Vol 22 No 143 THE EMAIL EDITION November 2005 THE BULLETIN For the WIRED members of the Model Railway Society of Ireland in its forty-second year Head of steam In the continental and US sectors, where RTR tends to be more dominant, investment risk is high but for different Happily the Doolan/ 6026 “debate” in the last issue did not reasons. Production numbers are greater than in the Britain result in satisfaction at dawn by means of pistols, swords or but locally, continental and US enthusiasts are in a minority. even brass pannier tanks so perhaps it is safe to consider Anyone wishing to up-grade might find disposal of his current locomotive model costs a little further. The proliferation of fleet an expensive exercise – a simple matter of supply and types, modifications, sub classes, design variants and demand. liveries now so evident in OO/HO sectors of the RTR There is no advantage in starting in a “war of the gauges” but market stands in stark contrast to the meagre offerings by there is merit in trying to see why other scales are attractive the Hornby Dublo/ Triang combination in days of yore. to other enthusiasts. In so doing, it might be instructive to Dissatisfaction with their limited model ranges spawned a discover where and why others see value instead of excess. taste for something different in a growing hobby. White metal, brass sheet and plastic based kits provided the Apart from the inherent advantages of 7mm mentioned by means of expanding and improving the fleet for those who 6026, those working in this scale tend to spend more of their wished to stay with British prototypes. Others sought modelling budget on locomotives and rolling stock and less better RTR quality by emigrating to the US and continental on ancillaries, accessories, scenery etc. Go a step further scenes. TT3, later N, and then Z opened up ways of and the No 1 gauge man is likely to be exclusively in the getting more within the space limitations that afflict us all. garden, content to leave most of the scenic effects to nature. From the doldrums of the mid-1950s, O gauge has enjoyed Thus in the larger scales, the orientation is focussed more an extraordinary renaissance that in turn has fostered the upon the train itself. This key philosophical difference saying “if you start in a larger scale, you will end up going encourages the spending of most money in that area, were still larger”. Enthusiasm for No 1 gauge and beyond is now any such encouragement actually needed. possibly growing faster than that for O gauge. In Britain, there are now an estimated 100,000 modellers in O Gauge In addition to the point made about model detail, it should be and over 10,000 in No 1. borne in mind that a larger scale allows for greater robustness, the promise of a longer working life, and hence The quality improvements achieved on all fronts are less depreciation risk. There is an O gauge layout near you welcome but they do have a downside. Consider the where a fleet of twenty or so locomotives aged up to 20 efforts by Hornby regarding its models of Gresley A1/ A3/ years is clocking up an aggregate of 30 real miles a day, 6 A4 pacifics. These have progressively improved with each days a week, 26 weeks a year. How many OO/HO locos new version being warmly received by the critical press with could sustain that sort of punishment? Surely the longer comments like “the best yet”. Now that is all well and good working life expectancy alone provides a basis for a price for the proud owner of this year’s issue but where does it differential? leave the fellow who a few months back bought last year’s version? Does he up-grade and what will he do with the Finally, on the subject of cost and depreciation, the case of old model? Check some of the auction house results and the Hornby O Gauge pacific Princess Elizabeth is worth you will see how savage can be depreciation. Now, that is remembering. Introduced in the late 1930’s at a price of £5 cheque-book modelling. 5s 0d, this was too expensive for most Hornby enthusiasts and few were sold, hence making this item relatively scarce. Manufacturers understandably try to maximise sales by A pristine example today could fetch Stg £1500 at auction pandering to the collector’s market i.e. those who buy a which equates with a redemption yield over a 65 year term of model and hide it away in its box for years in the hope of 9% p.a. - substantially better than Dublin property has ever making a fortune on the second-hand market in the distant achieved. future. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that this can be done with truly rarely items. However Burgeoning demand makes high quality RTR O gauge manufacturers try to create scarcity with “limited” or models comparatively scarce. Today’s buyer might have “special” editions of popular models (as has been done with such dazzling investment returns in mind when making his Hornby A4s). Some auction prices show that heavy losses purchase but he will more likely be looking forward to years can be sustained in the purchase and later sale of such of reliable performance, that hard to define but unmistakable special editions. Buyers easily see through this ersatz “presence”, and much happiness. Should we ever expect rarity as a special production run of 100 or 500 can hardly more from our hobby? be termed “limited”. Compare this with a particular --- o O o --- Bassett-Lowke model here in Ireland which is believed to A new series starts this issue. We will be looking at the be truly unique. Buying that would also be cheque book grand, the dreadful, the sentimental, the rousing, the popular modelling but you would need a healthy bank balance to yet libellous, the romantic – not particularly in the pursuit of cover your purchase. culture but to explore how verse can relate to railway Vol 22 No 143 THE EMAIL EDITION November 2005 matters. Not everyone likes poetry. I do. I hope you do 2557 too. Vol 22 No 143 THE EMAIL EDITION November 2005 Memo to the silent majority (which honourably excludes Peter Bates, 6026, Ronnie Deegan, John Mayne, Dave Mirolo, Ed Fahey, Kaytee, 082, Frank Davis, Mick Doolan and Terry McNally) Please write by floppy, CD or email to The Bulletin and tell us all why you have nothing to say about railways and modelling. Next year Now for the bad news. There having been no rush of applicants for the job, your editor finds himself unable to stand down, as he had planned, at the end of 2005. Thus you will have him on seat for 12 more months, awaiting his replacement. During the New Year, we will be continuing to follow narrow gauge topics, and to take a look at railway poetry. A review of some of the more obscure and unusual designs of Sir Nigel Gresley is in preparation. Members are invited to submit material on any Modern Image (i.e. post 1970) topic, and especially on modelling modern Irish motive power and rolling stock. It would also be nice to hear from the Americans and continental Europeans. Wheel arrangements: the Whyte notation system for steam engines The Whyte standard notation system was devised to designate wheel arrangements by looking at the layout of an engine’s wheels as it faces to the left. A large O indicates two driving wheels on an axle; a two or more O’s indicates two or more such axles coupled; a small o indicates a two smaller wheels on a carrying axle (i.e. pony or trailing truck); a pair of oo’s a pair of such carrying axles in a single frame (i.e. a bogie). There were some oddities that can mislead. Thus the London & North Western Railway had some engines that looked like a 2-4-2 (o OO o) but actually the driving wheels were not coupled thereby making them 2-2-2-2. Also the London & South Western had a class that looked liked 4-4-0 (oo OO) but again the driving wheels were uncoupled, thereby making them 4-2-2-0. A recent discussion revealed that some members’ knowledge of the nicknames linked with this system might be less than adequate, so the table set out below should help. The members concerned know who they are. Gentlemen be warned – you will be asked questions later. Wheel Whyte Nickname o OOOO 2-8-0 Consolidation Diagram notation o OOO o 2-6-2 Prairie oo OOO o 4-6-2 Pacific OO 0-4-0 Pug o OOO o 2-8-2 Mikado o O o 2-2-2 Single oo OOOO o 4-8-2 Mountain oo O o 4-2-2 Bogie single o OOOO oo 2-8-4 Berkshire o OO o 2-4-2 Radial (for some classes) OOOOO 0-10-0 Decapod o OOO 2-6-0 Mogul o OOOOO o 2-10-2 Santa Fe oo OO o 4-4-2 Atlantic o OOOOO oo 2-10-4 Selkirk oo OOO oo 4-6-4 Baltic oo OOOOOOO oo 4-14-4 * Stalin’s engine * Built in Russia in the 1930s and a complete failure, it is not known whether the designer faced a firing squad. A T-based suffix in the Whyte notation indicates a tank rather than a tender engine and usually shows the type of tank employed.