Inspiration (from April)

I started writing a post back in April about some of the layouts that had inspired me to get back into modelling and design a Gum Stump & Snowshoe based module. The post never got published but I've decided to update it slightly and post it now. I've tried to keep to the ideas I had at the time.

Whilst browsing the web I discovered the website of Brian Fayle. Underneath the Arches is one of many layouts on the site. It is 7mm scale with trains running on 16.5mm and 9mm gauge track. The layout has a road viaduct which splits breaks it up and makes it seem a lot bigger than it is. There's loads of detail and guessing what the people on the layout are up to is fun. Brian's website also has some good articles on modelling. I was particularly interested in his Directing Traffic about directing where the viewer looks.

Another modeller with a similar style to Brian is Anthony Goff. His Hilvermouth layout also has lots of scenes with interesting people. The layout is in OO9 terminus set in the 30's on the outskirts of a fictional town. He has a nice varied fleet of locomotives, some of which are based on real prototypes and some are freelance. They include a Double Fairlie and a Mallet. There's plenty going on around the railway too so in most of the pictures it's not the trains which draw the eye first.

Sometime in the spring I began reading the Fairlight Works blog. Back in April he only had one layout (Fairlight Works) but since then there have been a few side projects. He's also been scratch building a prototype PL class for Invercloy Loco Works and a Hunslet-style loco. He has a couple of large diesels in progress too: a Lxd2 kit and a drewey bash to make an Indian Railways ZDM5. The ZDM5 inspired me to think about a Bo-Bo diesel drewy bash too.

Another influence for the idea of a large diesel was my discovery of the Welsh Highland Railway. Both ends of the line have some massive narrow gauge locos - Castell Caernarfon and the Garratts at the Caernarfon end and the Lyd2s at Porthmadog. The Festiniog Railway Heritage Group Wiki is a great place to find information about both ends of the Welsh Highland Railway and the Ffestiniog Railway. It has great pictures of the lines, including photos of locomotives, wagons, coaches, engineering stock. It also has some great pictures of the WHR's number 143 SAR Class NGG16 Garratt. We visited the WHR(C) in June - we took some pictures but still haven't got the film processed.

Lastly for something standard gauge. Nigel Burkin's Platform 4a & 4b - is a superb model of part of Reading station set in the recent past. I love the Network SouthEast third rail EMUs but what caught my eye and made me want to do some modelling was the Buddleia (hopefully my 1:76 scale botany is up to scratch). I'm planning on trying to make some myself for my OO9 module. Once I get round to making it I'll let you know how I get on.