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!