Model Rail Magazine

[Lawrence]

I have recently been exchanging emails with Ben Jones the Editor of MR, apparently the next issue (169) will be a good one for N gaugers 

On N gauge modelling in general he says "Our research, and that of others in the industry, gives no indication that there are significant numbers of new people taking up N gauge modelling. Although there's a huge amount of quality new product around, the manufacturers tell us that sales aren't significantly up and the balance of the market remains roughly the same"

One of the things he did mention to me was the apparent reticence shown by N gauge modellers to blow their own trumpets, he mentioned that the magazine is always short of N gauge modellers offering up their layouts or projects for consideration for publication:

"We still find that N modellers are reluctant to supply articles on layouts and projects, although this could be down to a basic lack of such projects. However, we'll continue to support the scale and would encourage you and your forum members to contact us if you have a layout or modelling project that you feel deserves a wider audience"

So there you have it guys, an open invitation to show the rest of the modelling world that 

[Alex]

Hi Lawrence,

Sounds interesting. I may drop him a line. As he says, its up to us to get the word out.

Alex

[Tank]

Very exciting!  Come on NGF'ers, get your articles sent in!!!! 

[Donkey]

"We still find that N modellers are reluctant to supply articles on layouts and projects, although this could be down to a basic lack of such projects. However, we'll continue to support the scale and would encourage you and your forum members to contact us if you have a layout or modelling project that you feel deserves a wider audience"

So there you have it guys, an open invitation to show the rest of the modelling world that 

Thanks for that information Lawrence. From what I have seen on this forum there are certainly more than a few members who should be putting their excellent layouts/dioramas, kit/scratchbuilding, 3d printing etc forward for publication and or supplying articles. I hope that they do so that their excellent work is seen and appreciated by a wider audience.

Marty

[galway]

To be honest there are 3 or 4 layouts featured on this Forum that would grace the pages of any of the modelling magazines I hope that some of them take the plunge.

I'm surprised by the comment "Our research, and that of others in the industry, gives no indication that there are significant numbers of new people taking up N gauge modelling. Although there's a huge amount of quality new product around, the manufacturers tell us that sales aren't significantly up and the balance of the market remains roughly the same" - as there are a great number of new members on here who say they are just starting in N or returning.

[Pete Mc]

Not only are Model Rail doing an n gauge article,British Railway Modelling are doing an n gauge feature as well.
As I buy all 4 magazines,I also noticed in Hornby magazines letters section had a letter from a chap,not necessarily complaining about its lack of n gauge content,but commenting on the fact there is only product reviews of n gauge loco's and rolling stock and not much in the way of layout features or other articles.I think Horby's reply went along the same lines as Model Rail's.
I certainly believe that as a forum member,if I felt my layout was worthy of a magazine spread once it has approached completion,then I would submit an article.Sometimes though,and this is only my view,it would appear that if you don't have a degree in journalism,you stand no real chance of getting a feature in print anywhere.
The only layout I have seen from this forum in print is Elvinley,superb in every way as all of you agree.RMWeb is another matter,there are numerous layouts on their pages that have appeared in print,not that I'm gonna name any anyway,its just that at the moment n gauge may still be considered something of a toy even now,just like when OO came out all those years ago.

Pete

[Pengi]

Maybe it depends which manufacturers they are speaking with and whether they are considering second hand purchases. I went over to N in September. After research (from this forum) I went down the Kato Unitrack and Eurostar route rather than my original intention of a Farish DMU starter set complemented with Peco track. If their research is purely UK, then I (and others who are modelling US) would not show up as a new users.

Maybe the UK manufacturers should pay attention to Ben Jones's comments regarding the UK market and ask themselves why N is so popular in Japan and replicate the strategy?

'if you keep on doing what you have always done, then you will always get what you have always got'.

[H]

Not only are Model Rail doing an n gauge article,British Railway Modelling are doing an n gauge feature as well.
As I buy all 4 magazines,I also noticed in Hornby magazines letters section had a letter from a chap,not necessarily complaining about its lack of n gauge content,but commenting on the fact there is only product reviews of n gauge loco's and rolling stock and not much in the way of layout features or other articles.I think Horby's reply went along the same lines as Model Rail's.

Without doubt the OO market and interest in the UK is still massively larger than N; but N has increased a little over the recent years. However, the magazines mentioned are commercial and chase the big money/potential so obviously favour OO content hoping it will attract more sales/profit. Consequently they push the smaller interest, like N, to one side and try to justify such marginalisation with incomplete research and claims and what can seem like glib comments. Why only listen and quote manufacturers; retailers, second hand, modellers and potential customers also have their part to play in the market and future.

Hornby magazine have even stated it is their policy to major on what they consider to be the biggest sector; BR steam transition era OO modelling, so you will see even less coverage for other scales and the modern era in it. They do pander a little with some layout features but very rarely include an article or feature about a specific modelling technique of project solely about N gauge. It's also littered with mistakes so that is why it is my least favourite magazine.

We'd be competing with a number of excuses/reasons in trying to get more coverage for N in commercial magazines. As well as commercial/financial factors there's also a history and discriminatory bias. N is a fairly new kid on the block so traditionally larger scales predominate but history also teaches us that O, which was once the favoured scale, can eventually be trumped. And then there's the fact that by far the majority of the editors and their teams are OO modellers and simply don't like N as much.

IMO the Japanese model railway market is big on N for a number of reasons; their manufacturers are traditional N gauge producers and innovators, their house sizes are generally smaller than ours, and culturally they favour miniaturisation.

H.

[K-N-Gauge]

To be honest there are 3 or 4 layouts featured on this Forum that would grace the pages of any of the modelling magazines I hope that some of them take the plunge.

I'm surprised by the comment "Our research, and that of others in the industry, gives no indication that there are significant numbers of new people taking up N gauge modelling. Although there's a huge amount of quality new product around, the manufacturers tell us that sales aren't significantly up and the balance of the market remains roughly the same" - as there are a great number of new members on here who say they are just starting in N or returning.

Could this be that due to the economy that more people are switching to n gauge however they are buying less so is seems that sales are not increasing? i meen i went to ally pally this year and there are plenty of n gauge layouts, ofcourse more 00 but the numbers should be increasing surely!

[H]

Could this be that due to the economy that more people are switching to n gauge however they are buying less so is seems that sales are not increasing?

A very good point. Of course the volume and split/share of sales does not equate/give the volume/share of modellers/individuals.

H.

[Chinahand]

Another factor could be that not many of the old Farish locos have been updated so people are having to source them from eBay or similar. If older locos were updated I think the manufacturers would see a somewhat different picture.

[K-N-Gauge]

Very true on some locos nothings changed bar the price! Lol

[Lawrence]

As Ben said:

"We still find that N modellers are reluctant to supply articles on layouts and projects, although this could be down to a basic lack of such projects. However, we'll continue to support the scale and would encourage you and your forum members to contact us if you have a layout or modelling project that you feel deserves a wider audience"

So they will support our scale if we support them with our enthusiasm, and as previously mentioned issue 169 will have more N gauge in it.  If the members of this forum actively interface with Model Rail then we can use them to get the message out that it is a thriving scale and hopefully encourage more modellers to take up the challenge.
Sure they are only one magazine and we are only one forum, but from small acorns and all that......

I have seen layouts and projects by members on here that would certainly not look out of place in a major magazine and we have to show the modelling world that N gauge has much to offer the modelling world.

Just remember to mention  when you get in touch  with them

[Pengi]

IMO the Japanese model railway market is big on N for a number of reasons; their manufacturers are traditional N gauge producers and innovators, their house sizes are generally smaller than ours, and culturally they favour miniaturisation.

H.

This might have been the case once, new houses and room sizes are much smaller these days (trend in my part of the UK is for narrower and higher) and consumers want smaller items (e.g mobile devices). Items on the main shopping channels generally are advertised as having some element of compactness and space saving. I am still of the opinion that if Ideal World or QVC promoted a Kato starter set then it would sell very well (even if it was a bullet train). Ok it might not be classed as true railway modelling, but some might progress to having a permanent layout.

[NgaugeDan]

I emailed the editor of Model Rail magazine a few weeks back asking if they'd consider doing a few of their exclusive models in N gauge as well as all their OO stuff.

The response was pretty much the same along the lines of there's no evidence of more people taking up modelling in N gauge and not enough demand for them to create exclusive N gauge models.  It's ashame because Model Rail is my preferred magazine and I'd like to see more N gauge content and would buy N gauge exclusive models from them.

Dan