Firstly an apology for the lack of posts last week but as regular readers will know I have been travelling a fair bit, so this post is a bit of a catch up on a couple of events and items of acquisition news that have occurred relevant to the hobby in the last week or so with respect to Ian Allan, Hornby Magazine and also RMweb.

Model Rail Scotland with St. Stephens Road.

It was a good weekend operating St Stephens Road, Mike Wild’s Hornby Magazine layout at Model Rail Scotland.

 I even managed to spend most of the time operating the Southern Region side of the layout although occasionally I had to switch to that oif the other railway! The exhibition, organised by the Association of Scottish Model Railway Societies, increased in size this year by approximately 50% by utilising part of a second hall at the SECC. It was a shame the two halls were not next to each other but the additional space and wider aisles certainly seemed welcome. I do not know if the numbers visiting were up on last year but trade at the Hornby Magazine stand seemed pretty good especially on the Friday.

Abingdon Exhibition with Hinton Parva.

Last Saturday was the last of four shows in five weekends operating four different layouts as we exhibited the High Wycombe and District Model Railway Society’s Hinton Parva layout at the Abingdon Model railway exhibition.

The HM&DMRS was well represented as we also had our 0 Gauge layout Blandford St Mary at the show too.

Hinton Parva is 32′ long and operates to an hours sequence involving more than 60 train movements, by nearly 30 rakes of stock requiring 7 operators at any one time. With movements occurring all the time along the entire  length of the layout not just on the main and secondary lines but also the MPD and goods yard certainly ensures that there is always something for the spectator to see!

The layout performed extremely well, and we all had a good day. It was also good to see a number of the younger members of the Society as part of the operating team and generally out performing many of the not so younger members, it bodes well for the future of the hobby and the Society.

Key Publishing Acquire Ian Allan Magazines including Hornby Magazine.

Key Publishing Ltd. have announced the acquisition of the Ian Allan portfolio of magazines from Ian Allan Publishing Ltd. The purchase involves seven titles published by Ian Allan (Buses, Classic Aircraft, Combat Aircraft, Hornby Magazine, Modern Railways, Railways Illustrated, and Vintage Roadscene) together with a number of Annual publications.

Hopefully this is a positive step for the publications and will enable the magazines, especially Hornby Magazine to continue its growth and influence in the model sector. Full details of the acquisition can be read here.

RMweb now comes under the ownership of Warners Group Publications plc.

It has been announced this morning that RMweb has a new owner in the shape of Warners Group Publications plc., guaranteeing its future availability and funding alongside their established magazine British Railway Modelling, their website Model Railways Live and the railway modelling festivals of Alexandra Palace, Peterborough and Doncaster.

RMweb started by Andy York in March 2005 and has become the busiest online railway modelling community in the UK with a membership of around 15,000. Andy York will continue to lead the site’s development and management into the future for Warners. RMweb will continue to be free to read, free to join and free to participate and will still welcome contributions and topics from all, including those from / about other publications and manufacturers.