OT: Petty Rant at MREMag

On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:48:45 +0100, "Ian J." said in :

Editors always reserve the right to edit mercilessly whatever you write. On some rare occasions this results in a letter which says the opposite of what the correspondent actually wrote. I'd not worry too much about it, myself, but then I am a serial letter-writer and quite used to such treatment.

Guy

While I agree that the extent of the editing is such that the original point has been lost, I don't think it should be a surprise that editing takes place - the first parpagraph made some statements about Bachmann that may or may not be true, (I've no idea if that is so) so and Editor is likely to be wary.

Having said that, if you read magazines on any subject that you are involved with it is very rare for reasoned (i.e. non-ranting, and therefore the writer not making a fool of themselevs to some extent) letters/articles to get published that critisise those that the mag relies on to get their freebies/review models/etc from (unless the supplier is the current kicking stool, e.g. Rover, Hornby, The Chinese, etc).

I suppose it's partly human nature mixed with a dose of commercial interest, but I for one am very wary of "reviews" of new products. A particular example in my line was the launch of the Freelander - everyone connected with off-road driving thought "Nice *car*, but no off-roader", yet all four of the major magazines dared not say so (it would have taken anyone 5 mins and one rock to prove the point - possibly quite expensively!).

I wouldn't get too upset though, carry on buying the mag, just remember to have a pot of salt close to hand, and read between the lines.

Just my 2p.

Richard

"Ian J." wrote

(snipped)

Bachmann have not ignored the BR(SR) market. They've produced the 'N' class

2-6-0, 'King Arthur' 4-6-0, a whole series of BR Standard locos (virtually all of which ran on the Southern) and Bulleid coaches, as well as MK1 stock in green livery. Both 4-CEP and 4-BEP emus are also promised.

This coupled with the recent proliferation of ex-SR models produced by Hornby (some of which were until recently being actively 'jobbed out' presumably because of low demand) certainly suggests that the the BR(SR) modeller is far from being ignored, and indeed that market may in fact be nearing short-term saturation.

Give other manufacturers some credit if they also view the Southern market as well-supplied, and maybe wisely have chosen to give the Southern theme some respite.

John.

Where can I buy MREMag?

MBQ

;-)

I think you meant 'Lord Nelson' 4-6-0 ;-)

With Bachmann's withdrawal of the N & Lord Nelson and only the somewhat older mouldings for the Bulleids, they now have no SR-derived locos currently in their range and only older design coaches, plus a smattering of wagons, that was what I meant by 'lack of desire'.

I will agree that with Hornby's three SR and BR(S) releases last/this year (N15, M7, Rebuilt WC/BB), it has seemed somewhat that the Southern Region has received much attention, and the 4-CEP will no doubt be welcome (as will the T9, if it happens), and I understand that there have been a number of BR(S) standards, and for retailers whose mainstay is not SR/BR(S) related that can be annoying. However, hate to have to do it but I will wheel out that old excuse that the Southern and BR(S) have been somewhat neglected in the past, and what recent releases have done is redress some of that balance. Now it appears that we are heading for a drought period again (once the Maunsells are out), rather than a period of balance.

I will accept, quite readily, that other regions offer more oppotunity for sales, and that recently it must appear as if they've been neglected. It looks like that offset will be getting its own back over the next few years...

(just as a p.s., I'd be quite happy to see upgraded Thompsons, as well as more LMS-derived coaches and even the odd GW item, as I'm not wedded to the Southern totally. But I have to admit that my interest in other regions is mainly driven by the S&DJR and the proximity of BR(S) Western Division to the Western Region)

Ian J.

it, myself, but then I am a serial killer and quite

:)

There was an amusing article in The Guardian about the way that film critics reviews are selectively quoted on film posters and adverts so that they end up saying the opposite of what the critic meant.

Fred X

Welcome to the world of the misquoted !

In the eyes of the editor ( of his advertising dept ) some letters are considered too aggressive, not 'mainstream' enough, too detailed, too long or simply not discussing the flavour of the month !

Whatever you say to the media or send to a magazine can and probably will be misquoted. If you ask that the article is printed in its entirety its a guarantee it will go into the bin.

I am a member of a number of computer mag forums and I have even had threads completely removed. In the days of the Spectrum, Atari ST and Amiga computers I used to subscribe to a mag which asked for 'readers reviews' on products for inclusion in the mag. I wrote two, one about a joystick that fell to pieces within two days of purchase and the other about an upgrade system for the computer which was both good value and worked. Both were printed but both looked / said nothing like what I had written. Yet the staff writers were useless and appeared to have the writing skills of Harry Enfield's character Kevin.

The Press Complaints Commission have a code of practice

The first two are most interesting :-

1 Accuracy

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.

ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and - where appropriate - an apology published.

iii) The Press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.

iv) A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party, unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published.

2 Opportunity to reply

A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given when reasonably called for.

You could complain .... but don't hold your breath !

Chris

I suppose what gets my goat most is that in general I found Pat to be a reasonably fair minded and honest editor, one who wouldn't distort someone's views. In his reply to me when I questioned him on the editing, he did say he felt he hadn't changed the substance of what my email said (though I disagree), so it would appear to him that he did nothing wrong. However, he still did a drastic edit that wasn't necessary - he should have just binned the email if he felt that strongly about it (as, in a perfect world, should all editors who get correspondence that they don't feel they can publish with accuracy).

Basically, I'm of the school of 'If you can't print it in its original form, bin it.'

Ian J.

It's the same with all mag's "The editors word is final" even if it's 'tough !' :-(

"Ian J." wrote

However, hate to have to do it but I will wheel out

No more so than has the mainstream LNER situation, and apart from the fairly recent A4 & A3 models from Hornby and the K3 from Bachmann I can't think of any other recent ex-LNER issues.

Sure Bachmann have the J72, J39, V1/3 & B1 models, but these are all now pretty old hat with the dreaded split frames, and Hornby have a couple of old models of tank locos, but I would say that the second largest of the grouped companies is no better off than the Southern adn the situation is even worse if you're not into running big Pacifics. So don't feel particularly neglected, we're not too well off here in the North East either!!!

John.

What made me laugh was the reader who said he was glad Hornby had withdrawn The Red Knight as there were far too many new models being released and he couldn't afford to buy every one of them! :o)

(kim)

I've moaned on a number of occasions about the lack of appropriate RTR available for running on Thorpe Thewles' time period of 1924ish-1939 so now's as good a time as any to list the various missed opportunities implied by our roster, some more commercial than others.

Post-1928 LNER livery unless otherwise stated:-

Gresley A1 'Flying Fox' - RTR latest Hornby (IIRC). Gresley A3 'Cameronian' - RTR Hornby, Ringfield motor in tender. Gresley A4 'Sir Nigel Gresley' - RTR Hornby, 1980s. Holden B12 - RTR, Hornby. ex-GER, well out of region (ex-NER)! Raven B16 - DJH kit, not started yet. Raven C7 - DJH kit. Being built, to be 2005 pre-1928. W. Wordsell D20 - DJH kit with Alexander Models tender. 1217 pre-1928. T.W. Wordsell F8 - Falcon Brassworks kit, not started, will be 420. W. Wordsell G5 - Alexander Models kit, 1883 when transfers applied. Fletcher G6 'BTP' - Nu-Cast (IIRC) kit, not yet begun. To be 638. T.W. Wordsell J21 - Alexander Models kit, awaiting Yeadon's. Gresley J39 - Bachmann RTR, originally BR Early Crest, number pending. Gresley K3 - Bachmann RTR. Raven Q6 - Alexander Models kit, 1248. Sentinel Railcar - Nu-Cast kit.

Other than the moonlighting B12, all of the RTR engines are Gresley ones. All of the ex-NER engines have had to be built from kits, as well as practically all of the freight stock on the layout.

While some of the engines are admittedly a bit too obscure for a major manufacturer to take up, the sheer number of North-Eastern branchline models I've seen on the exhibition circuit up here would surely benefit from an RTR G5. The J21 and Q6 classess were very long-lived and have plenty of potential livery and detail variations.

Oddly, it's only been the J72s that have regularly failed mechanically for us, the others have tended to perform well at exhibitions with only the V tanks occasionally derailing.

IIRC the J94 (post-war) and I can't think of the others. There's a Scottish 0-6-0 tank, but I can't remember if that was a Hornby.

As my list above suggests, you could probably change that to 'if you're not into running anything that wasn't designed by Gresley'. ;-)

I can't actually think of any Hull & Barnsley stuff that's available even in kit form so my family's problems probably pale in comparison!