Neil

A well reasoned philosophy Al. I'm pretty much in the good enough camp too; these days I'm quite happy to buy older versions of models (particularly locos) and do a bit of light tarting up. On occasion I'll buy a non runner or one with cosmetic damage and effect repairs. It's not just the Yorkshire in me coming to the fore, there's a lot of satisfaction in the process of repairing and fettling a broken cast off.

Peace; what better could one want at Christmas. 

The track and actually the whole layout looks really good. The only thing that stands out is the North Sussex, Holbrook Station sign, in particular the fonts used, otherwise brilliant.

I like it but are you sure about hiding the wheels of the stock from low viewing angles? I usually work quite hard to make sure that I give a good full view of the trains for as much of the layout as possible. I know it's all down to personal preference but the bit of my brain that recognises that we (usually) strive for as long a run as possible fights against concealment.

I don't think that NLDO, cameo or trainset in a box works for all layouts. While a constrained view can work well for urban layouts I take the view that the claustrophobic air it gives fights against a sense of open space which rural and in this case a valley setting needs. Even boxing in might work with the layout I'd be in favour of plenty of sky rather than the tank drivers view usually given in a cased presentation.

That's a rather lovely loco, it's definately different to the average pannier.

That's shaping up very nicely Al. In the past I've always been wary of modifying completed work, which has often meant scrapping rather than tweaking. Seeing what you've done here makes me more aware of the possibilities of adjustment and reshaping finished scenes.

Hello Jamie, I'm with Mikel re. the over visualisation sucking a lot of the joy out of the project. A layout planned to within an inch of its life is rather like a jigsaw, you know what it will look like when it's done but you have lots of hard work to get there. A more loosely planned layout is more like a painting where there's room for amendments as you go on and the possibility of surprising yourself as you progress through the project.  

I absolutely love it. The last image has a touch of Magritte about it, perhaps it's the standard man in the hat or the dark background. There's some other worldly quality to the layout and it's brilliant.

That's a very neat re-purposing Al. I'd never have thought of the building over the track dodge, most ingenious.

Brilliant idea. My own taste would be to include some scenery but I know that this would make the joins between models harder to manage unless there was a standard scenic end as well as a standard track end. Maybe each section could bulge out in the middle for the scenic bit and narrow to just the trackbed for the join?

17 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

Rubbish, isn't it?

 

At least the USA now wants to return people to the moon within 10 years.

 

Excellent news. Kindly enter the launch vehicle Mr Trump. Mr Johnson, yes you can bring your friends Jacob and Nigel with you .....

Ah but they are that rarest of properties, 'affordable homes'.

Good to see a proper workmanlike chassis for the loco. My stash of lead did come off a chapel roof.

Fabulous. It's always a treat when an update arrives in your blog.

Too late; already excited.

Fantastic, just found this thanks to Simon Dunkley. I really like what you've done, and think that you've far exceeded the shunting puzzle and come up with something quite artful.

Hello Liddy, I began to wonder where you'd got to. Must say that I really like the scheme you've outlined above. Shops are always a favourite of mine, they're one of those things that acts to clearly define the era of a model and besides which I thoroughly enjoy creating the window displays. I'm particularly partial to the lock up shop, here's a favourite from Borth.

There's a brilliant cinematic quality to your photos Mikkel (particularly the couple of the lost and forgotten crate) which really boost the storytelling. Just brilliant.

Can't beat a big trainset.

Like the fully lined tunnel on a curve; I'll be picking your brains about this as I have one of my own to do after I've built a bridge.