Category: Model trains
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The Little World Sometimes Runs Along The Ground
And sometimes you can run alongside it… I have a spare table at the studio, and a spare ground cloth. And some old Kato HO track that once rimmed my RCAF WET DOG display. And some spare houses and buildings… What would be more natural than to lay an oval of HO toy train track…
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The Trains Now Arriving…
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…
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What Did You Make?
Or – if you are still cutting and gluing – what are you making? Is it a little airplane from a kit? A ship? A doll house? A working railway? Good – all you different makers, would you be surprised to realise that you are all making the same thing? What? You are making yourself…
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Do Miniaturists Live Minimal Lives?
You might get that impression from the television and movie portrayals of model makers. We seem to be the losers skulking in the basements of the world. Many of us are psychopaths. Well, that may be you, but it isn’t me. My childhood interest was converted to professional purposes and served me well for forty…
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Forbidden Modelling
What an odd concept. Who can forbid scale modelling? Well, quite a few official bodies, as it happens. Try to fly a model airplane, run an R/C car or boat, or scramble about the local oval with your model tank and see what a squawk it raises. These restrictions multiply when there are clubs and…
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The Toy Train People Have An Advantage
Model railway builders who exhibit their layouts have a pretty big task to do – they have some major haulage and construction to do to set up a display. Once done, however, they have a distinct advantage over the model builders who make plastic kits; the toy trains move. The model railway maker might be…
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Let and Hindrance
Ever stop to consider how often the demands of other people rule your life? I mean your hobby life. If you are a target shooter of any sort the police regulations are strict and getting stricter. You are at the command of every police officer, departmental clerk, or politician. You are hemmed in by journalists…
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“I’m Doing This To Educate The Public”
Horse shit. You’re doing whatever you’re doing for yourself. To have fun, hopefully – but you are trying to justify the expense and the time by making it seem altruistic. Just come out and admit you’re doing it for you, and we’ll be happy – for you. I’ve encountered this porky in any number of…
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Never Too Late
Except if you dined at an Ethiopian restaurant the night before and feel you might need to seek a toilet. No matter how fast you are, you will never be fast enough. And there is no point in getting up and thinking you’re done. You might as well settle in for the day. In the…
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No Change Out Of $ 665
But you will have a small locomotive and several carriages. Plus an oval of track and a controller. What we used to call a toy train set, but would now be referred to as a toy train investment. I should be careful of it – the 1:120 size of the set will mean it is…
The Little World 