Before writing this, I was thinking that 2022 had been a bit dull in OTCM terms, however trying to find a few photos to illustrate this made me think that maybe that was a bit unfair.
The start of the year was actually mega productive, the C word meant thee was a lot of time in the shed working on various rolling stock projects, as well as the new fiddle yard for the layout. Much of this was documented through a series of YouTube videos which I really need to carry on with, but have been far more popular than I ever expected.
In the real world both of us have been mega busy with big trains, and various projects we are involved in – this looks set to be much the same in 2023. However in the parallel universe of baby trains, we purchased a RTR layout, on a very different theme to anything that has gone before – Cessy-en-Bois which is an absolute masterpiece.
2023 should, all being well, provide the opportunity to get this out on the exhibition circuit. The most shocking thing is that, despite having the thing in his spare room for 5 months, Oly is still yet to write a post or do a video about it!!!!
Summer also saw some great weather, which was a bit of a distraction from modelling, but the steam bans imposed by most preserved lines did provide the opportunity for a bit of diesel bashing, blended in with drinking trips.
Bottom Works Sidings was also photographed by Mike Wild from Hornby Magazine, and then featured in the magazine during the Autumn, ahead of appearing at the Great Electric Train Show in Milton Keynes, and the South Hants exhibition in Portsmouth – boy was it good to get out exhibiting again after 3 years, despite the effort involved making me question the point a few times.
Mods made to the layout shifted the primary control position to the rear, and introduced a need to stand on a box to assume the Commander in Chief position – this provides an excellent overview of the show, even if you are a bit exposed to any wind at such altitudes, which given some of the clientele at a show can be a bit dangerous!
To round the year out, and nothing to do with trains, we managed a trip to Belgium in December, where significant quantities of beer were consumed
And that’s about that for 2022 – we are still here and ticking over modelling wise, YouTube is doing well (get subscribed if you haven’t already) and the blog continues to attract attention – hopefully the same will happen in 2023, but let’s see!
All the best for the new year, and we we will see you in the new year!
Chris and Oly, or Oly and Chris (depending on which way you look at it)
D
The Model Railways of Oly Turner and Chris Matthews 