Chris Ellis

poliss · Chris Ellis

Has the editor of the old Airfix Magazine moved to the USA, or was he always American? http://www.modeltrainsinternational.co.uk/

Ralph Laughton

As far as I know, Chris is still living here in the UK. He is exhibiting a small layout at a show in London, next month I believe.

I worked with Chris in the early '70s when he left Airfix magazine for the first time. We worked for a small military book publisher that also published model related books, some of which were railway related and a monthly magazine. It was Chris that got me hooked on railways. Until then I was an avid military vehicle modeller, with a passion for first world war vehicles. Chris suggested that I should have a go at building a WWI narrow gauge layout. so I started buying R-T-R narrow gauge. In those days you could go and buy Egger-Bahn and Minitrains stuff off the shelf. As well as the re-branded Jouef and later Lilliput.

During that time, Chris visited some relations in America and came back with the bug for American outline in all scales. He started modelling it for our magazine at the time; a short lived monthly called Model World. Chris subsequently left to peruse other ventures and our paths did not pass for a few years until I met him one day in the late '70s and he asked me if I wanted to be involved in a new publication he was setting up for Airfix called Model Trains. I agreed and wrote a lot of articles as well as producing all the line illustrations. When Airfix went to the wall, I took on the magazine for the then new owners, Palitoy under the General Mills ownership and Chris set up a magazine called Scale Trains.

Palitoy destroyed the brand and within a few years the magazine funding was withdrawn and that was that. I moved away from specialist publishing for a good few years.

I never did build a WWI layout but I did stay with railway modelling. At the moment I am thinking about getting involved with the American outline stuff as well as considering building a GWR branch line as I have recently inherited a vast amount of track and rolling stock… I will let you know what happens.

Ralph.

poliss

I have Chris Ellis's book 'How to go plastic modelling' on my bookshelf. I found it to be excellent, although I do admit it put me off modelling for a while as the standards in it were so good I didn't think I could ever match them.

Joe

It happened to me aswell Pol, alot of magazines or books seem to be have very high standards in terms of layouts, thats why I dont think my first layout is any good to be honest, I still enjoy adding to it and running trains though, who cares if it doesnt look real

Ralph Laughton

It is not just railway modelling magazines that give that impression. I edit the best selling woodworking magazine and when I took it over it was a bit like that. As a keen woodworker myself I have made sure we tell it the way it is - warts and all - guess what, circulation is on the way up!

Whatever the hobby, it is what you make it. if you want your layout to look like Pendon then spend hours and hours on the fine detail. If you like running trains, run trains!

If you enjoy it, it is doing its job!

Have fun!

Ralph.

Teleman

The thing to remember is at a exhibition or in a mag they pick the best . The one that i was at had eight layouts on display from a 30 mile aera , so you do get just the cream , to get to that standard on your own is rare because of all the diffrent things that need doing but thats where forums and clubs come in .

and Joe you should have seen some of my early layouts

and loco building

Joe

I agree they are all the 'cream'

and I do have fun running the trains, I think that's really what it's all about, i also really enjoy building the layout up as I'm sure alot of people do, to me thats the best part, also Ralph they're the type of magazines I Like, I think that is why Hornby magazine seems to be such a big seller aswell, they are really helpful for beginners and dont just show you the best things in the world with a caption of look what I can do, what magazine do you edit?

Joe

Ralph Laughton

Hi Joe,

I edit The Woodworker. See HERE. I work on the idea that we show you how rather than look what I can do.

The readers seem to like it, circulation has gone up in recent months...

I have spent the past thirty odd years 'building a model railway' still have nothing much to show for it but I am enjoying myself. All the layouts I have built have been dismantled or sold. When working on Model Trains magazine in the early eighties, I must have built several small layouts but none of them exist today.

I am now looking to build a new one - or maybe two - in between building ridiculous Meccano models for shows like the MAGIC OF MECCANO at Kew Bridge steam museum this weekend.

Ralph.