"It isn't right but I like it!"

in a word YES.

I do like authenticity but not at the expence of looks. i would never have an odd coach in the rake. they should all look uniform and smart.

Also I dont particularly care which country the stock is from. I will hapily run american stock with brittish and chinese and german.

Its my railway and I run what I like and I have a great time!

a pet hate of mine is people who say they model the line between xxxxx and xxxxx between the 1st of june and the 19th of november in 1961 and i cant have that loco because it dosent fit.

for goodness sakes man - life is just too short for that kind of thing.

Peter

I too am ready to admit to the "if it looks right it is right" school of thought.

Whilst it seems sensible to use a favourite prototype and era as a guide to producing the correct atmosphere, I think it is sad that some of our more fastidious brethren will reject a good model because "That never ran up our valley in that livery", or some other similar gripe.

Pedro has hit the nail on the head in his post, "it's my layout and I run what I like" and "for goodness sakes man - life is just too short".

So all you 100 percenters, get a life, let your hair down and have some fun!!
British, Continental and American all on the same layout Pedro?? Now there's an idea!!

>for goodness sakes man - life is just too short for that kind of thing.
which is why I don't build my own coaches

but I have decided to build up a collection of Parkside wagons because they are easy to build, I get more variety and given that I like to have different running numbers and Kadee couplings on them, it is more convenient.

I get as much pleasure from seeking out the information in the first place as I do from putting it all together and then sitting back for all of 10 minutes and watching it run.

100% correct is never going to happen - the source of motive power is wrong for a start, and there's no point in following that thought really - it's already a compromise.

So build what you like, how you like and run whatever; I mightn't like it, but hey, it's not my railway and I wasn't aware I was in a competition.

David

I recently had one of my reviews slagged off the other day on another thread because I didn't include specific information on whether the model reviewed was precisely to scale or not. This was in relation to debate on the practice of some European railway models express coaches being less than scale length. I didn't really see scale as being a big issue as the length of the coach was provided and if it was something which was a big issue to you you could go off and check somewhere.

Now I have noticed that none of Dougs or Garys reviews mention scale as an issue either so I don't know why my reviews got slagged off, but the point is, is a slight difference really noticeable, does anyone really care if it's 2% out scale wise as long as works fine and makes the model more affordable and functional? If you want 100% accuracy it is available at a cost from Brawa and MicroMetakit but it's not cheap and it wont run on anything less than a metre radius. The reality is that we have to accept compromise in various ways because of layout size limitations whether it is rail gauge or coach length. Most people don't have much space to build a layout in and have to deal with this fact. While in an ideal world it would be great to have everything perfect prototypically and scale wise the realty is that this doesn't happen.

I for one have a hundred and one better things to do with my life than go measuring coaches to see how accurate they are. If they look ok and are fully functional then really what's the big problem. It's nice to have accurate models but very few people would know if they weren't and they cost more money. Most of the models I have, I have never seen in real life so I wouldn't know if they were 100% accurate or not and my life has not deteriorated to the point where I am going to spend hours finding this out. I am more concerned with whether they work ok and are reliable and what they do and don't do in terms of functions.

I think the rivet counters forget that this is about fun and not one upmanship. They are a bit over focussed on one single issue and not looking at the bigger picture. It's this aspect of the hobby which gives railway modelling a bad name and which puts people off the hobby. It's the same with this prototype thing. If I see a model I like I buy it, I don't really give a monkeys if it fits in with my layout. I choose models on their relaibiliy, build quality, their features and if they look good. I'm not really interested in narrow minded people imposing their views on my layout. As long as you're having fun that's the main thing.

I totally agree with the above 100%.

I never put callipers on models and I do have a set! I may compare it with the odd image or two and if a model is a good representation then in my book the manufacturer has done a good job.

The comments of the Editor of Model Rail Express magazine probably equally apply to those who demand 100% model accuracy as to those who insist that they should be offered the rolling stock to accurately model the 11:15 from London to Bournemouth on 24th September 1962!

Happy modelling
Gary

A couple of years ago when Hornby brought out the mk2s in Anglia turquoise livery but the restaurant in intercity because it was prototypical annoyed me!
I'd rather they were all the same livery!
On a related thought I'd rather have a Mk4 dvt dressed in Mk3 clothes if a rtr mk3 isn't available than nothing at all.
I'd rather Hornby did incorrect mk2s to go with the Caledonian sleepers than none at all because it's unprototypical.
I have a Roco mid 80s rake of red-cream (tee?) coaches which are 1:100. I was only recently told this. I never realised the superior continental market was so flexible!
I was told it was because the distance between curved set track is 50mm compared with 67mm in the UK.
Even now my ideal rake of 6 would be a full brake; brake comp; restaurant; first and two seconds. If 7 then throw in a sleeper!

QUOTE (pedromorgan @ 30 Jan 2007, 19:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>a pet hate of mine is people who say they model the line between xxxxx and xxxxx between the 1st of june and the 19th of november in 1961 and i cant have that loco because it dosent fit.

for goodness sakes man - life is just too short for that kind of thing.

In my opinion, it is this viewpoint which determines the difference between people who are building a 'model railway' and people who are 'playing with toy trainsets'.

Those who apply standards end up with a better result. Those who do not, end up with a toy trainset.

Personally, I apply standards and try to recreate a scene as reallistically as I can to represent what I see in books and what I can remember:



http://mrol.gppsoftware.com

What you tend to find at exhibitions is that this kind of layout gets far more attention from the public than a trainset does.

Graham Plowman