Our world in miniature, hobbies

Hi all, As I've explained before, our railway was built to amuse at least two enthusiastic operators, but even rationalizing the control centre, it's too big for one old operator. So after 7.30pm, the single line section through Bramble Lane that joins up with the Foleshill Line closes. The line shown in the picture above, which runs into two sets of fiddle yards, is quite complex, a lot of standing up & sitting down by a single operator. I quite like the notion of a section of the line closing. That often happened on secondary branch lines. There's no shortage of interest in the open half that remains. Once the through traffic ceases, shunting & yard transfer trains can operate, using the through line, as in this picture where Pannier Tank is moving coal from Longford Park to Nethermill. It makes it real for me.

Will it grow weeds and attract deer?

The glues are antifungal so I hope not in reality, but planted weeds & grass are carefully applied so as to make it look authentic. Getting both the rail colour & weed growth to match the running level is quite important. I would hope that our main running lines are not like that. Just shutting a section down at night doesn't make a lot of difference. Once steam or diesel locos are running along, weeds soon clear. Electric lines grass up more easily. Weedkiller trains are used on the main running lines.

Your rail network is a credit to you, Philip.

Thank you. A labour of love.

Philip. I never had your passion for railways, though I can readily understand it. My earliest relevant memories were of a guesthouse in Weymouth with a bridge over the railway at the bottom of their yard - as a kid of about 10yo I loved to watch the to-ing and fro-ing of the engines - and the smell! In later years, (late-1960s), I was privileged to be a guest of the Locomotif Brno orienteering club, in Czechoslovakia, where the mighty steam engines were still operating. You would have loved it!

Thank you both for your very kind comments. I suppose, just as every other home in the fifties had an upright piano, no matter if anyone could play it or not, every other chum of mine had a train set. I always liked pictures, but I could not draw, so 3D art is my picture. The intrigue of seeing a railway line, a canal or river, wondering where it goes kind of thing. Reading a Rupert story, where the chums find a railway in the woods, may have been the catalyst that fired it all together. Proof of the pudding is that as an adult, I've never embarked on a roundy-roundy model. It always has to go somewhere. The fiddle yards, or behind the scenes part, brings that into reality. Out of sight, out of mind.

Philip, always a treat to call in to your world.

I've just learnt that a model railway shop has set up in Coventry Market. Coventry Market Model Shop.

Hi all, I've been a very naughty boy! I popped to the new Coventry Market Model Stall with a friend. I bought a new, forty year old Lima GUV van. It's coupled to a very recent Bachmann model costing double. I've added weathering to the buffers, & tail light. This was it arriving earlier. The only real downer on the Lima is the oversized coupling, but very reliable & efficient. Not easy to change, but until mentioning this few would be any the wiser. I'm certainly not.

You're obviously much feeling better, my good friend and this will improve your wellbeing even more! In a word - brill!

I'm feeling heaps better. Not totally out of the woods yet. At present, certainly not ill anymore.

A bit of shopping therapy can work wonders. It's looking good.

Hi Helen, Especially when it involves a bit of shunting afterwards. I'm cheered because a couple of friends have bought some stuff today. I'm quite chuffed!

Hi all, My Bentley is still on the flat wagon. I pretend that there isn't a crane suitable to lift it off.