Our world in miniature, hobbies

You're getting very good at the people's eye view photography, Philip, but seriously, how big is that room? All the different pictures, the track must be immense. Admit it, you live in the Tardis.

Hi Helen, The railway timber is L shaped. 14ft long, by 3ft wide at its widest, the L is 10ft long & 3ft wide at its widest. The illusion of distance is enhanced because each section goes somewhere, it's not a roundy-roundy. The goods train in my last picture really did go to Hounds Hill, whereupon another loco took it in the opposite direction to Gosford Green. The pannier tank having arrived at Hounds Hill, its train taken on, now awaits its next turn of duty. That's how railways worked in the past, which also made them very inefficient. Gosford Green doesn't actually exist on our railway, but it does in the fiddle yard. The only evidence is the junction bracket signal. The double pegs on the left are to Foleshill & on to Coventry, whilst the single peg on the right is to Gosford Green & on to Rugby via Humber Road Junction.

Hi all, Our model railway has to be fun & comfortable to work on. Most of the buildings each sit on their own base, so it's often more comfortable to move it off the railway onto a work bench, or in this case our coffee table in the lounge. I've added a couple of deciduous trees to the right as well as tidying the gardens up. Now back in position. I've given all of the houses in Mill Hill Lane a tidy up. I do hope that you like. It's artificial light now, which isn't so good for the colours, but a bit of sunshine should cure that.

Philip, I'm really impressed, but if I might ask a serious question, how do you go on with dust? Surely over time, the foliage and models collect it?

Hi Bohica, Bedroom or multi-use rooms for a model railway can be a serious dust issue. I've learnt that from past experience. Dust accumulation, even in the most sterile of rooms, comes from our bodies. Discarded skin tissue, honest. Our model railway room only has one other use, which is music, but that is defunct at present. So little dust to accumulate. A vacuum now & again with minimum suck settings a couple of times a year, or after I've completed a project. If possible, any dust creating activity like sawing or filing, I do externally. Hope that helps, & thank you so much for your question. With some of my birthday dosh, I bought two s/h coaches in corporate blue & grey. Thirty years old but at £30 for the pair, instead of £50 each, like new. I've added corridor connectors, as well as top & tail lamps. After fully testing, the coaches pressed into immediate service with the mid-afternoon shuttle to Rugby via Gosford Green. Hope you like. The colour breaks some of the monotony of the steam era. Blue & grey started to appear around 1966, just as steam was finishing.

Hi all, Whilst crafting an accurate copy of any railway location at a scale of 4ml to the foot is impossible, unless we owned the village hall, my intention with Hallbrooks has always been to create an impression based on my memories of what actually existed, or of what was considered here in Coventry In its entire history, Coventry locomotive sheds only ever received two brand new locomotives, one of those represented in my last picture. Both a small 2-6-0 tender loco, a class 2MT. The location names on our railway all exist as names, but there never was a Penny Park viaduct, but Penny Park existed. Some names I've corrupted, like Bramble Lane from Blackberry Lane, Hallbrooks a corruption of Holbrooks, Coventry. Even the third rail commuter trains were once considered for Birmingham. That would have saved a lot of civil engineering works, compared to bridge & tunnel rebuilding to accommodate the high voltage catenary now in use.

Hi, Philip. There is a Hall Brook just down the road from you. I have not come across it before but I was on Google Earth looking in your area.

And here it is:

Yes, in fact no one is positively sure about the name's origins. There was a Holbrook family, living in what's now Keresley, but then known as Hall Brooks, the name meaning four brooks.

Hi all, I'm finishing off the area around our chapel. One eyesore is the floodlight, which will have to stay until the room is decorated, plus fitting floodlighting from the ceiling. It all has to sit properly in my mind, so even areas that are difficult to see, like the back of the chapel, it is all fenced, with a gate access, trees as well as grass for John to cut. This view is as if you were climbing on top of the petrol station roof. It's not safe for climbing, crawling boards must be used.

Hi all, Dry, warm & sunny days are best when we are out enjoying them, I have been out today, but as I've explained previously, early morning light & evening light are so good for colour matching. I'm gradually working my way around our railway, rejuvenation area by area. Bramble Lane station the latest to get some brush. Bramble Lane was the first station on our railway, but nowadays constantly faces closure. The station house remains the area admin centre, as well as the need for the box to control the gates. The introduction of the new service to Rugby via Gosford Green is hoped to improve the fortunes & revenue. Well, it is in my mind, hey! I'm also so aware that it will soon be Pam's birthday, as well as her first anniversary of not living here anymore. It's not superstition, but Pam loved our railway looking smart, so hopefully I will have completed the rejuvenation before the end of this month.

Hi all, Bramble Lane station virtually complete, including rhododendron bushes, an invasive plant but is so colourful, producing flowers in so many different colours even on the same bush.

Hi all, hello JLR, My daughter-in-law Angela has always wanted a VW campervan, so true to the fiction of our Hall Brooks story, she has one, parked outside her new home. Her home was originally the home of my late best friends Ted & Jean. In real life, Jean worked with Pam NHS style, whilst Ted was a Co-op dairy drayman, from Swan Lane in Coventry. I do hope Angela enjoys her campervan. PS. I'm just doing the egg sarnies now.

Morning Philip, are those original Dinky/Corgi or Matchbox cars?

Hi Wearethemods, They are produced by Oxford Diecast specifically for both 4mm/ft, as well as 2mm. They are usually available off eBay.