Latest Model Rail mag

[Barney]

Front page the latest ModelRail Mag'  "Depot Dash" How I built this in less than 3 weeks !! I know they are happy but I will say no more.
 
But I will say (under the free speech act of 1803 ) what's the rush  how about "Quality not Quantity" I know Im slow like many others but the quality on this forum is "outstanding"
Barney
That should start the Gricers off big time !  + I don't want no more birthdays you only get older

[Les Tindall]

I've come to the conclusion that it's best not to worry about it, you don't want to have a heart attack! Let's all just "chill" and carry on doing what we enjoy. We know we're in the right place (read: right forum)

[finescalerr]

Shortly after I started publishing I realized the model train hobby, especially serious modeling, soon would begin to shrink and ultimately end up similar to the wooden ship model hobby. I stopped publishing about 25 years later because the number of serious modelers and advertisers supporting them was becoming too small to provide an acceptable income. Barney, you've been commenting on evidence of that trend and you are lucky it's only now beginning to affect you. While our approach to the hobby may manage to avoid extinction, we are an endangered species. -- Russ

[Barney]

Its the first model railway  magazine I have looked at in perhaps a year it was in the local supermarket in total boredom of shopping for the weekly food rations - I suppose it was in hope of improvement but alas all I can say is "Blank"
Im not worried just amazed of the state of things in the modelling world especially model railways
So I moved on to the country living mags some nice houses for sale in the Cotswolds for a mere 3.5 million £s
but the best was the article on Golden Labradors and posh Border Terrier's nothing like Max but we still love him !!
Barney
reading Marcle Ackle's latest inspire - inspire

[Ray Dunakin]

I don't want no more birthdays you only get older

It beats the alternative!

[Krusty]

I think I last looked at Model Rail back in the last millennium. My wallet felt totally unthreatened at the time. Plus les choses changent plus elles restent les mêmes.

[1-32]

Morning.
Just following along.
The list of publications under the banner of Model Railroader has changed hands in the last 12 months.
I think why bother?
Of course, there is the glowing spin but the Hobby is in serious decline, especially in the last 6 months.
Rising costs and conservative attitudes have just helped to push it over the edge.
Most have turned to social media as an alternative to promote our work but it seems that the more members you have the less interaction there is.
But who can blame anybody when the alternative is AI-generated full HD video interaction?
I feel we are the last of this generation who can produce and appreciate fine work.
I appreciate having access to Russes site,it is just a great alternative to the common garbage out there.
 

[Les Tindall]

Spot on, Kim

[Len Sauer]

I agree,  old and slow but on we go.

[finescalerr]

I learned some important things when I was publishing. First is that many people in the hobby industry are mainly hobbyists; they lack the personality to run a business. In other words they are good and creative people but doomed to fail. Second is that most influential hobby companies, usually the biggest, are just plain stupid. Kalmbach, for example, did more to harm the hobby after about 1985 than any business I can think of.

The heart of our hobby is creativity, not accumulation of ready to run models. And, despite what nearly everyone may think, it's not primarily about "operating" trains. It's about building models.

Unless people take the trouble to learn about whatever you want to build and to put something of yourself into its creation, they will lose interest and wander off to some other shallow pursuit.

Too many today want entertainment rather than a creative challenge. Kim's analysis is correct and, in another couple of decades, the model train hobby is likely to shrink to the size of today's model ship hobby. Worse, the entire hobby of building models of any kind probably will be only a fraction of the size model trains used to be.

How disturbing.

Russ

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

I'm more optimistic...

Here in NZ, the NZ Model Railway Guild has published the NZ Model Railway Journal since the late 1940s.  The forthcoming issue will be the last in print.  The costs of production and distribution, and difficulty getting content have made print unviable.

The Guild has referred to itself as a 'club without walls' as it is a national organisation.  However most have considered their membership fee to be a magazine subscription only, and there has been little 'club' activity in the decades I've been a member.

In the last 12 months the Guild has taken itself online.  The website is intended to be a 'virtual clubroom' rather than a magazine replacement.  There is still edited content, although the style is more akin to a blog than a print magazine. The goal here is social, not profit.

We have:

• Weekly articles. Ironically, to date, material has not been that hard to come by.  This is substantially more content than the magazine provided.
• Weekly snippets. Usually a pictorial, but other features occur
• A facebook-like feed
• Fora
• An Archive - ALL issues of the NZMRJ back to the 40s are available online to members.  The online posts will be archived here too.

There are those who hanker for print, but the new format is immediate and interactive.

As I 'edit' the online posts, I imagine I'm biased as to it's value, but it is certainly a different model to the magazine and offers the potential to be more responsive to members needs. In the editorial chair I get to talk to many modellers around the country and see what they are doing.  There's plenty of innovative modelling going on. It does need to be chased down though. Not much arm-twisting is needed, but I do need to ask.

There's a slowly growing base of active users. We wish things were building faster, but overall we think the path is worthwhile.

Content is specific to the NZ prototype, so will not be of direct interest to most here. The modelling is generic of course, so there should be something for all modellers. The site is at https://thejournal.nz. Some of the site is open to all, but membership is required for the more interesting stuff.  Free membership is offered, which currently allows access to the weekly content. Paid membership (NZ$50 approx US$30 per annum) is required to access the archive and some other features.