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Musings Of A Fold Art.

Entries in this blog

9. The Prototype.

If you have been following my inane ramblings thus far, you may have been curious as to where this diorama (I confess a disliking of the term 'layout'.) is set, but before I launch into all that, I'd just like to recap how I 'accidentally' got to this juncture - after not having been a railway modeller for over forty years.....   It started with a simple desire to put a few items on the mantle to represent a railway in my area. Having then collected far too much for my mantle, this developed i
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12. ......But I Digress.

12;- …..But I Digress.        These are, it has to be said, strange days – and given that fact, it will perhaps not seem so unusual to write a blog about a model railway project that I have not even seriously physically started on – aside from collecting a mountain of material and parts etc. Also, given the interest/kind words relating to the reasons for my delay in starting, I thought it might be of some little interest to describe the larger project surrounding my little model railwa
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7. Evolution.

After re-entering this hobby just over a year and a half ago, it took me the first year to get any sort of real plan together. I have, several times, thought that out of the mists, some sort of settled plan had emerged, and it had - sort of....! One thing that is now clear is that it pays to stay flexible for as long as possible. Now that I've finally started to do more drawings to scale, I'm both finding the flaws in my ideas - and getting new, improved ideas.   I finally got around to visiti
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Tenbury Woofferton Scratch-built returning-modeller

14. How Long.....?

I can't believe that it's two and a half years since I last scribbled here. So what's happened in the intervening time...? Bluntly - not enough....! Sure, there are more boxes of 'stuff' collecting dust in the loft of the barn, but, since I've still not finished renovating the house, the 'train shed' itself is still, perforce, down the list of priorities. Perhaps later this year will see it happen - but, no shed - no railway....😐😐😬        My time being in such short supply, I did commi

6. Gardening Question Time.

We human apes are odd creatures. One of our less destructive instincts is that Magpie tendency to 'collect' - aptly manifested in the case of model railways. It's a case of Mea Culpa - and I am forced to admit that I do have some difficulty in reining-in my acquisitions.... I have to be in for the delivery man on Monday. Next week is significant in that it should mark the arrival of the last of my outstanding orders for RTR items I had on order long-term - in this case the Rapido LNER Dynamomete
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10. Maturation.

Whilst I’ve always subscribed to the school of ‘If you’ve nowt to say – keep schtum’, I have noticed that it’s been over a year since I last blogged here. Even worse, I see that I will have returned to railway modeling for three years in January, yet still cannot run a train….               Unfortunately, before I can erect the new woodshed extension to accommodate the model railway, I have to complete other building works at the farm – and I’m still living off-site, just to complicate
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11. Floods, Plagues and Pestilence.

Floods, Plagues and Pestilence - yes really.....        Given the rising global pandemic and all of the associated uncertainties, even incipient panic by some, immersing oneself in the world of miniature fantasy may seem like a highly frivolous activity of little import - and in truth - it is. On the other hand, a non-reactionary approach and a sense of historical perspective probably make for a calmer, less panic-prone citizen - so you'll excuse me if a lean towards the latter view.
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8. A Bridge Too Far.

It's taking me a while to get my plans detailed. I'd put up my drawings, but they have been changing/evolving with embarrassing regularity. I've laid down some pretty hard qualifiers - and they are proving very difficult to meet. Of course, I realise that I'm being too idealistic. For the most part, real railways don't have a lot in the way of sharp curves, and my chosen locations reflect that. This is good because my building is long and straight....! So far so good. The rub is, that as I got g
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Tractive Effort. Testing. Adhesion. Weight.

15. Worth The Effort....?

Tractive Effort......in practical terms.   I have searched the forums here for an existing thread on Tractive Effort, and other than some mentions in other threads have not found one on this specific subject.   The 4mm scale, OO gauge diorama that I'm building necessitates gradients down to and UP from a lower storage level - or else I wouldn't be writing this. As a corollary of deciding what maximum gradient to allow, it follows that some sort of assessment of what it takes
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13. Lucky For Some.

I've deferred writing another blog in the hope that I might have some real progress to report. Sadly, apart from the usual trickle of purchases, I'm still unable to get onto building the railway room owing to other commitments.   The following may end-up being filed under 'Daft Ideas', but then again.......          I was recently corresponding with another modeller, seeking to expand my knowledge  - and the subject of DC/DCC entered the dialogue. Now, even not having run DCC
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1. Back From The Dead.

The Accidental Modeller.   I only returned to model railways last January (2017), after a hiatus of over forty years…..so, a year on, and before I go further, that probably requires a passing explanation. Back in the late 1960’s I moved from the RTR stuff into what, for that time, was ‘fine-scale’. The old K’s, Wills & Gem kits etc may seem very crude now – but they were all we had, and if you wanted anything outside of a very narrow band of prototypes, unlike today, you had to make it. At
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5. Never Too Old.

In and around a massive house renovation, a corner of loft-space has seen a growing pile of 'Railway Boxes' collecting dust - of which I have an inexhaustible supply....!!! The dust that is... Most of the contents of the boxes, almost without exception, are used. True - some are little used, but not truly new. I'm more than happy with this approach, as one get much more for very much less. My unusual mixture of 4mm in both OO & P4 means that, for the most part the OO stuff is RTR (75%RTR) -
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4. The World In A Wine Glass.

As I have previously alluded, I have been a returnee to railway modelling only since the beginning of last year. So what have I achieved thus far....? Well - I've spent far too much money for a start off...! I have a mountain of boxes which contain a dizzying miscellany - primarily the result of starting from zero, - and I have become, at least a little, better-informed, well, - arguably... My original target of a train on the mantle gestated into a vague idea of some sort of 10' x 6'....until t
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2. Space - The Final Front Ear.

Outer-Space may be infinite - and when it comes to modelling, it seems very much a case of 'much wants more'. I started-off with a very vague, naive idea of making use of perhaps around 10' x 16' - a not inconsiderable space it seemed at the time. To house this, I was going to reconstruct a derelict outbuilding in the front garden. The problem was, that new plans/ideas required it to grow....quite a lot, to the point where it was going to risk plunging my house into the inky darkness of perpetua
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3. The Power & The Glory.

Now be kind, dear reader, - this old fool is on a vertical learning-curve...! Just over a year ago, when I 'accidentally' embarked (Put it down to a lack of self-control...!) on this project, I had no locos whatsoever - absolutely zip - not even the twinkling of an eye. I now have well over a hundred, and it would be hard to imagine a more eclectic collection - and no, they are not all expensive locos. Many were dirt cheap. OO;- Most, perhaps 80%, of the OO locos are RTR, albeit modified in s
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