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Monthly Archives: March 2017
1971 – April – “Gricers” reach Wales
The April 1971 edition of Railway Magazine contained an article informing us that there were still seven classes of steam locomotive operating in Malaysia. They had certainly all gone by 1985 when Maxine and I took a train from Kuala … Continue reading
Posted in Prototype, Uncategorized, Weird and wonderful
Tagged humour, narrow gauge, prototype, railway
1 Comment
Blatant tourism interlude
Back from Singapore last weekend, having worked for 10 days solid. But there was time to take a few photos. So here’s a little tourism as a diversion from the usual trains. I did find time to visit the Asian … Continue reading
A question of gauge
In March 1995, ‘Back Track’ had an interesting article on the gauge of railways, with particular reference to the GWR broad gauge and the 4′ 8.5″ ‘narrow’ gauge. Railway history is often thought of as a battle between these gauges, … Continue reading
Posted in Out and about, Prototype, Weird and wonderful
Tagged inspiration, prototype, railway
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What’s in a name?
A good article from the BBC, exploring how ten London Underground stations got their peculiar names: How tube stations got their unusual names Scan a map of the London Underground for the first time, and you’ll likely notice that it … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Shunting ad infinitum
You may recall that I found this plan of a small urban goods yard in Brighton, and commented on its suitability for a model. (All maps from the National Library of Scotland site, under creative commons.) Wandering around south London, … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design, Out and about
Tagged inspiration, Layout design, model railway
4 Comments
Commuter spots seven nuns at Seven Sisters
Something special from the Daily Telegraph…. A commuter was astonished when he saw seven nuns waiting for a train at Seven Sisters Tube station in London. The entertaining coincidence appeared not to have been noticed by the nuns as they sat and … Continue reading
Posted in Inspiration, Out and about, Prototype, Weird and wonderful
Tagged humour, inspiration, prototype, railway
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Book review – Creating cameo layouts’
We all get older. Even Iain Rice gets older. That young whipper-snapper with radical ideas on P4 modelling and on layout design is now an elder statesman of the hobby. Fortunately he writes in just the same style as he ever … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design, The trade
Tagged book review, Hints and tips, Layout design, model railway
2 Comments
Crisis – what crisis?
The September 1982 copy of ‘Modern Railways’ has the cover sub-title of “British Rail in crisis.” This seems to be mainly due to a prolonged strike by the ASLEF drivers. It seems to have been due to a proposal to … Continue reading
Posted in Out and about, Prototype, Weird and wonderful
Tagged railway, Southern Electric
2 Comments
Off my trolley – North Hollywood yet again
Noticed recently that the restoration of the old Pacific Electric / Southern Pacific depot at North Hollywood has been completed and reopened as a commuter café on the Metro Orange Line. This article gives the details, including: The official grand … Continue reading
Posted in Inspiration, Layout design, Prototype, Traction
Tagged inspiration, layout design, modular layouts, N gauge, Pacific Electric
1 Comment
Book review – Model Railroad Planning 2017′
The new year has come around again and it’s time for this year’s ‘Model Railroad Planning’ from Kalmbach. I get this annual publication every year, and it is almost always worth a read. There are usually too many (for me) … Continue reading
Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design, The trade
Tagged book review, Hints and tips, Layout design, model railway
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