I'm not one for the social side of model railways. I follow a few blogs, and I see a few individuals I say hello to at shows. I've never been in a club, though that is about to change, and although I'm in societies, it is purely for knowledge and access to products.
I do engage with some Facebook groups linked to model and miniature railways. Most are very good, and nice places to spend some time. There is the occasional person who lets a nasty mix of far right politics, prejudice and conspiracy theories intrude, but they are easily blocked.
But many of you will be aware that in the last week the YouTube aspect of model railways has got poisonous.
Now, I'm several steps removed from it. With one exception, I don't know any of the people involved. But at the same time I've noticed an increase in a certain kind of SocMed comment.
I try to be honest about my skill level, that my aspirations don't always match my capabilities, but i admire those who can achieve incredible results.
But there seem to be a bunch of people out there who not only don't aspire to much beyond playing trains, but actively and vocally denigrate those who do. Any sensible advice or information about real railways is attacked, The mythical Rule One is constantly invoked, but it only seems to apply to them, not to others,. Sadly this seems to be happening most often in groups aimed at beginners. People have begun to delete pictures of their work and posts asking legitimate questions because of the nasty comments they receive.
It is as if some people want to keep everybody at their level, perhaps so their own shortcomings can be presented as strengths, and all this comes with a whiff of that toxic mix I mentioned earlier.
It isn't healthy, and it isn't good for the hobby. Yes, it is just a hobby, and why should we care what other people think? Because it harms people, with real world consequences.
Friday, 31 October 2025
The Model Railway Village
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Not noticed that myself, but then most of my online modelling browsing is via the NGRM forum, which, like all such, has its problems. I used to be a RMweb regular but I got a little fed up with the egomaniacs, a shame as there is a lot of good content on there and advice if needed. I'm on a few f/b groups, but I'm not sure that f/b is as suited to modelling as a forum.
ReplyDeleteYoutube is something I very rarely bother with for modelling, unless I want to learn or view a particular technique (ballasting and static grass being the only two so far). But, everyone and their dog has a youtube channel now, and the content and presentation is very varied, there are some youtubers who are just not suited to the task and finding a video that shows the technique done well can be a chore.
I'm not a model club person either, although I was many years ago and made some good friends. Nowadays I like my anonymity, there are those who I 'know' online that I have no wish to meet in person (although it would be interesting to stand beside them at a show and see if the online and real life personas match).
As for the problem that you're highlighting, I often find it to be a case of 'I can't model to that standard so I'll put down those who can', a sad and pathetic worldview. To them 'finescale' is a dirty word, the MRJ elitist. I take the view that the hobby is a broad church, the fact that we all have our own ideas and views on what the hobby is makes the hobby just that bit more interesting. Just don't put anyone else's work down because it doesn't align with your idea of what a model railway should be.
Exactly that.
DeleteIn my professional life, I have, legitimately, been accused of a mismatch between my online, on-stage personas and my offline version. Offline, I'm a total introvert. I can do a speech to 200 people, then hide from them all during the lunch break because I think my speech was so bad. But I like to think both versions of me have the same values.