2023 in Review

12 months have gone by in a heartbeat, but if I really pause to consider it, I’m pleased with the year’s results.

716 Mary gets a Porch

I’m almost inclined to call this little model finished, except I want to add some more details to liven up the porch. There is a shovel leaning against the corner and a jacket hung from a nail, but it still lacks something. The porch itself is a simple wood frame, planked with boards left over […]

The fourth audience

Gary Hinshaw pointed out that I’d missed an important fourth audience in my post about art and model railroading: the layout builder themself. How do they respond to the layout? To be sure, I have difficulty thinking of myself as the audience of my layout. I spend too much time behind the curtain to expect […]

Hilton’s Art

From the moment James Hilton announced his latest book, “The Art of Railway Modelling,” I knew a copy would take up residence on my bookshelf. In the buying frenzy of Black Friday, my mouse blundered onto the Titfield Thunderbolt page, and before I knew what was happening, it had completed checkout without any input from […]

622 all the photos

716 Mary Street Gets a Roof

Difficult as it may be to believe, I do not have to make everything myself. Once you get started, though, it feels easier to make stuff than it is to look for an appropriate product. So, I was thinking I would be making my own shingles for the little half-a-house that I’m calling 716 Mary […]

The more we made it boring…

In Hindsight 20/20 this morning, Matthieu Lachance, who presented an entertaining and of course beautiful clinic about his group’s modelling journey, dropped this amazing juxtaposition: “The more we made it boring, the more it stood out.” He went on to elaborate that people were excited by the mundane because they recognized it. This thought meshes […]