The Future of Flemish Quay

It is many months since I last saw Flemish Quay. I dread to think what state it will be in when I get It out of storage.

It might be a case of starting again. That would not cause me any great problems. 

Or it might be a case of integrating it, in some form, with my other plans. 

Before catching the train to London, I took the chance to wander along the Welland near it's supposed location.

At the back of my mind was a vague idea of capturing images I could stitch into a back scene. Sadly I was in a hurry and also dodging traffic so I didn't apply the rigour that would require.

Having said that, the nature of Flemish Quay, with deliberately limited viewing angles, means I might get away with it. We will see. In the worst case, I can use the photos as a basis for something created from scratch.

The back of the old fire station

You might recognise this from the Hornby Old Forge model...

The remains of the Old Chain Bridge

The Cheques Get Bigger

Life continues to be "interesting" 

With my professional head on I've just returned from an intense trip to London, meeting up with several dear friends but also working on upcoming ISO standards for Ariticifical Intelligence.

It gave me a chance to wander around two of my favourite stations and pay homage to two people I admire and would love to emulate.

Meanwhile, Hattons tempted me with the unplanned purchase of a half-price 7mm scale railcar...

...And I finally got around

to ordering the Guinness loco from Garden Railways. Service from both retailers was as great as I've come to expect.

Meanwhile, my favourite grocery store had an interesting display in their St P. store

It looks vaguely familiar.

Finally I will leave you with a suitable Xmas tree.

Cheque Book Modelling Part 2

I'm supposed to be writing Xmas cards. It is a task Issy loves, and I hate. Not least because so many of my friends live in Wales and have addresses that go on forever.

 Yesterday was enlivened by the arrival of early Christmas presents, even if I bought them all for myself.

Quickly posing the Penhryn and FR locos on the Cadeby micro did make me yearn to return to OO9. And reminded me that focus stacking is easy, and I have no excuse for not using it. As you can see, I didn't use it.

                                    

I've mixed feelings about the OO gauge deliveries.

I really, really like the Rapido W&U coaches. Apart, that is, from the roof. The transverse detail is pretty proud of the roof on the prototype, but the longitudinal detail seems slightly odd. It might be that weathering will sort that out.





As for the Hattons GWR Genesis coaches. Well I know that when I ordered them a long time ago, I thought they would "do" for a stop gap to go with the one or two GWR liveried engines I have until I finished building more appropriate vehicles. But leaving the lack of historical accuracy to one side, there is something that just doesn't look right about the livery. It reminds me of litho printing on tinplate. I'm hoping that will be less obvious at normal viewing distances.

Cheque Book Modelling

It has been a weird sort of week, and it is only Wednesday.

While I left my old job a week ago, this is my first relatively quiet week. Partly because Issy has recovered sufficiently from her spinal surgery to go and spend a week with our families. Last week I had meetings every day, but I'm down to just a couple this week. The combination of neurodiversity in the workplace, AI, and ISO committee work is where I'm happy at the moment. At some point I will return to a full-time job, but for now, at least until the house move is (hopefully) done and dusted I'm happy to pick up the odd speaking session and freelance gigs.

Anyway,  not knowing exactly what the future will bring, I had a bit of a spending splurge.

Many of the purchases have actually either been waiting in my Hattons "trunk" or have only just been shipped to the UK.

Nothing exciting, all boringly OO gauge and with an industrial and light railway theme. They all really go back to my idea for a W&U-inspired line with elements of Wissington, Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth docks. That might still happen, most likely as a layout in a box. 

Looking at the stock I'm accumulating, I might also dig out an old RM plan that was inspired by the Cromford and High Peak.  I bought the baseboard to suit it a few years ago and still haven't assembled it.

Then there is the question of my Cambrian/GWR/WR stock. Originally bought with Apa Valley in mind I don't really want to part with it. A bit of me would love to revisit Apa Valley and the Tanat Valley theme in EM, as I  intended to before the last house move. It would very much be in the spirit of that layout, as much a diorama  with movement as anything else.And like  Apa, I think  I need to work within the constraints of a storage unit of some kind, or yet another box.  I'm also still tempted  by an EM version of TAoC.

I have a soft spot for that bridge

In the meantime, what to do with the stock? The obvious answer is a Titfield Thunderbolt cameo, set in some unspecified post war time period. Effectively, little more than a photo plank.

Underlying all these ideas is the concept of maintaining some commonality Ideally one OO layout could act as the fiddle yard for another, and I certainly don't intend to build multiple fiddle yards. IN fact I have one half built,

Did I mention my rash OO9 purchases? They are going to dwarf my Cadeby cameo. I have vague plans for them, if I can find a very old copy of MRC...

All this begs a question about space at the new house. IF the sale ever goes through my office will have direct access to the attic railway room. I'm looking forward to having that split in space, compared to my current combined office and studio. I want to make better use of technology and ergonomic design on the office front. Here it has always been a bit of a compromise.. At one point I had four screens in use, all taking up deskspace along with the printer/scanner which is mostly used for domestic purposes.

Then there is the 7mm dimension. I suppose the post-retirement  GVT and GWR layout might be possible in the new house, but I'm not optimistic. That East Coast light railway idea won't go away, either. But that is a classic case of it getting more difficult to build something with an inherent simplicity. It needs to portray something stark and isolated on a Winter's day. I've images in my mind, but realising them won't be easy and needs experimentation. Some of which will come from playing around with these Kato "Circus" diorama modules.

Which neatly brings me to the 2mm or TT dilemma for Minories (North)  . I'm very attracted to a 2mm version, but I'm conscious the original Minories plan was drawn for TT, albeit not TT 120.  One thing that layout would be dependent on is the wholesale adoption of DCC, but I think I'm heading  in that direction anyway

I feel that my modelling has been on hold for the last two years,  and now I have time I don't want to build things that will get damaged amongst all the upheaval. What I do want to do is to get ready for the future, and explore the commonality between projects. I know I can work quickly when circumstances are right. An to go back to my years introducing new working methods into organisations we know how inefficient task swapping is. It certainly seems more expensive when I'm buying consumables for a single project. So if any of these ideas move forward they will do so in parallel

Camera Chat

If I'm honest, I spend more time thinking about photography and producing photos than I do railway modelling.

Perhaps that isn't surprising, given that one of my key career decisions was not to pursue photography professionally. Oddly, had I done so, I would still have met one of my best friends. The world works in odd ways.

Anyway, this week, I have mostly been thinking about cameras.

I don't, at least I don't think I do, suffer from GAS. Gear Acquisition Syndrome. That dreadful affliction makes sufferers think they always need the latest and best equipment to take photos.

Some cameras work for me, and others don't. I've learned, expensively, that the camera everybody raves about might differ from the one that works for me.

And I've mourned when many a much-loved camera has died a premature death. 

The last few years have seen me slowly returning to a more manual approach. First, with a few of the new cheap manual lenses flooding the market, then with the Leica.

In parallel, my phone camera has been getting so much better in a very automated way. It can take photos in a range of situations that would once have been unthinkable.  But that is the catch. All I do is press a virtual shutter button. The phone is actually in control of the shot. 

So I find myself thinking, "What next?"

One option is obvious, if expensive.  It would have been slightly less expensive if Leica hadn't discontinued the series that spoke to me just as I became aware of it.

Let us park that option for now.

And also, please let me park my obsession with dreadful instant film cameras. OK, I know I will never kick that addiction.

Let me say it out loud.

I'm considering buying a vintage film camera.

I blame the combination of  Chris Nevard and 35mmc.

They both keep posting experiments in the genre.

And I am tempted.

There is something indefinable that I miss, especially if 120 film is involved. It isn't the process and the smell, though I miss the solitude of the darkroom. 

It is something else. The grain, the commitment to both the moment observed and to the image when you press the shutter.  And it is about knowing exactly what the final image will be.

So, where is this taking me? I'm not sure. I don't want to spend a fortune for what will still be a a niche part of my hobby.  There are more accessible decent vintage 35mm cameras than 120 ones - An Agfa Silette with the f2 lens would be my 35 mm choice. But there is something about a TLR.

Perhaps cameras are like cats. You don't find them, they find you.

Big Decisions

 The last few weeks have been tough.

Issy has just undergone major spinal surgery and is recuperating . She is not a good patient to be nursing at home.

On Friday we made the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye to Daisy, our seventeen-year-old toy poodle.  She had coped well with going blind and deaf, but in the end, it was clear she was suffering from doggy dementia and had no quality of life.

The house purchase has stalled, not helped by the vendor not being on the internet.

And I've decided to take voluntary redundancy after thirteen years of both chronic and acute stress. I'll admit the prospect of retirement has crossed my mind, but there is a lot more I want to achieve. Not least finally doing something about my book deal, and focussing more on my activity developing international standards for AI.

Meanwhile, there has been another delivery that is going straight into a packing case.

I was in two minds about buying this, especially since I went for the deluxe version with DCC sound. 
I decided against the Lion version on the basis that it is as much of a pastiche of the original as the Thunderbolt is. I don't imagine building a layout around it, but a photo plank with some sort of shuttle program might be on the cards. 

It has been some time since I last played with DCC, and whilst I take the view it isn't the solution for every layout, I think it will have a use on at least one of my long-term plans.

Coincidence?

 A couple of years ago we were walking through Holbeach, our local small town, when we saw a somewhat crude, large-scale, station for sale. It was in the window of an antique shop, and as is often the case the owner knew nothing about it.

It didn't fit with any of my plans, but it seemed worth taking a punt on, being reasonably priced.

Fast forward, and whilst on a solo househunting trip, when I was working, my wife came across an antique shop in Shropshire. In the window was a signal box.

Now call me Sherlock, but they appear to be by the same builder. So does that mean these were part of a commercial range, or is it a coincidence?

And another thing...

 A delivery that arrived just after I'd published my last blog shows the power of the model rail world as a community.

In the excellent, and free-to-download, Throwback Modeller, it was mentioned that I was looking for some replacement simplex axle-boxes for an old Saltford Models kit. 

Within a month someone 3D printed me off a full replacement set, and refused to even accept a contribution to postage. I did, though, make a contribution to a preserved railway on their behalf.

I should stress because Brian Clarke can get very touchy about this, to say the least, that these are not direct copies of his castings.

The loco was built by the late Brian Dominic. One of those people who crossed my path in many worlds: 16mm garden railways, Discworld, and canal boats, particularly the Brum Tug. 

I have other work to do on this loco, like replacing the tissue paper curtain. Then I have to decide about its future. It is something I think should be handed on to for the future.

New deliveries

 Leaving aside the three new grandchildren this year, a few parcels have been arriving  here.

Chris Rennie at Loco Remote  has extended his range of 7/8ths wagons and I couldn't resist some skips and a few underframes for other projects. They probably complete all for the wagon stock I need  for now.

Meanwhile, I finally got hold of some Tramfabriek OO9 chopper couplings. There really are excellent. I think I'll be converting all my OO9 stock to them over time - when I find it all again.

Last but by no means least, I made a snap purchase of some  7mm Eardington Station buildings from Dan Evason at Tunnel Lane Models. 

These are painted versions of the expanding MS Models range.

Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, I have a very vague idea of a 7mm micro.

All four suppliers make products and, also provide excellent service. It was a joy to use all of them.

Life is a Circus

I've never wanted to run away to join the circus. Mostly because being forced into the rink with Charlie Cairoli scarred me emotionally for life.

But then Phil Parker went and published this. And I had to take the bait and buy a pair

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. My first thought was a generic Welsh OO9 cameo, but having seen what someone else has done, a standard gauge idea is kicking around at the back of my mind.

Either way, I have in mind a very theatrical home bookcase display against a black background.

Seeing the Kato unitrack in the flesh has actually made me think. It is a lot nicer than I realised. It is also a very well-thought-out system. It would make Minories a lot easier to build, especially if I substitued the crossover set for the original station throat design. 

The Latest Distraction

 Apart from the ongoing house move saga, a new distraction has entered:

Kandy

An emergency phone call at 6 a.m. four weeks ago saw us taking this beauty into our lives by 9 a.m. Unbelievably, she is a rescue case, despite being a pedigree standard poodle.  We had actually just volunteered to take in one of fifteen, yes, fifteen, horribly treated adult poodles rescued from another "registered breeder." who was effectively a puppy farmer.  We were incredibly lucky in that we were the first people the rescue team thought of to adopt her when she came in at the same time.

I could rant for some time at this point. Instead I'll just say Kandy has been an absolute joy to adopt. She is going to be big, and she is probably the cleverest of our five dogs. So it is going to be fun. So far she has been so easy to train. Recall, heel, sit, wait, down and have all been mastered before our first proper lesson with her. I know it won't last, teenage poodles are hard work!

The house move? Well things are happening, but we've been here so many times before.

I do wish the new house had a bigger garden. 

As for indoor plans...I found a 4' x 2' baseboard I'd forgotten about, which is making me think of a few ideas. As usual with me I also like to model something relatively local, which, if the move happens, give me a lot of options

I would also have a large converted attic space, which is good, but limited access via a narrow hatchway, which is bad.

Options I'm considering:

A OOn3 version of my much missed OO9 Hales layout. Much scaled back from my thoughts had we purchased the last house we were considering

An O gauge East coast light railway. A cross between the North Sunderland and the W&UT. Possibly with a narrow gauge potato railway connection.

A small OO gauge shunting laying to make use of my growing collection of small industrial locos. With a NSR single track line in the background.

Revisiting my original Apa cameo on a slightly larger baseboard and in EM 

A very generic OO GWR layout.

A classic OO9 rabbit warren 

A TT120 or N  bitsa station cameo of a rundown urban terminus.


Whilst that seems a long list, I don't think it is ambitious if I work out a project plan that maximises synergies between them.  I already have most of the stock and the baseboards. The first and last on the list are probably least likely to happen

Unbelievable

Was this really in 1991? and is 1991 really so many years ago?

Unbelievable

Anyway, what is unbelievable to me is that I have just left a facebook group having faced a tirade of personal abuse.

My crime?

Pointing out that a  canal feature on an unspecified layout, not mentioned to the group, was physically impossible in multiple ways, and whilst individual elements were really well modelled the overall scene showed zero understanding of canals.

It turns out that saying two narrowboats can't pass each other in a canal only as wide as one narrowboat is rivet counting. Who knew? Me, I thought it was only possible by a strange quirk of quantum physics.

The name of this group?

Realistic Railway Modelling.

TBF mostly it does what it says on the can, but people still post pictures of what are essentially toy train layouts and don't get the negative comments I did. People were invoking rule one "It is my railway" in a group that actually says rule one is not valid.

Anyway, my top ten crimes against canals on layouts

1: Impossible bends that no 70ft long narrowboat could ever make

2: Locks that have the gates at the wrong ends or are otherwise  incorrect

3: Models of President, a short-lived steam-powered experiment that only ever operated on one route. Most narrowboats were either horse-drawn or Bollinger powered. Having President on a layout is like having a model of Rocket.

4. Not quite as bad as 3, but only having models of No 1 boats, ie the colourful owner-operator barges rather than the more numerous company boats or even cabinless day boats

5: Incredibly short pounds between two locks

6: The whole canal being modelled at the same width as a narrow lock. The only places a "narrow" canal is narrow is in the locks and at bridge holes

7: Wharves that it would be physically impossible to get a canal boat into or out of.

8: A mismatch between how loaded a barge is and how low it is lying in the water. a fully loaded narrowboat with heavy cargo might only have 6 inches above water. And obviously, an empty barge tends to be down at the stern, where the machinery is, but when fully laden will be more level.

9: Confusing features found on butties with features of powered craft, especially rudders

10: Ridiculous geography and a failure to appreciate the canal usually came before the railway

Third Time Lucky

 It is hard to be optimistic.

We might have sold the cottage, again.

A major downside is the lack of suitable properties for sale.

We have one shortlisted, which is a lovely house in many ways, but isn't quite where we want to be, and has a small garden. This could be the end of the ELR, except as a temporary line.

On the plus side it will be ideal for a 16mm and 7/8ths line, particularly the latter, and whilst the attic room couldn't really home a major project, as I'd envisaged, it could home a number of smaller layouts rotated between use, display and storage.

To cheer myself up, I took delivery of my 60th birthday present to myself

Show Time

We had our grandson to stay this weekend, so  wedecided to take him to our local Holbeach Country Fayre.

It didn't start well, but after two doughnuts and an ice-cream I think he ended up enjoying it.

Whilst the car park and beer tent were full, there seemed to be a distinct lack of people actually looking at the exhibits. It is a shame because it attracts a large number of historic vehicles. With Freddie in toe, along with Gigi, I didn't get a chance to take as many photos as I would have liked.

It also meant I didn't have time to capture details of many things, hence the lack of descriptive captions.

Since Freddie enjoyed his train ride I decided to get Teddy out on the newly cleared track. I don't think he was impressed.