Published on Thursday 30 October 2025 by Model Railway Quest
If you watched yesterday's Wednesday Express (Not Stopping at Peterborough!) - then thank you! It was a lot of fun in the new studio! But I also talked about a serious topic as well.
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All Model Railway Quest YouTube proceeds from this video will be donated to The CyberSmile Foundation - a charity devoted to creating an online community where everybody feels free to express themselves.
www.cybersmile.org/ *****
I didn't plan out what I was going to say and nothing was scripted. And I certainly didn't plan on crying!
To start - I believe the the model railway hobby to be 99.99% lovely, supportive and united. However, as with every hobby, and indeed workplace, school... wherever... a very small percentage of the community is anything but.
To clarify what I said yesterday, Lucy (you might know her as Farkham but now with a brand new name - Loading Gauge with Lucy) - has recently been on the receiving end of a bullying campaign.
You may know that Lucy bought the fabulous layout Farkham, and over the past few years has developed it, added to it and also started building her own layout. She is a naturally shy person so was reluctant to put herself in front of the camera at the start. But after building up the confidence, she finally started presenting her own layout build videos - and they have been excellent.
As a result, she was nominated in the category of Youtube Layout Builder of the Year in the Hornby Magazine awards this year. She was also invited to be on the YouTubers panel at the NEC for British Railway Modelling's National Festival of Railway Modelling.
That didn't sit well with the bullies. They started posting directly on her own social media posts as well as others. To summarise, their comments were along the lines of Lucy not deserving to be nominated because she didn't build the layout herself.
Also, that she didn't belong on the YouTubers panel as she wasn't a "real" railway modeller or YouTuber.
I am summarising here - the comments have been particularly nasty and don't deserve repeating.
As you may know, it all became too much - and this week Lucy closed all her social media posts. She has also withdrawn from speaking on the YouTube panel. I spoke to her this week and it was a very upsetting chat. She is utterly heartbroken and bewildered by how nasty people can be. Worse, a hobby that she loves has become a source of pain and has severely affected her mental and physical health.
The whole of the model railway industry, all her subscribers, all my subscribers and those of other channels have got behind Lucy to send her messages of support - and that speaks volumes.
Lucy is taking some time out to rethink. But we all sincerely hope she will take heart from the fact that she is loved and respected by the majority of people in the hobby. And that she will brush herself off and come back to keep making excellent videos.
It reminds me of the saying: Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter.
So this clip is from last night's live - talking about bullying in the hobby and also what we can all do to call it out and make sure those who choose to be spiteful and negative towards others won't be rewarded with a platform, a mic, or financial gain.
Lucy's YouTube channel is still up - and you can support Lucy and positivity in the model railway hobby by subscribing.
www.youtube.com/@LoadingGaugeLucy
Thank you xx
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All Model Railway Quest YouTube proceeds from this video will be donated to The CyberSmile Foundation - a charity devoted to creating an online community where everybody feels free to express themselves.
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