A Touch of the Hiltons

 Look, I know most of the wheels aren't on the rails...

I just plonked it there. 

What you can't see is that, sat at my desk, the module and loco are glimpsed from the side of my eye, at the very limit of my peripheral vision.

I can't see the shadow detail the photo shows, and sat here, the wall behind it has a luminous glow that is 3D.

It wasn't the purpose of the Kato module; it was just an experiment in creating a windblown riverbank. 

But it is making me think. It is taking me back to Saturday mornings at Victor's, with my ex-CPO, as a new world of modelling opened up in front of me

An Instant Railway

Well, sort of. I think I've mentioned that Issy had half a plastic pallet and some artificial grass left over from building a poodle washing station. These were sequestered away with the intention to build a quick layout for the grandchilren

There were two problems, though. The resulting baseboard was too narrow to fit in a circuit of Faller track, and there was nowhere in the garden where it could be safely set up away from those poodles.

Then, over eighteen months after we moved here, and as we began to tackle the seriously overgrown borders, I realised there was a ready-built raised bed running alongside one of the garden walls.. In the long term, this will become a proper 16mm line of some sort. It just happens to be the same width as the half-pallet, and there is a suitable access point that is wide enough to get it in and out of place.

That left the issue of track, solved by using Loco Remote's printed Jubilee track.

As always, the service from Chris was excellent, and I even had an old station building to hand that was already ageing in the garden (In other words, I'd forgotten it was there)

It is there if you look very closely!

So, an instant railway!


Well, not quite. The track isn't intended as a play item, so I need some form of trackbed it can be attached to. I thought I had something stashed in the garage, but I think that made a trip to the recycling depot. And I need to build the PS Models stock that I bought two years ago....

A 40th BIrthday

 Not mine, that was a long time ago, celebrated in Bristol, and like most of my birthdays was a bit of a disaster.

No, this weekend was the 40th birthday of the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway, and I never really need an excuse to visit it.. Especially as it was a chance to see many locos from the line's past. As always, it was a fun day. Sadly, I lost a lot of valuable time because Issy insisted that the poodles, and my mother came to, and that she needed a bacon bap before we did anything else. The Station Cafe does do quite a good one. 

The result was I only got ninety minutes to take photos, and to chase trains.

A Quiet Time

Well, it's been a quiet week in Hillside, Stoke on Trent, my hometown, out there on the edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Mainly because both Mother and Issy are away, leaving me to care for the animals. Thanks to the "joys" of MS Teams, I've been able to crack on with workshops about AI governance, and now need to knuckle down and write the content I get paid for.

I keep looking wistfully out of the window, thinking I should really be playing with the garden railway(s), and building something more permanent. As we do more work in the garden, some new ideas are creeping into my mind, including extending it across the garden steps to create a ground-level section for occasional use when two people are present.

I've also found a site for the semi-portable 16mm line for the grandchildren, which so far has stood up to the dogs without damage.

I really must finish the last little jobs on the Kato modules. I've replaced the tree again, with an unfinished seafoam version, but I'm struggling to find foliage that works in N gauge. That NW2 as well...
                        

...I wish I hadn't posed it on the module, because suddenly it looks so much better, despite being derailed, and in need of that Great Lakes waterside layout that is on the to-do list. Another item added to that list is this DoubleM Models Peckett destined to sit on one of Sven's 12v  chassis. I do need to think through the valve gear and cylinders. I always wanted the old Peco/Wills? kit, so I was really pleased when this came on the market.

A rash decision by Issy means I'm in the middle of totally reorganising my office/studio yet again, to accommodate a surplus armchair. That, in turn, means modelling is on hold as I play 3D Tetris and move a lot of boxes back to the garage now that the space there is accessible. 

Buxton Railex 2025

 Another weekend and another model railway show.

Rather an odd one, perhaps because of the venue

The Pavilion Gardens are rather eccentric. From an exhibition perspective, the plus point is that for once, the lighting is natural. I didn't once struggle with white balance. The downside is it is a little cramped and the show seems smaller than it really is.

That is a shame, because it has an A-list roster of layouts. Most of them would be the headline layout at regional shows, or be surrounded by inpenetrable crowds at the big shows.

So this is going to be another photofest, but don't read anything into the order or the number of photos. Every layout deserved to be there.

Edgeware Rd

OK, this was my favourite layout if judged by how long I spent watching it. 7mm scale. It was amazing how much the scene encompassed without feeling cramped.

And the trackwork was superb.

Swan Street

I liked the multilevel aspect of this, and the more urban aspects of it. Let down slightly by the rock faces and the wall on the embankment top, but that's me being picky.

Nicola Landing

A layout that is underrepresented in my photos, even though I was really keen to see it. I was rather focussed on the shipping, which is relevant to an idea that has been at the back of my mind for a long time.

Port William

This appeared to be seen as a bit of a celebrity layout. I liked the stock, but something seemed a little lifeless about it in my eyes, and inconsistent in terms of detail. 

Millhouses

One of those layouts that was good, but not exciting to my mind. The other one was....

Two Bridges

Having said which, the basic layout has tons of potential. It is just a little too clinical and, in my eyes, the position of the signal box doesn't work. Whether that is compositional or a gut feeling that it isn't prototypical, I don't know.

Grindley Brook

I can imagine this layout getting a massive crowd at some shows. There are a lot of things to like about it, and an excellent layout for just watching trains go by.

Iron Mould Lane

Another layout that follows the trend for excellent industrial layouts. Interestingly, it was very popular with younger members of the audience.

Hindlow

Another really good industrial layout. As you can see, I became fixated on the narrow gauge element.

Hartley Bank Screens

This shows the frustration of trying to take photos of small, front-operated layouts. But then a show is about people seeing the layouts, not photographers.

OO9 Society

I love the heritage displays that the OO9 Society put on. Here we see two examples from different ends of the spectrum. A Polar Bear built by Charles Insley, and the David Mander Darjeeling Garratt. A loco that amazed me when I first saw a photo of it some 50 years ago.

Ashover Butts

This is a layout idea I came close to building myself in my early twenties. Unfortunately, I didn't have the room for it, so I compromised with a diorama based on Salter Lane.

Exchange Sidings

An exquisite finescale 2mm layout. Every exhibition I go to, I see N and 2mm gaining more traction.

Burnham-on-Sea

Another, rather famous, finescale 2mm layout, with the infamous lifeboat!

I was really pleased to see it again. I was also impressed by how the operators reacted with children, without being precious about the layout.

Eldir Fach

Rather nice, thirty years ago I think this would have been seen as state of the art.


St Ettienne-Ea- Caux

I do like a bit of French narrow gauge. And the name of the coaster that harks back to a Ffestiniog railway legend.

Tellin Dalloch

Winner, for me, of the best trees award. 

Overall, a great event.. I'll be honest I only spent an hour there, but none of that time was wasted