Our constitution begins "To Help Members Running Live Steam..."
but that ignores the elephant in the room, the many thousands of OOLS owners who are not members whose once precious masterpiece of model engineering is approaching something close to scrap. And they don't know it.
We appear to be concluding that locos not run for a very long time and especially the large number "never run" could be damaged if running is attempted and at the very least will be seized.
Most "New" and "nearly new" models sell via ebay, salerooms, dealers etc and bipass us.
We need to tell owners about this (it might even be a legal duty)
and we need a plan to tackle practically the emergence of long unused models
I propose that we
1. Put a strong "IMPORTANT" message on our website home page and explain the issue.
2. Research the extent of the problem by surveying the experience of recent new owners.
3. Write and advise 3rd party retailers and auction houses about the evolving issue.
4. Send a message to sellers on ebay advising them of the issue
5. Appeal to members who own "brand new unrun" models to submit them for test.
6. Offer video advice to owners who feel competent to test/dismantle/free-up their own loco
7. Look into how we might expand our service work commercially.
8. Use the imminent 20th anniversary as an opportunity to generate publicity about the issue
⦁ Articles in model railway magazines (not just about this issue)
⦁ A video on social media platforms
⦁ offer to mount presentations in the 'seated lecture theatres' at the big shows in the autumn
⦁ a practical demonstration on our 'help desk'
⦁ pop-up banners that members could take to model railway shows and erect with permission.
Alternatively we can ignore the elephant in the room (presumably because we dont have the resources to solve the problem) and let new owners having spent a lot of money find out the hard way.
"Is This Really necessary"? It seems we are in danger of introducing a somewhat unnecessary dollop of negativity into the OOLive Steam Brand.
When we started the OOLSC, our various Events were often frequented by a large cohort of vociferous and opinionated visitors who were openly hostile to the Hornby Live Steam Brand. We are all aware that it was suffering the brunt from a totally unjustified label of unreliability which followed on from the initial, somewhat disastrous introduction of OOLive Steam into the market place. After 20 years, the OOLSC has largely negated that particular and highly destructive stigma attached to the brand whilst also putting it back on track toward becoming an important and sought after feature at Model Railway Events; and a "must have" element within the collections of a significant number of enthusiasts.
I would ask. Is it really necessary to introduce any elements of negativity into the existing and wider collectors market that might imply that there is a potential problem real or imagined, with respect to Hornby Live Steam There is nothing particularly unusual in a collector of any form of 12volt, OO gauge (or any other gauge Locos) discovering that their variously acquired trains should be treated with due care upon running an particular ,often high value item. At most we need to simply indicate were appropriate a significantly light touch approach which is merely an acknowledgement to common sense.
Charles.