Hello RM Web community - I'm new to blogging so here is a brief intro to my
interests and what I plan to do

Now in my early 60s I've had a life long interest in railways - it started when my parents
lifted me out of the pram to look over the parapet of the bridge at the end of our street
at the Exmouth branch trains chugging beneath, near to Polsloe bridge halt.
The fascination of trains, full size and model has not diminished since then.

However, over the years I've left a trail of unfinished models as I've got to a stage with
each one of some difficulty or have been taken away from the project for such a long time
I've forgotten where to go next! Sometimes it's because of the dreaded 'project scope
creep' - ie I've changed my mind or something I've tried plain doesn't work!
Sometimes the 'unfinishing' is down to numbers or other markings - so now I'm embarking
on a programme of finishing some projects to get something completed to run!

In there somewhere is a layout, based on a 'what might have been' scenario if the
Somerset and Dorset had accepted the Bristol & Exeter's offer of running powers North
of Highbridge to Bristol and the S&D got to build the B&E planned line from Wells via
Cheddar to Bleadon instead of Yatton ... and they need a terminus at Weston super Mare!
A nice mix of S&DJR and GWR in there with the S&D through trains running via Bristol
and the GWR having a faster route to Weymouth from Bristol via a North to West connection
at Bruton / Cole ...

The layout does have track (most of it) in P4 and platforms with some scenic decoration to
platform level and the odd building ..

Why 'turning the clock back?' - well that's something that almost all of us are doing by
modelling something that existed in some point in the past. But my particular interest
is in taking a proprietary model which is reasonably close dimensionally to the prototype,
hopefully not too expensive, and transforming it to how it really was (with the information
available) at a particular point in time different to the bought model. Things like taking
the Airfix 'B -Set' coach and correcting its errors so it looks like a B-Set coach of GW
diagram E140 should. Or taking an Airfix 4F and transforming it into an S&DJR 1922 built
'Armstrong'. Or the heading photo, of an Airfix 14XX changed into a '517' towing an
Airfix Autocoach 'modded' to look like the 1928 build - Just examples. Then putting these
together to create a scene that one could say is '1930 - 32' with ex proprietary models
and maybe the odd appropriate kit.

For me those periods are 1925 - 32, (and considering the major changes to the S&D in 1930
I would need to split that around 1930); 1959 - 61 and the 1970s. The last is because
it represents the time in my late teens and early 20s that I was free to explore the rail
system for myself. Because of the great range of times, the models will mostly be of
prototypes of particular interest to me, such as Class 122 'bubble car' B133 which I rode
on many times on the Severn Beach line, or Gresley buffet W9135E which I remembered
being in the formation of the second 'return to steam' excursion in 1972 from Didcot
to Tyesley behind 7029 Clun Castle - and at Tyesley seeing 92220 'Evening Star' waiting
full restoration.

There are a few deviations into German HO and Swiss HOm due to my family connections and
holiday visits to the centre of Europe ...

Anyway, some photos and descriptions of my projects will follow ..