Category Archives: library

Lost Diesels, Lost Lines (Review)

In a, ‘Does what it says on the tin’ kind of way, this book pretty much does that. This is a new Transport Treasury album that covers diesels that are withdrawn, and closed lines, so this book is very much … Continue reading

Posted in b&w, black and white, blog, book, book review, Branch Line, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, Eastern Region, finescale, great britain, Great Western, history, hobbies, Hobby, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, library, life, LMS, LNER, man cave, media, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, new release, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, Photography, product news, prototype, railroad, railway, reading, reference, research, review, Scottish Region, Southern Region, throwback thursday, TT, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, Wales, Western Region | Leave a comment

Unashamedly product plugging!

Yup it’s a product plug! Due for imminent release, a new layout design book from James Hilton and published by Wild Swan! I’ve been fortunate enough to have a content preview and if you follow James’ work, this blog, Geoff … Continue reading

Posted in america, americana, baseboards, blogger, book, book review, Branch Line, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, canada, DC, DCC, Eighties, Exhibition, finescale, freelance, HO, ho scale, Hobby, iain rice, Ian Futers, Inspiration, Layout, layout design, library, media, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, new release, news, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, OO9, planning, product news, prototype, railroad, railway, reading, research, scale modelling, Toy trains, track plans, TT Gauge, Uncategorized, wild swan | 10 Comments

Requiem For Steam

A year or so back I took a look at Essential Witness and Transition by Jim Shaughnessy and Colin Gifford respectively. This week our ever genial postie tapped on the door and left this gem, Requiem For Steam. If you’ve … Continue reading

Posted in america, americana, Art, b&w, Bachmann, black and white, blog, book review, Cameo layout, canada, canadian national, canadian pacific, dapol, finescale, Hattons, heljan, history, HO, hobbies, Hobby, Hornby, Industrial, Inspiration, journey, Kalmbach, Layout, library, life, man cave, mancave, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, modeling, monochrome, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, Oxford rail, peco, Photography, Rapido Trains, realism, reference, research, review, travel, Uncategorized, Union Pacific, usa | Leave a comment

Unconsidered Trifles

It’s an unconventional title for an unconventional book. Written and illustrated by Geoff Kent, (builder of the above scene), it takes a look at the everyday scene, with emphasis on capturing architecture, and signage and infrastructure that is gradually becoming … Continue reading

Posted in 2020, accurascale, Bachmann, blog, book, book review, Cameo, Cameo layout, Eighties, finescale, freelance, great britain, Hattons, heljan, history, hobbies, Hobby, Hornby, Industrial, Inspiration, Layout, library, life, light railway, LMS, LNER, man cave, mancave, media, Midland Region, model, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, modeling, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, new release, news, O Gauge, o scale, Old school, OO, OO Gauge, Oxford rail, peco, product news, prototype, railway, realism, research, review, scale, scale modelling, Southern Region, toy train, Toy trains, toytrainset, train set, Uncategorized, Wales, Welsh Marches, Western Region, wild swan | 1 Comment

Essential Witness and Transition

Essential Witness and Transition are two books that do that rare thing of capturing the railway in an engaging and artistic way. Each book contains the work of one photographer, Jim Shaughnessy for Essential Witness, and Colin Gifford for Transition. … Continue reading

Posted in b&w, black and white, blog, blogging, book, book review, Branch Line, British Rail, canada, copyright, history, hobbies, Inspiration, Layout, library, life, man cave, mancave, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, modeling, Modelling, monochrome, O Gauge, o scale, OO, OO Gauge, Photography, product news, railway, research, review, scale, scale modelling, seasons, skill, skillset, toy train, Toy trains, toytrainset, train set, trainset, travel, Uncategorized, usa | 1 Comment

Creating Cameo Layouts (Iain Rice / Wild Swan Books)

Iain Rice is well known for his many books and articles on layout design, and railway modelling across a wide range of subject matter. ‘Creating Cameo Layouts’ is the latest modelling book release from Wild Swan Books, and immediately looks … Continue reading

Posted in 2017, Bachmann, blog, book, Branch Line, brassmasters, British Rail, Cameo, Cameo layout, Chris Nevard, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, EM, Exhibition, finescale, flying scotsman, Forest of Dean, Great Western, HO, hobbies, Hornby, iain rice, Inspiration, Layout, library, life, LMS, LNER, media, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, modeling, Modelling, Modelu, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, Nevard, O Gauge, o scale, OO Gauge, Oxford rail, Rapido Trains, review, Scottish Region, shopping, social media, Southern, Southern Electrics, Southern Region, toy train, Toy trains, toytrainset, train set, trainset, Uncategorized, Wales, Western Region, wild swan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tracing Tuesday

   Wiring up continues with temporary switch locations for DC isolating sections. Once the sections are tested I’ll remove the switches and trace the wires into the main loom to the control panel.  The layout will be DC/DCC with the … Continue reading

Posted in 2016, Bachmann, blog, blogger, Branch Line, British Rail, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, finescale, Great Western, HO, hobbies, Hornby, Ian Futers, Layout, library, life, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, modeling, Modelling, Modelu, Nevard, OO Gauge, Oxford rail, trainset | 3 Comments

Analogue Media

Whilst the internet can be a useful resource, when I see books like this it really brings home just how much information is out there, both printed, and yet to come. This book from Lightmoor has all the things I … Continue reading

Posted in blog, blogging, book, Branch Line, Forest of Dean, Great Western, history, hobbies, library, life, magazine, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, modeling, Modelling, Nevard, Photography, research, review, social media, toy train, toytrainset, train set, Wales, Welsh Marches, Western Region | 4 Comments

Space, The Final Frontier II …

Last night I had the real privilege of meeting a hero, they, (whoever ‘they’ are), say you should never meet your hero’s for fear of disappointment, but this was a real pleasure. The hero wasn’t a person, but a layout, … Continue reading

Posted in Airfix, Bachmann, blogging, Branch Line, British Rail, Chris Nevard, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, Exhibition, Forest of Dean, Great Western, hero, history, hobbies, Hornby, Kalmbach, Layout, library, life, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Nevard, OO Gauge, Railex, research, Scottish Region, shelfie, Southern Region, Wales, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Lettuce Page ….

It’s been a spectacularly daft couple of weeks in the compact and bijou world of toy trains. My good friend Andy Cooper remarked on this in his own style here http://newheymodelrailway.  Andy’s take on this is interesting as he looks … Continue reading

Posted in Airfix, Bachmann, Branch Line, British Rail, canon, copyright, critic, Exhibition, hobbies, Hornby, humour, Kalmbach, Layout, library, life, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Nevard, OO Gauge, Photography, research, review, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments