Friday, August 21, 2009

Mail call

Blimey. Jeepers. Golly.
Scalefour News arrived today.
I have to admit I was rather puzzled when I picked up the brown envelope. There was something different. It was thicker. More robust.
"What's this?" I thought. "Something's going on here." I wasn't even sure that it was the News for a moment.
However that fear was dispelled as soon as I opened the envelope. It was a double bumper issue! Not only a copy of the News but also a nice thick Scaleforum 2009 guide. Full colour and everything. Just awesome. Showing me exactly what I'm missing by not being there.
Just what am I missing? Only some of the (personally) most influential P4 layouts going. Bodmin, Hepton Wharf, Llanastr. It's just not fair! I would kill to see all these layouts under one roof. OK perhaps not literally but you get the idea. The selection of layouts looks outstanding and a longer list of traders there to boot.
It makes me actually hope that I don't get accepted for the 2010 London Marathon so that we can time next years visit home with Scaleforum 2010.
Huge compliments to the producers of the guide and I hope that Scaleforum 2009 is a huge success.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Lest we forget

Things are very quiet on the Haven layout front. So I don't want anyone to think I've abandoned it. As I've stated before marathon training takes a lot of time. This week alone I have two eight mile runs and a twenty miler to get in. Plus, I have discovered a distraction in the Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway and I am inspired enough to mess around with some ideas for a small layout.
I have spent some time staring at a "baseboard" with some track laid out on it with some building mock ups on it to get a feel for the layout. I was hoping to be able to fit the layout into a 4' length for ease of construction but the more I look at things the more I realise it needs to be 4'6" perhaps even 5'. So a case of "best laid plans of mice" there.
I'm still knocked out by the design and the sketches when I look at them so the idea isn't going away. No chance.