Our world in miniature, hobbies

Hello, A word of warning. Should you decide to go down in the woods tonight, you're sure of a bit of a surprise. Please don't cross the railway line & enter the Brooker estate. Ferocious dogs, the chief one called Milo, will hack any victim to bits. If you get caught, call an undertaker, not an ambulance. Milo has been known to devour a whole digestive biscuit in ten minutes.

Mmm, those trees look a lot like broccoli to me !!! How do you do it ?

Hello & thank you Dreamtime, Bill the boatman was on his way to the basin washout, when he learnt that sausage sarnies were being cooked. He's on his way back to his boat. The gangway is my copy of the pivot bridge at Brinklow wharf.

Oh, hello, Samosa's have been loaded into the ventilated box vans at Longford Park Wharf. Destined for our chapel harvest lunch this coming Sunday. Samosa's have a lot of salt added, so are best not frozen, but well ventilated. Generally salted foods don't do well when frozen due to the the formation of crystals. Mind you, I struggle with cookery, so my thoughts might be best avoided on any cooking score. I'm exceptionally good at eating. 10/10. I was never late for dinner hour. Ask Mr Brotherwood. Love to you all on quite a sad day for me.

Hello, It's usually when I see a photo, that I realise that I'm missing an item of detail. Sometimes more time consuming than a the original project. As the gated line includes passenger usage, I needed a lamp on top of the gate. The old water tower has gone, as it was replaced by the masonry tower ten years ago, but what I did need was an access tower for hose cleaning high wagons & the like. The old round steel tower has gone, allowing more room for the maintenance teams to work. I do hope you approve.

Is it me or does Bill the boatman look like he's fallen in?

Hello Helen, I think that was his rapid turnaround when he smelt the sausages cooking. Actually, he was pushing a trolley at sometime in the past.

Hello, A story on its way. Are you sitting comfortably. Passengers have deserted Bramble Lane platform, because of the stink from the first two vans. They require washing in the hot wash siding in Longford. The train is stuck waiting for the yard shunter to finish his morning break. Oh the relief when it was signalled into the reception siding. The vans had been carting cabbages, onions, eggs as well as soft fruit. Ok, a story it is, but from a smelly experience that I had at Rugby, years ago when a line of vans arrived for steam cleaning, but were held up in the platform bay for ages. It was right near the cafeteria. That wasn't doing much trade.

Hello, The hot wash completed. The tower was for reaching the roofs, gutters & vents. It's only a small project, but has been time-consuming but enjoyable. There was one at Evesham as well as Broom. A general steam cleaner was at Rugby. They used the boiler off a scrapped loco for many years to generate the steam. Longford has a boiler house.

I get a real chuckle from the little cameos you've set up.

Hello, Thank you Helen for such a compliment. I'm not gifted with practical skills, so what I'm doing is what a schoolchild could do. It's my let off steam as an excuse for not having practical skills. I do like detail to be correct. So here's the boiler house chimney now added, complete with angled cowl. The grate is designed for burning coke. (Not the stuff in cans). Coke burns hotter in a small grate, but gives off monoxide. So anti-down-draught cowls are compulsory. I might add the H section if it grows on me, but they are only needed in a close built up area. I had to balance my phone on the engine shed. That's why it looks odd.

Hello, One item of railway furniture that I've never had on any railway, is one of these. A turntable. I just wonder. They take up a lot of space. So maybe I simply keep wondering.

Hello Mike, That's wonderful.

Hello, This is our Fish and Chippy, converted from the Mason's Arms