The Discovery of Things Forgotten

 Before I even bought my Flying Scotsman, in December, my husband had trains. We'd got them, and they'd never ended up being set out or played with, it was always an intention but somehow we didn't get around to clearing the space to set up a layout, and so everything stayed in a large plastic tub.

With me getting my long-wanted train set, I wanted to make a start on a layout. It'll have to work for both of us so - despite the fact that all the trains will go around the whole track - "my end" will be English style buildings and scenery, "his end" will be American style stuff. My loco is a steam one, steam being one of my passions, his are diesel. 

I've been working on "my end" for a few weeks now, painting fiddly bits of model pieces so that I can get buildings put together, and playing with how I want it to look. I've changed my mind quite a few times since Christmas. It's a learning journey, and one where patience is definitely a virtue. 

Tomorrow, I have to get more paints. The building I am working on currently (2 Victorian shops) needs blue and green for the different shop fronts so I'm at a standstill.

I decided to snoop into hubby's tub and check out what we'd got him in there - it being 10-15 years or so and neither of us remembering. We both got a huge surprise, as we don't remember ANYTHING in this tub! It's all buildings that somebody has already put together, kits, track, a couple of wagons, and other accessories. We can't remember if we bought it for him at a yard sale or at a fleamarket. It doesn't matter though, as it's a treasure trove..

I do remember buying him trains many moons ago, I think they must be up in the loft. We'd thought they were in this tub. One year (for his birthday or Christmas) my sister had bought him a load of accessories, people, trees, and such like. We haven't found that yet either. The tub is definitely not the things we remembered having!

Some of the buildings are damaged, some were crudely painted by someone with (surprisingly) less talent than I, so I now have half a dozen on my work table that I will be taking care of along with the building I am working on. I washed 2 smaller buildings earlier, and after drying them thoroughly, have begun repainting both. They are now sporting new grey rooves! 

On my projects, I had to reattach (yet again) the drainpipe to the station but then I glued the whole thing to the platform, so now that part is done.

When I was a child, platforms had big weighing scales on them. You'd put a penny in the slot, stand on it, and it would speak your weight. The platform accessory set is green plastic, and very small. I have painted the scale face white, earlier, and now the back red. Tomorrow I will repaint the red, and then, once that's dry, will paint the front (except for the face) red as well. That will then affix to the outside of the waiting room area.

Another piece is a bench for passengers to sit on, while they wait, so I have begun painting that the lightish brown colour that those benches are, It's slow going as these are fiddly little pieces (tomorrow I will get a craft toolkit, so that I will have special tweezers to hold pieces while painting or gluing them).

There is definitely a satisfaction in accomplishing each step, but they are definitely time consuming, and I just - as the song says - want it all and I want it now!