Woody C

Hello Ian, Great suggestion and done!

It is strange how something can change the character of a layout so drastically but adding a backscene to the layout has certainly done that - well in my view anyway! This is what it looked liked before - it had been stripped of the buildings which are yet to be fastened down to allow the fitting of he backscene. And now with added backscene and buildings. The backscene is from Gaugemaster and seems to suit the layout. Getting in a bit closer and you can see many things yet to be done but suddenly things seem to have taken strides forward rather than just shuffling in a circle! Almost inspires me to get on and finish this layout! Thank you for looking at this post.

Hello Ian, 15 minutes of pure entertainment! Not sure what it is about what you have developed with your layout but it does fascinate me. I still find it unbelievable that technology from 70 years ago does things so easily such as the uncoupler when today we still cannot get a reliable main stream system that can do the same. On that note I might now dig out my box of Super 4 track (which ironically had more to scale sleeper spacing then today's track) and working uncoupling ramps along with the working log tippler and rolling stock where there are no separate parts to drop off ............

I do like that Keith and Mrs. W would be most envious. Shows that railway modellers can be romantic too and I maybe Ian can incorporate the scene somewhere on his layout?

I'm not sure how to feel. Never before has a question from me actually been taken seriously - even when I proposed to Mrs. W! Talking of being serious I wish I had taken your advice before establishing that indeed lesser brands should not be used...... However I am pleased to report that my man cave is now flying insect free!

Hello Chris, I recall being fascinated when I attended one of the Nottingham exhibitions back in the 1990s when they were at the Victoria Baths and saw the Derbyshire based Chee Tor. If you know the layout you'll probably understand but I had never seen such a large n or maybe even 2mm finescale layout which was probably one of the first railway in a landscape type layouts at the time. I also recall the first train that I saw on it was a blue pullman which looked superb. Given all this talk of Pullmans I have been running my n gauge Western version today. I do have the blue one too so need to get that out as well !Just sitting back watching it go round - just for the fun of it! My love of n is being reawakened! Oh dear!!!!!!!

Hello Ian, would Google Earth assist in my understanding of this newly defined landscape????

It is strange how we remember certain things we wanted for Christmas all those years ago Chris. I to wanted the Pullman and also the Freightliner set with a Hymec and three freightliner wagons. I could in my young mind visualise them running round my 6 x 4 layout bringing me immense satisfaction and adding much to my existing model empire of two locos and a motley small selection of rolling stock but unfortunately they never did arrive under the tree! Move on more years then I care to admit and although I never got those sets I still find immense satisfaction watching trains go round my layouts . As Mrs. W says I am just a big kid amused by simple things! Hope you enjoy the GF Pullman - it is a wonderful model and one to set in motion and just watch it go by just for the fun of it!

Hmmmmm! Truth or myth? If I had not lived through that era Ian I would say "myth' but having done so and with your wonderful narrative skills I am saying 'truth' . You brought back a host of memories of that time when there were EEC mountains galore - enough to keep any budding mountaineer busy for years!! As ever the law of unintended consequences applied to many so called 'solutions'! Amazing what we had and now have. My first desktop back in the mid 90s with a hard drive rather than floppies had a 3.2 gig disk.I can still recall the sales guy saying 'Its just been uprated to 3.2 gig - you'll never need anything bigger!' Just like layout size then.........

That is exactly what Mrs. Woody says to me! I can sort of understand that as I normally only visit places twice. The second time is to apologise! I get the feline that sounds a purrfectly interesting tail! Should I paws to hear it or have I missed it by a whisker or will you collar me when ready to tell??

And there I was thinking all that security at this ESSO depot was to keep the tiger in the tank.............

Just off to the Newark toy fair so I will keep that in the back of my mind as I peruse under the watchful eye of Mrs. W! Hoping she does indeed say Go on!

Keith! I really do like that! Pauses whilst telling myself 'I am not starting something else, I am not starting something else, I am not starting something else....'

It was indeed! Me in 1989 - seems like yesterday! I would have also gone for the Volvo F12 Globetrotter!

Hello Ian, Such a thing does already exist! In my true manner of having several pots on the boil but never producing a completed meal this has simmered on the back ring for some years now. Probably one to bring to the boil on that new improved menu for 2023! You can now safely store your militaria away until this time next year when you can ask 'What did happen to that n gauge layout you were going to finish?'

It has been some time - a lot of time - since I last updated this thread. In fact Nearly 14 months! So, just to say that I did update this in 2022 (even if it was on the last day!) I thought that I would just let you know I am, at slow motion glacial speeds, making progress! There have been a few other things that have distracted me - some more easily than others like other modelling projects or the 6060 miles of cycling I managed this year. The ones that are perhaps less easy to get distracted by but for the sake of a peaceful life do never the less get done are those on Mrs. Woody's 'To do list'. That list is like the expansion of the universe - it just gets bigger at an exponential rate! Right back to the layout. I think last time I posted it was looking something like this. The far end was the original layout and the white expanse is the extension. It is now looking like this. Well at least most of the white has gone! There is not a great deal left to be done and it will get done! Just need to find the time to do it but then again I did build it just for the fun of it! Leaving Mrs. W's list on one side for a moment, other model related distractions included my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout. As you can see in the above photos the 00 gauge layout was a large 11 by 5 board that in effect filled most of my Man Cave. I did not really want an operating well but having had nearly two years of this set up I guess I proved to myself my initial idea did not work. So that got completely rebuilt into this. I am glad I did! It may be a glorified train set but it works for me not only as a railway but in the room itself. The 009 layout now resides back to back with my USA switching layout on a trolley so is now much more accessible - unless I keep putting more stuff in that room! Turn it round - and yes my measurements just allow it to turn! I also got distracted with a few kits such as these which along with other things are featured in my blog. Looking back it has been a reasonably productive year but like most of us I guess, there are many things I wanted to do or complete which just have not happened. The 009 layout is one thing that I did want finished by now but that will now have to migrate onto the 2023 list! Thank you for your continued interest in this ongoing project and I hope everyone has a great 2023 and we will all be here fit and healthy this time next year to hear my latest excuses as to why this layout is not finished! Woody.

Hello Ian, I don't think any of us can say that 2022 let alone any of the past three years have been the greatest in terms of the outside World. However, whether you see it like this or not, you have provided, via the wonders of the internet, quite a few of us from your Republic of Telford garage with the relief of an alternative sane (or maybe insane but in a nice way) World where you share with us your skills, developments, (who can forget the ski run or the helix) sense of humour (well you have to have one of those if you ever had me as a customer in the your shop) and some great stories involving crates of beer, sunbathing ladies, Blitz the crime solving Police Dog (although he never did solve anything!) and incompetent maintenance engineers! You have achieved a lot on your layout but also a great deal in entertaining us! Thank you from me and no doubt everyone else. Hoping that 2023 is this time a better one and that we are all here this time next year in good health to agree or indeed disagree on this!

Dear Mr Spielberg, Thank you for your latest block buster film release. Even without the anticipated sharks, dinosaurs, visiting intergalactic travellers or discovery of lost antiquities in this latest release my Jaws were visibly grinding at the close encounter Andreas had got himself into and the dual that he seemed to be having with the station master. Maybe he should have been allowed to phone home before the situation became a war of the world's? THat VW van is great although should it be painted in the colour purple? Looking forward to your next release as I am hooked on your films!

Much as I rabbit on I can sum up my reaction simply as USB! Utterly superbly brilliantly! I was wondering how you would get Kate Bush past the YouTube copyright system but you topped that and I will leave it there so others can enjoy! You must have several scale miles of track on the layout now. That helix is a longer run then my whole layout or am I just being Dizzy as covered by Vic Reeves and the Wonderstuff????? Maybe I should Run to the Hills where I can become The Fool On the Hill? TTFN I have another gig to go to!

This video came up as a YouTube suggestion. I don't normally watch these but this one intrigued me so I did! If you do watch it and want to see the main model railway bit it starts at around 18 minutes in but the strangest bit is at about 23 minutes in the cellar. Looks as though someone was trying to build a helix but not with your craftsmanship Ian.

Sorry Ian. What did you say? I was too engrossed watching the trains!

Unusually for me I will keep it short - Awesome!

Amazing what Marklin allows you to build in the comfort of your home or man cave and all recorded on the internet for our enjoyment! And talking of the internet how would we ever remember gems like this song by Friday Brown from 1971 entitled Spaghetti Junction! I just cannot understand why this was never a top 40 hit.........

Through squinting eyes the photos almost look like a scene from Spaghetti Junction. Most impressive!

Great choice Ian! I do have the single for those who remember such things with a brilliant cover on the B side of Going down to Liverpool I did wonder with your layouts location in Morton Towers as to whether you would be a garage music fan? However I digress from the Woody suggested, nut turning and helix building, playlist to excite and energise! May I suggest, if not already on your music media playing device of choice the following::- 1. Turn, turn, turn The Byrd's 2. Turn it on again, Genesis 3. Here I go again Whitesnake for those times it all gets too much and the nuts just get stuck 4 Twist and Shout The Beatles for that moment you think that all the nuts are done and then you spot one more 5. Don't you forget about me Simple Minds and for the point at which the first train goes down the helix 6. Running down that hill Kate Bush Lastly a suggested theme song for the layout 7. I built it one piece at a time Jonny Cash Right, back to my gig! TTFN Pop Pickers!