Albion Yard

Motivation Monday Shelfie 5

Posted on May 25, 2026 by bawdsey

This weekend has been quite productive. Ballasting is complete and the initial colours for the track laid down. These are washes of Tamiya acrylic over Woodland Scenics fine ballast. All track is Peco and will be wired for live frog operation. Just running the 08’s up and down has validated the track alignment and the two MDV’s run equally well.

Four points are powered by MP1 point motors, the first time I’ve used them. Initial thoughts are very positive, they’re compact in all dimensions, and these have been fixed with double sided tape. The centring springs have been removed from the Peco tie bar, as the MP1 stalls at end of movement.

MP1 actuator pin is a chunky piece of rod.

The only downside to the MP1 is cutting the actuator pin, it’s a formidable strength pin, don’t blunt your xuron cutter on them…

I’ve also tried out some mixes of vegetation and static grass, I tend not to use them too much, but as this is such a small layout I’ll try them as the primary ground cover. One element that I don’t like with static grasses are those that have reds in the colour mix, they are too visible in some of the packs I’ve seen. Maximum length of strands is going to be 4mm, with the bulk of them 2mm and mixed with different brands of scatter material.

The small patch here has worked and bodes well for getting the overgrown and rarely used look I’m going to be trying to capture.

So that is the bank holiday weekend done, point switches to source and then wire a very simple loom in place. I think the control panel may be a challenge. I want a simple, tidy and functional panel, a deep picture frame from one of the ‘lifestyle’ shops is in my mind as a good starting point.

I’m pleased with how this is ticking over, and it generates interest for me in returning to Shelfie 3 which is still treading water….

Posted in Albion Yard, baseboards, blog, Branch Line, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, D&E, DC, DCC, Eighties, finescale, heljan, ho scale, Hobby, Hornby, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, man cave, Manchester, media, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, Modelu, monday motivation, motivation monday, n gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, peco, railroad, railway, scale modelling, shelfie, Shelfie 5, Tamiya, toy train, train set, TT, TT Gauge, TT120, Uncategorized, Wales, woodland scenics | Tagged blog, british rail, finescale, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, Model Railroad, Model Railway | Leave a comment

Cool Sunday, Shelfie 5

Posted on May 3, 2026 by bawdsey

Literally, it’s like 12c and I’m outside. With me, some Tim Horn boards, some Peco TT120 track, superglue, plasticard, and a good weight.

Welcome to Shelfie 5 I suppose! The concept here is a relatively simple test piece, the sort of thing that could work in an apartment or student digs, where perhaps space is at a premium but N gauge or 2FS isn’t floating the boat. It’s also a test for me, I’d love to have seen some GWR panniers in this scale, but despite being in Hornby’s initial designs to be produced, nothing has appeared. Had it done so I think the 4mm stuff would have been out the door pretty quickly and replaced with the TT120. There’s still a shortage of some ready staples such as BR 16t minerals and 20T brakevan’s, those would surely be a steady seller the longevity meaning that maximum use could be made from the tooling.

When I look at TT120’s size, second from top above, there’s a lot to recommend it. The running qualities of the 08’s (x2) I have, and the class 50 I reviewed are as good as contemporary N gauge. The Peco track is to their normal quality too, the flexitrack through needs green kryptonite to cut through it, not necessarily a bad thing!

This time we’re in North Wales, possibly the Llyn peninsula, or further inland towards the slate quarries. I’ve roughed some ideas around the track plan. The track plan has come from a single image which provided the inspiration, and that was from east London. But the atmosphere of that picture clicked, and the right side of the brain started ticking over.

Also to try out on Shelfie 5 are these MP1 switch motors. The points have switchable polarity and like the rest of the track are superglued in place, onto a regular 1/16th inch thick cork underlay. You have to work quickly the thin superglue wicks into the cork, so the weight needs instant application. It does make for a fast build though. Fixing the track down permanently has taken around one hour. This will be a DCC primary control layout, but I may well look at the DC option as an additional feature. It won’t be a problem to add that, the concept is ‘one locomotive in steam’ regardless of control system. Dropper wires will be fixed in place to ensure good performance.

The point motors will be held in place with double sided tape, to minimise any actuation sound. The day has ended with the track firmly fixed, and cork shoulder, or rather borders in place to capture the edge of the cess and an early start to the ballasting made. This will be the finest grade from Woodland Scenics and held in place with acrylic floor polish and matt varnish. The buildings, most of them, are already prepared, 3D prints painted with acrylic, just the final positioning to refine and set into the scenery.

All fairly conventional and nothing really ground breaking. I’m happy with that though, as it allows me to get my head around the scale and its practicalities or otherwise without any distractions. Quite a productive Sunday for once!

Posted in 3d printing, accurascale, Albion Yard, Bachmann, blogger, BR Blue, British Rail, Cameo layout, D&E, DC, DCC, finescale, heljan, hobbies, Hornby, Inspiration, layout design, man cave, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, Modelu, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, new year, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, OO9, Oxford rail, peco, planning, railroad, railway, realism, scale modelling, seventies, shelf layout, sundayfunday, Toy trains, track plans, train set, TT Gauge, TT120, Uncategorized, Wales, woodland scenics | Tagged Art, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, Model Railroad, Model Railway, photography, summer, technology, travel | 6 Comments

Wordless Wednesday 517

Posted on April 29, 2026 by bawdsey

Posted in accurascale, Bachmann, blog, Cameo layout, dapol, DC, DCC, dcc sound, finescale, Great Western, heljan, ho scale, hobbies, Hobby, Hornby, Inspiration, Layout, light railway, model, model photography, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, Modelu, n gauge, new release, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, Oxford rail, peco, Photography, railroad, railway, Rapido Trains, scale modelling, shelf layout, shelfie, shelfie2, toy train, trainspotting, TT120, Uncategorized, Welsh Marches, Western Region, woodland scenics, wordless wednesday | Tagged Hobby, Model Railroad, Model Railway, OO, OO Gauge, railroad, shelfie, wordless wednesday | Leave a comment

Motivation Monday, calling it Done

Posted on April 13, 2026 by bawdsey

So, a week on the wagon for Brynamon is complete. This is it at the 95% mark. The subtle shade difference is the gloss painted planks, painted to allow water slide decals and MicroSol decal solution to pull the decals into the planks. So far so good, just a scalpel cut needed after the first drying, the solution then will draw the decals into almost like capillary action into the mould lines. Buffers gave been swapped at the last minute. It now wears Accurascale RCH type, a small deviation, as the kit mouldings were really clunky and stood out as being the wrong shape and coarse. Sometimes doing something wrong deliberately is the right choice. The van is finished, but it’s one of those small ‘explosive’ charges that links me into doing something else…

Will the charge light up Shelfie3 again? It’s an intriguing thought. The layout needs signals and the components are sitting under the work bench, they need defining in terms of how they work, so probably more shelf of doom time for them! There’s the N gauge, 009 and TT120 projects all needing a coat of looking at too, plenty to think about, but the van above, being a quick win has pulled the motivation up a notch or two!

Posted in accurascale, Albion Yard, Bachmann, blogger, Cameo layout, Commitment, DC, DCC, decals, finescale, heljan, ho scale, Hobby, Hornby, Inspiration, justdoit, life, man cave, Model Railroad, Model Railway, monday motivation, motivation monday, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, OO9, peco, railroad, railway, realism, shelf layout, shelfie, shelfie3, signalling, toy train, TT120, Uncategorized, waterslide | Tagged accurascale, Hobby, Hornby, Model Railroad, Model Railway, OO Gauge, railroad, railway, shelfie | Leave a comment

Motivation Monday, a Shade of Grey

Posted on April 6, 2026 by bawdsey

A couple of weeks ago I picked this up from a friend with an offer to build it for them. The reason being ‘why not?’ It came about as three of us looked at one of his layouts and with a little bit of wire tracing, got the points fired up again which was on hi ‘to do’ list. Once that happened it was one of those spurs to look at other quick wins for the layout, and there were a couple of wagons yet to built. To be honest I quite fancied building it, as it’s a while since I’ve put a kit like this together. I do have other projects underway in terms of kit building like the Parkside hoppers below, those just needed a set of wheels and one end moulding sprue that had gone AWOL over a few years of storage.

The Cambrian kit is for a D664 10 ton van, and is a very simple kit, I’ve not counted but there probably only 30 parts or so, It is of its age though, and perhaps a little crude by contemporary standards, especially when we see the quality of 3D printing and how that has improved. The neat thing about the kit though is it’s simplicity, the top picture was around an hour or so’s work, but the pleasure of getting the body square, and sitting it on the chassis, was a real joy.

Also looking around his man cave there was a simple operational fiddle yard that took my fancy. I’ve started working on my Forest of Dean system layout, and a recent purchase of some boards that were available will likely accelerate the first stages. The yard above however had me thinking, the end of the line that I’m going to be doing is Lydney Docks and looking at the simple point actuation above had me thinking along similar lines rather than electric points as the simple method also includes frog polarity switching, which for me is a key element, especially with short wheelbase locomotives.

The above boards are two of the batch that I’m refurbishing for the project, its quite labour intensive cutting back the paint off them and preparing the surfaces, I also want to raise the track bed off the main layout deck, so I will have to cut access holes to place any point motors in a way that I can access them for any maintenance or replacement. These will be part of the fiddle yard area and I’m minded to have a sort of a compromise in scenic terms, in that the fiddle yard may well be partially landscaped with scenery, Lydney may well be a pastiche or more realistically, not a meaningful visible replication of the docks, but will reflect the unloading of coal at the right place in the system. Theres still a good bit of planning yet to do as regards the system, but these, and the other boards that came with them will likely make the end of the line, and getting that bit right, will paradoxically be the beginning of the rest of the system!

Posted in accurascale, Albion Yard, Bachmann, baseboards, blogger, British Rail, cambrian, Cameo, Cameo layout, dapol, DC, DCC, dcc sound, dingham, Exhibition, finescale, Forest of Dean, heljan, ho scale, hobbies, Hornby, Inspiration, kit, Layout, layout design, man cave, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelu, monday motivation, motivation monday, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, OO9, Oxford rail, peco, railroad, railway, realism, scale modelling, scenery, shelf layout, shelfie, signalling, toy train, train set, TT120, Uncategorized, wagon, Western Region, youtube | Tagged Hornby, Model Railroad, Model Railway, model-railroading, railroad, shelfie, train, trainset | Leave a comment

Throwback Thursday, Rage Bait in the world of Toy Trains!

Posted on March 26, 2026 by bawdsey

You remember that time Hattons said they’re closing, and Warley pulled the shutters on the NEC, and that bloke on the internet said this toy train needs to be heavier, well we got a biggie for you today! Yes get ready for ill informed and inaccurate speculation across the interweb, but here’s the story…

Accurascale Acquires Heljan – A New Era for a Legendary Name in Model Railways

25 March, Dublin and Søndersø – Accurascale Limited is proud to announce the acquisition of renowned model railway manufacturer Heljan, marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter for one of the hobby’s most respected and innovative brands.

Under Accurascale ownership, Heljan UK will move to a direct-to-consumer sales model, with all UK sales taking place exclusively via the Heljan UK website. This new approach will allow Heljan to offer exceptional value and closer engagement with customers and lower prices for robust, reliable and durable models in a market demanding more affordability and value for money. This bold new strategy encourages new entrants into the hobby, both young and old, while offering seasoned modellers exceptional value as they add to their collections or change scales and safeguarding the future of the brand, which has seen retail outlets close with increasing frequency over the past couple of years and has been the victim of almost relentless price slashing sales via larger retail outlets.

Heljan’s Danish range will continue to be available through retail networks in mainland Europe. That range will see expansion in the coming years as will all new models incorporating new levels of detail, features and fidelity in line with Accurascale’s approach.

As part of this launch:

OO gauge locomotives will be priced from just £99.95, with selected lines at £49.95
O gauge locomotives will be priced from just £299.95, with selected lines below this figure
TT Powered Models Will be Priced from £124.94 and the range will receive further investment through new models
New customer sign-ups will receive 10% off their first order

The Heljan website will offer the same customer benefits as Accurascale, including:

3% cashback in loyalty points when customers register an account
Free UK shipping on orders over £100
Bundle discounts on wagons and coaches where applicable

Modellers who have previously pre-ordered forthcoming Heljan models that are in development, such as the Class 42 Warship, Class 44, Class 86, in OO, Class 24 in O gauge and Class 55 and Class 122 ‘Bubble Cars’ in TT will now have to pre-order direct on the Heljan UK website, but with a much reduced, more attractive price point. This will be the case for all new Heljan British outline releases going forwards, and it will see a growth of excellently priced models in stock grow over the coming weeks and months.

Customers looking to pre-order the forthcoming Class 153 and 155 DMUs in OO gauge can now pre-order those on the Accurascale website, as they will now join the Accurascale range!

A Return to Innovation

Accurascale’s ambition for Heljan is to recapture the innovative spirit that made the brand famous in the British market, from the step-change impact of the first-generation Class 47 in OO gauge, the brave building of the Ready-To-Run O gauge market, to iconic products such as the functioning Container Crane, working traverser and 009 ranges. The robust nature and smooth-running characteristics of Heljan locomotives will be maintained and serve as the foundation for future models.

Looking forward, the plan includes:

Exciting new and innovative products across multiple scales
Enhanced value in established Heljan OO models, including upgrades in sound, digital and lighting functionality
Upgrading selected Heljan OO models to full Accurascale specification over time
Significantly improved value in Heljan O gauge, with reduced prices and additional features such as factory-fitted digital sound in future releases
Continued exploration of the British TT:120 market with further models in development
Establishing Heljan as the market leader in Danish-outline HO, with exciting new models and enhanced specifications already planned

Preserving and Building on a 70-Year Legacy

The Heljan name will continue, building on its 70-year heritage of serving the hobby market with innovative, robust, and reliable models.

Accurascale is also pleased to confirm that Kim Nannestad and Ben Jones will remain part of the Heljan family, ensuring continuity, experience, and passion remain at the heart of the brand as it moves forward.

Together, Accurascale and Heljan will focus on delivering:

Robust, reliable, smooth-running models at highly attractive price points in OO, O, and TT gauge for the UK market
Market-leading quality in the HO market, in line with Accurascale’s well-known standards

A Powerful Future Ahead

“This acquisition is about respecting Heljan’s incredible legacy while giving the brand the tools, technology, and direction to thrive in the modern market,” said Stephen McCarron, Managing Director, Accurascale. “We believe Heljan can once again be a byword for innovation, value, and excitement across multiple scales and markets.”

Kim Nannestad expressed his delight at joining forces with Accurascale: “The Heljan brand has been part of the Nannestad family for 70 years, and we are incredibly proud of it and what my Grandfather established, my father built and what we have achieved. We are now excited to build on that legacy with Accurascale and bring new energy and ideas to Heljan, preserve its future and become a market leader.”

Check out www.heljan.com for the latest Heljan news updates and shop for your favourite models at unbeatable prices for the UK outline range, and www.heljan.dk for the Danish range.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

First one in, 2026

Posted on February 1, 2026 by bawdsey

A bit late to the party with this one, life has had its twists and turns in January including down into the Med on another mission, getting called out whilst at the excellent Define modeller’s day in Risley.

I’m there again today, writing this one from Malta..

On his most readable blog Phil Parker recently noted he’s been writing his blog for 20 years, quite an achievement to provide that content so consistently and as far as I know daily over the years, that’ll make him an influencer. Probably.

It got me thinking about my blogs, my first posting being just on 19 years back, on Norven Munky. That post looked at the Heljan Western, which was interesting for its time. Better than the previous post holders, but not quite there. I often get asked is Munky going to wake up and write some more? Well there’s plenty of material to consider… This blog has been ticking over now for a good few years too, obviously not with daily posts as per Phil’s efforts, he has my respect for that level of commitment!

On the subject of commitment there’s evidence above of just that, in a different format. This is a Rapido/Model Rail 16xx that is on the receiving end of some commitment.

This particular commitment was sparked up when revising plans for the Forest of Dean project I’m aiming to do. 16xx’s were quite prominent in the forest, and two of these have been sitting on the ‘shelf of waiting for something to happen’ for a while. Neither had had much use either so no extra work had been done to them. The opportunity of an empty garage, and empty day meant that I dug them out of storage and took a good look at them again. One thing they both needed was being ‘run in’, and that was achieved with the pair of them circulating a loop of Kato HO set track.

This is it above, it’s really robust and well built track, brilliant for plug and play. There’s something serene about just watching a train circulating, and with the moulded base a far reduced chance of any carpet fluff etc getting in a mechanism if used indoors. You can see it’s good for messing about outdoors too, and brings back memories of seeing Triang System3 track and it’s TT3 equivalent of many years ago.

So after getting run in, they moved to the pending pile and basic disassembly took place, to see the decoder installation . And then it went to quite a lot of disassembly to start weathering and a renumber for both of them. As usual I wanted an in use look to them and having worked out how to get the cabs off I thought the rear cab shutters would be good opened up on one of them.

That’s where the commitment takes place. Once you start, that’s it, you’re in for the hard yards. This looks a bit crude and brutal but it achieves a possibly unique version. I’ve seen weathered examples which have retained an unmodified body so this one or pair will look different. New shutter doors will be needed, probably brass or nickel silver, and will capture a working locomotive and critically add more character to it. The other thing I’ve done is painted the LED light for the firebox brown. That has made it far less obtrusive, and when you do notice it it’s a far more realistic colour.

So this has now reached the stage where Fox numberplates will be fitted, and then there’s the coupling choice. Dinghams look favourite, but recently myself and a friend have been trying DG couplings, as they show potential for the Forest project. There’s a few other tweaks in mind not least of which is ensuring a well matched decoder for good running qualities and controllability.

That’s of course unless I get distracted. We’re back to the commitments again…

Posted in accurascale, Albion Yard, Bachmann, Cameo layout, Commitment, DCC, dingham, finescale, Forest of Dean, heljan, HO, ho scale, Hobby, Hornby, Influencer, LED Lighting, man cave, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, Modelu, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, pannier, peco, railroad, railway, Rapido Trains, realism, scale modelling, shelf layout, shelfie, sundayfunday, toy train, train set, TT120, Uncategorized, youtube | Tagged Forest of Dean, Hobby, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, pannier, Rapido, shelfie | Leave a comment

Last one out 2025

Posted on December 31, 2025 by bawdsey

Today I have mostly been tidying up. Making room for stuff, and theoretically getting rid of stuff, which mainly means making a tidier pile of stuff. I bought into MRJ immediately I saw it and have every copy since 0, and today I dipped into the drawers where they are kept and randomly dug one out, #46 of 1991.

Published 34 years ago it by pure chance has a resonance to me, today. I’ve relatively recently found that the operating aspect of a model railway holds a real attraction, rather than a sequential shuffle of a fiddle yard stock. The connection to this edition is Peter Denny’s Buckingham layout, featured in edition 46 with a piece about the operation. And the connection? Well it’s only about 20 miles from me under the custodianship of a good friend Tony Gee, and it was operating it that sort of lit the fire.

More recently I’ve written about the engagement I get when being part of an operating team on Geoff Taylor’s Ruabon to Barmouth layout. Re-reading Peter Denny’s account and dipping into my Forest of Dean books is certainly getting the mind churn going.

This one is also on the coffee table at the moment. It’s off the shelf to try and pick through details of how I can work a realistic timetable up, and I’m still endeavouring to work out which locations will work in my space. So we’re back to shifting stuff round in the man cave!

One of the projects that hasn’t really grabbed me this year is the TT120 test piece. Wanting to make a small plausible shunting layout has been frustrating, ideally a few 16T minerals and a standard 20T brake for the 08’s to push about would have been perfect, and floated the boat but none so far!

However it did introduce me to a range of 3D printed buildings from MS models which are superb and well worth a look. On the subject of worthy looks the linked blogs and websites from fellow bloggers are always worth reading, please have a look when you get the opportunity.

What’s the plan over the new year? Well I’m on call, theoretically there’s still time to get another down range trip in, six so far since August including Albania, Sicily and Malta, all good fun to keep wheels turning! Modelling wise there’s a few untidy ends that need tieing down.

No exhibitions planned (yet), and Shelfie3 I anticipate will take its final form. The development of S3 has taken quite a while, some four years! A number of reasons for that, but primarily the viewing of it from both operators and spectators aspects.

The simplicity of the plan needs to be emphasised and I’ve not yet settled on the optimum solution which will allow the most effective viewpoint. It’s likely to be ‘different’.

Shelfie 4 I’m not sure where I m going with this one. Like most of the Shelfie family it has performed well, and taught me what I needed from it. There’s a conversion potential which I may explore, but it won’t be a priority. As I lean further into DCC however, it may well become a test track.

So, as we close for the new year, thank you for reading the blog and watching the YouTube channel. It was partly a sad year with the loss of some friends Mike Romans whom was a source of accurate information and an invaluable sounding board for modeller’s like myself and an invaluable source for manufacturers.

The really difficult and sudden loss of Andy York, whom set up RMweb in 2005. So much of the content and contacts within the hobby for me have been formed or influenced by the vehicle that the forum is. All the more remarkable when you see how digital media has grown since then, and the forum still thrives while most others have withered and gone. All credit to the BRM team whom have taken up the thread left by Andy so well. He was a true and positive influencer that I miss the opportunity to ping a message to, or pick up the phone and talk bollox to for half an hour or so. Even now some days I think I wonder what Andy would have said/thought about that.. Writing this there’s a bit of dust in the atmosphere, sorry (not sorry), about that.

Thanks also to the friends and colleagues in the exhibition, trade and publishing communities whom have been supportive and given us opportunities to assist or share products and developments, it means a lot.

Have a great new year, and see you on the other side!

Posted in accurascale, Albion Yard, Bachmann, blogging, British Rail, Cameo layout, christmas, DC, DCC, dcc sound, Exhibition, Forest of Dean, heljan, Hobby, Hornby, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, life, man cave, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelu, n gauge, NEC, new year, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, peco, planning, railroad, railway, realism, scale modelling, shelf layout, shelfie, shelfie2, shelfie3, shelfie4, track plans, TT120, Uncategorized | Tagged Exhibition, Forest of Dean, Hobby, Model Railroad, Model Railway, new year, OO, toytrain | Leave a comment

Merry Christmas 2025 and a little plan…

Posted on December 25, 2025 by bawdsey

Firstly, to all readers, have a good Christmas and best wishes for the season, especially if Christmas isn’t your thing for whatever reason! In the usual carnage and chaos that is the run up to Christmas Day, tidying is done. What that actually means is stuff is put somewhere and other stuff replaces it for about three weeks.

In that swapping around, and making space for a car in the garage, I know, I know, trust me this time it’s a good idea, I dug out the above. Some may recognise it.

High level view of Albion Yard headshunts

Yup it’s the last bit of Albion Yard that’s in existence. It’s one of those bloke things, I’ll keep it just in case. Just in case you want to add more shite to an already impressive pile you may think, and I’d have to concede you have a valid point. But, here’s the get out of jail card! Recently with a couple of good friends the Forest of Dean project has been making headway with thoughts being kicked around of optimising space, and critically determining what the project will give me.

Trevor (not the bloke you went to school with)

A week or so back we had the opportunity to operate Geoff Taylor’s Cambrian Ruabon to Barmouth system, and I was signalling Trevor. Trevor is an interesting location and you can see why Geoff chose it. Adjacent to Wrexham it had two industrial sources for traffic, the chemical works and the brickworks, both providing a source of inbound and outbound traffic. Previously the concept of trains doing something, rather than circulating had been emphasised in Geoffs earlier layout. This was the first time I’d a had an opportunity to see how the goods traffic ‘played’ into the sequence, and it really does bring an extra dimension. You can see why the American card systems are so popular.

So with the mind churning and discussion on the journey back with Ben, the question of what do I want from a layout was properly kicked from end to end of the pitch, and today the time to sit back and reflect is invaluable. The books above provide inspiration, the Hatfield to Hertford book soon to be reviewed here, (spoiler, it’s excellent) has a direct connection to me and the hobby, so while not Forest of Dean related it’s part of that determination to replicate something.

So back to the future, having shown Ben Chapman a copy of a Barry Norman plan for Serridge Junction, the sketch above appeared in my in box. And what was interesting was his interpretation of how it could fit in my space with the parameters I have. It was a completely different plan, but I can immediately see alternative benefits and challenges in that configuration. What is clear is with the festive movement of assorted ’stuff’ perhaps a new path has been highlighted. And that bit of Albion Yard, what of that? Well it’s potentially a drop in yard throat, so a tester, which will fire up the fiddle yard section. I can see a man cave shelf section just to design the fiddle yard and get optimum play and operating value of that part to start. It worked well on Albion Yard and perhaps there’s a nod back to it, not needed, but nice to have…

So to close, wishing you all a great festive season. If you can take the time to sit back, and just enjoy the moment and maybe take a plan, turn it on its head, and let your imagination wander. It might just fire up something completely unexpected.

Back soon, have a good one!

Posted in accurascale, Albion Yard, Bachmann, barmouth junction, blog, British Rail, cambrian, Cameo layout, christmas, DC, DCC, dcc sound, finescale, Forest of Dean, Great Western, heljan, ho scale, Hobby, Hornby, Industrial, Inspiration, journey, Layout, layout design, life, man cave, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, peco, railroad, railway, realism, research, scale modelling, shelf layout, shelfie, shelfie1, shelfie2, shelfie3, shelfie4, throwback thursday, thursday throwback, toy train, track plans, train set, TT120, Uncategorized, Western Region | Tagged Bachmann, Forest of Dean, HO, Hobby, Hornby, Model Railroad, Model Railway, railway, shelfie, throwback thursday, toytrain, trainset | Leave a comment

Hotel California

Posted on December 14, 2025 by bawdsey

You can step out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Thats branch or short line modelling for me. A brief chat with a viewer at the NEC in late November brought that thought forefront. They chatted for a few minutes and mentioned they’d been following the blog from its early days. Day one came from wanting to write specifically about Albion Yard away from the other online content I was writing. I knew Albion would have a story, it was already shape shifting, quite literally with interchangeable buildings that allowed a completely different appearance to be generated quickly, particularly useful for capturing peoples imagination with a different take on the same footprint and track plan. I didn’t realise that story would be a constant though.

The picture above was a popular one, the background a mix of Howard Scenics houses, and an HO scale Berlin apartment block. But the core layout was a small, out of the way yard that only local people would know was there, the sort of thing that was hidden in plain sight behind a factory unit or row of houses. Shelfie2 at the NEC drew similar comments, it caught viewers imagination that it was a plausible small coal disposal yard tucked away down a rural back lane in Northumberland. That was my intention of course, but looking at the picture above and the one below there’s a common theme, even though they’re ten years or more apart. OO, off the beaten track, a backwater, 08’s, the dying embers of a railway system, once busy, now becalmed before the final closure.

I look at future plans, Shelfie2 above has a broken promise. Do I spin the viewing side 180 degrees, why not? It is a view I know works better than the one I ended with. The lighting rig and the control system can all be changed, relatively easily. While it will be the same layout I do wonder if it will ‘give’ me a second layout. Being so used to seeing it from the existing viewpoint will it light any fires seeing it in reverse? The thing is, I know it looks better in some aspects that way round. Some copicing will need to be done, the back wall of trees will need attention with gaps built into them to open views down into the yard. And thats an interesting bit, looking down the hill instead of up it, blocking the shadows onto the backdrop trying to capture the depth of the landscape and the Cheviots in the middle distance. How to get that Housman ‘Blue remembered hills’ feel quoted by Iain Rice and so effectively captured in Geoff Forsters Welsh Marches layouts.

The layout can of course evolve, its one that I’d considered ‘finished’, its done what I needed it too. Thoughts are that it can drop into a Forest of Dean system I want to build. Not as a location as such, but as a ready to run section to run trains to and from to start with. A planned visit later this week to a good friends rail system will no doubt provide further inspiration for its future.

If I spin it I still haven’t left the Hotel of course, just swapped the room furniture..

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