Railways have been in my blood all of my life. Like so many people, I was introduced to railway modelling one Christmas as a youngster and I went on to spend the whole of my working life in the railway industry at 12 inches to the foot. My work took me to several centres in England and Scotland and on around the world for many years. Besides the UK, I have worked in Tunisia, Chile, the USA, Spain, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa.
For much of the time, my modelling opportunities were limited but I usually managed to keep my interests alive on a bench or study table . . . or just by keeping up my subscriptions to magazines like Railway Modeller and Modern Railways. This is sometimes known as “armchair modelling” with connotations of laziness. However, I prefer to think of it as “planning”, an underrated but vitally important part of any project. This activity was elevated to new respectability when the Disney Studios coined the word: “imagineering”.
The name Charnwood evokes the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire where I spent much of my childhood. It is the working title for my layout which will be based upon the Midland Main Line in Leicestershire and set in the 1960s. These pages describe my hobby as it is and as I plan for it to develop. I shall be editing and augmenting these pages as and when the mood takes me. Nothing major will be happening until I manage to move house.
I have tried to make navigation easy; there are links at the foot of each page to the previous and following pages, as well as back here.
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These pages © 2009 – 2010 Judith Rastall