colstephens

I started off in O scale 17 years ago, started a much too ambitious layout, tore it up after a couple years thinking O was too challenging. Then tried all the smaller scales, N, TT, HO, OO, and attempted to build half a dozen layouts, only to become dissatisfied with them, thinking I'd chosen the wrong prototype, railway company etc... and starting again. Back in 2016, my Dad purchased a Dapol O gauge Terrier, he couldn't resist it due to the low price. Package arrived from the UK while he was away and he instructed me to go ahead and open it up and have a look. Once the loco was out of the box, I knew that was it ! Eureka In my opinion with O, you get the feeling of the real thing, due to the size / weight, not to mention detail + the figures look like real characters you'd see or maybe even remember from your youth. In HO / OO, I felt like I was shunting little pieces of plastic around the goods yard, in O, I get the feeling of shunting wagons around the goods yard Once you experience O, you can't go back, at least for me, sadly it took 17 years to realize that !

That's because they're paid rather poorly, due to the railway's severely limited budget They get digs in a wood box !!

Operating my railway the other day, I decided it was time to make it less flat, and discovered I had a nice plaster casting of a stone bridge that just happened to be the right size for a small bridge, so out came the saws, carving knives and an afternoon of some fun later, this is the result, a small creek. I like the fact that it's another lower then track level scene. Next up is painting & weathering the bridge, as well as maybe a detail or 2, and installation. This is what I really enjoy about building a layout, scenery, so much fun