Category Archives: Inspiration

Almost a model?

Posted on August 5, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

A picture from the BBC website, of derailed engineering trains in Scotland.  This looks remarkably like our ESNG layout on a bad day (and I suspect most modellers will identify with the incident!) According to the article: Two trains carrying ballast … Continue reading →

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London Bridge rebuild

Posted on August 3, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Our local paper the Sorry Error, whoops, Surrey Mirror published these aerial photos of the London Bridge rebuilding project.  This rebuild will increase the capacity of the through tracks that feed the Thameslink lines through to north London.  It will … Continue reading →

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Up the Junction

Posted on August 1, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Just before we went on holiday, I made my last visit to offices in Kew Bridge, reviewing designs of the river crossings for a gas pipeline in Turkey.  This has been a regular trip, from Redhill to Clapham Junction and … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – Pacific Electric at its best

Posted on July 30, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Browsing (as one does) I came across a New York Subway site with this excellent picture of a Pacific Electric PCC car at an unknown, but very modellable location.  (OK, New York site, PE picture, does not compute…..  but it’s still … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Layout design, Prototype, Traction | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Five things you can do to be happier right now

Posted on July 28, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Most people are wrong about the things that will make them happy.  Professor Paul Dolan, speaking at the Hay Festive, said it’s actually quite simple.  I’ve adapted them for model railway use – I think they still work! Listening to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Out and about, Weird and wonderful | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Australian inspiration

Posted on July 26, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Rediscovering websites that seem to have gone for good is always good news.  I enjoyed Andrew Martin’s site as it had a good number of very buildable small layout plans.  Although based in Australia, small stations are small stations worldwide – … Continue reading →

Posted in ESNG, Inspiration, Layout design, N Club International | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Exhibitions, are they worth it?

Posted on July 24, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Julias Modelopolis  (Julia makes marvellous 2mm fine scale models, with some 3-D printing thrown in for good measure) recently commented on taking your layout to an exhibition.  The money comments were….. Browsing the interweb forums I always stumble across people … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Layout design, Operation, Out and about | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Less is more – two interesting examples

Posted on July 22, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

I used to follow a blog called ‘The Staging Yard’, following a UK based modeller’s trials at building a US layout, until it went quiet in 2014.  Reading RMWeb the other day, I saw that the blog had reappeared and was being continued … Continue reading →

Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design, Operation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Long and winding road – narrow and wide

Posted on July 20, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

One feature of the ‘Shed’ era that I forgot was an interest in narrow gauge railways.  A few Model Railway News articles were supplemented by a copy of Don Boreham’s seminal ‘Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling’ and a history of the Lynton … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Jon's layout ramblings, Weird and wonderful | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

London Underground: 150 fascinating Tube facts

Posted on July 16, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Or how to bore your travelling companion on the bus during a tube strike.  These are taken from the Daily Telegraph.  Here are my top 30 (or so), avoiding a very long post! 1. There is only one Tube station … Continue reading →

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