ern45

Hi all! Recently I read somewhere in the forum that each author does have a copyright on his work. Also, I have seen what Norjan does by adding cameras - BUT he gives recognition to the original author by renaming the layout as "Norjan's Copy" + the name of the layout. I loved what he did to my layout "Donner Pass"! However, I have just now found one of my layouts: "Meyerton" as published on 2nd May 2023 having been published by someone called Norbert-jansenn on 15 June 2023, without even changing the title or giving recognition to my original layout. He has, like Norjan, added cameras & triggers but the layout is still the same. I do not want to make an issue of this but I feel that 99,5% of the work was mine yet published under a new author without giving me recognition. Please can the administrators advise? Regards Ernest

Love what NORJAN has done with Donner Pass!

Hallo everyone! Thank you for the responses - all very valid points made! The essence lies in the fact that people have different skills, different standards and different motives for publishing (Simon). Having thought about these comments I have come to the conclusion that people find different areas of interest in MBS. For some it is just the track laying with points galore. For others it is massive scenery with overpowering mountains, others enjoy the water/ships side, some the aircraft side or the motor vehicle side etc. It is when a modeler can combine all of these into one combined layout that you achieve that "exceptional" layout. BUT....some people are not into that....they just enjoy that part of MBS which interest them...and in that lies the fact that they do it because it is fun...to quote Simon: " I think the thing to remember here is that this is something we do for fun! If it ceases to be that, and becomes a chore, why do it?" Thank you for the greetings and wishes Walter! On Wednesday 31st May the mouth of the East River opened again....with very little water left in the river now. It will probably take 6 months for the sea to close up the mouth again. We saw it coming as the river was extremely full, so we managed a boat trip on Saturday 28th with a nice braai afterwards (braai = barbeque). Kind regards to all! Ernest

Hallo all fellow MBS members! I wish to introduce this topic (if approved), because of the number of layouts (completed/extend etc.) I have viewed. I have viewed numerous layouts published on the net that is fantastic! However, I have also seen quite a few published layouts where the “building/construction” standard was not good and some extremely poor. Here I am talking about track alignment, adjusting the terrain, absence of catenary (yet electric engines running) or poorly adjusted bridges that don’t fit etc. Sometimes you see a brilliant track plan built very nicely but then the scenery (mountains, rivers, roads etc.) does an injustice to the layout. Please don’t get me wrong! In the beginning some of my first layouts were also of a very low quality – and I realized it by comparing it to those great ones published – and therefore I was too embarrassed to publish my first attempts! The high standard of building and completion of layouts on the net had motivated me to improve my building and completion skills just like with a real layout to the effect that I am now publishing some of my layouts on the net. I think at the moment I have 11 published ones running on the net but, I monitor how many “likes” I get and, if the “rating” drops – I take it off. I am not saying that layouts should be assessed before being published – This might discourage some of the new members from continuing with MBS – I recall my first published layout and not even getting one “like” in two weeks! This inspired me to jack up my skills and then after the next layout was published....within a week I got 3 “likes”! Wow!! It felt great! So...what do fellow MBS members think?

Hello Schlagerfuzzi:-) Well not sure we are talking about the Rand... Bu t a liter of petrol is going at +-R23 a liter. Yo:-) Thank you for the compliment! Much appreciated!

Thank You Phrontistes! Much appreciated!

Hello to all, I read all of the comments to date regarding V8 etc. For what it is worth I started MBS at V6 in 2020 (at first the free version – but after only 2 weeks purchased the professional version) Shortly thereafter V7 was released and I read the comments, watched the videos and did an assessment as to the improvements in relation to the cost-factor (I am a pensioner living in South Africa and the Euro to the SA Rand is substantial ie. +- 17 Rand to one Euro). I found that the number of improvements justified the expenditure from V6 to V7. Since the release of V8 I again did my assessment (in fact I have done it 3 times since the release) but for me there are not sufficient improvements in the way I like to use MBS to build my layouts to justify the expenditure. I am very happy with V7 and I am still discovering new things! All in all, I am just very grateful for having discovered MBS and thank goodness there is MBS – regardless of which version! I think each one to himself must decide with which version they are happy and comfortable AND ENJOY IT! Imagine what you would do if there was no MBS! To the developers and all the people making MBS possible – I say thank you and keep up the good work! Regards

Hello Walter! Cannot believe it! I live in the same quiet "village" as your sister... Kleinemonde, close to Port Alfred! Thank you for the welcome! Regards Ernest

Hello everyone from far-away South Africa! I notice that most members are from Germany. I am going on 66 and I discovered MBS in 2020 whilst going into Covid Lock-down! What a joy & pleasure! I have been into model railroading since the early 60's and in 1969 my parents bought us our first real train set... Märklin (3 rail) and not the battery operated oval kiddie sets! I still have that Märklin set plus the additional track & points etc. In the late 70's Märklin became too expensive in SA (and unavailability due to sanctions) so I changed to Lima, but in the early 80's I changed to N Scale (Peco track and Rivarossi loco's etc). I had layouts regularly until 2010 when I moved to the eastern coast and found that the salt air is not good for model railways! I have now sent all of it to my brother in Pretoria where he is storing it. I have tried other computer games such as Railroad Tycoon, but none gave me the opportunity to actually build my own layout.... until April 2020 when I discovered MBS! Since then, I have been an addict and building when I get the chance and when there is electricity!!! ... since 1995 we have been having load shedding regularly – almost every day – at present we are in Stage 6 which means that for 10 hours in a 24 hour cycle the power is off! Regards to all :-)