Book Review: Groudle Glen Railway Souvenier Guide

 

It's about Groudle, so therefore, brilliant. What more is there to say? 

OK, there is a bit more. This latest version of the guide, at 70 pages, is far more than a simple stock list. The text takes the reader from the earliest days of the Glen, and then the railway at the end of it. It introduces the steam locos, then their electric replacements, and exactly how badly those worked out. 

We go through dereliction, and gradual restoration before coming up to the present day.  

Only after this, do we cover each locomotive, including a few no longer on the line. All the stock gets a moment in the sun too, and that includes the all-important working wagons.  

My only worry, is that this is such a good history, it negates the hardback history that is also an impressive read. That said, it's perfect, and well priced at under a tenner, for the normal visitors the line attracts. If they read the contents, a little of the magic of my favourite railway line will be revealed. 

Only available from Flavel's Emporium on the line, so go pay a visit! 

I got some Gauge 3 into September's BRM!

 

You could say one of my practicals in BRM is a bit rubbish - well I was asked to take a modern dustcart, and work it into a diorama. The good news is that as well as the modelling, I've written a little history of wheelie bins!

As a bonus, I've modelled a man using a manhole to come up from under the road. 

In the four-step section, my first coach makes an appearance, being fitted out with passengers. Timely, as there is a little discussion floating around wondering if model buses should be available with passengers fitted in them. 

My camera has been out for a couple of cracking layouts. 

First, we have Temple Bridge in OO. The moment I saw this at Stafford show, I wanted to shoot it. The builder has really nailed the London atmosphere. Not just a terminus station and loads of yellow bricks, but with a small factory tucked in the middle of the scene. While there are less of these today than in the past, they are still a feature of the capital.  

Next, we have Littlecliff on Sea, in Gauge 3. 

I know, shouldn't Gauge 3 be part of the Garden Rail remit? In this case, I lobbied hard to say it was a BRM subject. This is one of the most detailed layouts I have ever seen. I'd go so far as to say it will be in my top five model railway layouts, I have ever seen. And I've enjoyed looking at a lot of layouts. The modelling is stunning, the atmosphere perfect. My only complaint is that it took its builder only six months to create. 

Seriously, this is a layout worth buying the magazine for on its own. Who knows, maybe the photos will inspire a few modellers taking flight from the smaller gauges where there is a lot of RTR, to consider larger scales because of the detailing possibilities on offer. 

Warehouse Wednesday: Manx shelter and post box

 

I'm nearly through the Manx photos, but had to use this one taken in the little museum (I think) beside Laxey station. 

Information is a bit sparse, but I assume this is a tiny shelter from the Manx Electric Railway. The post box is a fairly typical Manx feature - there is one at Groudle Station, which I always try to remember to send a postcard from. 

Both are very modelable, although that shelter looks a bit small for anything other than three people! 

Book Review: Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid-Wales by JIC Boyd

 

Many years ago, young Phil borrowed this book, Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid-Wales, repeatedly from my local library. I've never actually read it, but that wasn't the point. Inside were plans. Lots of plans. For locomotives, carriages and wagons. 

At the time, I dreamed that I'd use these plans to make models. I didn't dream of just owning them, I was going to build them myself. 

Of course, I never did. On my garden line, the main feature was cost, or at least lack of it. I built very basic wagons that didn't look that much like those in the book. Probably the nearest I got was building a set of wagons from Saltford Models kits, and they aren't much like those on "proper" narrow-gauge railways.  

This didn't matter; those plans inspired me to have a go. I've always collected drawings and now have several boxfiles of the things. All dreams to be realised one day. 

Someone is doubtless wondering why if I love plans so much, they aren't a bigger feature in modern magazines.  The first, is simple. No mag can afford to pay what drawing a plan up should cost. Look at each of these. Measuring up a wagon and then creating a drawing is a couple of days work. A couple of days which should be paid at a skilled rate. There are over two weeks in the photo above. 

The other reason is a bit sadder - I might look at these and dream of building a model, most people look at them and dream of buying RTR. Nothing wrong with that, but the only person who needs a plan is the one sat in front of a computer full of CAD. I did once ask someone if he'd be out with the tin snips if we published a plan for a Duchess, "Oh yes", he said. I was not convinced. Nowadays, a plan would be pored over, but only so people could find errors, real or imaginary, and pronounce on them online. 

Anyway, back to the book. I've occasionally looked at copies, but the other day, one popped up on Instagram being sold by Oxfam. The price was good, as is the cause. A couple of days later it was in my hand. 

Perhaps I'll get around to reading it now! 

Smallspace haul

 

If I'm honest, Smallspace was a lot about resisting temptation this year.Even I have worked out I really don't need any more plastic kit right now. Not Space: 1999 Eagle & Hawk War Games Edition 1:72 Scale Model. Not V.I.N.cent from the Black Hole. Nor the Visible V8 kit I've wanted to build since seeing it in Model Maker magazine back in the 1980s. Although that one has been superseded by the VW Engine I built a few years ago, 

Of course, I managed to add to the stash a little. Some very cheap paints from ranges I'm not that familiar with. I like trying different materials, and when they are 50p to £1 a pot, it would be daft not to experiment. 

For the model boats in the future, a few 1:12 scale figures are handy. They look like characters from the TV series Dr Who, you say? Just a coincidence. 

And I've not really built a vinyl figure kit, but I remember reading about them in Model Mart magazine. For a fiver, I quite fancy having a go at a 1/6th scale Dr Jones senior.