I was recently re-introduced to model railways, and decided I’d spent enough time (20 years?) procrastinating about building a layout. The trains run much better on a firm base, and look much nicer with some scenery around them. Inspired by friends and some good websites, I’ve spent the last few weeks building a little shunting layout. In order to blog about it in gory detail, I’ve created a new blog. You’re welcome to follow along there!
For the second coming out on this blog, it’s time to document my interest in railways, and particularly the model variety. For some reason, model railroad fans in the UK have the habit of being rather discreet about their hobby! No more ;-)
As a kid my trainset seemed to take hold as a hobby, and I avidly read magazines, and built up a little collection of trains. I even graduated to modifying and repainting them, to make them ‘more like the prototype’.
The hobby has never really left me, and over the last few years, I’ve been slowly aquiring the tools to have a more serious go at building a layout. There have also been a few interesting technology advances – DCC control should let me combine computing and railways at some point in the near future!
After looking at a micro layouts website, I felt here was a project I could tackle and complete – most of my previous attempts to build layouts have faltered for being too ambitious for my skills or time.
A few months ago, the final part of the puzzle fell in to place – a place to base the model on. During a trip to Norwich I passed Ipswich on the train, and outside the window was the perfect location – Ipswich Stabling Point.
So watch this space, over the next year or so, and I’ll try and write up my experience as I build ‘After Ipswich’ – a micro layout based loosely on the real thing…