The demise of EIM magazine

[Simon Collier]

On Simon Collier Said:

In the last EIM, the following completely false statement was made:

Australia has now banned all coal-fired locomotives including models so ti will be interesting to see……

where on earth did they get this from?

If it were true it would be the height of hypocracy, Australia exported 335 million tons of coal in 22/23. Mainly to China.

[duncan webster 1]

On duncan webster 1 Said:

On Simon Collier Said:

In the last EIM, the following completely false statement was made:

Australia has now banned all coal-fired locomotives including models so ti will be interesting to see……

where on earth did they get this from?

If it were true it would be the height of hypocracy, Australia exported 335 million tons of coal in 22/23. Mainly to China.

And since when has hypocrisy been excluded from politics????  335 million tonnes of coal does not stop them (Strine Feral Gumment) legislating tighter emissions limits for IC cars and talk of banning IC altogether in the not overly distant future. It’s China wot makes the carbon pollution by turning around and burning the stuff when they get it, innit…

But, yes, steam trains are alive and well and burning coal here, albeit running upside down.

[Simon CollierParticipant @simoncollier74340]

No, it was the May issue. I was sent the quote by a digital subscriber.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, yes it’s in the May issue, page 41, club news special, far R/hand column, second paragraph.

Regards Nick.

 

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Complete bunkum.

Australia has refused to sign up with the 40 nations worldwide committed to phasing out coal. There is talk of the last coal fired power-station here closing down in 2038 but that is contingent on renewables taking up the full load, which is quite possible given our record levels of solar and wind power uptake, combined with proposed mega batteries and pumped hydro power schemes.

In the meantime, it is full steam ahead for coal. And good luck weaning the government off the royalties from mining coal and sending it to China, who are building new thermal powerstations like there is no tomorrow and encouraging developing nations worldwide to do the same by lending them the money and expertise to build them.

A quick search of Australian news sites, engineering sites, green sites, live steam and model steam sites and forums reveals not one word of a ban on coal fired locos or models there-of.

I cant access EIM until the digital copy arrives at our local library in the next week so remain mystified as to what they are talking about. There may be some grain of truth in it somewhere but I think they have their wires crossed as far as a general ban goes.

[Simon CollierParticipant @simoncollier74340]

Now the fake news has been repeated in the latest ME which dropped today. Page 568.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Hopper, the statement is just one paragraph within a two page report of the Federation of Model Engineering Societies AGM. There is no mention of a wholesale ban of the use of coal in Australia.

Regards Nick.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Depends how your read it. “banned all coal use” seems it could be everything.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/12/coal-will-be-all-but-gone-by-2034-under-australias-latest-energy#:~:text=Under%20the%20new%20plan%2C%20coal%20vanishes%20even%20faster.&text=Australia’s%20coal%20power%20stations%20will,and%20increase%20sevenfold%20by%202050.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi JasonB, there seems to be two versions of the same thing, EIM only mentions Locomotives.

Regards Nick.

[Nicholas Farr]

On Nicholas Farr Said:

Hi Hopper, the statement is just one paragraph within a two page report of the Federation of Model Engineering Societies AGM. There is no mention of a wholesale ban of the use of coal in Australia.

Regards Nick.

As the Federation is a UK organisation, and the paragraph says “The meeting was told…” what we have is hearsay from an unknown individual at a meeting on the other side of the world being reported in print. All sorts of people get up and say all sorts of things at meetings.

Who the individual was that said it and what their source is, nobody knows except perhaps the Federation who submitted the story of their AGM to the magazines.

Nobody here in Australia has heard anything about it. Full sized heritage railways and model railways are still merrily burning coal. Extensive Google searching reveals nothing on the topic. One would expect extensive outrage if beloved heritage steam trains had been shut down. It would most certainly make the newspapers and their websites, but no sign of it.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Yes could have got it wrong somewhere down the line, easy to mistake Australia for Austria who do seem keener to ban coal.

At least EiM won’t have to worry about a flood of letters from their readers about Aussie coal bans or not

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

There was a news item last night about a group of people who have recently been deliberately introducing rubbish stories to see how many they could get into the newspapers/tv. A professional ‘comedian’ or ‘influencer’ I think.

[Bazyle]

On Bazyle Said:

There was a news item last night about a group of people who have recently been deliberately introducing rubbish stories to see how many they could get into the newspapers/tv. A professional ‘comedian’ or ‘influencer’ I think.

Sounds like the Yes Men https://theyesmen.org/

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

As if there is not enough nonsense out there already!

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

The ‘Australia bans coal’ story has worked its way into ME as well. Not surprising, they once announced that the EU had banned the sale of imperial size end mill cutters.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

In all fairness, we can’t blame the magazines, or even the author really. In both cases the article was submitted by the same author who, presumably, was present at the Federation meeting. He simply reported what was said at the meeting. At least in the ME article the statement is qualified with “The meeting was told…”. The EIM article implies the same by context but is not as clear.

In a report of a meeting, authors or editors cannot fact check every single comment made in an open meeting with many participants. The job would be endless.

[Author]

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