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An explanation of the Locoyardometer!

A star rating is given (1-5) represented visually as:

1 Star:

2 Star:

3 Star:

4 Star:

5 Star:

The score is calculated by the following seven criteria:

1.  The Detailometer:

1/5 – Bad (Virtually no detail at all)

2/5 – Poor (ok from a distance or heavily weathered)

3/5 – Reasonable (A few discrepancies and/or omissions)

4/5 – Good (It’s almost all present and correct)

5/5 – Exquisite (every rivet present, very hard/impossible to fault!)

2.  The Outlineometer:

1/5 – Bad (toy-like, that’s a what?!)

2/5 – Poor (fetch the metal file and the hammer!)

3/5 – Reasonable (shape & size correct, could do with a re-tool)

4/5 – Good (looks and has same “feel” as prototype)

5/5 – Spot-On (If I was shrunk, I’d think it is real!)

3.  The Finishometer:

1/5 – Bad (even I could do a better job!)

2/5 – Poor (shade/lining incorrect)

3/5 – Reasonable (Not quite like the original & minor discrepancies, but fine from a distance)

4/5 – Good (Lining accurate, everything where it should be)

5/5 – Perfect (high quality finish)

4.  The Motorometer:

1/5 – Bad (Noisy, jerky, uncontrollable, struggles with pick-ups)

2/5 – Poor (Regularly derails, growls, high geared needs super-clean wheels & track)

3/5 – Reasonable (Not too loud, controllable and fairly reliable)

4/5 – Good (Can go any speed smoothly, reliable)

5/5 – Fantastic (can handle poor track work, silent and dependable)

5.  The Powerometer (relative to prototype):

1/5 – Not even close

2/5 – Half the power

3/5 – Not quite as strong

4/5 – Almost as strong as prototype

5/5 – As Prototype or better

6.  The Specometer:

1/5 – Bad (It has a motor, but that’s it)

2/5 – Poor (DCC conversion very difficult, no NEM couplings)

3/5 – Reasonable (provision for DCC or NEM couplings)

4/5 – Good (DCC Ready and NEM)

5/5 – Fantastic (everything but the kitchen sink!)

7.  The Valueometer:

1/5 – Expensive

2/5 – A bit pricey

3/5 – Reasonable value for money

4/5 – Good value for money

5/5 – Cheap as chips

A model’s power classification:

Finally – not linked to the Locoyardometer, the model will be given a power rating based on its pulling power alone (not the relative power as calculated previously):

• Unclassified (struggles with 2 bogey carriages)
• Flyweight (no more than 2 bogey carriages)
• Featherweight (no more than 3 bogey carriages)
• Welterweight (Does ok with four bogey carriages)
• Middleweight (Can pull 4-5 carriages)
• Heavyweight (a herd of wild horses couldn’t hold it back)