We’ve been busy counting YOUR votes in Model Rail’s annual awards for the best new models of the last year, in each of the popular scales. Now that the results have been confirmed, George Dent reflects on another fascinating year for our hobby.
While the doom mongers continue to prophesise an impending catastrophe for the model railway hobby, 2023 proved to be another busy year for new releases.
Yet more high-quality models appeared in ‘N’, ‘OO9’, ‘OO’ and ‘O’, many of which represented a first outing for certain prototypes in ready-to-run form, while others promised superior renditions to previous efforts. ‘TT:120’ has also continued to grow, albeit in a modest way, precluding it from Model Rail’s awards – for now.
As ever, Model Rail readers have helped to recognise excellence in the design and manufacture of model locomotives and rolling stock from a range of manufacturers. It’s interesting to see which products gained the most favour in each scale, confounding some of our own predictions, while confirming others.
Moreover, it was good to see a few ‘oddball’ prototypes recognised, such as the NER ES1 electric locomotive produced in ‘OO’ by Heljan for Locomotion Models/Rails of Sheffield, plus Rapido’s ‘N’ gauge ‘Co ‐Bo’ and the humble Wickham Trolley in ‘O’ by Ellis Clark Trains – continuing a theme from previous annual awards where something out of the ordinary captured our collective imagination.
I’m pleased to report that the last two years have seen record numbers of votes cast in our Model of the Year competition and, although several thousand of you once again took part, not everyone placed votes in all categories. Therefore, the percentages you see listed among the results refer to the proportion of voters who took part in each section. As one might anticipate, the vast majority of voters interacted with the ‘OO’ categories, followed by ‘O’ gauge, ‘OO9’ and ‘N’.
For the third consecutive year, Accurascale has been crowned as Overall Manufacturer of the Year, having swept the board of individual ‘OO’ gauge awards. Rapido Trains UK leapfrogged into second place overall, which is a significant achievement for another relative newcomer to the hobby, while the arrival of several impressive new models in the Branchline, EFE Rail, Narrow Gauge and Graham Farish ranges, took Bachmann Europe into third place.
Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to cast their votes – we really do appreciate your contributions. Out of everyone who took part, we’ll soon be choosing 20 readers at random to receive models from our £2,400 prize draw.
It could be you…!
‘OO’ gauge
As the long list of nominees confirmed, 2023 was another busy year for new ‘OO’ releases, particularly in the realms of locomotives and freight rolling stock.
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