Astrid: Murder in Paris

Some of you will know where I'm going with this. If not, bear with me and I promise the title will, hopefully, make sense well before the end of the blog.

Easter weekend has been quiet here, allowing me to crack on with revision for the five exams I've got coming up. When I was a lecturer, I had a reputation for getting students through their exams, but I've never been good, myself, at revising using conventional techniques. What works for me is something more akin to how I rehearse my conference speeches. I can't remember things by rote; I need to build a story that lets me reconstruct things in context by pulling them from my unconscious mind. The downside is that I never managed to learn the alphabet from A-Z or multiplication tables. The upside is that when I learn something, it is by applying it in the real world in the context of other things I know.

One day, I'll accept that. In the same way that I need to accept that my modelling projects often follow the same pattern. The long, fallow periods when I'm not actually modelling and feel guilty about being the archetypal Armchair Modeller are more productive than they appear, both to others and to me.

Collecting and hoarding ideas and bits and pieces without doing anything with them hides another process that even I'm not party to. 

This struck me this morning, reading an article about procrastination as a creative process. 

One thing my wife and I have found time to do over Easter, is to start watching Astrid: Murder in Paris on Channel 4. This is actually a Franco-Belgium detective show, originally called Astrid et Raphaëlle. You might have seen Patience, the British remake of it.

Essentially, it is the story of how a detective,with undiagnosed AuADHD, though that is not made explicit, and an autistic archivist work together to solve puzzling crimes. Personally, I think the original is better than the remake, which is, itself, very good. The reason I think it is better is that it makes Astrid's lived experience more central to how she solves issues. That lived experience is also a lot more painful and overwhelming. At times, it isn't easy to watch, especially if it resonates with you.

One thing Astrid does is to physically make a pictorial collage of archive material on the floor of a room, that to others might look like a complete mess. And it can even look like a confusing and overwhelming mess to her until something happens that provides a catalyst for the underlying meaning she has unconsciously been exploring by mapping it, making it crystal clear. She can also hyper-focus on something that to others seems irrelevant, and sometimes is, in the short term, but not in the long term.

Whilst I was diagnosed as dyspraxic as a child, I know many around me suspect I also have some ADHD characteristics. That isn't surprising, because we know neural diversity has several dimensions. Perhaps that is why the interactions between the two characters makes so much sense to me.

From a modelling perspective, it means my sudden bursts of creativity and action are often preceded by long periods of chaos and procrastination, along with shifts in focus.

Take the Cadeby based projects.

The recent Apedale event reminded me that it is now forty years ago that Teddy died. Meanwhile, my original, quickly built, Cadeby micro has been sat on a shelf since the house move, unused and with the stock in a box somewhere in the attic. My thinking since the move has been taken up with the future of my 7 1/4" assets and the N gauge projects.

At least, my conscious thinking has been.

But the micro has always been there, denuded of trees to fit in a space it wasn't built to fill.

It might have been very simple, built on a free baseboard from Tim Horn, and designed to work using a shuttle module, with a non-functional turnout leading to a siding to display locos. But I'm emotionally attached to it. There has always been one downside to it, To fit the small baseboard, I scratchbuilt a pastiche of the ex-army prefab that housed Teddy's 4mm layout. It was a quick build, using Redutex woodsiding, partly as an experiment to see how it worked. In my own eyes, it didn't, with massive gaps between planks and proving hard to get sharp corners.

I bought a resin replacement from a wargame supplier, but then Hornby brought out their version, which was a lot better, but at a stupidly high price point.

Earlier this week, I found it for sale at an equally ridiculous discount.

You can see the difference in size between the sheds.

So I'm now back to considering ideas for the long-shelved (groan) bigger version of the micro. There are a couple of key design issues. One is that Iwant to use the Peco OO9 starter trackset, the other is that I need somewhere to put it. That is a real challenge because of the width. This is the only idea I have, but a shelf layout above a door, only viewable from halfway up the loft ladder, is hardly ideal.

Finally, a reminder that this weekend is the Macclesfield show.

I'm planning to go on the Saturday morning. There are some great layouts booked, but...

The big "but" for me is their published policy about photography and SocMed over the weekend.

Like many recent shows, they are applying a blanket embargo on photos from the show until it is over. An embargo I intend to comply with.

The argument, which makes sense on paper, is that people won't bother to go if they've already seen photos.

But my experience is the opposite. If I see photos that make the show look better than I expected, then I am more likely to make the effort to go in person. Either the next day, or next year.

They are also claiming ownership of the copyright for all images taken at the show. I don't think that would stand up in court. It isn't on public property, which has some bearing, but it isn't their property.  The National Trust, for example, recognises that it does not own the copyright of images taken on its properties, but does, legitimately, own the rights to the commercial use of images.

That makes sense,  I have heard of issues from other shows about 'Influencers' causing issues by making long videos that have been intrusive on exhibitors, traders and visitors, but I haven't seen that myself. I do see how that could be a problem.

I've no doubt this will be a great show, perhaps with a few teething issues from being at a new venue, but what if it wasn't? What if people went on day one and realised a show was a rip-off? Outside of the model railway world, thankfully, we can all think of examples of that.

For my own part, I've always tried to give shows reviews that are positive but fair. I felt bad posting some of my views on the Manchester show, but I still felt it was reasonable to say that there were two, quite large, layouts, where I didn't see a single train move.

Anyway, for what it is worth, before I get banned from the exhibition for life, here is my review of last year's show. The list of this year's layouts looks even mouth-watering.

Lost Weekend

I had such wonderful plans for this weekend, though they were somewhat incompatible with one another.

Last year, I promised myself I would go to the Glasgow show and make a weekend of it. Then Apedale announced their Cadeby event, and Billy Bragg reminded me of a certain march taking place in London. On top of which, I had exam revision to do.

What I hadn't planned for was a week working combined UK and US East Coast hours, managing to average four hours of sleep a night, and catching a nasty bug at the previous week's conference. A bug which I now suspect might have been the current strain of COVID.

So I spent this weekend in bed, shivering, dizzy and struggling to breathe.

At least I missed most of the fallout from the Heljan announcement.

My personal view is that there is a lot of hot air being generated by people who only know part of the story. I've been in a lot of Mergers, Acquisitions and Disinvestments over the years. There is a reason why we use the acronym MAD. Outsiders, and many on the inside, rarely know anything approaching the truth. What is certainly true is that a lot of people seem to have convinced themselves they are supporting local model shops when actually it is the big box shifters they are buying from. It is like those people who blame the death of the High Street on Amazon, and then do all their food shopping in a big supermarket. I also suspect some of those frothing at the mouth are the sort you see sprinting in at the start of a big show to pick up the RTR bargains.

Meanwhile, and I don't know if the end of the financial year is a factor, I've had a glut of pre-orders get fulfilled this week. After waiting six months to a year for a product, it would be nice if the sellers could give you a week's notice that they are going to take payment, and what it is for. I had one large unexpected payment go out that nearly had me contacting my bank to see if it was fraud.

The first arrival was this:

With a Minories based layout somewhere in my backlog, I was keen to finally get my hands on a TT:120 loco. Seen here perched on an N gauge module.


I haven't had a chance to run it yet, and the livery is a little too modern for my purposes, but first impressions are good.

I really like the size.

When I first saw a model in this scale, I was taken aback by how small it was compared to 3mm. It certainly feels a lot closer to N than to 4mm. The quality of the detail looks very good; I can't yet vouch for the accuracy. Arguably, the GraFar Gronk is as good for all practical purposes* above the footplate, but below the footplate, this wins hands down. In fact, I'm slightly worried the coupling rods are too fine for long-term use. My photo does the model a disservice because I lit part of the cab interior that is effectively invisible in the flesh. I'm actually impressed with the glazing, there is hardly any prismatic distortion when seen with the eyeball.

I'm still not sure about the standard TT coupling. From an appearance perspective I like that is mounted low down, though that might cause issues for the toy train enthusiasts. But I'm tempted to look at Kadees or DGs as replacements.

Does it make me want to scrap the N gauge layouts? No, it is back to horses for courses, especially given what is available on the market, at least currently.

But it does make me want to build a TT120 layout. 

What would that be?

Well, Minories is obviously on the list, since it was originally conceived as a 3mm layout. Given that TT120 is appreciably smaller, it raises the option of either the original plan built to a smaller footprint, or using the original dimensions and handling slightly longer trains.

Building TAoC in this scale, but again, keeping the original footprint, could produce something much more usable and easier to balance trackwork against scenery. It doesn't appeal to me, but it is an idea.

A version of Shell Island would make a great cameo.

Swirling around somewhere, in my still slightly befuddled brain, is an exhibition layout to promote the scale. And I mean exhibition in two senses: a layout to take to shows but also a layout to promote the scale. A layout that the average modeller thinks both "I could do that" and "I have the space for that"
I guess I'm thinking something akin to Bredon, but rationalised in BR days. Effectively, a combination of the trainset oval and an inglenook capable of being operated independently.

Just a thought.

I'll leave you with this. I have two abiding memories of Gronks. One was a night in Carlisle hotel room I shared with my father on the return leg of a road trip focused on Yorkshire but with a trip over the border. The hotel was built on the site of an old gibbet, and guests claimed it was haunted by the sound of clanking chains.

I can assure you, they were hearing an 08 shunting. The experience of being woken up in that way, a loco going about its rather noisy mundane work whilst a big city slept, didn't come back to me until year's later in Vegas.

The other is this. The New Street station pilot in the 80's.

*This was the punchline of an old, no longer tellable, joke  about the difference between mathematicians, accountants and statisticians.

A Little Something for the Weekend

 Life continues to be difficult.

In the last couple of weeks, we've said final goodbyes to my mother-in-law, two of our oldest dogs and our 19-year-old cat.

The upside is that my new contract has finally been signed, a very long time after negotiations began. All I have to do now is pass a lot more exams, so that I can start writing new exams and the supporting textbook.

Next week I'm speaking at another IT conference, which might give me a chance to revisit old haunts in Birmingham, and tomorrow we are heading back to Dilwyn so Mum can clean Dad's grave.

I was trying to think how many garden lines I built at Dilwyn over the twenty-plus years we lived there.

This was the first, and probably most successful:

It was a simple line around the rhubarb patch. There were at least two other less successful lines and a 7/8ths line of a sort. There were times when I considered shoehorning in a 5" line as well.

My grand plan, had it not been thwarted by an evil ex, was to build the Weobley & Leominster Light Railway with a distinct Welshpool and Llanfair vibe. I even surveyed the fictional route in some detail.

When I get a few free moments, this is the next project:

My concern, as usual with N gauge, is whether the different approach to corrugated iron will work together. I suspect I won't know until it is finished.

I'm at least hopeful that the Modelu guttering components are going to work on the 4mm Wisbech and Upwell office, but I'm not looking forward to such a fiddly job.

Out in the garden, apart from creating a pet cemetery, we've finally got rid of the remaining concrete fenceposts, so once the weather improves I can start thinking about building the permanent  7/8ths line.

 
I'm still pondering the 16mm line for the grandchildren. Cutting down the trees has opened up some possibilities, but I'm beginning to think about it in the long term. I had been thinking about using very tight radius track so that small people could reach the whole layout, but then that would exclude my own 32mm stock from running. I really need some sunny weather to get out and play around with the choices.

Wren will I learn?

 I have a soft spot for the KS Wrens. 

There was Lorna Doone in the much-missed Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry, now living a few miles away from us at Amerton. Here she is with the piratical Thomas Eivers, of Endon Valley Custom Decals on the footplate.

Then there was Peter Pan at Leighton Buzzard, the non-working replica that Peter Jones built in his garden, and, thanks to Matt Acton, my 7/8ths tribute to Peter 

Oh and then there was Dryw Bach at Bala

I've got a OO9 Wren somewhere as well.

Where is this heading? 

Although the Eaugate Light Railway closed two years ago, I still own the locos and the coach. But my chances if ever using them are limited. Tug now only gets used for indoor events, and Teddy isn't powerful enough to be useful at Foxfield.


I'm beginning to wonder whether selling them to fun one of the new Maxitrack 5" gauge Wrens might be viable

I'm not yet fully committed to the idea, but if it stops raining this weekend, I might get the 5" gauge jubilee track out to play around with ideas

Pieces of a Jigsaw

 Slowly, the elements for the 4mm East coast light railway layout are coming together. It is possible construction might even overtake the N gauge projects - if I can fight my way through to where I put the baseboard. 

The last package I needed was delivered from ScaleModelScenery with their normal excellent service, in contrast to one company I won't name that recently took months to fulfil an order with zero communication, despite having taken my money when I placed the order.

The one piece of the puzzle I do need to find is my box of Kadees, especially the uncoupling magnets and the height gauge. They are in the attic s, somewhere.

I could do with a nice day to get some spray painting done, both to kickstart work on the next batch of 7/8ths wagons and to get these excellent W&U buildings, from Inoxion, primed.

Cutting away the supports was rather tedious as some were hard to get at. And what do you do with those supports? It seems dreadfully wasteful to just bin them.

You might be able to see that the gutters on the a couple of the corners have been damaged. I'm hoping I can replace them with Modelu corner gutters.

Meanwhile, as I've been typing this, the tree surgeons have been removing the second silver birch from the garden. Whilst the first had to go because it was too big to be safe anymore, this one had to go because it had been smothered to death by honeysuckle. I hate having trees taken out, so at some point we will replace them with something more suitable for a small garden.

 

Unfortunately, it brings home how neglected parts of the garden had been before we moved in, and how much work we have to do. The trees, and the bamboo that had spread along that fence, really dominated the whole garden, and distorted a lot of the shrubs that should have given it structure. The plan is to see how the garden responds to things being opened up before planning new planting, which hopefully, will integrate with the railways, whatever form they finally take.

What have I just done?

The neurodiverse brain works in odd ways.

Imagine an AI LLM that isn't well-calibrated and reacts unexpectedly to certain inputs.

OK you don't have to imagine that. It is what they do.

I have never had the slightest interest in building a modern image BR layout. Bear in mind that for people my age, that means anything from up to fifty-five years ago.

But I do like the idea, you might have noticed, of modelling slightly esoteric things, fitting them to the space I have available, and returning to variations on a theme.

So why have I just pre-ordered a BR blue TT120 Bubblecar?

Although I don't remember it myself, one of the first family layouts I ever set eyes on was my father's factory provided demonstration TT layout.

The baseboard went on to serve under our first OO9 layout.

And I don't know how, but some of the TT stock is still in my loft, despite my plans to use it for a OOn3 layout.

Then there is Minories, that seminal CJF plan first developed to showcase 3mm scale TT. Combined with the "layout on a bookshelf" built by, IIRC, Dave Howsham?

I don't remember Cyril or Mr P, though apparently I met them both as a toddler, but I do sometimes go by the initials CJF myself. Anyone calling me Charles gets the death stare. I now know the widened line stations Minories was based on rather well, which increases the appeal.

And, of course, I have endless memories of the days of BR blue and blue and grey. Many of them quite emotional for reasons nothing to do with trains. DMU trips from Bournville to New Street, Birmingham, to Southampton when I was at university, and, in my first few jobs, catching the Cathedrals "Express" to Hereford and then the depressing return tripto London.

There is the wild card. Those heady days when people like Palitoy and Airfix entered the market. I was committed to N gauge by then, but that isn't to say their products didn't influence me. 

So now those threads all seem to be coming together:

I think I have the right space for the layout in my office, which wouldn't fit anything else.

I have a vision for the look of the layout. Think dirt, think smokers, think fumes...it was reality.

Obviously, with Minories, I have a track plan

Best of all, I have constraints, which I like.

So, two rakes of four coaches. one of "modern" Mk2s one of Mk1s.

A parcels train, probably mostly vans and either a goods or passenger brake.

One or more DMUs.

No more than three locos plus a station pilot, but to begin with, a 37 and a Gronk. A 31, 25, even a 45 would be nice, but not essential.
 
If I were to be indulgent, a steam loco to run with the Mk1 rake. One that had a mainline ticket in the early seventies.

Services:

Early morning/late evening parcels and newspapers 

Half-hourly DMU shuttles using the parcels platform.

Interregional regionals at interlaced two-hour intervals with arrivals a quarter to the hour, and departures at quarter past.

Hourly intercity departures, on the hour, and arrivals at half past the hour

Realistic operations, with the arriving loco following the departing service out to the platform starter - which presumes DCC operation.

I suspect it would end up being rather tedious to operate  - but then operation has never been my thing.

Good Riddance to January

 That was not a good month.

My Mother-in-law died after what should have been a routine knee replacement. 

A dear friend and colleague lost his wife of fifty years.

And many of you will know Phil Parker also lost his father.

Our youngest grandson was rushed to hospital with massive lung problems - though he seems to have made a full recovery

Then there are all the minor things that have gone wrong, most of which have been about frustrations with technology, but also including losing a crown and a filling, and concerns about the declining health of our older pets.

There were some good things, I suppose.

Issy and I managed a couple of nice trips out. I took the younger dogs for a walk through Buxton Country Park in the snow, whilst she and mum sat in a warm cafe, and, at the end of the month, we walked them along part of the Cromford and High Peak trackbed.

Issy also managed a quick trip to Poland with the eldest daughter, although Barb's death overshadowed it.

I also ended up on the centre pages of an American IT magazine, pontificating, as usual.

What about railways?

I was hoping to have a bit of a push on Dark Hall, helped by the discovery of detailed photos of the later station structure, but what spare time I had got eaten into by my volunteer commitments.

Whilst Issy was away, I had another blitz in the garden. Largely repairing the damage done by a rogue tree surgeon, but also clearing away a lot of creeping groundcover plants that were beginning to dominate the colour scheme and smother anything else. That did get me reassessing where the 7/8ths line(s) should go. There are a couple of possibilities, but I'm favouring a relatively small continuous run to make running steam that bit easier. The next step is to remove three 6ft high concrete posts next week to open up the space.