Our world in miniature, hobbies

Hi all on a very wet Monday, Indoor hobbies do have their value on wet days like today. I have added sequins, acting as lamps to some of our semaphore signals. They are not perfect, but better than anything that I have tried so far. In the past I have used wired grain of rice bulbs, as well as optic fibre, but they are quite complex & problematic. The sequins reflect the light so at the correct viewing angle look as though they are lit without any complications. In reality, the BR semaphore were back-lit using an oil lamp. A magnifying lens focused the flame light so that its field of view was very narrow, virtually invisible, unless you were on the loco footplate. Hope you like. As said, not perfect, but give an impression of a light being there. Even where a modern failsafe electric light is added to replace the oil lamp as in this picture, just before sunset the light is hardly a search light.

Looking great Philip as always, and looking at your latest pics. I can't see the difference between the models and the real thing. What's in store I ask myself?

Hi all Whilst I was laid-up last week with a bit of knee-gip, using my swivel chair almost as a wheelchair, I assembled ten tree kits that I ordered from China last year. Today, I have placed them in and around Longford Park. I do hope you like. I have ordered more of the kits, a fraction of the UK prices.

There'll be "leaves on the line" come autumn!

Wow Philip! You certainly know how to spoil a girl, don't you.

How lovely now it looks. Falling leaves, a small price to pay for lovely greenery Philip.

Hi all & thank you for the comments. I wonder who does the gardens in Park Avenue? They all look so neat.

Hi all Natural daylight where we have sun, cloud & patches of blue sky, make such a difference to the outcome of a picture. I don't pretend to understand it, but it is a good test of the colours that I have applied to our model. This picture is looking into the railway room, showing most of the now completed Longford Park goods wharf. Even I like it.

Hi all I have added this "Severn Valley Railway" video to our model railway thread, simply because it is about the most perfect example of the kind of historical activity associated with a busy end of line branch station. It is action packed with the kind of stock shunting that is a thing or the past nowadays. Severn Valley, Kidderminster Sept 2017 To add interest we see the Worcester to B'ham mainline trains running by too. I can recall so many sites, where as a train-spot-child I so loved watching this kind of activity, whether at Bournemouth West, Ilfracombe or Fort William. The video is over half an hour long, but for anyone that enjoys model railway operation, this video has to be the best that I have ever seen. The camera-man occupies a tower position throughout. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks Philip, I can well understand why little boys want to be train drivers when they grow up. Even to this day I find riding on a train is magical. 10/10 for the video.

Happy Christmas Day all I had my first Hornby Dublo train set on this day in 1953. Duchess of Montrose 46232, along with two Stanier coaches. So started a hobby that I still adore.

Me too - same day! Mine was a Triang set with 46201 "Princess Elizabeth" No doubt Philip will run his layout during the day - wish I had one

By coincidence I bought an old Triang 46201 Princess Elizabeth engine from eBay for our kids' train set a good few years ago. It was a maroon colour.... wasn't your old one, was it?

No, mine was black

Ah, I had a virtually identical black engine, but marked "Princess Victoria" - probably from the same mould though.