Steve’s been in touch with his steam era rolling stock:
“Hi Al
Thanks for the emails. It’s always interesting to hear what other railway modellers are up to and to pick up ideas and tips.
I’m probably not alone in being guilty of acquiring rather more stock than I can justify (especially locos – but then if you’ve bought a loco from a different region, company, era or even country(!) it needs some rolling stock to match 🙂).
My justification for having such a mixed bag of stuff, amassed over some 60 years of interest, is that the layout I am building now is a “heritage” line – a preserved railway based in ex-LMS/LNER territory, which covers my main areas of interest, but which also has a main line connection plus a reputation as a centre of excellence for repair and maintenance so that stock from heritage lines all over the U.K. (some of which operate European stock – think Nene Valley) can appear.
I have attached a few photos. A couple feature classic car/traction engine events, which are the sort of thing one sees hosted by heritage railways as fund-raising efforts.
In others, you can see a mix of pre-grouping stock which in real life would have been rarely, if ever, seen together (Midland Railway, Southern Railway and South Eastern and Chatham Railway).
Thanks again for all you do,
Steve, Lincs, UK”
A big thanks to Steve for sharing his steam era rolling stock. It just goes to show (again!) your layout can be anything you want it it to be.
Steve’s post reminded me a lot of Peter’s post:
And now on to Terry, who has been busy with his backdrop:
“I decided to make my own back drop for my Oil City Railroad.
I used a piece of foam board and decided not to purchase a photo back drop but instead to use woodland scene products and make it myself.
I have about 12 inches in the middle to finish.
I am waiting for a particular flat building to create a wheatfield and a grain building. I will send you pictures of the railroad with backdrop installed.
Terry”
There have been quite a few posts on 3D backdrops over the years. Here are a few of them:
Model railroad backdrop construction
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And if today is the day you grab the bull by the horns, the Beginner’s Guide is here.
Remember, it’s the start that stops most people…
Best
Al
PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.
PPS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.
Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.
Thank you, Steve for your rationale on having a mixed bag of rolling stock, and your imaginative explanation as to how so many companies can get together in one place. Even if not strictly prototypical, it’s a great example of “my railway, my rules”, and why not? Having bought almost entirely second hand my layout will find Union Pacific and Santa Fe rubbing shoulders, and intermingling with, Deutsch Bahn and whatever else takes my fancy and hopefully a nod to our KiwiRail liveries here in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Obviously I’m no rivet counter, but just want to see interesting trains in an interesting environment, based on a so far plain flat foam base table, but with dreams of elevations and tunnels. Thanks to Al’s (not to be confused with Artificial Intelligence) site, inspiration abounds.
The fun will be in creating a backstory to give some pretense of credibility to the melange.
Greetings from the Antipodes
Kiwi Bob
Steve is hardly alone is mixing “heritages”. As an admirer of both Dangerous Dave and the NYMR I feel I have licence to run steam era [mainly LMS and GWR] alongside my main theme of late 1980’s in the Toton area of Nottinghamshire.
Steve’s traction event is a wonderful idea. I accommodate old buses by having a bus repair and restoration unit – so allowing me to have a few Routemasters and other old liveried vehicles in the yard and workshop. All good fun.
At present my main concerns are repairing and restoring “spares and repairs” got cheaply through a certain online auction. It probably costs me more than buying a good runner with perfect bodywork, but I can add details and apply a few skills while remembering that famous 8F [48305] which came from Barry scrapyard bearing the slogan “Don’t let me die”.
Thankyou, Steve and Alastair.
Macbear.
very nice work. love the steam engines.
well done
Purchasing rolling stock and locomotives is all part of the fun associated with this addictive hobby. Alastair has expanded our horizons to the world and so has become an international force of economic stimulation as well as spreading good will and enlightenment . As the train yards fill up more track is justified and so the layouts grow. Our world wide colleague’s provide an endless amount of enjoyment and instruction, all given to us by Alastair, Dangerous Dave and so many talented others.
Very nice landscaping and vehicles including rolling stock Steve- as has already been said:”your railroad, your rules!” I too have a mixed bag and thoroughly enjoy the sight of all of them running on the layout.