New Sections on this part of the forum?

[Shawki Shlemon]

The editor of AME wrote in one of the issues the hobby consist of builders, buyers, Participants who just like the railway . All of us together make the hobby tick , none of us are better than others ,we all enjoy the part or all the operation of what we call miniature railway . There are those who enjoy building and those who enjoy running the engines and those who enjoy operating the tracks / points/ signals etc.. , and let us not forget those who enjoy watching and having a ride .To me a part builder gets the same fulfillment as a scratch builder .

[pondok]

Hear hear. I am ironically temperementally much more suited to scratch building than simply owning and running an engine - ironic because my debut in the hobby was buying a ready-to-run loco. At the time I was living in a one-bedroom studio flat so there was simply no option of starting a workshop. Were it not for buying a running loco (that could at least be stored in the lounge in its wooden box with a tasteful throw over it and pot plant on top so as not to offend the lady too much), I would still be just looking at books.

Since then, the engine needed an overhaul and through my membership of the Harlington club I was able to access the workshop with lathe, mill etc and thanks to the incredible generosity of members was able to make a start learning how to machine. Many months later it was back together and I had a general introduction to machine tools that gave me enough confidence to take on anything.

The day of the double garage with power and heating is still very far off, but a garden shed with a motley collection of tools and mini lathe keeps the engines maintained. I am 37 and no doubt by the time I am 50 we will be in a house where I can start a scratch build in a decent workshop.

So, if buying a running loco can lead to this, no doubt kit builders will gain even more confidence in going down the more 'purist' route...

cheers

Andy

[Deleted]

Hi all me again

As promised. Update on my thread

Dean emailed me and explained that they have had problem with website and email. He has offered to replace my duff bolts asap and assures me that he will work on the customer services aspect of the business no it's all up and running. Fair play to him.

Drjohn -
I agree totally with Deans comments which he put in a tactful and polite way as I would if I were in his shoes, I dont have to be tactful/polite so can tell you to stop commenting on things you know absolutely nothing about and trying to stir up nasty malicious gossip about a company you know nothing about.

As you rightly state that you have no right to be on this forum so I would suggest you do the same as you suggested you told OffCom.
I can see no connection between Ham radio and Modelworks and am not the slightest bit interested in your analogy, however, if you would like to furnish me with the website of you Ham Radio people I will gladly leave an entry telling them all about Modelworks.

That would equalise the balance because I know SFA about Amateur Radio.

As for starting from scratch or kits, I would love to have the time and money and equipment to do it. I am in full time employment so MW kits suit my needs, When I retire and have time on my hands I may well invest in all the tools/machines and start from scratch and hope that the experience I have gained working on MW models will stand me in good stead. As I said in my earlier thread most of the scratch builders I have seen are of retirement age, to put it politely. I totally envy their skill and knowledge and hope that when they go there will be others to take over, time will tell.

Said me bit

Ta

Alan

[steam4ian]

G'day Alan

Welcome to the group but please do not respond to one intemperate remark with another. If you read Dr John's posts you will know he refers to a volatile and flammable personal lubricant he takes to the workshop; my guess is that his remarks resulted from the application of that lubricant to his tonsils. :-)
I personally find Dr John's comment generally amusing and sometimes helpful. For Dr John buying a loco is, I quote him, "like paying somebody to have sex with your wife"; could be cheaper than Viagra and would give you more time in the workshop.

A number of members of this group have or have had some affiliation with ham radio. It is a hobby that does seem to be having problems sustaining itself although a small resurgence seems to be coming through self building of simplified equipment. The problem they face is that component building blocks are becoming difficult to source. Thankfully, through firms like Modelworks, that does not seem such a problem for us.

Like Ham Radio, model engineering interest does suffer from the decline in technical skill training which took place from the 1970s onwards. Equally there are less opportunities for young lads to be spell bound by speeding passenger trains and slogging goods trains. Are there any loco spotters out there?

As I said previously our hobby needs, builders, assemblers, buyers, maintainers, riders, train loaders, secretaries, treasurers, ticket sellers, chip friers, tea makers, cake bakers, track fettlers, lawn mowers, signal techs, even radio operators for safe-working.

nuff said!

Regards,
Ian

[abby]

When all is considered this is the toy business guys , we play with toys , or sell them , or make them , don't take life so seriously , chill a little then be thankful for the number of people out there who buy a kit - modelworks or whatever - and pay someone to finish it for them.