Small Empire

I grade meetings at work by how many doodles I manage in my notes. A productive meeting usually has very little: perhaps a one-point micro layout or a small Celtic knot. Slightly less interesting meetings will usually result in a more complex plan like a locomotive depot or a factory. The plan above was the [...]

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Spitzenwald Timetable

I should be making KÖB Railcar 2.0 at the moment, but unfortunately the loft ladder is stopping me. You may recall that the loft in our new apartment now houses the model making desk, which is wonderful and I’m happily messing it up, but unfortunately the ladder to the loft (installed -at a guess- in [...]

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What now? Episode 4: Back to the future.

Before I went on to do other things in my late teens I made three models: ecah one was smaller than the last. The first was a tailchaser called ‘Howden’ based on a plan out of a Hornby catalogue which was 6′x4′ and sat in a corner of my bedroom like a small elephant: the [...]

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Cardboard variations.

Over the last few weeks I worked on two more variations of the card tippler, proving that I really am far too easily distracted by new ideas.
In a rare flash of planning, I made two variations on the one wagon, to save time, which is why the two pictures are taken from different ends: I [...]

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Longyearbyen Mining Co.

I built this wagon in a fit of creative enthusiasm at least a one weekend ago, and it’s been sitting on the shelf ever since. This is an experiment that’s been a long time in the offing:  a 1:32 scale tippler. I’ve had a vague notion to build a 1:32 scale model since seeing pictures [...]

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Bustitution?

This isn’t a picture of my progress over Christmas, unfortunately. It’s one of the presents the boys got from a family friend. One of the advantages of 1:55 is that I’ve a great source of ready made road vehicles from Siku. The range is of limited use to most narrow gauge enthusiasts because it is [...]

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Scale Strategy…

A while ago, Stephen over on the Fairlight Works Blog mentioned that he had a scale strategy: he builds layouts in different scales to suit the story he wants to tell. This spilled over into a discussion on the Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling forum.
If only I was that well organised, or that accurate. I have [...]

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The Dilemma

I really like making modern image narrow gauge models, and I’ve been talking a bit to John P. about container wagons for forty-foot containers, which I’d like to try in 5.5mm scale. I’m intending to make a layout for the railcar as soon as I can, although that’s not likely to be very soon: assuming [...]

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n-TRAXX

One of the nice things about German railways is that they still haven’t been convinced of the advantages of fixed train sets, so it is still quite normal to see rakes of carriages being hauled about by locomotives. I can’t help thinking this is far more flexible than having fixed rakes, because you can expand [...]

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Duncan’s Mine

I remember back in 2005 (was it really that long ago?) when I started to look at building models again, after finding the Small Layout Scrapbook and discovering that Model railways and small spaces were not mutually incompatible. I devoured the Scrapbook and the small layout gallery that is elsewhere on the site, all except [...]

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