Stafford at Last - Part 1

 I've wanted to get to the Stafford show for several years. Cunning plans around visiting my mother never seemed to work. Having moved to Stoke, it was much easier to arrange this year, and it totally lived up to my expectations.

I decided to give the Leica another go in an exhibition environment, with a deliberate attempt to recreate the style of old-school model railway photos from the sixties and seventies. 

I'll try and get part 2 up later this week, along with adding more captions here, and some reflections on the show

A Old Projects, New Impetus

Before the house move, additional grandchildren and my mother's health concerns, I had a number of projects on the go that have all been disrupted.

I know the baseboards and various goodies are stowed away somewhere, but who knows where?

However, things are beginning to resurface, and some of the pre-orders I placed a long time ago have now been delivered.

On the return to Apa Valley/TAoC front, the Hattons 4whl coaches arrived. 

I have a couple of issues with them. The brake gear was damaged on some, and as you can see, the couplings were even upside down in one case. It's not really an issue for me since I'll be using Kadees. I'm not sure what I will do about the numbering since some will see service on the next Apa and others on the East Coast Light railway inglenook. 

Talking of which, this exquisite jewel arrived this morning

I think I'm drifting towards the idea of an off-scene sector plate replacing the three-way point, which means I can fit it on a much smaller baseboard for a quick and dirty layout.


And I didn't share at the time, but one of my favourite industrial locos arrived awhile ago. I seem to be building a collection of small industries, but I still don't know what my plans are for them.

Still not Stafford

 Last week was hard work. I was prepping for my next conference, getting messed about by one client, and chasing an invoice with another that they hadn't processed because they gave me the wrong information in the Work Order. A freelancer's lot is not a happy one.

On top of which, two of the grandchildren ended up on oxygen in hospital, and we had the other two to stay. Unfortunately, the youngest is teething, so sleep was a luxury.

Having endured the joys of taking a five-year-old to make a choice of birthday present in a toy superstore (4,000 steps trying to keep up with him) and retail park McD's, the weekend brought those words I dread: Soft Play.

As it happens, though, one of our best local soft play attractions is also the location of the Amerton Railway. Needless to say, my attempts to sneak off to have a look around were thwarted, but I did manage to quickly grab some photos,

It seems to be a friendly line, and a friend of a friend is trying to arrange a private visit for a few of us, so I will be back.

And if you have to go to a soft play area then Amerton Farm isn't a bad one.  The cafe does quite acceptable chips.  

For Stafford, read Zurich

This should have been about the Stafford Model Railway Show, but I've hardly made a dent in the editing of the photos.

So instead, you get treated to this week's quick trip to Zurich.

I was a keynote speaker at a conference on the ethics of AI, and my plan was to fly out the night before to meet up with an old friend from India who was speaking, spend the day at the event and then have some meetings the following morning before flying home. All without leaving the airport and the airport hotel.

The conference programme and the very generous drinks and food enabled me to complete my meetings, so I found myself with a free morning and a hangover.

It has probably been sixteen years since I commuted to Switzerland every week, and it was slightly strange to be back. I have a couple of friends in the area, but one was in Oxford at another conference, and the other one was at work. So I decided to be a tourist, aided by the excellent Zurich Card. This is valid for 24hours, and if I'd been sensible I would have bought it the day before and skipped a  few of the sessions at the conference that were in German to do more of the tram network.

As it was, I ended up doing more of the tram network than I intended because I caught the wrong tram from the airport, ending up in a deserted industrial estate.

The knock-on effect was that I missed my one chance to fit in a lake cruise, but it wasn't really the weather for one, anyway.

The tram system is complex, with intensive services and a varied fleet

I spent a little time being a tourist, wandering around the old town and wishing I had found room in my bag for the Leica.

The highlight was the short trip on the funicular by the main station, which was quite spectacular in itself.

As hoped, it also had an excellent station brasserie, where I had schnitzel and fries. I wish we had that sort of place on UK stations. The closest we seem to get are some station bars, but they lack that sense of all human life being there. It actually reminded me of a much-missed restaurant in Bristol that just had a simple menu. I did talk to the owner of the Bristol restaurant about franchising, but it seemed to be just a bit of a hobby for him.

Then I just had time to catch the S bahn back to the airport for my flight to London City. I do like flying to and from City. From wheels down to being on the DLR took me exactly 14 minutes!


Time saved that was well spent in the Euston Tap, waiting for their first pint of the new  Timothy Tatylors & Northern Monk collaborative stout, which was on the house.