This blog is being created to track my progress from being a complete 'newbie' with almost zero knowledge of model railways or railways, generally.

Why pick on railway modelling as a hobby? Well, like many of my generation (post WWII baby boomers) I was given a second hand train set when I was very young and played with it to the point of destruction. There wasn't much to the set, just an oval of track, a single locomotive (American) and a handful of coaches. Pocket money didn't really stretch to expanding into a model layout and so my interest waned. By contrast an uncle had a layout in his loft and every time that we visited I couldn't wait to go and see it.

Things like girlfriends, football, music, etc. quickly replaced my interest in trains, during my teens and twenties. Along came marriage and serious responsibilities, like children and the mortgage. For some time we seemed to move house (and location) at frequent intervals and it wasn't until I had reached my 50s that 'home life' became more settled. My interest in trains (in general) remained throughout the years when I moved around the country. I enjoyed visiting places such as The Bluebell Line, Llangollen, Sherringham, etc. and would often gaze in the window of a Model shop, enviously gazing at the trans and ancillary models. Even then I was determined that, one day, I would have a model railway of my own. Unfortunately, it always remained a pipe dream. I had neither the time, money or space to do anything about it.

For the past 20 years I have been pre-occupied with showing dogs (Crufts and all that). As we had chosen one of the biggest and hairiest breeds (Pyrenean Mountain Dogs) we needed somewhere, warm and dry, to groom these enormous beasts and it was at that point that we installed a wall across the garage (with a door in it). The rear part contained an oil-fired boiler, a grooming table and all of the materials required to primp and preen five of this breed, The front part was, effectively, a dumping ground for all sorts of things (bicycles, ladders, bins of dog food, etc.). For various reasons (many down to back problems) I had to curtail the showing side of the dog world, taking up judging, stewarding and administration, instead.

Having acquired a number of children over the years (currently running at 6!) it wasn't going to be too long before grandchildren started to arrive. Two lovely granddaughters first but then, in July 2016, a first grandson put in an appearance. The catalyst for reviving an interest in model railways. What could be better than having a model railway to enjoy with my grandson as he started to grow up!

Before embarking on my first layout I needed to determine where it was going to go. It couldn't be in the main part of the house as we still have the dogs (now supplemented by several smaller ones) and the loeft, whilst offering the greatest square footage had the major disadvantage of having very restricted headroom. A quick consultation with SWMBO and I had the front part of the garage to play with - 2.78 metres by 2.70 metres. Unfortunately, there was no ceiling and the 'up & over' door let in the elements (wind and rain) and both of these needed fixing before I could consider starting 'the build'. The ceiling came first. I have installed plasterboard (with some difficulty) and even managed to include a removable hatch into the loft. What surprised me the most was the fact that a 15 year old house didn't come with rafters and joists that could be considered 'square', by any means. As a result the plasterboarding is a bit of a patchwork and there remains plenty of 'gap filling' to do. The next step will be to install insulation in the newly created loft. If I am going to be working in the Model Room, I do want it to be reasonably comfortable and draft-free.

With the ceiling done the next major job will be to box-in the 'up & over' door in order to stop the howling draughts that seem to penetrate every single gap. At the same time I want to make sure that rain water can't enter under the door. I would love to be able to say that this is going to happen in the next few days or weeks but reality has to kick in at some point. As I am still working, my free time is pretty restricted. I am based in north west Norfolk and have to commute to London (Hammersmith) and by the time that I get home, in the evening, I am pretty much too tired to start building work. Any work is likely to take place at weekends but has to fit in around the usual household chores, visiting family & friends and my (many) continuing commitments to dog showing etc.

As for boxing in the big door... I intend to build a base of 2 rows of breeze blocks, across the door, then install heavy duty plastic sheeting running along the top of the bricks, down to floor level then under the door, finally ending up buried in the gravel outside. On top of the bricks I am going to build a stud wall, in 3 vertical pieces (to accommodate the metal rails for the door). I am going to tack plastic sheeting to these stud wall sections, on the door side, in-fill with insulation then finish off the inside with plasterboard. That should leave me with a comfortable and draught-free room complete with power points and lighting.

More on this project (with photos?) next time around!