Welcome Derick

Hi everyone, and many (very) belated thanks for such a warm welcome!

As with many others I'm returning to my childhood hobby after what must be at least 34 years absence. At that time I had the ubiquitous 6x4 OO gauge Triang/Hornby "train set" nailed to an 8x4 ply board which would come out at holidays and sit on top of my bed and toy box while I slept on the settee in "the sleeping bag"... 70s polyester luxury!

Traction was varied to say the least... the latest 'Inter-City 125', blue and yellow of course, a green Class 25, a blue Class 47, cheek by jowl with that wee GWR tank engine you always see selling on auction sites for £25, along with my favourite, LMS 6201 "Princess Elizabeth" with "real smoke" and "chuffing tender"... epic! My original Class 37 from the night mail set was however an early casualty (one day I might get round to fixing it), although like all the others, it's sitting in its box upstairs having been reunited with me ahead of my mother's impending move to 'somewhere smaller'. Which is how I got back to where I am now.

My daughter, having listened intently, I think, to my "Thomas books" as a toddler spotted the boxes and track at my mum's, knew exactly what they were, and the rest they say is history. I don't know who bought her the naff Jinty Hornby Thomas train set for her Christmas... probably my mum in a successful attempt to get me to move my junk (LOL) but the die was cast.

To be honest, my interest returned pretty much instantly and I had plans to make her a wee roundy (as I thought it's almost certain ponies and the like will grab her interest quick enough and her cousin is still too young) and make myself the "proper" layout that I always dreamed of as a kid.

To that end, I started collecting again with the aim of building a layout based on a fictitious location somewhere in Tayside in the early 1960's. As such I could have numerous ex-Caley tanks and Jumbo's, B1's, Britannia's, Black Five's, Peppercorn A2's, the odd A1 and of course 'Streaks'. DMU's and Class 25's could also be accommodated and there would always be the option for J37's (or so I thought) coming up with coal trains from Fife. Coaches were maroon Mk1s although the intention was to include Gresley, Thompson and Stanier coaches too. Freight wouldn't be too difficult to put together given all the kits available, which were substantially cheaper than buying new RTR.

The first thing that struck me was just how much the quality of detail new locos have. My poor old Princess looked spectacularly dowdy in the presence of all these bright young things, even the Railroad ones, but when I saw my first SD A4... WOW!

It also seemed that I had a whole new terminology to learn. "Points" somewhere in time have become "Turnouts", they're either "electrofrog" and "insulfrog" or whatever, and the whole thing can be DCC or DC. Aaaargh!!! A steep learning curve was therefore embarked upon... thank goodness for YouTube!!!

So, where are we now? I received my marching orders from "The Small Controller" that she wanted a big station and Thomas's branch line all on 6x4, "like daddy's" (which was nothing of the sort), "and the points and signals have to work with switches like a signal box". No pressure then!!! Then my wife said that it had to be easily stored, as we apparently "don't have enough room". Sigh.

Well, against the odds, the boards for my daughter's wee Thomas roundy are complete (for a then 8-year old she's a dab hand with a saw - mum was out that day!). They split into three and are aligned with dowels and bolts. The layout plan itself is pretty much complete and is kind of like my old layout, but completely different at the same time. I've utilised AnyRail which has been a great help, but the proof will be in the pudding this weekend (hopefully) when we try out some of the track plan to see if it works.

As for my own layout? That's on indefinite hold!

Anyway, great to be here and I'll get some updates posted as we progress.

Cheers,
Derick