Regulars Contact Model Rail
As someone with more than a passing interesting in Medieval history,
I read Philip Ziegler’s book The Black Death towards the end of last year. Could anything like that happen today, I pondered, and if so, what would happen…? As you will have probably guessed, the
Model Rail team are now working remotely and Bauer’s offices have closed (apologies to anyone who has been trying to phone). This will naturally affect how we put the magazine together but, rest assured, the MR team is working hard to minimise this impact. This also means that we no longer have access to our test track and our photographic studio, and we’re having to work with limited supplies of models and modelling equipment. Should you notice a dip in our usual quality, this has nothing to do with a lack of effort or desire on our part but everything to do with the widespread shop closures and travel restrictions that affect every part of our lives at the moment. Please bear with us as we do our best in these extremely difficult and trying circumstances. With so many e-mails flying around between colleagues, could I please ask that you try to avoid sending e-mails to team members, if possible. It’s not that we don’t want to hear from you, but it’s more likely that e-mails will get lost or overlooked. We’d love to keep hearing from you so could you please share your thoughts on our Facebook page. If your query is urgent, please e-mail Jane Skinner (jane.skinner@bauermedia.co.uk).
If there is any silver lining to this Covid-19 cloud it’s the fact that while mail order operations from model retailers are still going (at the time of writing), railway modelling is the perfect hobby for anyone stuck indoors. If you know of anyone struggling with the lockdown, why not suggest this hobby as a great way to pass the time? With that in mind, we’re hoping to be able to offer a free copy of Model Rail to anyone who hasn’t tried railway modelling before.
In the event of it being difficult to find this magazine in the immediate future, we’ll do our best to ensure we will still be available on digital platforms. If you can’t find us, or if you’re stuck at home, please consider downloading our app from the IOS or Android app stores. We have one-off subscription offers in place with discounts of up to 50%. Alternatively, you can purchase single issues. Or, if you’re a Kindle Fire user, you can download our magazines from the Amazon Newsstand.
If you are a print subscriber and we cannot deliver issues owing to the Covid-19 situation, please visit www.greatmagazines.co.uk, where clear updates will be given in due course.
To continue the slightly sombre tone, I also have to report the sad passing of Richard Strange, our historical consultant, on March 8, after a short illness.
Richard was one of Britain’s leading locomotive historians and his knowledge of locomotive allocations and associated data was unrivalled. As historical consultant to
Steam World, Steam Railway and MR, Richard was a hard taskmaster when it came to historical accuracy (speaking from personal experience!) but his guiding hand was always there to keep us on the straight and narrow (even if some responses came after he’d been out for the evening!). Our thoughts and condolences go to Richard’s family.