Christmas Loot

You know you have done well with training (pun intended!) your family when this is what you get from your wonderful wife and 4 daughters for Christmas.  Amity gave me the books (having sorted the ordering herself.  I guess it helped having the shelf of all the other Books Of next to the computer!) and the girls gave me a wagon each - increasing my train of colourful and cheerful wagons to 32.

In other news - not much modelling - but progress is being made on the area where it is hoped that a meeting of 2mm SA members, NGS members and BRMA members (some who wear multiple badges but I think I am the only one needing three heads!) with a view to forming a joint Area Group will be held in February next year - if you are interested in joining, please email me for details.  Hopefully enough work will get done tomorrow to justify a photo and with even more luck, my layout maybe back soon.

Taking Stock - the coaches

With the weather and time conspiring against me in getting progress made on my shed (there is still too many things in it which should be in another place but it has been raining which makes moving things around outdoors a little tricky) I have not been able to do too much train wise since moving back home from Longreach. 

One thing I have done is collect most of my rolling stock and locomotives from storage at my parents place and one evening this week I took over the dining room table to sort out the coaches.  I am trying to work out how best to store them - rakes obviously, but by Era or Region or a combination of both.  They may yet be stored in a yet to be determined system based on layout requirements.  The first step I felt, after 4 years of buying but not seeing, was to see.  As it happens, the photo above isn't all.  One of the new Mk 1s (a CK for those keeping score!) is missing from the Blue/Grey set as are the 7 Mk 3s I have waiting to become the Royal Train.  Also missing are 20 odd Minitrix Mk 1s (which are most likely to be turned into Thomas the Tank Engine coaches and used by the kids as they have no boxes, some need some attention to reattaching bogies and all have been painted by moi when I was much younger!)  So Farish suburbans (LMS type) are also missing as are a few odds and ends around the place not to mention most of my parcels stock.  To say Amity was surprised would be an understatement!

Next up will be to sort out my wagons...  I may need a bigger table (this one is 8ft x 4 ft and seats 10).

Close Coupling

Owing to the big move (successfully completed but now unpacking!) not much has been happening on the modelling front.  Last night was one of the first forays back into it, but with my train shed out of action (still packed boxes are in it along with other "stuff") it was limited to what I could do on the dinning room table.

This consisted of working though my collection of 101s (RR, SYWP Green and BR Blue 3 car), my collection of Blue Ribband Mk 1s and my Class 411 and sorting out close couplings.  I set up a reverse curve using some Kato 315mm radius curves and set to work. 

The results are quite pleasing.  One short and one long Farish NEM Rapido in each Mk 1 and these go round happily both pushing and pulling coupled long to short.  For the MUs of all persuasions, I have used the Dapol knuckles.  For all 4 sets a pair of shorts worked fine.

For those wondering what my train shed looks like - picture below.  7.5m by 6m and no, I don't have t share with the car!  I do have to share with my own workshop but that is ok as it is MINE, ALL MINE  (Bahahahahahhaha!)  (Tinks (in best Bluebottle voice) "maybe I have been in the outback too long" Untinks)