Our world in miniature, hobbies

Hi all, Just modelling chat, but factual. Both the Midland Railway & Southern Railway had outposts far away from their normal territory. The Midland teamed up with the Southern & reached all of the way to Bournemouth, via the affectionate "Somerset & Dorset" jointly owned railway. This travelled over the Mendips, Bath, Midsomer Norton, Evercreech Junc & on via Brockenhurst to Bournemouth. The Southern decided to take on the might of the GWR and forged a line all of the way to North Cornwall, the route of the ACE which I mentioned earlier in post 831. The GWR never liked the competition, so when the revised regional boundaries were set up in the late fifties, the Western Region were put in charge & set about closing both of these railways, which is what they did. The whole of the S&D closed in 1965 & the North Devon & Cornwall line (known as the "Withered Arm") closed a year later. It does not matter where or what in life, somewhere, politics takes over, no matter whether it is good for us or not. So, in our model Hall Brooks, we now have the Midland & Southern mix, without politics.The distinctive green livery of the Southern Region which now runs Bishops Heath The maroon livery of the Midland which became the LMS who now run Hounds Hill, the colour we were familiar with in the real Coventry Hope you like

Meanwhile, back in Hall Brooks, my favourite play-trains, "Shunting". Shunting the coal trucks for Longford Park. A duty performed when the peak time rush is over & the main running lines can be used. There is nothing new in doing this. The coal trains from Keresley colliery used the main line to shunt as the head shunts were not long enough. Anyone in a rush at Bedlam Lane crossing will verify this. The short starter signal visible in the picture is a shunt signal, giving the loco crew access to the main line as far as the shunt limit, about half way along Bramble Lane station.

Another pic of the same shunting movement. When this kind of shunting is going on, the signalman is seen out of his box, keeping his eyes & ears open for all that is going on, just as he did at Bedlam Lane.

I can still see the two ladies chatting away, blissfully unaware that their train is standing behind them

Actually, both the commuter & the Bournemouth train have come & gone a few times. Their bluetack feet work well. That is why I like photos of our railway, as everything is motionless. Some people on the model have been stuck in the same position for over eight years. Being a fiddle yard based model, before adding any new trains, I work a substitute in, which is what the Bournemouth coaches are doing. If all goes well without clutter, in the new year, we might have a more modern 1960s EMU in addition. On the subject of the Ricoh railway station, or not as the case is at present or at least until 2015, I believe that the emphasis today is to build park & ride rail schemes.

Hi all I am very grateful for all of the comments that have been made regards our railway "Hall Brooks". Whether in a fiction story sense or technical construction, I like to think of it as "our forum railway" as it enables us to enact events that have been part of our railway scene or maybe we would have liked as our railway scene in Coventry. Over the years, I have made good friendships with modellers, many with their models on YouTube. Very huge & impressive layouts some of them too. The thing with modellers is that we all have our own take on what we enjoy. Most Christmas times in my history have been very model intensive, hoping that Santa would bring a new item, even back to when I was a child, then my own son & now grandson. I do honestly believe it to be a good hobby, as it is very constructive & I was delighted when on a tele documentary about the best one hundred toys, model railways are still in the top twenty, along with Airfix type kits & Meccano. That is quite something, because many toys come & go as fashion. Interestingly model railways are classed in their own classification as big boys toys. I never have been a big boy at 5'4". When I'm in Antics models in Coventry & my friend Pete's model shop in Sutton, it is always adults in the shop. Whatever you are up to at this festive time, I truly hope that Santa will bring you all something that is really special to you. Please click on picture

Thank you Philip, those lovely steamers, that was indeed a real treat. Hope you and Pam have a lovely day tomorrow. Merry Christmas

Hi all Bramble Grove depot now has a shed. I am making work benches & stuff for inside. The mechanical bucket that we had at the depot was designed for a wharf, which is now where we have moved it to at Longford Park. Next to the coal office. The coal office is almost identical to the one that was at Longford, near to the iron bridge.

Hi all A new venture for me is meeting railway modelling friends on You-Tube. I might have to treat myself to a HD video camera if this carries on. I am waiting for an upload to finish & I hope that you will enjoy this. Just click on the picture, then run a mile!

Hi all This has arrived today in Hall Brooks. Very iconic to Coventry if it had its twin with it in tandem. I saw this loco with its twin No 10000, on Euston to Liverpool expresses going through Coventry on many occasions during the fifties & then in 1960. It was built the year that I was born & was the first ever design of UK mainline diesel/electric locomotives. They were in effect the prototype of the class 37 locomotives, probably the most successful & numerous of the diesel mixed traffic locomotives in the UK.

I always remember watching 10000 and 10001 from our B&B window as they powered out of Blackpool in the very early 1950s

Hi Midland Red I am tempted to have the other one (10000) from Antics in the morning, instead of the 4F, but I will sleep on it. With only one exception, I never saw them working as singles. When ten years old, they both received a major overhaul, which included the latest tech in electrical motors. Being 16 cylinder, 4 cylinders bigger than the class 37s, following the overhauls, they were more powerful, but at a price of much higher oil consumption. When I saw them when train-spotting, we were not supposed to like them, but I actually thought that they were a real catch.

Hi all I am hoping that our travelling forum ladies are aboard this new direct service to Cornwall (in sunny weather of course) where a full dining service is available. No price hikes on our forum railway, may I add. A special thought for all of our members who are "out of sorts" or feeling unwell. Get well soon! A dose of these diesel fumes will go a long way "Coughing as I type this!" The lady in the Romany caravan is well known for her therapeutic jellies. Cure everything including warts, she claims. Betsy something or other she is called.

Hi all A Hall Class loco waits for the 'All Clear' at Hounds Hill with today's through service to Penwithers in Cornwall. Penwithers is an imaginary station on the layout of my friend, Kev, from Truro, Cornwall with his magnificent model railway. Anyone who likes to watch Western Class diesels on YouTube will find links from my home page to his masterpiece. The sun always shines at Penwithers, just as it does mostly at Hall Brooks. The keyboard in the mirror is not part of the railway scenery.

Hi all, At our forum breakfast, I was asked about "Hunslet" locos, of which we have two at Hall Brooks. I happened to come across this on You-Tube. Smoking Hunslets