Category Archives: Inspiration

One for election day…..

As America goes to the polls, with a choice ‘from the sublime to the ridiculous’ (and I’m being very careful not to say which is which), here’s a nice little story from Model Railroad Hobbyist. Election campaign train dirty tricks The … Continue reading

Posted in Inspiration, Out and about, Prototype, Weird and wonderful | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Patch

An interesting part of the Los Angeles railway system was ‘The Patch’, an industrial area near downtown Los Angeles, served by the Santa Fe.  The area contains many old buildings and industries, served by a patchwork of tracks down streets … Continue reading

Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The greatest train journey on earth

Excellent article from the Daily Telegraph on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Trans-Siberian is more than just a railway. It’s a journey into the psyche of modern Russia; a triumph of engineering; a movable feast through the largest – and, perhaps, … Continue reading

Posted in Inspiration, Out and about, Prototype, Weird and wonderful | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Could it be real?

From the Suffolk Gazette, via N Gauge Forum: Hornby celebrates Greater Anglia franchise with Rail Replacement Bus Set Could it be an inspired release by the ailing Hornby company?  Maybe the article’s author’s name gives a clue….. EXCLUSIVE By Casey Jones, … Continue reading

Posted in Inspiration, Out and about, Prototype, Weird and wonderful | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Epic railway FAIL

From the Daily Telegraph. Noel Gallagher snubbed Trainspotting soundtrack ‘as he thought film was about railway enthusiasts’ Noel Gallagher missed out on featuring on the soundtrack for Trainspotting because he thought the film was about railway enthusiasts, it has emerged. … Continue reading

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

Another N-gauge coupler development – this time from Europe

I  came across this blog , UK based but describing a French fine scale ‘N’ layout.  And it had a very interesting post on ‘N’ gauge couplers. N-tram are the doyen of European brass models, in N-m and N.  They are … Continue reading

Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, The trade | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A couple of quotes

A couple of quotes from the Model Railroad Hobbyist forum that caught my eye….. “Watch out for rabbit holes”: One of the reasons model railroading is the World’s Greatest Hobby is that it’s actually a number of different hobbies, all working … Continue reading

Posted in Inspiration, Layout design, Weird and wonderful | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

An interesting N-gauge coupler development

A very interesting development from MicroTrains – the ‘True-Scale’ N-gauge coupler.  The pictures below shows how good these look (photos MTL.)  They also have the advantage over using ‘Z’ gauge couplers in ‘N’ that they have no springs and ‘slinky’ … Continue reading

Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, The trade | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A small shunting layout

Model Railroad Hobbyist has a very nice ‘shunting plank’ in its October edition.  It’s in ‘O’ gauge, but the dimensions are a very reasonable 11’- 6” x 17’–19” with a 6’ removable extension for operation.  Note that this converts to … Continue reading

Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Playing or creating?

Model Railroad Hobbyist is a bit of a mixture – I suppose like any periodical – but at least it’s free!  However, issue 80, October 2016 has some good things in it. The editorial has some good words on model … Continue reading

Posted in Hints and tips, Inspiration, Layout design, Weird and wonderful | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment