Our world in miniature, hobbies

Excellent work Philip you must have loads of patience. By the way, lovely to see myself and Tricia at the bus stop on one of your other pics.

Looking at what you do Philip, i envy your passion, not jealous , just envy! My passion, because it was not my job, was brick laying. I loved it,but over the years i think the wife is now fed up with me building brick walls everywhere. Your hobby is confined to one room and looking at your support in timber, which is fine, Would you like a brick wall building?

Winston Churchill shared the same obsession!

Hi all, Thank you all for your lovely comments. I hope that the one thing that you know about me, is that I try to be totally honest. Remember, this is our, Coventry Historical Forum railway. I am not skilled as an artist is, but I try to copy a sense of what I remember from our past times, living here in Coventry. I can't copy a particular scene, like a man did for Birmingham New Street station. I do not have the skill or space, so I content myself with an impression of what I now miss, which was once an every day event in the fifties & sixties. I take a lot of license too, as included are a lot of items that would never have been seen together. The No20 bus on its way to Bedworth would not have been around at the same time as the silver top Midland Red Daimler double decker waiting in Bramble Lane. The green Southern region coaching stock rearly ever came to Coventry, yet we have it as a regular feature at HallBrooks. Some how, inspite of my imperfections in modelling, I am able to just like a child, enter & sit in our railway room, comforted with a cup of cocoa & without moving any item, start to believe that it is the early sixties, its dry, sunny & everything is well. Fiction though, as the national news at that time was as grim as at any time, with the threat of missiles flying in two directions over the Atlantic. Thankfully, that did not happen, so I am still able to enjoy what I call the 'Halcyon days' when our mostly steam powered railway had five of its best ever years, before the big run down starting in 1963. ps. I tell you what, scrutiny, I wish that I could do in full size & scale, what I enjoy trying to do in OO.

Don,t know about the imperfections Philip, I like what i see and as i said, i envy your hobby and admire the time you put into it.

Thank you to you & Mayjan, It was a school age girl who first made me realise that the important side of a model railway was the scene. My mum employed a lady to do a few hours domestic at home, 1954-time, with both mum & dad very full time working. The lady, sometimes brought her grand daughter into our home. She would use sticks of coloured chalks to mark out roadways, on my very basic trainset base. She loved it & it was not until later that I realised what a start that she had given me with her insight.

As does Rod Stewart in a massive way. When on tour he takes several huge suitcases of paint, brushes, all manner of model making items and puts together pieces to his amazing model railway layout.

Hi all You have hit the nail on the head there, Bad boy. So often I start out with an idea, which by the time it is finished it is almost a different plot. I miss my modelling friend Mick, who sadly died earlier this year. He was a commercial artist by trade. Any idea went down on paper, so I could see the various outcomes before I had picked up any tools. Our HallBrooks railway, upon completion of this current phase, has now reached its limits within the confines of the room that it is in. That does not mean that modelling comes to an end. There are areas of the town scape that need upgrading & that is where I will try to incorporate something of what I have learned from the contents of our history forum here. The postings on here have given me more info' than three hundred encyclopedias could ever have done, plus the lovely encouragements. What a fabulous site we have here!

I could do with you downunder here scrutiny - two walls and a gate

You've misunderstood my post Bad Boy. Churchill's obsession was bricklaying, not railway modelling.

If i went into railway modeling somehow I do not think the floor would take the weight of about ten tons of support bricks and concrete top. Of course there would be the added weight of all the buildings as well. Nice to know I am in the same league as Winston Churchill, thanks Dutchman.

Thanks Dutchman for pointing that out.

Hi scrutiny, A garden railway looms into mind reading your posts. I would have attempted a garden railway had I had more confidence in my ability.

Talking of garden railways PhilipInCoventry, I seem to recall one in Canley Road on the left hand side going away from The Phantom Coach, or am I mistaken??????????????

Hi bad boy I am sure you are right. There were many all over our city. The corner of St Ives Rd & one in Burnaby Rd. The one in Burnaby was live steam, radio controlled. Bril!