Ramsay's Guide

The 9th Edition of the "bible" for model railway collectors has arrived. Ramsay's guide aims to be the most comprehensive listing of model railway locos and rolling stock available, and an indispensable guide for collectors. 

As you can see, I've been working on this edition with Pat Hammond. I'll admit that the shear scale of the task has been overwhelming at times and without Pat it wouldn't be the impressive publication it is today. 

It's interesting that this time we've added several new manufacturers as well as thousands of new products to the listing. In this respect it's a bit like the final years of the Guinness Book of Hit singles - for years there were lots of bands releasing lots of singles. Then the world changed and an awful lot of groups came together for one single and then reformed into something else, making the listings a nightmare. 

Of course, this isn't quite the case for railway models but it's interesting that there is an emerging group of small RTR manufacturers commissioning models from Chinese factories. Not just in plastic either. There is a market for modern tinplate trains that I was previously unaware of. 

Those who know me won't be surprised to see quite a few extra photos of Triang items, but I took the chance to photograph lots of other collectables too. I reckon I've added around 100 pictures to the guide including the covers which I'm quite pleased with. 

This has been a fascinating and educational experience. Just don't expect me to have memorised all of it.