starting to get hot as it reduces the risk of heat-expansion problems later on.
The top level in the photo has been bare board since late last year, so it's high time some progress was made. I've now got some of the track nailed down and about half of the wiring installed, not a bad start given the temperature. Note the pin-vice across the rails on the middle level, I'll inevitably leave it there and then spend an hour trying to find out what's causing the short circuit during the next operating session.
The lower-level fiddle-yard is just visible in the bottom left-hand corner of the shot, and the Wills Finecast box only holds my soldering odds'n'ends, honest! I don't build whitemetal kettles, really I don't. Especially not GWR ones.
Once the heat became unbearable, I retired downstairs and fiddled with various wagons whilst listening to some good music in one of the cooler parts of the house. I'm often asked why modelling doesn't feature on these pages as much as it used to, and the simple answer is that most of the things I've been doing in recent times are repetitive and uninteresting from a website point of view. Building Parkside kits or swapping wheels and couplings on RTR wagons is as laborious as it is necessary, but if you've seen one photograph of the process then you've seen them all - it's not worth repeating on here ad infinitum. I'm making an exception today, however, as I needed to take the photos for something else anyway...
So there you have it, before and after shots of a Hornby PCA, firstly with original tension-lock horrors and then with replacement Smiths Instanter couplings. I've also removed the various mould lines in the buffer beam area.
See, I told you it wasn't very interesting.
Currently On My Stereo: Peter Hammill - pH7
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It's eight o'clock in the morning and already too hot to even think about the arduous business of perspiring. If yesterday was anything to go by, this may not be the Big Modelling Day I'd originally planned.
My intentions were to sort out a couple of ex-GWR Siphons, and I'd collected together all of the gubbins late last night. I did a couple of these some months ago, but they've since taken up more-or-less permanent residence on a friend's EM layout, so I thought I'd do a couple more. The above photo shows an original Airfix Siphon H...
...while this one is a Mainline Siphon G. For those who don't already know, many of the product photos that appear here are also collated in the products section of this site.
Where new bogies are needed under commerical rolling stock, my preferred method is to use the Bill Bedford sprung units, show here along with some of the cosmetic sideframes from MJT that this project will also require. Let's see how the day unfolds - I might stay away from soldering irons and just fit a few couplings...
Currently On My Stereo: Peter Hammill - Sitting Targets
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Following on from yesterday's look at some of the dire wagon offerings in the late, unlamented Lima range, it's probably only fair to mention the few that were actually that little bit better. The best to my mind was the bogie Palvan which, part from the bogies, is a reasonable if simple looker.
Many of the models photographed here were obtained secondhand (and not at eejit-Bay prices!) which accounts for the somewhat less than 'mint in box' appearance of some examples. The rather yellowed look to the Palvan comes from the previous owner's 'dirty turps' weathering - the livery is normally white. My get-it-running-quick policy normally targets just the most objectionable Lima features - I've replaced the crude wheelsets with Ultrascale examples, and binned Lima's dreadful tension locks in favour of Smith's instanter couplings. The latter is a cheap, short term dodge only as Kadees will be fitted when time allows and the model has a proper visit to the workshops. Although I've touched-in the buffers with two shades of steel paint, I seem to have inexplicably dipped my brush in gloss black for the buffer beams - yuk!
One of the later and better detailed wagons to emerge was the depressed centre tank, and who wouldn't be depressed rubbing shoulders with some of the dross in the Lima catalogue? A useful model indeed, but not one that'll be missed as a direct equivalent exists in the Hornby range.
Getting a little cruder is this bogie bolster E. It's more chunky than detailed, but can be pressed into service with a modicum of effort - as usual with Lima the bogies should be the first thing up for replacement after you've binned the couplers. Contrary to recurring rumours, this model is not underscale in the length department - it's a model of a genuinely short prototype.
Also of merit in the Lima range was the Seacow bogie ballast hopper, actual model not pictured as I haven't got any that aren't in a multitude of bits at the moment. These always looked a little chunky (that word, again) when placed next to my models built from the long-departed Cambrian kits, but that was a small price to pay in order to avoid many of the Cambrian model's other foibles, not least of which being the fact that it was a complete pig to build. Generally a nice body moulding that benefits from the obligatory replacment of bogies and details. The Lima chunkiness is particularly obvious in the ballast chutes beneath the body - fabricating replacements from plastikard brings a substantial improvement in this area.
Now, whilst I'm a great fan of engineer's wagons (and bogie ballasts in particular) the problem is that they're specialist vehicles. While not by any means rare, they're hardly what you need in order to recreate typical day-to-day running in most areas of the network, no matter how attractive the prototype is. Nice to have once you've attended to all of the run-of-the-mill revenue earning stock, but not something you want instead of the mundane. Unfortunately, that's the problem with the old Lima wagon range - most of it is poor, and the few better items aren't of common, everyday types. The average layout builder isn't going to get very far with just a Palvan and a Seacow...
Currently On My Stereo: Les Claypool - Highball With The Devil
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Be warned, I'm about to use some 'strident language'. I'm told this malaise is somewhat widespread on this interwebby thingy (that came as something of a shock, I can tell you - I almost messed up a porn download, so aghast was I) so I guess I'm not about to make much of a difference, but if you're of a sensitive disposition then look away now.
The above photo shows a Lima 100t bogie tank wagon, and it's a piece of sh*t. It's a piece of sh*t now and it was a piece of sh*t when it was released a decade or two back. It would even have been a piece of sh*t had it been released a decade earlier. The bogies are sh*t, the tank barrel is sh*t, the couplings are sh*t, the moulded-on walkways are sh*t, the crude ladders are sh*t, the lumpy buffers are sh*t, the underframe detail is sh*t and the bloody great gap down the side is sh*t. It has no redeeming features whatsoever. It's a piece of sh*t, one might say.
The Hornby bogie tank that preceded it by 20 years isn't exactly top-drawer stuff, either, but at least it had separate crude walkways rather than moulded-on crude walkways. The gap between the two halves of the barrel was better hidden, too, and could be more easily filled and sanded, if required.
But the real issue was that not only were overseas products vastly superior to this at the time, as per norm, but UK ones were as well. These Lima items were a major step backwards after the much finer mouldings from Airfix and Mainline many years before, as typified by the ex-GWR mineral wagon above.
That some modellers have persevered with these old clunkers and turned them into better replicas is a matter of record, but so is the fact that many, many more just haven't bothered. There are better things to do with your time and money in modern life, and few people like to be treated as gullible idiots. For the UK hobby to grow and begin to catch up with the rest of the world, far better products are required - something more than a piece of sh*t is needed to attract buyers. Which is why I greeted the demise of these third-rate toys with the utmost glee.
Here's another one. Better than the bogie tank but still a piece of sh*t. Chunky detail. Huge gaps. Suspension way too high. A piece of sh*t. It takes a colossal amount of time and effort to rebuild just one of these clunkers, and unless you're building a teeny-tiny layout you'll need multiples. Is it any wonder that many modellers turn to overseas prototypes where products of merchandable quality enable them to get on with the serious business of building layouts?
It's absolutely vital for the future of the hobby that this old sh*t doesn't get reintroduced. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that this is the single most important factor. Should this junk resurface then I think it'll blight the D&E hobby for a decade or more. Instead of better quality products we'll be sold old sh*t once again, the gap between the UK and the rest of the world will widen still further, and the discerning modellers with the disposable income will continue to pour their money elsewhere.
That a hard core of tinkerers enjoy bashing these old relics into shape is neither here nor there. The commercial sector isn't a museum that exists to preserve examples of low-end Italian injection-moulding, it's a business that needs products that will compete on the world stage in order to thrive. If we need a 100t bogie tank then we need to lobby manufacturers to produce a decent, new example, not to reintroduce the old clunkers. It's often said that it's cheaper for a manufacturer to start from scratch than to alter existing, below-par locos - let's hope that applies to old wagons as well.
Did I mention that these things are a piece of sh*t?
Currently On My Stereo: Primus - Sailing The Seas Of Cheese
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As a result of many requests I've reinstated the layout pages on this site, despite my reservations as to the relevance of a project that came to a halt last Christmas. But it seems that many still find a large, half-started, DCC-controlled modern layout interesting, so who am I to argue?
Feeling guilty about re-deploying these unchanged pages, I spent some time last night digging through old photographs, trying to find anything that showed any of my old layouts. It was a fruitless search, but I did find a couple of related shots that I've included here. Jasper (and his sister, Jenny) was remarkably adept at running up the loft ladder and loved to explore the layout, wreaking havoc as he went.
I have no idea what this layout is - I simply don't remember it. I thought at first it might be a corner of my old P4 layout, but that was double track throughout, and zooming into the photo reveals OO wheelsets as opposed to 18.83mm. So the track must be SMP, something I do remember buying for evaluation. I know I built a test track on a plank back then (I've still got the board and the marks left by the track are clearly visible) but I don't recall doing anything more substantial with curves involved - I didn't like copperclad pointwork and so abandoned the project very quickly.
My best guess is that the photos show a more elaborate test track (possibly a large oval) that didn't last long enough to lodge itself in my memory. This would account for the single track (not something I've ever favoured) and the odd-ball collection of rolling stock. Perhaps I was seeing how Lamer pastry-cutter wheels got on with the low-profile track?
Confused? Well you're not the one going senile at 45.
Things have been quiet over at Nigel Burkin's site for a while now, owing to his move north to start a new life as a midge farmer. It seems like he's getting settled in, though, (he's now stopped ringing the British Transport Police to report the theft of the third rail from his new local line) and has updated his OMWB page. But what's that teeny-weeny loco in that photo? Hmmmm, perhaps I got the wrong idea about those midges...
Currently On My Stereo: Bill Nelson - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam
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No, I haven't traded my train-spotter anorak in for the bus-spotter equivalent. The omnipresent omnibus (indeed road transport as a whole) has never really floated my boat and my knowledge of them peaks at the "look at that nice blue one" level. Yet road vehicles are an essential part of the scenery for a model railway, buses in particular being a vital ingredient of an integrated public transport system. No layout should be without at least one example pulling out of the station forecourt, just moments before a train arrives.
This bout of un-raily behaviour has been precipitated by Mark Priest, who added a batch of Black Country photos to his bus photo site earlier this week, including a few shots of the old Walsall bus station. I may not be into buses, but the sight of the place where I used to catch one home from school proved nostalgic in the extreme.
Not too long after I started grammar school in Walsall, the bus station was rebuilt in the format seen in the above photo. I have no recollection of the actual reconstruction, just the before and after. Gone were the long brick and iron structures seen in Mark's photos, replaced by what can only be described as, well, bus shelters. You'd think that as railway station buildings tend to be replaced by squalid bus shelters, then bus shelters might be replaced by nice LNWR station buildings. Alas, it's not a perfect world.
With this essential scenery in mind, I've picked up quite a few road vehicles over the years, including this Walsall Corporation Daimler Fleetline. Putting everyday road traffic on a layout isn't easy, as most ranges tend to include models of more upmarket vehicles at the expense of the workaday wrecks. Still, amongst all those nice Porsches (and I'm sure no self-respecting train buff leaves home without one) there are at least a good number of Mercedes models - if nothing else we've got the taxis covered...
Currently On My Stereo: Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny
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After a week of speculation, Warners officially announced their intended new D&E title yesterday. The press release doesn't give much away, unfortunately, (more details are promised next week) but the text is reproduced below:
Warners Launch New D&E Modelling Magazine
Since 1993 British Railway Modelling has established a reputation as the quality model railway monthly through imaginative use of photography and modern printing technology. For a long while now the hobby has demanded a publication of similar quality devoted to the growing number of railway modellers who follow 'modern' motive power - diesel, electric and multiple units. So we are pleased to announce that from November 2004 BRM will be joined by a new sister publication dedicated to post-war diesel and electric modelling in all scales and gauges -
Published quarterly, this new quality modelling magazine will build on the success of our Modern Railway Modelling, bringing readers a fresh new look at the contemporary and heritage railway modelling scene. Along with a regular mix of news and reviews, high quality layouts, articles on building and converting stock and layout planning, MRM will also take an in-depth look at the DCC revolution, consider other modelling disciplines to see what techniques and materials we can incorporate into our hobby, and report on relevant websites and the world of virtual modelling! And as you would expect from the publishers of BRM and Traction, Modern Railway Modelling will also include plenty of prototype inspiration.
Get The Wider View
Modern Railway Modelling will also look across the 'pond' to see what's happening in the current American scene - prototype and model - and bring you regular reports on modelling overseas and continental contemporary railways, new products and the growing number of overseas shows. With electric traction having been with us for around a century and diesels well over 50 years it's time to dispense with that old 'modern image' tag and bring D&E modelling out of the shadows into the limelight. From beginners to the 'serious' modeller, there's something for you in Modern Railway Modelling
The first issue of Modern Railway Modelling will be on sale from October 31, 2004.
Currently On My Stereo: Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight
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Nigel Emery, my partner-in-crime on many photo trips and chip-shop finding expeditions (not necessarily in that order) has recently set up a Fotopic site to house some of his Swiss railway photos - well worth a look.
I can only assume that this sudden bout of uploading means his microdrives are full.
Currently On My Stereo: Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are.
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While still at school, back in the mid seventies, I had a suprising amount of contact with the Southern Region - especially considering I was supposed to be studying for 'O' and 'A' levels at the time. Two encounters in particular stand out, as coinciding with summer breaks they attracted not just parental approval but welcome subsidy, too. A family holiday near Weymouth in 1975 gave me my first opportunities to sample Class 33 haulage on the runs up to Bournemouth and back, something I enjoyed so much that when we returned to the south coast a year later (Eastbourne, this time) I was armed with a Southern Region Railrover ticket. I ranged far and wide during that fortnight, but spent a disproportionate amount of time hurtling down from Waterloo on the Weymouth services. A bond had been formed.
Typically, my snaps from this era were pretty dreadful, but I was left with lasting memories of what was almost another country to me - and the overwhelming desire to own models of Class 33s/4-TCs/4-REPs at some point in the future.
This preamble goes some way towards explaining why a sudden rush of SR EMU photos has appeared on my main photo site of late. Knowing a Class 33 is in the pipeline from Heljan my mind has been wandering Southern-wards more and more in recent months, with half-formed plans for 4TCs well to the fore. Although the glaring absence of any Mark 1 era SR EMUs from RTR ranges is one of those major pitfalls that makes UK D&E modelling so unattractive to many, there is at least a good selection of components available to the dedicated hacker. In fact, it's a lot easier to come up with models of most SR EMUs these days than it is to produce any of the core first generation DMUs a Midlands-based project would require - distinctive body-profiles preclude building things such as Class 100s, 103s or 116s for most people.
The HAPless (sorry!) Southern Region fan has never really had any significant support from the RTR trade. Lima produced a poor Class 33, with absurdly undersized front windows, and a somewhat better Class 73. Hornby have offered part of the ultra-modern Eurostar and the not unreasonable Networker, but I suspect most enthusiasts could have come up with better candidates for volume sales. Of the ubiquitous Mark 1 based EMUs there is no sign.
The Lima Class 73 is generally held to be one of their better models, and I would certainly agree with that. I'd suggest that needs to be taken in context, however. The fact that it's not as bad as some of their other releases merely serves to highlight how dreadful some of the rest of this expired range actually was. 'Less dreadful than' is not the same as 'good'. The chassis and drive are completely useless. The bodyshell is generally pretty good, but the roof profile is off and the cab windows droop a little.
As a RTR product I'd give it nought out of ten, how could it be otherwise without a properly functioning chassis? As a parts donor, of course, it has considerable more potential - but it wasn't marketed as a donor. This tends to be how I assess all models, I expect a RTR item to be fit for immediate service even if it does require some enhancement at a later stage. Things destined for the parts bin get picked up secondhand when the opportunity arises and the Class 73 here is just such an example. Unlike some modellers I wouldn't like to see this product re-released. The world has moved on and I'd expect better these days.
Currently On My Stereo: Jethro Tull - Broadsword And The Beast
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It might be the heat, or perhaps a full moon. Personkind's instinctive dread of the onset of the school holidays, even. But whatever the reason, there's been a marked upsurge in the howlings from the rubber room of late. A newsgroup troll dribbled about how "DCC locks you into individual loco control rather than prototypical route control". Model Rail gives voice to some tummy-rubbish about it being illegal to remove capacitors from model trains. A couple of magazine reviews included photos comparing new products with obsolete old junk rather than the prototype. Now, while it's easy for experienced modellers to snigger and rehearse a few hand gestures before getting on with the real world, spare a thought for the poor beginner. It's difficult enough sorting the facts from opinions as it is, without having to work out who the fibbers and the eejits are.
Refreshing, then, to read Nigel Burkin's "you cannot argue with a 100 tonne plus lump of metal. It is what it is" comment in the 'Modern Railway Modelling' supplement with this month's Traction magazine. That just about sums things up - it really is that simple. Beware the spin-doctors who try to convince you otherwise.
Nostalgia is, we're told, big business. Being of a certain age where I can get nostalgic about even the contents of the toilet-bowl if I don't flush quickly enough, I can well believe it. Certainly I'm rather partial to my monthly dose of nostalgia with Traction, but I've been particularly looking forward to looking back with this month's issue, ever since I learned it was to feature a Saltley spread. Highly recommended, assuming you're flush enough to manage the modest £3.30 cover price, if, as with me, thoughts of Saltley in the corporate blue years brings on a "something-in-my-eye" moment or two.
Shoot me humanely if I advance to the "anyone got a trackplan?" stage...
Currently On My Stereo: Pallas - The Cross & The Crucible
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A few months ago I bagged the above shot of EWS locomotives taking a weekend rest at Peak Forest. Unfashionable as the 'Red Death' might be with enthusiasts at the moment, I reckon EWS red/gold is going to be one of those liveries that stands the test of time and is remembered with fondness long after it's demise. 20 years from now (assuming I survive a couple more decades of solvent abuse) I've no doubt that I'll be picturing it glowing in the sympathetic yellows of late afternoon sunlight, as seen here - harmonising with the magnificent Derbyshire hills.
Contrary to popular opinion, I firmly believe we've just lived through one of the most interesting and modellable transition eras in the history of diesel and electric traction. The influx of new GM motive power has sat alongside an ample selection of old favourites. New super-wagons have rubbed shoulders with the staple fare of previous generations, such as 4 wheel tanks and MGR hoppers. A bewildering array of modern multiple units are only just ousting the vestiges of their first generation ancestors. Liveries in particular are at their peak, from the point of view of variety - I've always been enamoured of the juxtaposition of Virgin and Intercity Swallow colours on the WCML, and the celebrity repaint trend has enhanced things further.
Truly a transition era to cherish. The explosion in digital photography and the internet means recent years have been recorded like no others before them, even if our beloved modelling magazines barely reflect the fact. Barring the almost total lack of suitable motive power from the RTR trade, the millenium transition certainly offers me far more D&E modelling potential than it's more famous steam/diesel antecedent. Will things ever be this good again?
Currently On My Stereo: Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing
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A goodly quantity of wagon photos have been sorted out this afternoon - wagon-buffs might like to have the darkened room and the cold shower standing by. If anyone from Hornby is reading this, these are things you can hang from the back of locos (you might want to uncouple Clarabel first) and pull around the track - it really is a lot of fun.
We'd like some.
Please.
Currently On My Stereo: Placebo - Black Market Music
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The Class 47 Gallery has been updated - always a bad move as I spend hours browsing through it, making plans for locos I'll never model...
Currently On My Stereo: Marillion - Radiation
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