The Little World

In my local hobby shop are wonderful.

They have digital control, digital sound, and completely realistic motion. Their couplers are tiny and there are a full complement of passengers and crew. The wagons and carriages are lined and decaled and the only thing that deters me from sweeping up an armful of them is the fact that they cost as much as my car.

Even the kiddy starter sets are a week’s groceries and a slab of beer.

This is no problem for the very rich or the very poor – the former flash a credit card for anything new and the latter just press their noses to the window and sob. The people in the middle are starting to be in the same position as railway modellers in the war years: unless they make it for themselves, they aren’t going to have it.

In a way, the economics of post-covid ( you can neither afford nor get it…) mean that modelling skill may well come back to the fore. If we are prepared to accept what we can do, we are not restricted in our choice – you can model a French narrow-gauge line on a Pacific isle as easily as you can an LNER main line.

If you accept the help of commercial rail and switches, you can build anything, anywhere.