Publicising G Scale

stockers said:
I agree with that. there are at least 4 G railways near me and the owners have no interest in clubs, societies or forums.
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And properly a lot happier in there own miniature world away from moaners
 
As Accucraft can produce nice wagons for £40 I wonder if they could do a small basic diesel rtr or even skirted steam tram loco on one of the motor block chassis for around £140? Then you'd have a cheap uk start set option that could be detailed up too. A D shape smokebox and side tanks should be as easy to mould in one piece as the current vans and you'd only need to add a separate chimney and backhead.
 
PaulRhB said:
As Accucraft can produce nice wagons for £40 I wonder if they could do a small basic diesel rtr or even skirted steam tram loco on one of the motor block chassis for around £140? Then you'd have a cheap uk start set option that could be detailed up too. A D shape smokebox and side tanks should be as easy to mould in one piece as the current vans and you'd only need to add a separate chimney and backhead.
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Well I have just managed a De Winton, live steam powered, twin cylinder, geared centre axle driven and all metal loco, 45/32 gauge selectable, for £350 all in, and did not make (as in fabricated) one single component myself. It was all bought in piecemeal and brand new. Then either modified or rearranged to suit my individual requirements. I am already gathering up both pennies and components for another one. Our local group has four of these between us and all are operating well (due to the geared drive as much as anything). One excellent reason for clubs and groups. Experts abound and help is always freely available. On the 16mm site are various drawings of live steam kit for free download and there is undoubtedly a great deal of help on all sorts of builds in the various forums etc. much as there are here on this site. Currently some superb line side building threads for example.There are also the GRS kits of small loco bodies available for just over £100 and a decent chassis can be built for under forty quid. All British outline too. With the support of the local and national group members it's possible to assemble quite decent rolling stock with just simple hand tools and a bit of application. Great fun too. Jan buys most of her G- Scale kit from shows or sometimes imports directly from the US. Manufacturers are in business to make money and charge what the market will bear. Who can blame them when so many enthusiasts rush to buy regardless of cost.
 
Way back in 1993, I was restoring the Fernery, at the Morris Arboretum, in Philadelphia. Every chance I got, I mentioned to the director, putting a garden railway somewhere on the arboretum grounds. He and his staff politely blew me off. In 1997, I invited him to my home to see my own railway. About a year later, I got a call asking me for help setting up their garden railway, which still operates there.

It was mentioned, in one of the above posts, about the lack of disposable income. Since I have retired, I have not been able to buy the items I used to buy. Instead, I have found myself doing more kit-bashing and scratch-building. Something that is quite enjoyable to me.
 
I'm not a member of either society although I do have a number of friends who are . For me this forum is all I need.
I was a member of the GSS for a short while some years ago but at the time it seemed to be no more than the uk LGB appreciation society. As I don't do LGB I didn't feel it was the right place for me.


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barryw said:
And properly a lot happier in there own miniature world away from moaners
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Barry, in a way I think you have a point. When I attended one of my first job interviews many moons ago I was asked what sports activities I did and my answer was "cross country running" to which the interviewer responded "oh, an individual sport, you do know that we are team workers here" Now, many years later, I often reflect on what he said and I agree, I am an "individualist".

Despite being an "individualist" I did join the GSS but left a couple of years ago as it was very apparent that the annual meetings would continue to be held "up north" which, as far as I was concerned, was too far to travel especially as the meetings were being arranged before the start of British Summer Time. In the past I attended meetings in the Rugby/ Coventry areas which did not involve long journeys home in the dark. I do, however, miss the GSS magazine.

As for forums, I used to actively participate on this forum and on GSM before that but I drifted away as I became more and more involved in the care of my late Mother and the EG&SNNR went into hibernation. Now that life has returned to normal I'm connecting more with GSC but, to be quite honest, its not the same as it used to be. Most of my time now is spent on the RMweb forum.

As for publicsing G scale its interesting seeing the reaction I got from my brother's grandsons (now 4 and 6). I got them a Thomas set and an LGB ICE to run in the garden but they seem more interested in watching (and running) trains on my indoor HO/OO layout. As soon as they arrive here, the first thing they say is "Uncle Keith, can we go upstairs to see the trains". They never ask to to go out in the garden.
 
Kent Keith you have hit it on the head I'm not prepared to travel for hours in the pursuit of like minded people so i guess that also makes me a loner and unlikely to promote the hobby in any meaningful way I rejoined GSS this year but it appears I would still have to travel miles to a meeting back to being a loner My grandchildren showed no interest in railways in any form
 
For my tenpenuth, I think that (as has been mentioned) many British G scalers would ideally like to model British railways. Although this is much easier now than when I started in the hobby 9 years ago, it can still mean making compromises and having some modelling skills rather than running "straight out of the box". For anyone starting out, 16mm is perceived (rightly or wrongly) as being the British way to go. The only other alternative for going down this route is the Thomas range which is quintessentially British.

As far as the two societies are concerned, I believe it's very simple - the 16mm caters for modellers in both 32mm and 45mm gauges. Try as it might, I very much doubt if the G scale society will ever present a realistic alternative to 16mmers? Both societies journals rely on their membership in submitting articles. Despite looking very professional and nicely printed, my GSS Journal seldom lasts longer than a week before entering the recycling bin, whereas all copies of 16mm Today and their other publications are kept.
 
As I recall there was quite a boost to G scale when Mark Found made those programmes about building a garden railway. We could do with another TV series maybe showing various railways, how they were made, how they are run and what stock is used. It could also cover a different aspect of the basics of building a garden railway each week. Very similar to the Mark Found programme but with the emphasis the other way round.

Has anybody got contacts in the business?
 
Oddly enough, the Discovery Channel has been repeating the Mark Found series just this weekend - checking the programme listings I noticed several episodes were on earlier today!

Maybe there will be a bit of a bump in interest from this re-showing...?

Jon.
 
Good as that series was I think it would be great to have a new series showing the huge variety in the garden railways that have been created. Also show how a railway can be made to fit in with a garden and not take it over completly.
Mark's series will always be the definitive series on how to build a garden railway. The thing missing is ways to build a garden railway that other members of the house will find acceptable. Mark's project, although wonderful, would probably not be acceptable to the rest of the family.
 
I must admit that I only heard about the Mark Found series here on another posting a few months ago. I got into the garden railway thing without even being aware of it. Unless you are on a mainstream channel few are going to see it or even be influenced by it.

Now what we need is Mr Portaloo, on one of his GBR journeys, to stop by one of the garden railways attached to a preserved railway - say the Charnwood Forest at the GCR. Michael gets digitally shrunk to take ride round the layout on the footplate. That would grab some attention. O0

On the "Top Toys" series a similar stunt was done with Capt' Slow (James May), inserting him into a 1950's Vanwall F1 racer for a lap of a large scenic Scalextric layout. I know as I was the guy who supplied the layout and drove his opponent's car. Layout now gone, replaced with.........my garden railway. Max

Pictures of that layout should be here if you are interested. Sorry, couldn't resit the opportunity.
http://www.ukslotcars.co.uk/MAXi-MODELS/images/Track3_small1.jpg
http://www.ukslotcars.co.uk/MAXi-MODELS/images/Track1_small2.jpg
http://www.ukslotcars.co.uk/MAXi-MODELS/images/Track4_small1.jpg
http://www.ukslotcars.co.uk/MAXi-MODELS/images/Track2_small2.jpg
http://www.ukslotcars.co.uk/MAXi-MODELS/images/Tingewick%20Trackplan%20Colour.jpg
 
"Now what we need is Mr Portaloo, on one of his GBR journeys, to stop by one of the garden railways attached to a preserved railway - say the Charnwood Forest at the GCR. Michael gets digitally shrunk to take ride round the layout on the footplate. That would grab some attention. "

Here's the opening titles I did a while back.................. ;D

http://youtu.be/vs9vUZ9ebP4
 
dose this mean i have to have my lgb tatto modifiyed.. :o
 
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