Chubber

........but Moses invests...

And a sign I WISH I had photographed.... "Humps for 200yds" and written in felt-tip marker - " so does Rachel Dooley "

More please, soon! Doug

Sorry!Thank you for that. Doug

Marvellous stuff! Those lamps in the first photograph showing your Dad and Mr Bing, they each have two chains hanging down, were they gas lights? Thank you very much for this post Doug

Just picked this up, great concept, beautifully done and great to see youngsters 'pressin' buttons' with no 'DO NOT TOUCH' signs in evidence. Doug

There are one or two, Keith, but there is a dearth of 1930s [and pre 30s] small commercial vehicles. I can see that I shall have to buy and chop up an old taxi and/or an old Dennis fire engine if I'm to have anything other than the Cooper Craft AEC Monarch, [ then a new model ] collecting goods from my shed... Oh, and while I'm whinging, why-oh-why-oh-why can't all suppliers indicate the year the vehicles first appeared in their publications/advertisements? Classix label their boxes accordingly.... Doug

Taken at Lauterbrunnen in 2008, I don't know whether this first picture belongs here, or in the 'What makes you smile' thread? Naval service kept me away from home during my daughter's very early years, and I did not know until later how much I missed it. The joy on these faces as they 'raced' the train makes me smile each time I see the picture.. Doug. [it's a large file, and if clicked gives a lot of detail, my first year of using a tripod...]

...one I took in Florida last year.. I mean, who would know better? and......my Border terrier sunbathing, never fails to make me smile! Doug

Some MHR peoples... Alton ground frame Bittern at Ropley Doug

t-b-g, this is great news, I'm working towards an article on JA, currently in NW Spain, but would like to be in touch soon as I'm back, a week or two more depending on the weather and the wallet! Doug

John H. Ahern John Henry Ahern, known as ‘Jack’, was a London insurance broker who in early 1939 began a regular series of articles published in the Model Railway News centred broadly around the construction of two successive small 4mm layouts each called the ‘Madder Valley Railway’ and the means of scratch-building small light railway locomotive models. With the advent of the Second World War in September of that year, severe restrictions on the manufacture of ‘toys’ meant that virtually everything had to be home-built from household materials or hoarded material. Contemporary modelling trends were to model mainline locomotives on large double-tracked layouts. These layouts were largely the preserve of the wealthy, the emphasis being firmly on the locomotives and rolling stock, with scenic modelling playing second fiddle. The Madder Valley railways were unusual for that period in that they were from the start ‘scenic’ railways, running through whimsical landscapes containing cardboard and wooden buildings built to a most exacting standard. Quite simply, no one had taken so much care or paid so much attention to structure modelling. His methods and drawings, brought together in ‘Miniature Building Construction: an Architectural Guide for Modellers’ ISBN-13: 978-0852421925 enabled many to follow his lead and encouraged what we think of today as ‘Railway Modelling’. Taking early retirement in 1944, he moved with his wife Gladys to a house in St John’s Wood situated behind Lord’s Cricket Ground and there set to work building the final Madder Valley Railway. An intellectual, a member of the Fabian Society and friend of H.G Wells he would probably be amused to think that his most lasting memorial is a 1930s themed model railway, now preserved at Pendon Museum. Doug Dickson Also By John H. Ahern Miniature Landscape Modelling ISBN-13: 978-0852426845 Miniature Locomotive Construction ISBN-13: 978-0853440758 [First published in Railway Modeller Magazine, 2010]

Quality modelling Woody! I like the way in which those areas which would be called 'cameos' on other layouts just seem to be in place naturally, more please, and more video, too. Is there an extension called 'Evenmoor Murkle' in the wings? Doug

I am full of admiration for those of you with the ability to use these classic tools, I have tried, but I am as likely to line out a coach with a bow-pen as a cow is to play the ukulele. I can take a [simple] architectural drawing and cobble together a 4mm version, I can grow vegetables well enough to win prizes, paint watercolour pictures that people are willing to pay for and knit words together with photographs sufficiently well to occasionally induce publishers to part with beer tokens for the right to print the result, in short I should count my blessings..... However, I'd love to be able to draw that unwaveringly even hairs-breadth line which turns through 90 degrees to a perfectly regular continuation of the same line. Furthermore it is heartwarming to see that devices completely devoid of micro-processors which would have been quite recognizable when Churchward was building locomotives are still in regular use. Pictures, please! Signed 'Mr Blobby' [aka Doug]

Those are very expensive....... buy the book and build it from that, together with dozens of other things...... Copyright CV Russell and E Fells Reproduced with their kind permissions. You'll find a copy of JA's 'Miniature Building Construction' on the web for less than £10.....I'm interested in their copyright permissions and will be contacting the holders of the copyright. Doug

Thank you for posting all this lovely work, plenty of little notes taken for details. Doug

...approach a [say] P4 Edwardian station to fiddleyard layout and ask the operating crew 'Can you buy the extra track for this TRAIN SET , I'm sure my little boy would like one if it went round in a proper oval shape....' Doug

First-class work, top-hole, Tim, I really will have to try a Howards Scenic model or two, I fancy the shops. Doug

Wow! This really has opened my eyes to what card can do, I'm full of admiration. I totally agree on how strong card can be made, even shellac can turn a piece of Packeto-Cornoflako into an 'engineerable' product, and as for super-glue, I use it on the corners of all my roof structure coverings by applying it to the 1/2" around each corner, preventing delamination and damage during the rest of the build. Thank you for the 'heads-up', Doug

Thank you for your explanation re the window frames, I must be suffering 'thick-itis' because I can't quite picture it in my mind. Have you any 'work-in-progess' pictures/sketches of this method? I'll have another think after my 'red-laughing-water' has worn off, but I would dearly like to build windows as good as these cottage windows. Yours 'aye Doug

We got guzumped on a house in Mutley, back in the late 70s. Ended up in St Budeaux. Cap'n Tim, I'm enjoying this, I notice from the pictures above there is a 7mm drop between houses. That looks right to me, so I shall use it too. Keep doin' it, Doug

An interesting subject, if you were to weather a model with that degree and contrast in the efflorescence I'm sure some would say you had overdone it.

Very timely as far as I'm concerned, thanks for posting, I have 3-4ft of rising buildings at the rear of my narrow layout to plan, having seen this I think I'll do it in groups of 2 or three to leave my options open.

You might like to consider this method of imitating the 6" 'Wave' asbestos commonly used in industrial buildings for both roofing and walling, notably the Loan Act sheds built in the 30's. http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=1401&forum_id=11&page=2 Doug

Very yummy! Serious equipment shortage alert!.......No kettle ...[on the stove]! Doug