Ian Holmes

I hope you like it. As a contributor to Carls site. You’d be welcome as a contributor to The Dispatch. (As would all micro layout builders hereabouts) Ian

The layout was featured in issue 6 (Autumn 2022) of the Micro Model Railway Dispatch. I hope you knew that already. If not, I'm doing a terrible job of advertising my micro layout e-zine. https://micromodelrailwaydispatch.com Ian

Wow! You’re totally changing the character of the layout. Excellent! Looking forward to seeing the progress ian

This is looking very interesting indeed. I’m looking forward to seeing more.

Looking good.

Enjoying catching up on this thread. I'm always looking at O gauge layouts for inspiration after the Guild virtual show. Nice work. Ian

Good to know. Thanks.

Searching around for a suitable chassis to put under a Wisbech and Upwell tram loco, I found this. Would it make a good donor unit or is there anything better. As a tram loco with skirts it will make little difference to me if the donor chassis has 4 or 6 wheels. https://www.reynaulds.com/products/Arnold/HN9054.aspx

Great work. Very impressive Ian

Great micro layout. I’ve enjoyed watching the progress as you build it. Ian

A blog post in which I dig up the old East Lincolnshire light railway. For consideration as a subject for my TT:120 layout https://tttalkabout.blogspot.com/2022/11/east-lincolnshire-light-railway.html

That kind of money might be an object 😄 Ian

Further to this post. I’m thinking that it’s going to be a while before any locomotives I’m interested in will be released. So I might just set to and build myself a G15/Y6 tram loco, that way, wheels could be hidden under skirts hiding a multitude of sins. I’d probably finish that first. What would be a good motor unit to sit under that? Something from Halling perhaps? Or is there an RTR loco out there?

Some more blog ramblings about my proposed layout. Looking to the future https://tttalkabout.blogspot.com/2022/11/looking-to-past-planning-for-future.html

OK. That’s a ruddy brilliant idea. Using the window casement to operate the sector plate. Ian

Paul did you ever send me an email? Just checking Ian

So far I’ve found one. Central Hobbies in Canada. They list it on their website. https://www.central-hobbies.com/products/tt.html Ian

@D9020 Nimbus I’ve been looking through my Railway Modellers too, to see if I could find what you were referring to. The nearest I’ve found is Lindale by David Spooner from December 1981. As to why that trackplan is referred to as so, is testament to Roy C Link’s original scheme. It really tapped into a need amongst modellers for something small and interesting to operate. The visuals were what clinched it, I think. Certainly speaking personally. It really did show that there was potential in a small space. As for the name, well the hobby of railway modelling is all about compromise. Roys article and plan was the first to pull it all together under a snappy title and a whole concept. Much like Iain Rice’s “cameo layouts” perhaps.

I expanded on my nostalgic thoughts in a blog post https://tttalkabout.blogspot.com/2022/10/everything-old-is-new-again.html

Yes, you must… 😉😂 ian

Just for fun, I’ve been going back through the old Railway Modeller archive to the times when TT-3 was brand new. Yes I know there’s the scale discrepancy between TT-3 and TT:120. But it’s so much fun to read these articles, and there’s still much good reference material out there. Pieces from hobby legends like Doris Stokes and Edward Beal. People were as excited about TT-3 then as we are about TT:120 now. Everything old is new again…

Thanks for drawing this out. Food for thought. ian

I remember that article, it certainly destroyed a few childhood dreams of mine finding that out. 😂

Francois Fontana, editor of Voie Libre gave the latest issue of The Micro Model Railway Dispatch a mention in the new issue of his magazine. He said that he enjoyed this layout. Ian

FYI. The current issue of The Dispatch gets a mention in issue 111 of Voie Libre. Editor Francois Fontana is impressed with the Ivor the Engine layout.