My Plan.

   When you've waited Fifty years to do something, ideas stack up. It's not that I want everything you understand, but just as much as I can fit in. I have acquired an interest in many Railway prototypes over the years and have deliberatly stayed away from even more. My plan is to have four layouts on three levels. Conventional wisdom suggests that you start small and hone your skills, but I fear I would run out of time before I got anywhere near all the things I would like to cover.

    My four layouts will be English, Japanese, Swiss and American. The Japanese and Swiss linked on the same level, where Catenary and snow will bring a common feel to the scenery. I have always imagined my layout to be a round the room affair, so why not go all the way around the room three times.

     Picking a UK location has bothered for many years as there is so much to choose from and location will always dictate what you can run.  I have chosen to cheat a little and model a Heritage railway. Here in the UK we have an ever growing number of Heritage lines all of which have their own feel and flavour. Check  out heritage-railways.com to get a feel for the amount there are and the areas they're located. 

    The premise in my head is that there is a very lucky chap (Me) who got lucky on the Euro Millions Lotto and has built his own Railway with his winnings. It's located close to an existing Main Line so anything current can be seen rolling by and Gives a physical link to make it easy for visiting Locos and Rolling stock to arrive. 

    I'm not alone in this sort of idea. There is a chap in America by the name of Jerry Jacobson. Although he didn't win the lottery he did build his own railway for real,which can be found at ageofsteamroundhouse.com

So with Diesel and Steam Galas happening every weekend I can cover pretty much any UK prototype.

    I have always loved Swiss Trains, starting with the Re4/4. But after visiting Switzerland back in 2008 and traveling everywhere by train, the experience pushed me over the top. It was my wife's idea I should model the Glacier Express and to push that home she bought me the Kato set for my Birthday this year.

My thing for Japanese trains happens when I just look at them. They just seem as if they are from a different world and couple that to my thing for Passenger trains then I'm off. So they have to be included.

Finally American Trains. There is something about the size and power of these great beasts that captivates me. Modern diesels mainly, but also there are the old Named Passenger Trains that get me too. Trying to squeeze the two together might be a stretch even for my imagination but it'll be my layout and what I say might just have to go :0) Having never been to the United States I have no great affinity to any one Line. Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific and BNSF I tend to see most of so somewhere they all run would be good. Although they were one offs, the Norfolk Heritage liveries really made my eyes pop.

So these are my plans for prototypes and locations. Just saying four layouts on three levels seems over the top but having written this down as a means to explain this to anyone who is interested has confirmed to me that this is the very least I want to achieve. There are many more things to think about as we all know but the foundations in my mind at least, are firm.

    

Hello? Is this mic working?

Testing, testing one, two ,three.
Throwing myself into the unknown here. It came to me this morning that perhaps I should start a blog about my model railway that i will be starting when we move to our new house in late August 2013.
After 50 years I thought it was about time. It has been a fantasy of mine since I was about five years old and now it's time to get my feet, well and truly wet.
When we moved here to Swindon in May 2012 I started planning, purchasing rolling stock and structures to put together something small. Small didn't last long. The choice of N gauge wasn't difficult  as I could fit more into a small space. Keeping the plan small was the difficult part. I have a very understanding wife who has been open to my growing enthusiasm and has let me have free reign in the room I currently have. She has just landed herself a very nice new job in Chester and now we are moving. We have found a house that has a room just for me a my railway and now I can go forward with my  plans, only bigger.
Moving has one down side. I have to leave my part time job in my local model railway shop. I ended up spending so much time there i got to know the owner very well and he asked if I would look after his shop when he went off to run his stand at shows and exhibitions as the chap that was doing it had to stop to look after his wife. I jumped at the chance and have loved every minute of it. Meeting lots of modellers and just being totally immersed in model railways. Being paid in rolling stock helped.
Over the last year I have also been listening to model rail radio. This has been a total revelation to me.
I have always read the model rail magazines over the years, but this is so much more real. It's like having friends round everyday just talking about Model railways. Link this with my iPhone and I can take these guys with me anywhere I go. I started at the beginning and worked my way to the latest episodes. In fact I have now started again from the beginning and am currently back up to episode Thirty Nine. It's also like Model Railway University. The depth and breath of the content is just incredible. Highly recommended to anyone interested in model railways.
This was supposed to be a brief post but I seemed to have rambled a bit. I'll try a focus a bit more in future, which may or may not work :0)