Category Archives: Layout design

A Minories of my own – 4 – all contributions gratefully received

Posted on December 12, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

I have a sheet of plywood sitting on the lounge floor, to mark out the layout trackwork.  But it won’t get done tonight!  However, some helpful advice has been received! Phil wrote….. Hi, Jon! Have you seen Jago Hazzard’s channel … Continue reading →

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A Minories of my own – 3 – location, location, location

Posted on December 6, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

I’m still working on the baseboard design for the layout.  I’m minded to wait until the FineTrax points arrive in the post, so that I can check that the published templates match the real thing.  The problem with a layout … Continue reading →

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A Minories of my own – 2 – underneath the arches

Posted on December 1, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Moving forward, I need to select the height of the arches under my Minories.  An obvious place to start is the South London prototype.  We could also move out to Liverpool or Fenchurch Street to the east of London for … Continue reading →

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A Minories of my own – 1 – planning

Posted on November 29, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

It’s time to move on from my (occasional) Covid-19 diary, to something new.  As you, gentle reader, may well realise, I have spent the last couple of months trying to work out a layout that I actually like.  This is … Continue reading →

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The olden days?

Posted on November 2, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

As a diversion from my layout design travails, I came across some historic model railway designs on RMWeb, that are worth reposting. The Larpool and Easington (or was it Easington and Larpool) railway appears in the Railway Modeller sometime in … Continue reading →

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The three-point trick

Posted on October 27, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

I’ve always appreciated Ian Futer’s layouts, and their underlying designs.  Some of his best designs are his three-point specials.  Very simple, but with enough operation built in to be reasonably interesting to operate.  This month’s Railway Modeller brought these plans … Continue reading →

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Monday miscellany

Posted on October 12, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Was this really published 30 years ago? I still think this is the most influential book on railway modelling ever published.  It introduced a string of new concepts into modelling – for example the ‘cameo’ layout, and ‘staged’ layouts with … Continue reading →

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Scaleforum 2020 – online

Posted on October 4, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

I am a firm believer in looking at other scales other than ‘N’.  And I can’t cope with criticisms of exhibitions that moan about, “Not much ‘N’ there.”  Surely, one can take inspiration from any scale or gauge, and they … Continue reading →

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Minories – what’s in a name?

Posted on August 16, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Thanks, RMWeb.  Now I know! Names have some strange origins.  I recall hearing that ‘Tooley Street’ next to London Bridge started off as ‘St Olaf’s Street’.  Go figure….. There are some good videos posted by this guy, including….

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If you’re suffering exhibition withdrawal symptoms….

Posted on July 2, 2020 by snitchthebudgie

Try this – hours of watching and some brilliant layouts.

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