Much Murkle - back on the road

[Tallpaul69]

Hi Nick,

I enjoyed watching Much Murckle and our conversation yesterday.

 

You were elsewhere when I came back later, but before disappearing home to deal with a leak problem (which turned out not to be huge!) but rightly my wife alerted me to, I took the attached pictures:-

 

Best regards

Not so tall Paul

[Andy_197011]

Very much enjoyed looking at your layout at MK today. The attention to detail is fantastic.

Something to aspire to.

[nickwood]

8 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

I saw Much Murkle yesterday, for the first time, at Milton Keynes.

I can't believe I've missed it before and not found this thread until now - I've got some catching up to do.

 

I spent a good portion of the afternoon watching operations and have to say how much I enjoyed it and the quality of the modelling.

Thanks Nick, I’m pleased you liked it. 

[nickwood]

2 hours ago, Andy_197011 said:

Very much enjoyed looking at your layout at MK today. The attention to detail is fantastic.

Something to aspire to.

That’s very kind of you to say so. I’m pleased that you enjoyed it.

[nickwood]

6 hours ago, Tallpaul69 said:

Hi Nick,

I enjoyed watching Much Murckle and our conversation yesterday.

 

You were elsewhere when I came back later, but before disappearing home to deal with a leak problem (which turned out not to be huge!) but rightly my wife alerted me to, I took the attached pictures:-

 

Best regards

Not so tall Paul

Nice pictures Paul, thanks for posting them and I enjoyed our chat in the morning. Sorry I missed you later on, but I have to take a break sometimes. 

[Tomathee]

Hi Nick, have just caught up on all 27 pages since visiting the mk show a couple of weeks ago. Always nice when you pick a favourite and find it has an online presence to look over the development and history. 

 

I wonder if you have a track plan that I've missed in the thread, or if not the rough dimensions overall and of your platforms. This is eventually the type of layout I have in mind for a wall along the spare room and it's hard to scale how it looks in an exhibition hall down to a currently clutter filled room.

 

Thanks, definitely one I'd revisit although I'm sure a replacement would be equal in quality if you did decide to take the plunge.

[nickwood]

It was good to chat with you at MK and I hope you enjoyed the read.

 

Here is the track plan that was drawn up by Ian Wilson at BRM for the magazine article. There is an extra foot on the end of the fiddle yard which isn't shown making it 12' x 2' overall. It is a great plan for operation, simple but will keep you occupied for a couple of hours or so. For a home layout it would be nice to perhaps have an extra couple of feet run from the end of the run round or perhaps make it into an 'L' shape and move the fiddle yard further along.

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by nickwood

[MoonMonkey]

Hi Nick, I finally signed up to RMWeb after following the Much Murkle thread and a few others for the last few (6+) months.  I also had the pleasure of seeing it at some exhibitions.   I just wanted to say that your layout has been an inspiration for me to actually 'model' something rather than just have a train set.  While my bank account and free time have taken a hit, it's been thoroughly enjoyable especially during this period of 'lockdown', so many thanks, and keep up the fantastic work, it isn't wasted!!!  

[nickwood]

Hi Moon Monkey and welcome to RMWeb and my thread. Thanks for your kind comments and I’m pleased to hear that my efforts have been of some entertainment to you. 
With my last remaining outing of the year, Warley, being postponed today, Much Murkle will spend the remaining months of this year crated up in the garage.

[MoonMonkey]

On 17/06/2020 at 19:00, nickwood said:

Hi Moon Monkey and welcome to RMWeb and my thread. Thanks for your kind comments and I’m pleased to hear that my efforts have been of some entertainment to you. 
With my last remaining outing of the year, Warley, being postponed today, Much Murkle will spend the remaining months of this year crated up in the garage.

Here's to the 'in person' exhibitions coming back again.  I'm fingers crossed for more exhibitions next year.  Although if we all have to wear face masks, we are going to look like a bunch of ninjas.  I wonder who will be first to get some face-masked characters at 2m intervals on their layout?  I have to say that it isn't on my modelling wishlist! 

[nickwood]

As can be seen from the last post which was in June 2020 nothing has happened for almost 2 years in the Much Murkle world. Covid put a stop to exhibiting and MM has been crated up ever since whilst we went through a number of family (elderly parents) problems and a long protracted house move.

 

Now things have settled down and we have got much of the new house as we want it, I now have a bit of spare time on my hands  to restore the photos onto the thread as far as I can. I am sure that I have all of my own photos still, but unfortunately I can't do anything about restoring those from others who have contributed. I have managed to reinstate pages 9-27 today and hope to complete the rest soon.

 

MM has received two invitations recently for exhibitions next year and it is time for me to get back on the modelling bus (or should that be carriage?).

 

I just hope some of you are interested in reaquainting yourselves with Much Murkle.

 

 

[MrWolf]

Good to see you back here on RMWeb, I had wondered if the thread had succumbed to the site blackout or the layout was being replaced. Glad to see that neither was the case, as it was Much Murkle, Little Muddle and a couple of others that convinced me to build another layout after a twenty years hiatus.

Looking forward to seeing more of this inspiring layout.

[BWsTrains]

1 hour ago, nickwood said:

As can be seen from the last post which was in June 2020 nothing has happened for almost 2 years in the Much Murkle world. Covid put a stop to exhibiting and MM has been crated up ever since whilst we went through a number of family (elderly parents) problems and a long protracted house move.

 

Now things have settled down and we have got much of the new house as we want it, I now have a bit of spare time on my hands  to restore the photos onto the thread as far as I can. I am sure that I have all of my own photos still, but unfortunately I can't do anything about restoring those from others who have contributed. I have managed to reinstate pages 9-27 today and hope to complete the rest soon.

 

MM has received two invitations recently for exhibitions next year and it is time for me to get back on the modelling bus (or should that be carriage?).

 

I just hope some of you are interested in reaquainting yourselves with Much Murkle.

 

 

 

Great news Nick, it'll be good to have the topic back in full form.

 

I was fortunate to have a good select of MM work for my own reference in the interim and again many thanks for the inspiration your work has provided me over the last two years of your absence.

 

Best wishes for 2023,

 

Colin

 

[Neal Ball]

6 hours ago, nickwood said:

As can be seen from the last post which was in June 2020 nothing has happened for almost 2 years in the Much Murkle world. Covid put a stop to exhibiting and MM has been crated up ever since whilst we went through a number of family (elderly parents) problems and a long protracted house move.

 

Now things have settled down and we have got much of the new house as we want it, I now have a bit of spare time on my hands  to restore the photos onto the thread as far as I can. I am sure that I have all of my own photos still, but unfortunately I can't do anything about restoring those from others who have contributed. I have managed to reinstate pages 9-27 today and hope to complete the rest soon.

 

MM has received two invitations recently for exhibitions next year and it is time for me to get back on the modelling bus (or should that be carriage?).

 

I just hope some of you are interested in reaquainting yourselves with Much Murkle.

 

 

Welcome back Nick. I’ve had a nice wander down memory Lane and particularly enjoyed the videos.

 

Good luck with next years shows.

[nickwood]

9 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Good to see you back here on RMWeb, I had wondered if the thread had succumbed to the site blackout or the layout was being replaced. Glad to see that neither was the case, as it was Much Murkle, Little Muddle and a couple of others that convinced me to build another layout after a twenty years hiatus.

Looking forward to seeing more of this inspiring layout.

I've never been away, just been lurking in the shadows. Modelling mojo has been a serious problem exacerbated by the issues I mentioned but also through losing my dear friend Mick Bonwick in 2020 and two of my team stalwarts also unable to help anymore because of health and family issues. It's been a hard couple of years for everyone. Anyway I'm back now with a couple of ideas for a new project(s) in mind.

 

8 hours ago, BWsTrains said:

 

Great news Nick, it'll be good to have the topic back in full form.

 

I was fortunate to have a good select of MM work for my own reference in the interim and again many thanks for the inspiration your work has provided me over the last two years of your absence.

 

Best wishes for 2023,

 

Colin

 

Colin, it was your mention of Much Murkle on your own thread recently that gave me the kick up the proverbial to get on and do something positive, so my thanks are due. I've been looking in on your thread recently and you are making some seriously good progress. 😉 

 

3 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Welcome back Nick. I’ve had a nice wander down memory Lane and particularly enjoyed the videos.

 

Good luck with next years shows.

Thanks Neal

[ian]

Good to see you back Nick.

[nickwood]

2 hours ago, ian said:

Good to see you back Nick.

 

Thanks Ian, it's been a while, how are you keeping?

[ian]

9 minutes ago, nickwood said:

 

Thanks Ian, it's been a while, how are you keeping?

All the better for giving up trying to be a serious modeller and going back to my childhood train set - with a few (!) additions.

[nickwood]

The thread now has all of my photos restored. It turned out to be quite a simple task in the end, mainly because I have a good file structure for my modelling work.

 

MM was erected recently to check that all was ok after our house move but is now back in storage in the garage surrounded by boxes and stuff cleared from the house in readiness for some decorating after the festivities are over. I'm pleased to say MM has survived the house move and two years of storage without any problems. Having said that, after 30+ exhibitions and more to come there are some areas starting to look a bit tired, so before it's next outing I will be looking to refresh some of the scenics.

 

In the meantime here are some photos not seen before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by nickwood

[sjrixon]

Big fan of this layout.. I hope I can make one of the exhibitions you will be at this year.. Gald to see you getting it back out of storage and getting the modeling mojo back. I moved house last year, with so much work to do, my mojo departed too..

[MrWolf]

We moved earlier this year too, it's not so much affected the modelling mojo as created a scattergun effect of what I am working on.

I think that I need to do the same thing as with my paintings and my motorcycle restorations and that is write a list in order of doing and cross things off as I go.

Otherwise something that is supposed to be enjoyable might just become like hard work and there's no quitting with this one!

[nickwood]

Thanks Scott. House moves not only drain your resources and enthusiasm, they empty your pockets as well. Both exhibitions are at the back end of 2023 and I will post details up nearer the time. I am hoping that Warley will happen for me in 2023 as well. MM was booked for 2020 (didn't happen) 2021 (didn't happen) & 2022 but I had to cancel due to the workload on the house and the loss of most of my team which I mentioned earlier. I'm hoping the Warley team will be understanding and extend the invitation again.  

[nickwood]

6 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

We moved earlier this year too, it's not so much affected the modelling mojo as created a scattergun effect of what I am working on.

I think that I need to do the same thing as with my paintings and my motorcycle restorations and that is write a list in order of doing and cross things off as I go.

Otherwise something that is supposed to be enjoyable might just become like hard work and there's no quitting with this one!

Seems a familiar story Rob.

Retirement has helped release some time. I painted a watercolour for the first time in a couple of years yesterday. The result was awful but I enjoyed the distraction. I have managed to keep playing golf and riding my motorcycle but not as often as I would have liked.

 

[MrWolf]

4 minutes ago, nickwood said:

Seems a familiar story Rob.

Retirement has helped release some time. I painted a watercolour for the first time in a couple of years yesterday. The result was awful but I enjoyed the distraction. I have managed to keep playing golf and riding my motorcycle but not as often as I would have liked.

 

 

It's perhaps because you're catching up with all those jobs around the ranch that you never had the time or energy for when you were working. I remember my father saying: "I know that it's a cliché, but I don't know how I ever found time to go to work". 

The committee tend to get rather upset if you ride a motorcycle across a golf course...

 

BTW, I have finally collected all of the bits and pieces to build that Clifton Downs auto trailer set you sent me the details of. Building those and finishing off the much modified Tri-ang clerestories I have decided to use as a stress reliever whilst I build and install about 20 feet of GWR post and wire fencing, which is pretty high on the list!

[nickwood]

 

3 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

whilst I build and install about 20 feet of GWR post and wire fencing, which is pretty high on the list!

 

Been there, got the T Shirt. Put all seven strands on and then covered up the bottom 3 or 4 with vegetation 😆

 

Good luck with the Clifton Downs conversion. I'm justy trying to persuade AY to unarchive my Clifton Downs thread so I can put the pictures back.