Frank talk about society

Clearly the blobs are not to scale!

I'm going to start this post with the usual Vince-and-I-were-chatting line because it's true :-) We were talking about the famous Sociology of Model Railroading article and how it might relate to this model-railroading-as-a-medium business I've been going on about.

It's tough for me to comment on the sociology story because I'm not a very social hobbyist. Being a nerd I summarized my social status with that Venn diagram up there :-) Mainstreamers would classify me as a lone wolf interested in a niche aspect of the hobby. I don't belong* to clubs, groups, or organizations**, and only a couple of my friends are into the hobby. I do attend nearby swap meets. I went to the annual Ottawa train show until it disappeared, and I've been to some far-flung train shows over the years. I read the magazines now and then***, but I'm mainly interested in old printed material. I read some blogs and websites on a regular basis. Forum participation is one or two posts a year if that, and I sometimes read threads of interest. My primary hobby-related social outlet is this blog. 

Given my weak bona fides in this area, my only thoughts are that I think the sociology story applies mainly to a large swath of the 'Mainstream Model Railroad Hobby' blob over in the Venn diagram. Given the 2012 date on the story it likely needs updating regarding digital life, and for changes in the coming post-corona virus world. A subject I might add to the story is one dealing with camaraderie and fellowship. 

L to R: Capt. Dalton, the General, Lt. Merriweather; MR Mar '43

When it comes to the social I'm somewhat stuck in the fantasy mindset exemplified by Model Railroader's 6-part serial that appeared in the 1943 March to August issues called My Adventures in Model Land. It's a fictional story about how three friends, Captain Jack Dalton, Lt. Frank Merriweather, and The General, got into model railroading and built layouts after retiring from the service. The story's quite low-key, pleasant and filled with gentle humour, although there are parts that indulge in casual racism. The byline is given to Frank Merriweather****, so it's not clear who actually wrote it. There are line drawings throughout that are attributed to G.R.H. - I don't know who that might be. It's a social story, not a technical one, and camaraderie plays a big role. Viewed 77 years later it seems amazing that this serial was printed at all. Even a modernized version wouldn't be published today. Maybe it was thought it could be a morale booster during the war about happier times ahead for model railroaders when it was over.

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*I follow the teachings of Marx - Groucho Marx that is - and wouldn't belong to any group that would have me as a member :-)

**Hmm, now that I think about it, I am a member of Friends of the Pendon. They do have me as a member and I'm very glad I am. Apparently there's an exception to *.

***Ok, to be clearer, I subscribe to the quarterly Voie Libre, and only buy other magazines from a newsstand if they contain a compelling article.

****When I saw the name Frank Merriweather I immediately wondered if this was a reference to Frank Merriwell and his brother Dick who were protagonists in many popular stories that ran in Tip Top Weekly magazine from the late 1890s into the 1910s. After Tip Top Weekly, Frank Merriwell continued to appear in other media well into the 1930s. Even E. L. Moore noted he had read Frank Merriwell stories as a boy. I suspect many writers in the 1940s would be well aware of the Merriwell brothers, so maybe this retirement memoir of 'Frank Merriweather' is some veiled Frank Merriwell fan-fiction about what he got up to after he hung up adventuring.

Second round of road painting

As the title implies, I continue to work on painting Ocean Boulevard and its side streets. It's turning out to be a surprisingly interesting job. And a big one too! 

I think I've got the colour of the streetcar apron about right. I find that Model Master Camouflage Grey layered with Testors Aged Concrete is giving me a good approximation to the colour in my reference photos. But, I must note that the colour does vary from one location to the next along the TTC, as well as with the time of year.

As for the road, some sections will be closer to black to simulate recent paving, and others, like the section down near the ocean, will be greyer and more distressed. I'm continuing to refine the colours - I spend a lot of time just standing back and looking at the road as I progress to think about how it's coming along and what to do next - but I might stop soon as I'm getting low on paint.

Photography

Few people associate thinking with photography. In reality they are so close that we cannot tell one from the other.

John Alton, from a section called What Is Thinking in his 1949 book Painting With Light.

Consider this list of model railroaders where photography appears to play a significant role in their practice:

John Ahern

John Allen

Glenn Footscray

Dave Frary

Malcolm Furlow

Ben King

Lance Mindheim

E. L. Moore

Chris Nevard

John Olson

Jerry Quinn

Paul Scoles

Pelle Soeborg

+ many others. I mean no offence to anyone I've omitted. These are simply names that readily came to mind when I started to write this post.

I sometimes wonder if innovations in the medium come as much from photography as they do from layout design, research, or improved detail. This is likely well trod ground, but as I continue my stay-at-home bookshelf adventure it's one of the topics I've been thinking about. 

From the moment I began broadcasting, that medium seemed like another world, as indeed it is. The moment I began to experience the studio environment, my while reaction to what I could do with music under the proper circumstances changed totally. From then on, concerts were less than second best - they were merely something to be gotten through. They were a very poor substitute for a real artistic experience.

Glenn Gould in Turning His Back on His Audience

Try out this idea for a minute: layout operation is to model railroading as giving concerts was to Glenn Gould. Or maybe this one: photography is to model railroading as studio recording and broadcasting was to Glenn Gould.

In his article, Turning His Back on His Audience, Mr. Gould discusses how in the '50s he came to realize that producing an album or broadcast wasn't simply recording a performance as best as one could, but was about the creation of an altogether more appealing sound than that which I was able to achieve under "real, live" conditions. Likewise, in the hands of a master, applying photography to the medium isn't simply recording a layout - although it's often put to that purpose. It allows for expression that's maybe closer to what the modeller actually has in their mind that casual layout observers don't see. In fact, in many photographs the layout is as superfluous to getting at the user's meaning as a concert is to a Gouldian recording.

Since the fate of most layouts is destruction followed by a last ride to a dumpster, and given that the internet can circulate and store a seemingly endless stream of photographs and video, maybe the medium's future developments in expression won't require a layout of any sort. Clearly, this isn't news to many people, but I'm always on the trailing edge :-)

Ice T anyone?

Vince and I were chatting recently about show rods and during the conversation he mentioned that I start many posts with "Vince and I were chatting recently about .....". I agreed I was getting sloppy and was now relying on overused phrases. Let me start this post again.

I was discussing the sociological implications of the sub-category of automotive technology known as 'Show Rods' with an esteemed colleague and member of the 30Squares editorial board. There was an inquiry as to whether I had ever built the Show Rod known as Ice T. I retorted that I had many odd years ago in my halcyon days. It was assembled in a naive manner with a brushed-on application of paint highlighted with primitive dots stippled on in a Jackson Pollock-esque style with a Sharpie pen. Art Brut? Homage to juvenile art of a lost era? Or maybe it was just a way to have some simple fun :-)

There's no business like snow business

Yesterday morning we had a snow flurry. Until then the only remaining snow was that little pile just to the left of the leftmost composter. I shot this photo from the back porch, and as you can see the flakes are quite large, but luckily they melted as soon as they landed.

No such luck with the snow that fell last night. It stuck to the ground that was still rather could. Luckily it's just a dusting and should all be melted as the day goes on.