Hitting the Bottle

I'm a Knottie, born in North Staffordshire, who has returned to the roots I spent years running away from.

My wife knew virtually nothing about the area until we moved here to be closer to my mother, who now lives with us.

But we love the place, the people, well, most of them apart from the flag shaggers, and the countryside.

And if you love the history of the place, then you have to love the bottle kilns. Though being pedantic, there is a difference between bottle kilns and bottle ovens.

We are building up a small collection of them, but our current favourite is this one, made by Chris Twigg.

It does an incredible job of capturing the reality of how the survivors now look.

Could it become a feature on a layout? It could, but it won't.

It is hard to convey the emotional heft to something like this. It might be best to let Chris tell you himself.

Little Things.

 No prizes for guessing who I have been shopping with.

Their usual impeccable service means I got a box full of goodies that are key to progress on the various N gauge projects. Nothing major, but those things that would be hard to source or build without their range. Various types of fencing, a backscene, and scenic textures that are a perfect match for what I need. 

It is just one of those small family businesses I love dealing with.

The Model Railway Village

I'm not one for the social side of model railways. I follow a few blogs, and I see a few individuals I say hello to at shows. I've never been in a club, though that is about to change, and although I'm in societies, it is purely for knowledge and access to products.

I do engage with some Facebook groups linked to model and miniature railways. Most are very good, and nice places to spend some time. There is the occasional person who lets a nasty mix of far right politics, prejudice and conspiracy theories intrude, but they are easily blocked.

But many of you will be aware that in the last week the YouTube aspect of model railways has got poisonous.

Now, I'm several steps removed from it. With one exception, I don't know any of the people involved. But at the same time I've noticed an increase in a certain kind of SocMed comment.

I try to be honest about my skill level, that my aspirations don't always match my capabilities, but i admire those who can achieve incredible results.

But there seem to be a bunch of people out there who not only don't aspire to much beyond playing trains, but actively and vocally denigrate those who do. Any sensible advice or information about real railways is attacked, The mythical Rule One is constantly invoked, but it only seems to apply to them, not to others,. Sadly this seems to be happening most often in groups aimed at beginners. People have begun to delete pictures of their work and posts asking legitimate questions because of the nasty comments they receive.

It is as if some people want to keep everybody at their level, perhaps so their own shortcomings can be presented as strengths, and all this comes with a whiff of that toxic mix I mentioned earlier. 

It isn't healthy, and it isn't good for the hobby. Yes, it is just a hobby, and why should we care what other people think? Because it harms people, with real world consequences.

Bridge Building

 The first train rolls into my newly completed Dark Hall shelf layout.

Not really, of course. It remains bare foamboard, despite being planned as a quick and dirty project before embarking on Gerralt Rd. This was a quick assemblage of bits to help me work out some decisions.

So, why has it taken so long?

Two reasons, I suppose.

The first is because it was also always intended to be a learning exercise to get me used to working in 2mm again. Part of that learning has been building things and then being dissatisfied with them. That station shelter is still in the purgatory between either being finally finished or dumped in the WPB.

As I've gone along, I've changed my ideas on what materials to use, which has been very valuable and will, hopefully, benefit both layouts.

The other reason is the road bridge that spanned the middle of the platform at Park Hall.

I was going to use the LCUT version, which is a nice little kit in its own right.  But the more I looked at it the more differences I spotted compared to Park Hall. OK, you could say it is only a scenic break, so does it matter, but the way the composition works, I think it does. As on APA, it will appear in most photos I take, and the composition means I'll find myself looking at it more than if it were at the non-station end of the board. Again, this isn't a criticism of the LCUT product.

So what needs to be altered?

The list is quite long, I'm going to have to scratch-build the abutments with their varied materials, and reduce the loading gauge so it doesn't tower over the tracks.

Perhaps the biggest change, though, is to give the road a decent amount of depth. On the real thing, the deck is approximately five or six brick courses deep. I also want to model a representation of the underside of the bridge, more for photographic purposes than for the normal viewer.

The question of the normal viewpoint for N is something I've been thinking about. If I didn't take photos, and the baseboard was eighteen inches wide, I would probably be quite happy with the standard of my modelling. But the camera shows up every fault.

A Tidy Office..

 ...is the sign of a broken computer.

At least that is what the sign Issy bought me many years ago says.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't the computer that broke. The pole supporting the telephone and power lines to the house had to be replaced yesterday.   The guys who did it were incredibly quick and also very helpful, ensuring we could still get the car in and out. 

Whilst we had no power, I made a start on reorganising my office studio again. For once, the dogs were a great help—they were locked in the kitchen to avoid me tripping over them.

As well as tidying a few things up, I've changed which side I sit at my main modelling desk, and moved my tool storage units onto it. Part of the reason is so my modelling isn't visible when I'm on video calls, but I also like having tools close to hand. It should also reduce how often I trip over the dogs, and give me room to display the latest idea for the East Coast-based 4mm micro.

I'm thinking of a track plan based on the late John Spencer's Ruyton Road, though it is one used by many other micros.  The video is of its original form, but it has been fully restored recently and still makes exhibition appearances. A bit of me still hankers after my ideas for a Kings Lynn/ Great Yarmouth setting, which explains the tugboat in the background. White Swan Yard might make a more suitable scenic break than an overbridge.

Anyway, here is the current state of play in the workshop, complete with a couple of old dogs.

One thing I'm not sure about is the lighting, but we will see.

On the bookshelf you can see the current home of both Flemish Quay and Cadeby.  I have a vague plan to revive both of them in sync with the new layouts. In the case of Cadeby, it might be an accountant's rebuild, on a bigger baseboard to make best use of where it currently sits. That would also make it more suitable for the slightly bigger locos I've acquired in recent years. 

This chassis was going to end up under "Pamela" but I've grown rather fond of it.

Also on the bookcase are my two 16mm Fowlers. 

I really want to get Peldon working again, with a LocoRemote . I suppose, if I thought about, it a LocoRemote would also be useful on the Essel one

Finally, on the model front, I've been trying to improve both the sea and the tree on one of my Kato modules.

Neither is finished nor close to what I want to achieve, but both are major improvements and taught me a lot. Something else they have in common is the use of Deluxe Materials Scenic Fibres. whilst intended for modelling water, I found them useful when I was experimenting with building a weeping willow for Flemish Quay. In 2mm I'm finding it useful for foliage in general. The sea needs a little more work before I share a photo. The lesson I'm learning with that is to model what I see, not what convention suggests.

Perhaps I could save myself a lot of effort by modelling a scene like this, on one of our regular dog walks. 

The truth, after all this, is that what is driving my activity isn't the broken computer. It is feeling miserable as hell with late-paying freelance clients, frustrating systems for freeing funds from my investments, and  being constantly turned down for full-time gigs whilst being in demand as an "Industry Expert"

House of Guinness

Whilst pondering decisions about the 7/8ths line, I decided to remind myself what it looks like with some stock on it. I think this is the first time in 2025.

Simplicity

Many years ago, when I was a lecturer in a management school, I always recommended this book. 

Simplicity is powerful, but not always easy. Some of you might know Moravec's Paradox that powerful AI tools cannot accomplish some tasks that a three-year-old can master. I spent four hours this week trying to record a simple fifteen-minute video on agenetic AI that will be edited down by the client to simple soundbites. 

To save you watching it, I was being paid to say it was a good thing.

I've never built anything but simple layouts. I sometimes thing I would make more progress if I built a Big Project.  I had one in mind at the old cottage, where I had the space for permanent benchwork. There is something appealing about a layout you can work on as and when, without having to clear space and dig out boxes. which is what I've been doing to recover from the podcast stress.

First of all though, we've had an Autumn clean up in the garden. After eighteen months we are slowly working out what works, what doesn't, what is too old to be saved, and what needs to be showcased.

I've never been happy with the putative 7/8ths line. I took the radical step this week of removing the siding.

I'm happier with this, but not "Happy." It may be different when I replace the LGB track with the planned hand-built track, and it is ballasted and sceniced. I'm not convinced, though, and for now it will remain a test track. Two other options I've considered for this space are using it for a more complex E2E 16mm line, or even as a scenic 5" gauge line, continuing on a bridge across the steps into the flower bed.The track to do that is already sat in the garden. The bridge would need to be a hefty but removable structure, and it would mean finding the right loco and rolling stock - vintage first-generation Maxitrak being ideal.

So where would the 7/8ths go? It would have to be a simple oval and a siding in one of the flowerbeds. Not the end of the world, because I could just watch the trains go by and not worry about them flying off at one end or hitting a concrete wall at the other.

Meanwhile, back in the office/studio/workshop...

Two things struck me this week. The first is that I have more 4mm "stuff" in here than I realised, especially taking into account what is in the display unit on my wall. The second is that the brackets currently holding up a long Mosslanda shelf could equally hold up one of the other old, shorter but wider shelf units I've got. More to the point, I've got two of them. So one could be a fiddle stick/yard and the other could be the scenic module on display.

My first thought was to reuse the surviving Tanat Valley buildings from Apa. It is tempting, but since they were built, I've acquired a rather large industrial fleet. Those black corrugated iron buildings are rather dark and dingy. I still love them, but they need a larger space to look their best. Something like TAoC if it had been built in mid-Wales.Don't hold your breath.

The industrial fleet is intended for something based on the local Cromford and High Peak, and that is an option.

A simple canal (or narrow gauge) railway connection.

But I'm drifting towards an old idea of a mash-up between the North Sunderland and the Wisbech & Upwell that inspired it. A generic light railway terminus on the fringe of somewhere that isn't anywhere, despite the hopes of the investors. Barren, bleak but beautiful. An East Coast version of Shell Island. 

Nothing to see

 James Hilton recently posted a layout idea that has struck a chord with many people.

The simplicity reminded me of a section of my old OO9 layout, which was essentially a scene inspired by a panoramic painting of the Talyllyn Railway on a postcard, combined with an Airfix turntable featuring 9mm gauge track, allowing it to turn a whole train.

I'm thinking now I could do something like that now, but using a boxfile, with most of the long side cut out, to frame the view a bit like a letterbox. Getting the Cadeby layout out for a quick photo today reminded me how satisfying a very simple scene can be.

Read This

 No, not this post, but the one it links to.

Several of us, notably James Hilton, have tried to be brutally honest about the link between model railways and mental health in recent years.

In my own case, and a few others I know, the link isn't always positive. Yet another failed project hitting the WPB doesn't help your sense of self-worth.

However, there is a link, and it can be helpful. Many of us need help, even when we don't recognise it. In fact, I wonder how many people the hobby has saved without them even realising it.

It isn't just about white men of a certain age, who can feel marginalised and isolated. 

It can be those who struggle to find their own people - and those who, frankly, don't need people.

https://uk.hornby.com/community/blog-and-news/news/hornby-unplugged-are-traditional-hobbies-antidote-digital-overload?

Further CorrugatioNs

 First of all, a massive thank you to Mark for suggesting the use of coffee jar lids to impress corrugations into aluminium foil. I'll try it just as soon as I can find some suitable lids.

In the meantime, I've been sorting out the office/workshop to try to separate the things I need to refurbish Flemish Quay and those I need to move forward with the N-gauge projects. And, even, possibly to build something akin to my original APA layout.

Being a member, as you might expect, of a FB group dedicated to corrugated iron, I was aware that different sheet sizes and pitches of corrugation were used for different types of buildings.

I was about to put a pack of Ambis / Eastwell Iron 4mm CI into the Apa Valley box, when I spotted the magic wording "Domestic Pattern" on the label.

Gears clicked. 

It turns out to have about the same pitch as the Ratio N gauge sheet, though the profile isn't quite as good. 

So I think I have my solution for now, though I'll try and get some HO scale sheet as well.

Or rather solutions. I'll use the ratio sheet where the thickness doesn't matter, and I'll use the Redutex and Scalescenes products for non-railway buildings and those in the background.

CorrugatioNs

Issy is in Goa, with a friend, so I'm on caring duties for the poodles and mum.

I was planning to get lots of things done, but a close shave with a surprisingly sharp mandolin in the kitchen has stopped any thought of modelling. until my fingertip heals...

I've also been really busy writing what is called Thought Leadership. Or, as I call it, giving away all my best material for free.

Did I say the accident was responsible for my modelling hiatus? 

Actually, it is my struggles with corrugated iron in N gauge.

Bear in mind that, on both of my current projects, CI is at the front and centre. The Cambrian loved CI.

I had a real breakthrough in 4mm when I realised, whilst making the doors of an OO9 loco shed, that I could use Wills transparent corrugated sheet to capture the thinness of the real thing. and i could combine it, as here, with the thick structural sheet.

In N, I am really struggling. There are a lot of products on the market, but none match my need. Often the corrugations are more box section than corrugations, or the sheets are too small, or the material too thick.

If it was just a small building at the back of a wide baseboard, I could use Scalescenes, but it doesn't work when it is a big building at the front of a layout.

An idea I'm considering is embossing aluminium tape using a bolt. It is promising, but I'm still a long way from an effective solution

Bournville Heritage Day

For something like eighteen years, our family lived in Bournville, running one and later, two newsagents on MaryVale Road.

They were very mixed years for me, more bad than good, but I'm still friends with some people from those days and there were some good times. A lot of those involved my garden railway!

And crewing on Pat Ireland's The Lady Disdain

But there was also a lot of feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders, feeling very alone, and having a complete nervous collapse.

I always have mixed feelings about going back, but Mum still has friends there, and I guess I have unfinished business with the place. So we trotted off to this year's Bournville Heritage Day. 

We had a number of reasons to go. I wanted to view the frescoes by Mary Sargant Florence that decorated my old primary school's hall, and to go inside two landmark buildings that were inaccessible when I was young. Mum wanted to visit our old parish church. Keith, the vicar, was a wonderful, much-missed man, and we spent many happy Friday nights playing Badminton and Table Tennis in the youth club. We both wanted to meet up with Libby, one of our ex-papergirls, whom we hadn't seen for 45 or more years.

George Cadbury: A Great Man. 

Donald Healey was a friend of my father. His wife thought I was a rather beautiful toddler. I feel the same about his cars

Detail on the old bus. I believe JOJ533 holds the record for being the longest serving Birmingham bus.

I used to go to school on this!

Walking across the display of vintage and classic cars on The Green, Mum mentioned how much she would love to see an A40 Sports, the car my father had when they met. It isn't often wishes come true.

Garden railways are still alive and well in Bournville, even in the church!

The sort of detail that passes you by as a child.

My old schools. Needless to say, both built by the Cadburys.

Although these were the main reason I wanted to revisit my school, it really isn't practical to take photographs of them.

    

The Quaker Meeting House. I'd never been in before, and it was only a few years ago I learned that George Cadbury's ashes were interred here.

I don't remember the bus seats looking so classy

Selly Manor. The first time I'd been inside since I was about 10

The Carillion was playing a selection of light music.

The Serbian church. My other big reason to visit..

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