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| The Railway Modeller Cover...put a "Duchess" on and I'm sold... |
I'm a sucker for magazines. Always have been, from the days when I used to nick my Dad's copy of the "Railway Modeller" back in the 'fifties.Yes, I'm that ancient.
Some folk say that this is a desperate time for magazines, with the hobby doomed to stagnation and death as older modellers leave for the hidden sidings. I don't hold that view, there are a lot of young folk on Instagram and YouTube building layouts. Sure, perhaps the hobby will contract, but it won't die out. Anyway, there's always been fierce competition between the magazines, and those who sadly fell by the wayside, as a result- such as the "Model Railway Constructor", or "Model Railways", to name just a couple of much missed titles.
I do my bit for the industry, buying one or two magazines every month, but just lately a kind of "sameness" has crept in. It might just be me, I know. Take the Christmas issues, for instance, most had the same reviews in, regurgitating the same old observations. BRM seems to have a little bit of a crush on a certain record producer- well, they all do, really, with two notable exceptions. I have BRM on order from my local newsagents, the redoubtable "Pikes" in Porthmadog, but just lately I have been a bit pee'd off at being charged ten quid for two extra magazines that were bundled, magazines that I wouldn't read to save my life. Naughty BRM. Also, it now has a masthead which shouts "The Only Model Railway Magazine You Will Ever Need!" (It should say, "Plus a couple more that you really don't") I mean, I'm no great shakes as a modeller but there's a lot of basic stuff in there. But I shouldn't be too hard on the mag... before they started shouting from the masthead, they did run some great articles with loads to interest a cynical, hard to please old hack like me. May 2020 represented the apogee, the pinnacle for me. Several brilliant layouts and "Kepier Colliery" too... classic stuff and I loved it, every page.
But that shouty masthead. Hardly the Railway Modeller's dignified "For the Average Enthusiast" is it? What? Oh, yes, it's "At the Heart of the Hobby" now. Fair enough. I need to keep up. Alright, but who remembers "Do it now"?
The "Modeller" hasn't been at all bad lately, some good layouts and interesting content. The design feels a little like "Majesty Monthly", but at least it's classy- better that than the shouty excesses of ...you know. Almost all the mags (not you, Hornby, well done, and not BRM either...) had variations on the "snow scene" theme, of course, because it's December, I guess. I've just had a look through my truly vast back number collection, and I see that's a "thing" ... it's gone on for a long time, I just haven't noticed, probably down to being so old. Today's editors just haven't caught on to global warming yet, I suppose.
"Model Rail" deserves credit for having some really good content, even a series aimed at getting folk scratchbuilding a loco. Props to them for that. All the magazines feature many of my favourite contributors and writers, like, as one Manchester newspaper famously said "A friend dropping in" and many of them do seem like old friends. And of course, all magazines are available digitally...I have a few digital copies, but I find them very unrewarding, especially when there's not much of interest in the mag, you feel doubly hard-done to. I like to hold the mag in my hands and feel the paper, experience the (no doubt) toxic smells of the ink..
One thing about "Model Rail" (The UK's Best Value Modelling magazine", according to the cover) is the stock. It is printed on rather disappointing paper, like a telephone directory. Perhaps that's why it's such good value, but we don't really need a telephone directory these days. I did look for phone numbers, but I could only find a few, subscription offers etc, and ads to phone that nice young chap (Albert is the dog, by the way)...
Then this week, I picked up the Model Railway Journal. I nearly missed it, because it didn't shout "The Only Elitist Finescale Journal You Will EVER Need!" on the masthead. A snow scene, on the cover, uh-oh, null points... but not an article on how to make a model for around the christmas tree at least. It was by Chris Pendleton, of South Shields fame. Now I know that people say the mag is elitist, also that it doesn't have to keep it's advertisers happy by trumpeting all the new releases, shouting "Buy, buy, buy!" It is, implicitly, for the serious enthusiast, whoever that is...certainly not me. But the latest copy, number 300, is really good. Really, really good.
Then there's "Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review"... just the title is a satisfying read by itself. Almost every article is an inspiration, containing food for thought, even if you don't have the skills or the intellect to build the models described.(Me again.) It's exquisitely designed, too.
I know, I'm being a little tough on the monthlies that have to be all things to all people, and usually there is something that intrigues or inspires me in every issue. I guess, too, that most people only buy one mag a month, they don't have a magazine problem like me.
Many years ago, when old Cyril Freezer sadly boarded that 14xx to the great fiddle yard in the sky, I headed to sunny Axminster for an interview, as a hopeful for the post of editor. "The Railway Modeller" had a lucky escape that day. But I wonder now, if things had gone differently, would I be busy ordering my minions to run up snow scenes, chummying with that record producer, and shouting embarrassing slogans from the masthead? What do you think?
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