Our world in miniature, hobbies

Hello, Mr & Mrs Bailey. I'm so proud, yet humbled to have been their friend. They both started as conductors. Devoted to their work.

Hello, My only model picture today. To emphasize the importance of location. The difference in lighting is obvious in comparison to the flood lighting pictures last evening. The colours are vivid, almost alive. There's a mini take up in the hobby just now, just like there was during Covid. Most of those railways have died, most in atticks, or out of the way places. The most overlooked aspect of this hobby is location. Most of my friends & family, (Not Pam), ridiculed me terrible, where Pam would intervene to say I want the model in that downstairs room. My friend & his son who started their model six years ago, stuck it in the attick. They freeze to death in winter & find everything warped in summer. Unless the attick room is made comfy to sit in, it's useless. My neighbour has got an attick room that's now a vacant bedroom. It's airy, comfy sofa in it. Perfect. Side windows, heated ...... Perfect. Enough from me. Thank you all for your love & encouragement to me. It's not a cheap hobby, but well planned, it might last a lifetime. Mine started when I was seven years old I'm 79 now. I've just ordered a s/h item from eBay, this morning, with another on my watch list. It's nearly dinner time. Hurrah.

Hello No description needed.

Hello, Her hubby has to get his own breakfast. & dinner & tea, & make the beds. He's just hoovering upstairs. It's very addictive. I've left the corridor joining concertina on the parcel coach. That's an automatic detention. It was detached from the overnight all stations service to & from Northampton. It set out from Hounds Hill on Sunday afternoon.

While I was always attracted to model railways, it was the landscape and buildings that I liked best. Which is why I settled on old Coventry rather than anywhere in the Victorian era.

This is better,

Hello, Watch what can happen when this isn't done properly. The pulling force of a steam loco is not to be messed around with. Oh dear! Better call the AA out or ring the Royal That involved a major enquiry, as if the flying debris had gone the other way, who knows. I forgot to remove the connector, so I'm in the doc at Hall Brooks. "Call the fat controller" " How do your plead"

It's not The Fat Controller anymore Philip, the wokes have been busy and thrown a knighthood into the bargain too.... Sir Topham Hatt, I thank you!!!!!

Positively Pottering; add to that a golden handshake and an inflation busting bonus.....

Hello, Oh no, he's done it again. From eBay, this is another at least twenty year old Bachmann Lord Nelson, loco that is far better production quality than a very similar Hornby that's in their current catalogue. The current Hornby is a superbly detailed model, but let down by shabby mechanism. All due to poor production control. We will see when it arrives. I'm trying to dream up a logical reason for why a Lord Nelson class, which was the express passenger loco version of the S15, freight & mixed traffic loco(which is a Hornby at Hall Brooks, no issues with that although some modellers have), anyway back to the plot-; They were designed for continental boat train traffic, so I'm hoping this will improve our canal boat hire businesses. Who knows.

Hello, Lord Nelson 1960.

Hello, It hurts me to talk about a UK industry in negative fashion. Hornby in 1997, set themselves the task to shed their Triang image off & develop a brand of railway models to rival any. For over a decade they did just that, headed by their MD, Chris Dawn. They were so good, they were riding high on the stock market, as well as their brand being stocked in high stores across the world. As I've seen previously in business, to my dismay, a death and retirement around 2011, allowed an inheriting member of a family, to become in control. His input to the business was like nailing jelly to the wall. A serious attempt was started just prior to Covid, to try to put things right, but the subsequent facts loom large.

Phil, You're not alone feeling sad talking about the UK's former manufacturing prowess negatively.

Hello, You know that I was a naughty boy! It's come. It must have had a Lord Nelson working the parcels train. Also, I've been busy restoring a couple of very expensive Bachman coaches costing around £60 new. They're not old, but the windows were pushed in plus other major defects. It's cost me nothing but glue & sweat, as I had to dismantle this coach completely. Since it was dismantled, I've put Helen inside. I hope she approves. Ten weeks ago, I couldn't have contemplated this kind of thing. They are very complex to dismantle. I've another coach to do possibly next week but might not need to get inside. No jokes about me getting inside with Helen, thank you very much. Upon my word!

So where am I going to on the train? Somewhere with timber buildings hopefully? Or a castle? Or a carvery?