Bulk trains are one of the most boring things about current rail freight operations - a long string of identical coal hoppers or container after container after container, followed by a couple of empty container wagons, and then another container and another .... So, I nearly fell over when I saw several gondola wagons covered with tarpaulins one day in the midst of an otherwise container after container train near Enfield in Sydney. Oh, for the days when freight trains were a mixture of all kinds of wagons and loads! This is a real problem for someone, like me, who would secretly like to run some modern diesel locos and trains on my last days of steam layout - when all the other trains have gone to bed first! What about the modellers who just run container, wheat and coal bulk trains on their modern period layouts, don’t they want a bit of variety? So, how about a nice magazine like Australian Model Railway Magazine inviting readers to submit photos or brief descriptions of ‘different’ freight wagon loads they see, and where and when they saw them? I don’t mean just one invite either, but an invitation that is repeated each issue for a year, so that modellers of today's railways can get ideas of what variety exists in current freight trains which they can model. These invitations – and any reports submitted - should not be hidden away in the editorial but be laid out attractively on a page, like a display ad. Perhaps then it will be possible for keen modellers to avoid the: 'here comes another train of containers' syndrome' on their layout. How about it, guys!
Bulk trains are one of the most boring things about current rail freight operations - a long string of identical coal hoppers or container after container after container, followed by a couple of empty container wagons, and then another container and another .... So, I nearly fell over when I saw several gondola wagons covered with tarpaulins one day in the midst of an otherwise container after container train near Enfield in Sydney. Oh, for the days when freight trains were a mixture of all kinds of wagons and loads! This is a real problem for someone, like me, who would secretly like to run some modern diesel locos and trains on my last days of steam layout - when all the other trains have gone to bed first! What about the modellers who just run container, wheat and coal bulk trains on their modern period layouts, don’t they want a bit of variety? So, how about a nice magazine like Australian Model Railway Magazine inviting readers to submit photos or brief descriptions of ‘different’ freight wagon loads they see, and where and when they saw them? I don’t mean just one invite either, but an invitation that is repeated each issue for a year, so that modellers of today's railways can get ideas of what variety exists in current freight trains which they can model. These invitations – and any reports submitted - should not be hidden away in the editorial but be laid out attractively on a page, like a display ad. Perhaps then it will be possible for keen modellers to avoid the: 'here comes another train of containers' syndrome' on their layout. How about it, guys!
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