Good morning from the UK. Wet and windy here. The last model train exhibition we attended was Tonbridge, Kent.
A 5-hour drive on a Friday afternoon to set up for Saturday. A lady (day job with the BBC) took a video which is going the rounds. It gives a great insight into the model railroading scene in the UK. If you watch it you might catch 6 minutes of an interview with yours truly on the subject of my layout "Norge".

Here is the link.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ny83fNcLqU


Mike

It has been a busy week so far. I hope to get more done on the new layout this weekend. The exhibition at Pontefract, Yorkshire went well. Of the 3 cups on offer, Red Hook Bay was awarded two! It made the trip worth while.

Have a nice day.

Mike

Good morning from a sunny UK. Just off with the Red Hook Bay layout up north for a show this weekend. I am not looking forward to the drive.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Mike

Good morning from the UK. Yesterday saw Storm Isha hit the UK with 80 mph winds and lots of rainfall. Lots of trees down today. Quiet day for my birthday with a nice meal planned with the wife and maybe a little modelling.

Keep on steaming!

Mike

Bleat is a small village somewhere in Wales. The community, served by the narrow-gauge railway, is very rural and populated with more sheep than people. Most of the structures are kits by Scalescenes, Petite Properties or Scale Model Scenery. All the locos are DCC sound-equipped, you might glimpse a peddling cyclist near the local church and the pecking chickens in the farmyard.

Good morning from Somerset.
It has been a long while since I posted. It is great the forum is back up and running. During my time away I have been exhibiting my three exhibition layouts 12-16 times a year between them. In the next eight weeks I have four exhibition invites. The fourth one is in eight weeks time and the layout will be a new one in 009. It is bare boards at the moment but I hope to share some pictures of it coming together with the forum.

Happy weekend everyone.

Mike ( Mad Harry)

Well I suppose someone has to open....................Back from a cruise to Southern Spain. The spanish have to wear masks outdoors. try telling that to people trying to get a tan! Your nose and forehead would have a tan and the rest of you would be lily white! February 11 is the big day when all regulations in England are relaxed. Wales and Scotland plough their own fields. I have dug out a few unfinished models to try and get them over the line. More later.
Have a great day.
Mike

Good morning from the UK. Last weekend Cheffley (Midsomer) was voted joint Best in Show at Frome. The show invites are starting to roll in as we come out of the pandemic - 13 so far for 2022. Hurrah! Modelling has taken a back seat while we get the new house in order. But I did have time to build this little beauty. Off to Southampton docks today for a little bit of R&R off-shore...............Have a great day.(I am sure Jeff will know what the model is)
Mike

Good morning from the UK!
Jenny and I are off to the British Region NMRA Convention today with "Red Hook Bay". It is being held at the Derby Convention Centre, an Art Deco building that was once used by the Midland Railway. This week I qualified as a Travelling Ticket Inspector on the West Somerset Railway. I had to work the train on my own. It is purely voluntary and I am looking forward to the Christmas special trains. Have a great weekend everyone.
Mike

While checking my stash of kits, I found this little kit lurking in the cupboard. I think it will look nice on the "Caldwell Junction" layout that I am building on the forum. Here are the pictures of the kit before I get started. The structure it self still stands at West Lebanon, New Hampshire in the remnants of the old Westboro Yard of the Boston & Maine.

Mike

A few years ago I started on the limited edition kit Caldwell Junction. I also scratch-built the follow-up kit the Engine House at Caldwell Junction. Having completed all the main buildings I have decided to try and turn this into an interesting diorama/layout that I can take to exhibitions. When scratching the engine house I reversed the layout of the buildings from the original kit. This now fits in more with the diorama I am planning. The site plan for Caldwell Junction was laid out by Doug on a space measuring 13 inches by 24 inches. I have built two light weight boards measuring 16 inches by 3ft giving me a 6ft run. The original site plan called for east and west bound tracks running through the scene. My thoughts are that these tracks could terminate at the left end at a road with some buildings such a store or pub. All the buildings can be located on the first 3ft wide board. The tracks could then be combined by turnouts on the second board and run into a tunnel to hidden sidings. The terrain at the rear of the buildings will rise into the backscene. Any comments will be much appreciated. Here are some pictures of the initial planning.

Mike

Sorry I have been missing in action for a few weeks. The chores with moving into a new home etc.......My son-in-law bought a Tamiya 1/20 scale Jordan 191 Formula One kit and took one look at it. Then promptly asked me to make it for him. This is my first car kit and I found it struggle especially the 50 or so decals that needed applying.The decals were old and some unfortunately broke up before I could position correctly. I have mounted the model on a piece of "road" as it very fragile. This Jordan was the first Formula One drive for Michael Schumacher. He was on fire in his first race and was snapped up by the Beneton team never to race for Jordan again.
Mike

I have not seen this built before on the forum so I thought I would post a build. Here in the UK we are hoping the Covid restrictions will be eased on 19 July, with 80% of the population fully vaccinated, it is about time!

This kit was the special at the Fine Scale Expo in 2013 and it has been lying about ever since waiting to be built. Here is the pictures of the box and various parts. It is loosely based on a post office in East Tilton, New Hampshire.

Mike

It seems like an age since I have done any serious modelling.  Maybe three months and counting.........I have decided to complete a little layout that has taken a long time evolving. It will be a home layout rather than for exhibitions. Its size is 12 foot in length by 2 foot wide. This means it does not go into Mrs C's estate car and we would have to hire a van to transport it. The design is simple. It is port city with lots of structures (which are the stars) with a dogbone of track and a passing/holding siding. Controlled by DCC with just two turnouts. The five trams comprise of two Bachmann Peter Witt, one Bachmann Birney, one sound-equipped Con-Cor DC Railbus and one sound-equipped Bowser Postwar PCC. Behind the city is an elevated track on DC which features a Lifelike Budd RDC which is on a time-delay shuttle control. All the structures are already made and I will need suggestions on the best placement of each and every one. I am looking forward to getting started. I am toying with the idea of catenary for the trams. It will be non-working but I have a stock of British Dapol railway plant which I would like to experiment with. I do not have any idea where the port city is located so hopefully I will not be pulled up for too many liberties being taken...................The layout will reside in one of my two new train rooms. I plan to make several different layouts rather than just one as there will another 48 foot of linear length to fit them in. The other room is likely to feature just one medium size layout - 32 foot by 12 foot. But I am getting ahead of myself......................

Mike

Good Morning All. It was the coldest night of the year last night. A lot of the UK is covered in snow. A great day today as I have had my first covid jab. Hurrah!Have a great day.
Mike

I was able to find some ground cover from my visit to the second home this week. So I added some to the diorama for the final pictures. I am looking forward to adding the diorama to the Cundy Harbour buildings that I have already completed. It should make a nice scene.
Mike

Here are the contents of the big white box.............
Mike

Here are the shots of the contents of the box.............
Mike

What FOS should I build next? I have three in mind - Dead Horse Bay, Bandit's Roost or Oyster Hill. Seabiscuits is finished and I will post final pictures soon. But I need some imput as to what to build next ............... Mike

I have been remiss in not posting anything for a little while. Darryl himself posted a build some years ago. So I think it is high time an amateur had a go.First up the obligatory box and contents shots...............
Mike