Train Travel

It seems to be increasing rare that I take journeys by train these days, but a trip into Sheffield yesterday (A city I will admit to be hopeless at geography-wise!) saw the chance to take a quick fifteen minute journey along the Hope Valley line in a gentle rain.

It's clearly been far too long since I was last at Grindleford station. The semaphore signal on the Sheffield side that I'd always stick around to watch go into the danger position with a satisfying clunk has gone, replaced by a light signals. Don't get me wrong, there's no denying this is a much better improvement for driver visibility, even more so given the station is on quite a tight curve for high speed standards, but there's just something slightly... cold... about it. Perhaps once its weathered in to its surroundings I might think differently.

Interesting gantry style though, it has to be said!

Looking the other way, the accompanying signal box that used to sit on the curve has also gone with the modernisation programme. I do remember seeing an advert though in a local paper for the structure being listed 'for sale'. As with a lot of large, cumbersome items, it was advertised as 'buyer collects'!

A closer look at the portal for Totley Tunnel. Modern image modellers take note at the amount of debris left over from maintenance works.

Despite the passage of time, the station cafe still stands looking over the cutting next to the tunnel.

Signage around the station has also been improved. I didn't actually realise some of the terrace cottages were known as 'Midland Cottages'. A nice little nod the the original builders of the line.

Some of the signage has even been done in the British Railways 'Midland Region' style. I always quite like these maroon totems, they blend in quite nicely with their surroundings.

Another look at the road bridge. This is quite a handy reference for painting model stone - Note the amount of green!

Probably the biggest shock though came at Dore & Totley station. This section was notorious for being a bit of a bottleneck on the Hope Valley side, rationalisation had seen a double tracked station on a junction reduced to just a single track and platform. Seeing this new build platform no doubt creates some opportunities for speeding up services in the future.

You'll have to forgive the somewhat candid phone image - It took a long time to twig exactly what was different about the place!

And after arriving into Sheffield, I had just enough time for a quick nip into the new Rails of Sheffield 'satellite store' that has recently opened in the station. Signage towards it wasn't great (Follow signs for the taxi rank if you plan to visit!) but it was a very nice, and very welcome against the inclement weather, little shop. I cursed myself slightly that I couldn't buy anything large - I could have easily fallen for the Bachmann Railway Children set they had for sale in the preowned section!

Well worth a quick visit if you're passing through.

Next week - A return to modelling!

Advent Madness 2

I was going to subtitle this post 'Faller Boogaloo', but I thought that came across as suggesting something cheap. Not the case!

I've never been one for chocolate, so I'm always looking for alternate advent calendars for December. After being gifted a Noch HO scale figure calendar in 2024 I decided I'd have another one for 2025, but there was one small snag. I couldn't remember for the life of me if the one i was gifted was the actual 2024 release or what the box artwork looked like.

So I took the easy option and ordered one from the Faller stable instead.

And here's what 23 days worth of advent looks like. Overall I'm impressed, and I think I might actually prefer this to the Noch one. There's a good variety to the figures (Compared to last year which seemed to only have three categories of either sitting people, deer or swimming people) 

More importantly though, the figures themselves are held in place with see through sticky tape. Fantastic! No chance of losing them over the course of advent, and they display really nicely in the calendar itself.

If there was one slight disappointment, it was day 24...

The text on the box promised "24 new hand painted FALLER HO miniature figures as well as a festive surprise at the end". There were a few things I was thinking it could be. A snowman? Someone on a sled/toboggan? The big jolly red man himself? Nope. Instead, day 24 was a deer.

"That's not that bad Rob, it could be classed as somewhat festive" 

Normally, I'd agree. However this was the third deer included in the calendar. It did feel like a bit of a weak ending to what had been a very fun journey. Would it be enough to put me off getting another Faller figure calendar for 2026? No, I don't think so. The positives far outweigh what in context is a very minor sour note.

These are of course HO scale, so now it's time to play the year long game of incorporating these into OO gauge scenes in interesting and non-obvious ways.

More importantly though, I now have a record of what the 2025 calendar looked like for comparison this year!

Holmeswell - The Result!

Surprise bonus post for the year! 

Voting closed for the Micro Model Railway Christmas Challenge on the 15th, and after all the votes were tallied Holmeswell came in at a very respectable 2nd place. Many thanks to any readers who did cast a vote for it, it's very much appreciated, and certainly a much higher finishing place than I expected for what was essentially the 'joker' entry.

It's also technically had its first exhibition outing! Last Saturday the Micro Layouts Facebook group held their annual virtual exhibition, with Holmeswell making its appearance around noon. Again, it was very well received, with even a request for more footage and photos at a later date.

And now comes the customary break for the festive period, usually I'd talk about a few options for modelling projects I have over this time, but this year all my projects seem to be making coaches (Both standard and narrow gauge) More on that another time.

I've also recently found myself with the opportunity for making a very silly layout idea a reality in 2026...

It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when... 😉

Have a good Christmas everyone. See you all in the new year.

Holmeswell

 And here it is, after ten months of work from initial brainwave to finished layout: Introducing "Holmeswell"

The basic stats: 009 narrow gauge, tuning fork plan, fits on an Ikea Mosslanda shelf, 55x10cm.

Very much Wisbech & Upwell tramway inspired. Holmeswell came about purely by chance. As with almost every year the Micro Railway Cartel has run one of these Christmas challenges, I use the contest rules as a planning exercise, make a few rough layout sketches and generally leave it at that. This year was no exception.

Then April 1st came around.

It's unfortunate for contest host Ian Holmes that just prior to releasing the above April Fools video I'd finished scratchbuilding a 009 'Toby'. I certainly couldn't manage P4 standards, but the temptation to secretly make a Toby themed Mosslanda response was too good to pass up!

What materialised was a narrow gauge caricature of the Wisbech & Upwell Tramway, taking a good dollop of inspiration from Outwell Depot in particular.

Apologies to the late John T. Kenney for liberating and modifying the last illustration of 'Double Header' for the pub sign!

The Obligatory encounter.

'No.7' has actually been given a new source of power since its last appearance. Part of the contest rules stated that a short video of the layout running had to be provided (To prove it's more than a static diorama) Every time I tried to film No.7 would splutter and stall in an agonising way. It's my own fault - In a bid to use up items in the stash I'd built it on an old Kato-103 chassis, now superseded by the 109 variant. Mercifully, being made primarily from 40thou plasticard, cutting away the opening in the floor and interior to take the slightly larger 109 was easier than expected, with no harm to the body.

Being a terminus layout with no run rounds facilities requires the use of two locomotives. The Sentinel seems quite at home in the role of the yard engine.

The village policeman stops traffic at the road. In reality, this job would have been done by the depot manager. Of course, this is very much the stereotypical, rose tinted, chocolate box, peaceful day in the English countryside, so the policeman has taken over as a means of livening up his beat.

A quiet moment as a short freight train leaves the yard.

And another heavily laden train arrives with goods for onwards road transport.

And finally, actual footage of the layout working! This little clip of a freight train leaving the yard wasn't intended as a contest entry clip, but the shot was too nice not to share:

And with all that excitement I'm going to leave the blog here for the year, I'm certainly ready for the customary Christmas break in posting.

See you all next year!

Last Chance Saloon

It sounds far more dramatic than it probably is...

Adopting the fortnightly posting approach has been a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I can get a good few weeks worth of updates finished up in one sitting, on the other hand progress can sometimes happen in leaps and bounds quicker than posts can keep track of them! 

So here we are, with one week to go till the contest deadline, a quick rapid fire of a select few construction milestones for the challenge layout. It's scary just how quickly the deadline has come around!

There was a very brief glimpse of an Airfix Matador kit a few weeks back, assembled and then cut at a jaunty angle. It works better than anticipated as a nice view block on the 'road to nowhere', making the scene feel deeper than it really is at this track level view (Remember, this is an Ikea Mosslanda layout, it's only 9cm deep!)

The yard gates are lightly bashed ScaleModelScenery platform fences, whilst the Pre-Worboys road signs help to set the scene firmly in the 1950s. I'm not quite sure why the postbox keeps glowing a luminous red in every photograph I take of it. It is painted a dull matt red, honest!

The layout has also come to life with the addition of figures, all coming from the Monty's Models range. I was asked why I was using white metal figures when high detailed 3D printed options, like those from Modelu, are now available. The answer? This is the one manufacturer I know who produces the stereotypical vicar in a panama hat! That said, the sharpness of the moulding on the station staff figure is incredible.

The conductor figure is part of a set with a bus driver, and due to the coach being one of the old Egger Bahn HOe stable, both his shoes and hat needed A LOT of filing down to fit. He's ended up wearing more of a flat cap than a peaked cap. A bit of a happy accident really, as this pose was very much inspired by a photo in K.E.Hartley & Paul Ingham book on the Sand Hutton Light Railway. It's quite a good match.

And finally, one of those jobs I'd been putting off for far too long - finishing some wagons for the layout. From right to left we have: A Corris brake (running as a boxvan), a tarpaulin covered wagon (A 'how to' is probably on the cards for next year), a coal wagon, a wagon full of timber and finally, the classic wagon load of milk churns and sacks from the Wills range.

For something different I tried weathering these using the range of washes from the Citadel Miniatures range. The results are... mixed. It goes on well enough, but it seems to 'pool' on any model I've applied it too., like it's a thicker mixture than the normal watered down acrylics. I've tried shaking and stirring the pot before application but the result is always the same. A little disappointing. 

And that's a wrap (For now!) Next time the layout graces this blog will be the 'grand reveal' of a terrible punchline...