Hi, I would appreciate advice on the best model rail magazine for UK outline. Currently I am getting Model Rail, British Railway Modelling and Railway Modeller. My chief interest is in modern layouts although I do like to read about the older periods also. I would like to subscribe to one magazine and pick up the occasional copy of the others as and when they feature something interesting.
I would appreciate a steer as to the best magazine to subscribe too. Perhaps there is one I have missed?.
From a personal standpoint I can only really recommend Model Railway Journal although there isn't too much modern stuff in it..although with the current editor that may change. I suppose it depends on what kind of article you like reading. MRJ can be quite obscure at times and tends to concentrate on EM / P4 / Scale 7 etc. Neither does it do what you would class as beginner articles but groups like this are great (for want of a better word) for basic questions.
I would say you would neeed to read through several issues of any magazine before you find what your looking for, if at all. However, Rail Express deals with modern / diesel period modelling "only" as well as covering the rail scene today.
I subscribe to Model Railway Journal by post - twentysix pounds forty pence for eight issues - write to MRJ, Wild Swan Publications Ltd, 1-3 Hagbourne Road, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 8DP (Tel 01235 816478). It is heavily biased towards 'finescale', 4mm and 7mm with occasional 'S' scale; lots of very good information. I also buy Railway Modeller once or twice a year, mainly for the advertisements.
Hi, I can only find a postal address for Wild Swan Publcations who look to be the providers of Model Railway Journal. Is it possible to get a subscription online or is the only way to write to them?.
I'd recommend Model Trains International as well. It's edited by Chris Ellis who edited Scale Model Trains for many years. MTI is bi-monthly and mainly sold on subscription though a few specialist model shops do stock it. Publisher is Kristall Productions, 4 Surbiton Hall Close, Kingston, Surrey KT1 2JX. 0208 546 0758 and is not dependent on large advertisers so I think tends to be more forthright in its reviews. It covers the full range of modelling- with about 50%-60% UK outline but don't let that put you off as most of the good ideas for smaller layouts on the general theme of "Layouts you can live with" are pretty universal.
Although it appears superficially to be quite a modest magazine and is still published in black and white it is well laid out and includes a lot of good articles. In truth I find more articles of real lasting value in one edition of MTI than in two or three of the major model railway publications and it's the only UK magazine that I've thought worth keeping as a complete bound set. MTI is particularly good on small and shunting layouts and on making layout building accessible and is I suppose more aimed at the person who likes building layouts with interesting operational potential than it is to the rivet counter. I found that it did far more to encourage me to actually start building a couple of small layouts than any number of "layouts of the month" and it does tend to make the reader feel like part of a community rather than just a consumer for International Megamonolith Publications. If you want to know more, the magazine has a website with a fairly generous selection of articles
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and they do have a well indexed back number ordering service.
I have no connection with it apart from being a satisfied reader and very occasionally contributing articles.
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