My Family
By Phil Cooper
This week I’m going to talk about family. My mum and dad both spoiled me I must admit. I was born in 1955 and by the time I was 12 we had a good lifestyle. They took me on holidays, usually abroad and a couple of times to Belfast and Dublin – before “The Troubles”. It helped that both my brothers had, amazingly, found women willing to put up with their odd ways. My oldest brother, George sadly passed away a few years ago after a battle with Cancer. He was a Special Branch officer with the “Met”. Robert, the middle brother decided to emigrate to Australia in 1982 where he has a grown-up son and daughter with their own families which leaves me with my partner, Barbara, and our son, Iain who is married to Laura, his school sweetheart, and they have 2 fantastic sons, Harrison, and Nate. I mentioned my complete lack of skills in the first blog. So, it was probably insanity to make the decision, 2 years ago, to begin my project to build a model railway for Harrison to take over when I pass away. I saw he loved trains and used this to help us bond easily. Up to that point, I think he was a wee bit scared of me and he obviously preferred Nanny Barb to Grandad Phil and wouldn’t even sit on my lap. Once he saw I was into trains and had subscriptions for modelling magazines and others about the real thing everything changed. He would sit on my lap as I pointed out the interesting (to us) photos. I had been accepted and we were chums!
This motivated me to build the layout and develop it. I started off with a Hornby Mixed Freight Set which came with DCC Control. I had no idea what DCC was so I visited my local model shop and asked about DCC could do. The bloke, Peter, I spoke to was brilliant and gave me all the information I needed. What I really liked was that Peter didn’t try to sell me a train set. He was an enthusiast and loved modelling. I’ve seen his work since then and it is unbelievably good and accurate - stuff I can’t even begin to think about. Ten minutes later I knew DCC was the way to go. New model train addicts should make it a priority to befriend their local model shop. They’re probably addicts too! While I mention free advice there are also several Facebook groups where you can seek advice. I’ve found “Model Railway Enthusiasts” to be excellent.” Railway modelling on a limited income” is also very helpful. Once you get into the hobby you will soon want more information on the real thing. For instance, I love the big old Class37s which were well used in Scotland and there is a group dedicated to “Class37”.
Another brilliant source of information is the Forum in hornby.com. There are some very knowledgeable people in there and they put up with even my daft questions. I suspect many are former Hornby employees because their knowledge is incredible. In that same Hornby website, I urge you to subscribe because their “Product Support” is excellent. Several months ago, I had an online chat with Mr Hornby, Simon Kohler. He was very patient with me fully answering my questions and I was left with the feeling that he was a “good bloke” and I think Hornby’s continuing popularity is very much down to him.
I’m always surprised reading about some new-to-the-hobby modellers who aren’t sure about DCC. In my opinion it is brilliant. Yes, DCC chipped locos are more (about £30) expensive than analogue, but DCC is the future. The potential is enormous. You can control locomotives, signals, points and lights with just your basic Hornby Select controller. I already had some locomotives, the Eurostar and an old Lima Class 26 I had bought these for Iain almost 30 years previously. Unfortunately, Iain didn’t take to the Eurostar set which I had bought for him back then. So that Eurostar and “26” had been sitting in boxes under my bed, not the best place to store anything! But I wanted to give them a go on my new layout. I placed them on the track without any confidence. But amazingly they both roared into life immediately. They didn’t even need a push! That gives you an idea just how good these model locomotives are. Even now I think the quality of model locomotives is incredible and also things like track which connect perfectly. They are incredible pieces of precision. They are NOT toys! So, from Day One I was making progress. I owned one small steam engine, a shunter, a Eurostar, and a Class 26 diesel. Now 2 years later Harrison and I own 25 locomotives, about 40 coaches and 35 trucks, tankers and containers as well as a lot of track (thanks to my ballasting Hell-I’ll tell you later). At the time of writing, I’ve looked back at all my purchases from model shops, eBay and Amazon. It’s taken me 2 years to find the layout I wanted It’s also cost me, so far, £4000. It’s an expensive addiction! Here’s my first piece of advice- continually laying and relaying track can weaken it.
So, I used some software from anyrail.com. you can download their track planner for free. They allow you to use up to 50 pieces of track and that is usually satisfactory for first timers. If you need more you can set the first part of your layout, save it and then open a new plan and do the rest. It took over 2 years for me to finally find the right design. It was 2 ovals, one inside the other. The two ovals were linked together by two sets of points. But my problem was that I couldn’t run DC trains as the track was for DCC only. My son had a brainwave. He suggested that I remove the points linking the ovals and then run the outer oval on DCC as a sort of high-speed line and run the inner oval on DC. It worked and finally I was satisfied. Over time I added a couple of stations on the inner oval and just recently I’ve added a lot more track off the outer oval leading to a containerport and a TMD. It works well so now I can have many DCC locos on track and several DC locos on the inner oval with points “closing off” the power to the 6 station roads. My first new loco purchase was a Class 37 -very popular. It really is a wonderful bit of kit. My dad used to drive one of these beautiful brutes in Scotland. He loved them too and although it was many many years ago, I remember him taking me up into his 37. He walked me through the 2 driving positions. Even with ear defenders the noise was magnificent. To my amusement the engine was in a cage, and it felt like a wild animal. It was great.
I’ve even got into building scenery. Youtube is full of helpful videos. But be careful dear reader. Most of the guys shooting these videos are practically professionals. Firstly, I used plaster cloth to make scenery. It was good but nowadays I use Sculptamode which is remarkably easy-even for me! Dear reader if I tell you that I’m making scenery or building buildings for the layout it will be very very easy for you to do. Trust me. If I can do it, so can you. My advice is to take your time. As for buildings, I am useless but luckily, I have a 10-year-old neighbour who loves making models and he’s good. So Timeo is now my main engineer. And of course, I give him as much time as he wants to control the trains. He is a great kid. He’s the son of a Belgian dad and a mum from the Congo and already speaks French and English and hopes he can learn Spanish. One of the things I have noticed about my addiction for model locomotives is that there is a huge number of people with a similar addiction. Have a look at some of the groups on Facebook: you will get lots of help there. Just put up your question. So, there’s a lot of good folk who can help you. I’ve even found that online modelling shops are excellent especially when we were in the dreaded Lockdown. Have a look at what they can offer you. I’ve always been impressed with the online traders. Many of them are, obviously, enthusiasts like us and they will help, too, if you just ask for help.
Unfortunately, my partner, Barbara, does not share my enthusiasm for trains, big or small, It’s almost perverse to her that most of us enthusiasts love to see loads of locomotives on the track, some in stations and fiddle yards. Those stationary locos add to the atmosphere. For instance, I have built my “Highland Fleet” which consists of Class 37s (of course), Class 26s and 47s all popular in Scotland. I’ve stuck the stag emblem on them all. That emblem identifies the locomotives as being based at Inverness TMD (Traction Maintenance Depot) I love to have them all on the board and DCC means you can select the locos you want on the track and then bring others on to your layout as and when you need them. Something else that brings realism to a layout is sound as more and more locomotives come equipped with sound or allow enthusiasts to add sound with the purchase of a sound chip and speaker which will cost about £100 depending on the quality. Hornby sell sound chips at a fair price. I’m not too fussy and I’m perfectly happy with the effects I get from my Hornby Select but if you want the full benefit, you’ll have to upgrade your controller to something like the NCE Powercab Pro which aren’t cheap and I would recommend you not to buy one until you’re more experienced.
Barbara’s dislike of my hobby has led me to devise special smuggling schemes. This is something I can do quite well. I worked for HM Customs & Excise Intelligence Section. Of course the two words”Customs” and “Intelligence” do not look right together, do they!
Me and a little chum with £2million of cannabis
My first smuggling scheme involved me telling Barbara that one of my locomotives, a Class 43 HST wasn’t working. In fact, it was fine, and Barbara didn’t even check that I was telling the truth. When she asked why it wasn’t working, I told her Harrison (grandson) dropped it on the floor. I know, I know, I know, I’m a very bad person. But it worked and a few days later the “replacement” arrived. Of course, there’s always a “paper trail “which is potentially life threatening to me so whenever I buy things online now I beg the seller not to send an invoice with my purchases. (More on eBay in Part 3 which includes my guide on how to always win one of their auctions without spending too much.
The addition of sound to locos is quite new and, usually, expensive (About £100+). But it’s well worth the money. Firstly, I liked the directional lights that now come almost as standard on most locos, but sound is a MUST now too. I love the sounds of diesel engines and the chuff chuff of steam locomotives.
So, a few days later the “replacement” 43 arrived from Hornby We are regular Amazon customers, so Barbara was used to receiving stuff from Amazon with packaging from at least 10 trees! I hope you’re keeping up with my villainous treachery. I left the package unopened in clear sight until 3 days later when Iain and Laura turned up with Harrison. Harrison’s first question on arrival now is, “What trains are on the track, Grand dad?” So, I led him into the train room where I had placed both 43s and they were prowling round the track. The new one came with a sound chip and speaker with that great jet noise from the Valenta engine
And then I was betrayed by a 5-year-old with the words, “Nanny Barb, come and see Granddad’s new 43. He’s got two now” My life flashed before my eyes as I heard “Nanny Barb” marching along the hallway. The look I got froze me. I tried to explain that I had repaired the first 43 but Barbara knew that was very unlikely. Needless to say, I was sent to bed early that night with no tea. Thank you, Harrison, you little traitor! But to be fair I suppose it was Karma after me blaming my wee grandson for “breaking” the Class 43.
Next Time: The Perils of eBay and how to win an auction
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The views and opinions expressed within the content are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of Trackside Signs or its affiliates.
