Editing Model engineering (section)

==Model engineering in society==
[[File:Model locomotive by John Satchell Vict Australia 1866 MoV.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Model engineering in 1866. Apprentice mechanic John Satchell poses with his father and his medal-winning model shunting locomotive at the 1866-67 Intercolonial Exhibition, Victoria, Australia. Image: Museum of Victoria ST037829]]

The aim of model engineering to build mechanical models is now usually purely recreational, although beginning with the [[Industrial Revolution]] in the late 18th century through to the late 20th century such models were widely produced as aids to [[technical education]], either as [[apprentice]] projects or as classroom or public institutional exhibits. They were also produced as commercial props to support a patent, to visualise a proposed capital venture, or to advertise a manufacturer's trade. Many [[List of science museums|museums]] in the old industrialised countries house original collections of mechanical models stemming from the earliest days of the industrial revolution. One of the earliest known models of a steam engine, that of a Newcomen beam engine, was made prior to 1763.<ref>{{cite web |title=Model Newcomen Steam Engine |url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/hunterian/collections/collectionsummaries/scientificinstruments/modelnewcomensteamengine/ |website=University of Glasgow Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery |accessdate=31 August 2020}}</ref> The [[Science Museum (London)|Science Museum, London]] published catalogues illustrating many early models.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Board of Education|title=Catalogue of the mechanical engineering collection in the science division of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, Part 1|date=1919|publisher=HMSO|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/catalogueofmecha00victrich}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Board of Education|title=Catalogue of the naval and marine engineering collection in the Science Museum, South Kensington|date=1911|publisher=HMSO|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/catalogueofnaval00scierich}}</ref> Many of these models represent the same subjects that remain popular with model engineers today, which attests to the long tradition of model engineering.

The earliest publication to offer instruction to the public on building working steam engine models was the ''Model Dockyard Handy-book'' (2nd edition 1867) by E. Bell, proprietor of the Model Dockyard shop in London, which also offered the parts and completed models for sale. Bell was, he said, "Ship Modeller and Mechanist" to the Royal Family, the English Admiralty and various European royalty.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bell|first1=E.|title=The Model Dockyard Handy-book|date=1867|publisher=E. Bell|location=London|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_YOAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> The book was aimed at building and operating these models as a recreational pursuit. In Britain, the establishment of a broad [[middle class]] by the late nineteenth century, an associated widening of leisure pursuits, and the rise of the [[Arts & Crafts|Arts and Crafts movement]] that valorized [[handicrafts]], saw a new constituency of amateur model engineers and experimenters interested in metalwork as a recreation. This was at a time when mechanical technology was seen as the driving force in rising economic [[prosperity]]. Articles and advertisements relating to model engineering began to appear in ''Amateur Work Illustrated'' magazine in the mid-1880s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Plumb|first1=David|title=An early firm of model engineers' suppliers|journal=Model Engineer|date=25 Sep 1998|volume=181|issue=4077|pages=388–90}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pocock|first1=John|title=Model engine-making|journal=Amateur Work, Illustrated|date=1886|volume=5|pages=199–201|url=https://archive.org/details/amateurworkillus05lond}}</ref> With the rise of 'amateur' interest in conjunction with the [[working class]] mechanics who made models as apprentices, a new market niche was emerging, capitalised upon by Percival Marshall who began publishing ''Model Engineer and Amateur Electrician'' magazine in 1898 (now ''[[Model Engineer]]'').<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marshall|first1=Percival|title=Fifty years of model engineering|journal=Model Engineer|date=1 Jan 1948|volume=98|issue=2432|page=4|quote="nowhere could I find a journal which specifically catered for the interests of model makers or for the amateur engineering enthusiast."}}</ref> Common interest in model engineering between men of lower, middle and even upper classes supported claims that model engineering had broken class barriers. However, a tradition that still persists is the use of pseudonyms in the model engineering press, as it was once considered inappropriate for professional gentlemen to contribute to "amateur" journals. Another reason was to disguise the fact that one contributor was single-handedly writing an entire edition of a journal on occasion, notably [[Edgar T. Westbury]], who used no less than four ''noms de plume''.

Model engineering remains popular despite major social changes over the past century. Among these changes have been the elimination of steam power (still the most favourite subject for model engineers) from rail transport and industry; and the widespread [[De-industrialization|de-industrialisation]] of Western countries beginning in the 1970s, along with a shift to [[consumer society]] and the introduction of a wide new range of competing leisure pursuits. These changes, along with the older age of many model engineers<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Read|first1=Neil|title=M.E. Reader Survey 2003|journal=Model Engineer|date=23 Jan 2004|volume=192|issue=4213|page=99|quote=It seems that our readership is predominantly male (99.7%) with 85% being aged 55 and over.}}</ref> and decline of new apprenticeships, have prompted a long-running debate among model engineers whether the hobby will die out.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cumming|first1=Ed|title='Model engineering is going to die out. We've lost the skills'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/10583649/Model-engineering-is-going-to-die-out.-Weve-lost-the-skills.html|work=The Telegraph|date=20 Jan 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Our Centenary Issue|journal=Model Engineer|date=1 January 1998|volume=180|issue=4058|page=13|quote="...&nbsp;Percival Marshall was told that the magazine would founder in five years as all the readers would have died off. A century later we hear the same fears voiced."}}</ref>

Model engineers often join to form model engineering clubs and societies.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Reader Survey|journal=Model Engineer|date=25 Jul 2003|volume=191|issue=4200|page=71|quote="43% of [survey respondents] are members of a model engineering club or society"}}</ref> The first of these to form was the Society of Model and Experimental Engineers based in London, UK, in 1898, "along similar lines to the model yachting clubs" then popular.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marshall|first1=Percival|title=Model locomotive clubs|journal=Model Engineer|date=May 1898|volume=1|issue=6|page=111}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Clubman|title=Expansion of the club movement|journal=Model Engineer|date=1 May 1958|volume=118|issue=2971|pages=543–45}}</ref> By 1948, "well over a hundred local clubs and societies" had been formed.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marshall|first1=Percival|title=Fifty years of model engineering|journal=Model Engineer|date=1 January 1948|volume=98|issue=2432|page=6}}</ref> Model engineering clubs and societies now number in the hundreds across the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web|title=Model Engineering Clubs & Societies|url=http://www.modeleng.org/clubs.htm|website=Model Engineering Clearing House}}</ref> These clubs are a form of [[civil society]] organisation, which are a sign of healthy democracy and [[community cohesion]].

A major focus for many of these clubs is the operation of a club track or [[miniature railway]] for members' model live steam locomotives. These tracks are often run publicly and form part of community recreational and tourism infrastructure in their local area. Model engineering clubs and societies often cater too for model engineering interests beyond locomotives. Due to the inherently dangerous nature of live steam, clubs and societies are responsible for administering safety regulations, insurance and specialist boiler codes that cover both members and the public. To this end, model engineering clubs and societies often affiliate into national bodies that can lobby government to maintain the historical privilege they have to self-regulate their own safety standards.

[[Livelihood]]s based on model engineering include retailers who provide model engineers with equipment and supplies, small fabrication services who produce castings, make miniature live steam boilers and live steam kit parts (or even whole running models), commercial publishers in the model engineering press, and a very few professional model engineers who make one-off models by commission for private or institutional collectors. Most model engineers however are amateur constructors who rely on other income.