FAKE NEWS OR NOT

Grocery store. Adding extras produce, delivery bike. The Grocer & staff enjoying the sunshine.

Certainly it’s a little restricting in train makeup but the whole scene looks cohesive and photographs well plus it gives me a reasonable operating potential. I believe the main reason I’m happy with what I’ve created is because I didn’t just drift into building a layout. I decided what I wanted from it visually and operationally, and by modelling familiar buildings and features I can identify with, and in some instances have had actual memories of association with them. It is very difficult to be patient and plan a layout but it’s also a good idea to think before you jump.

Country township “realistic flavour”.

Fake News or Not This email and photograph was received from an anonymous sender

Rummaging around in some neglected archives (aka, a rubbish skip), I found a folder containing an historical proposal for a locomotive to replace the aging fleet of freight locomotives at that time used to haul Auckland suburban carriage trains. Included in the proposal was a note to the effect that, to appease the Auckland City Council, often known as Japhas (Just Auckland Philandering Actors), and its then leader Mayor Leonardo Brownie, a proposal to build a new locomotive should be sent to major railway manufacturers, including Daffy Limited, who had just started building the DL locomotive fleet. The locomotive proposed was to be smaller than the DL, with a modern high-speed turbocharged diesel-electric power plant able to accelerate trains at a faster rate than the diesel freight locomotives then in use. The locomotive could also replace the aging fleet of shunting and short-haul locomotives used in Auckland and Wellington. Apparently, Daffy was the only one to submit a proposal, which included a photograph of a mock-up they had created

on a chassis for a locomotive they were building for a railway somewhere in Middle Earth. There was no information about responses from other manufacturers, other than a later note to say that Auckland City had placed an order with a European manufacturer for new EMUs and that the idea for the new locomotive should be quietly dropped and all documents disposed of.

One of the difficulties Kevin Crosado (our previous editor) had, and I have inherited, is getting enough suitable copy for the Journal. ‘WE NEED YOU’ to contribute articles for the Journal; about layouts, modelling, prototype and for beginners; not just NZR but also other Railways of New Zealand subjects such as bush trams and the like. I know our readers appreciate reading the articles. Although I have edited and produced two Journals to date it has been a struggle to get articles and this September issue has been particularly difficult. The cupboard is almost bear and I would like to get the December Journal in the post to you, the readers, before the end of November so that you can enjoy a good read over the holiday season, however without your help this target will be most likely be missed.

Model and beginners articles Before you start building a model and if you would like to share your techniques with our readers, ask yourself “has it been done before?”, If the subject was covered in a Journal article more than ten years ago it may be OK to do a new one, your techniques will surely be different and you may have new information pertaining to the subject matter. If in doubt contact me first or better still contact me anyway before you commit yourself to doing an article, via email at nzmrj_editor@xtra. co.nz. Then while you are building the model, take photos and notes as you progress. If measurements are to be used in the article write these down so they can be referenced later as you compose your article. Plans and good drawings are welcome and most helpful.

Other Scales Sn3 ½ and 9 mm scale modelling articles dominate the Journal, the main reason? It is these modellers that kindly write the articles. Obviously Sn3 ½ is the most popular NZR scale, however 9 mm NZR by all accounts has less following than NZ120, so why no NZ120 articles? A complaint I received at convention from a well known NZ120 Modeller about the lack of articles for his chosen scale, my reply was ”If I don’t get I can’t print” or words to that affect. We need more articles relating to the other scales, such as NZ120 and Ho, including Ho scale looka-likes, such as from Frateschi, especially to encourage new comers to the hobby. As luck would have it a month later I was contacted by a local NZ120 modeller, David Weedon; his layout features in this issue of the Journal.

Prototype Articles As you will be aware many of the prototype articles produced in the Journal are for subjects from the last century, reflecting the age of many of the modellers of New Zealand Railways. We need to encourage new modellers into the hobby and the younger generation relate to the prototypes of a more modern era such as the 21st century, which is now in its nineteenth year. Photographs from other sources must include the source reference and please check if it is OK for us to include and print it in the Journal.

Continued on Page 41