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, 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.
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, 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.
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