[Peter Armond]

I have been surprised that there has been no comment on this site,or none that I have noticed regarding mremag.com which ceased publication about 2 months ago.

I had been a follower of the site since its inception under Pat Hammond. The fact that it was subsequently issued three times a week rather than five was not a problem as far as I was concerned. It still had a lot of information, but I am sure many of us now miss that. It was an excellent publication and it was something that we could all contribute to immediately in a different way to this web site. I think we are all aware that Pat did an outstanding job on setting up the web site and continuing with it for a number of years

It has been replaced for the time being by an on line magazine. I have looked at the first issue twice, initially when it was first issued about a month ago and again today. Sadly I probably won't bother again.

As with the site there are articles of interest and others that don't interest me, but I am sorry to say it is not the answer to the website which had news and comments 3 times a week.

In my opinion the publishers should have got the website up and running again before diversifying into an on line bi-monthly magazine.

One wonders why the web site crashed and could not be recovered, maybe it was trying to do to much, certainly a lot more than it was able to or designed to do in its first few years.

I hope we cam see it running again before all interest disappears, but meanwhile I feel an on line magazine, whether monthly or every 2 months is not the answer. It simply does not have the ability of the web site to provide readers with the opportunity to give an immediate response as they are able to do with this and other web sites. Frankly I wonder how it can compete with the magazines in existence all or most of whom can be accessed with an on line subscription.

I know there will be those who disagree with my comments but it would be interesting to hear your opinions.

 

[RichardPugsley]

Hi Peter,

Like you, I was a keen reader of mremag and I agree in being fairly unimpressed with the first issue of the replacement online magazine. There was very little content in there that I was interested in and I miss the immediacy of the three times a week issues of the previous magazine with the, at times, daft sense of humour that often appeared! I have a subscription for a paper copy of Hornby magazine (and have had from issue number 1) and I still find many articles of interest in it which I can look at without having to faff about turning on my PC (my mobile only makes phone calls!).

Having met Simon Kohler at Hornby a few years ago and followed his blog on their website, I do hope that he will not regret this move as he is such an enthusiast and a great ambassador for our hobby - time will tell.

Richard

 

[34C]

Whatever the emag is supposed to do, it doesn't do it, I just see a blank grey page.

The 'have your say' is really the only piece of MREmag that is of potential interest to me, as there were some regular good contributors who did not frequent any other forum. Personally I feel that 'mags' whether dead tree or online, have very little to offer now. There's limited expert input and none of the breadth that comes from active discussion; whereas online there are many contributors and some real expertise available 24/7, and manufacturer and retailer product information is far better accessed this way. The online content is less structured and has to be filtered by the reader, but this is a small penalty for the much more comprehensive and up to the minute coverage.

 

[Greyvoices]

I used to look occasionally at mremag but I was never a contributor. I enjoyed the reviews of traction and rolling stock but in regard to discussion and feedback I am in line with 34C.

Each forum/e-magazine/enthusiast group has strengths and weaknesses and mremag had undoubted strong points, such as reviews but a heavily moderated contributor experience I believe was an inherent drawback. It's very format limited the amount of content that could be published and the 3 times a week updating regime made it somewhat staccato.

We have just gone through a period of navel gazing on MRF, starting from a low point but emerging (I think) with a degree more positivity and hope for the future. That said we should always be aware that members come and go leading to tastes and interests changing. A periodic assessment of MRF using the strength and weaknesses criteria could help to avoid the fate that has befallen mremag. I wish the new mremag monthly magazine format well though i have to say that after that first December issue I am not planning to re-visit in January ........... I do however realise that there my be many who enjoyed it and will be back for more.

Best regards ....................... Greyvoices (alias John)

 

[Peter Armond]

The second edition of the on line magazine is now out. An improvement on the first issue but apart from the the Simon Kohler article and Broxfield I found little of interest.

The continued delays in producing mremag again are frustrating and one wonders if it will happen and when. Sadly I have my doubts but hope I will be wrong.