One of the people I met as a result of joining the Dice on the Hill games group at Shrewsbury House Community Centre was Richard Watson. He has been one of the duty managers of the community centre for some years and is both a wargamer and a model railway enthusiast. We have chatted about both hobbies and last year we managed to fight three wargames:
- Spartans vs. Athenians (March 2025)
- The Battle of the Falkland Islands (November 2025)
- The Battle of Scrobbesburh (December 2025)
Richard knows that I am particularly interested in 009/HO9 model railways and that I have a small layout ... the Mucking Flats & Fobbing Marsh Light Railway (MF&FMLR).
My Mucking Flats & Fobbing Marsh Light Railway (MF&FMLR) model railway layout.
Richard has been unwell for some time, and it was a great pleasure to see him at Shrewsbury House last week ... and not just because he had a bag full of bits and pieces for me!
Whilst he was off work, he had been having a bit of a clear out, and had selected some of his surplus 009/HO9 model railway locomotives and rolling stock that he thought that I would find useful. He was right ... and I am now the proud possessor of the following:
Two Liliput/Bachmann Fasslwagen Zillertalbahn (Barrel wagon, Zillertal Railway)
A Liliput/Bachmann Aussichtswagen Museumwagen (Observation carriage/museum carriage)
A Liliput/Bachmann Personnelwagen 2.Klasse (Second-class passenger carriage)
Two Playcraft open-sided passenger carriages (that were known as 'toast racks')
Four Minitrains dumper wagons
A Minitrains Diesel 0-4-0 Locomotive
A Liliput 0-4-0 Diesellokomotive Zillertalbahn (Diesel locomotive, Zillertal Railway)
A Minitrains 0-4-0 Fiddletown & Copperopolis tender locomotive with four different carriages plus
A Minitrains Fiddletown & Copperopolis baggage wagon
The Fiddletown & Copperopolis railway was the fictional creation of cartoonist Carl Falberg. A compilation of his Fiddletown & Copperopolis cartoons was published as Fiddletown and Copperopolis - The life and times of an uncommon carrier in 1960, the cartoons having orignially appeared in issues of the RAILROAD magazine. The book was republished in 1985, 1998, 2003, and 2012.
That is a spectacular gift. Very nice things. Glad to see a steam engine in there. Real trains run on Steam, not this crazy newfangeld diesel electric stuff :)
ReplyDeleteMy Boston and Albany, and Great Northern Empire Builder lines salute you.
WEK 3,
DeleteIt was very generous, and I am looking forward to giving the locomotives and rolling stock a run on my layout.
My favourite is obviously the Fiddletown & Copperopolis set ... and I am giving serious consideration to building a small layout specially for it.
All the best,
Bob
What a splendid gift!
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteIt was ... and I need to put it all to good use.
All the best,
Bob
What a princely gift. I hope you enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteConrad Kinch,
DeleteI certainly intend to do exactly that!
All the best,
Bob
A gift is almost as wonderful to receive as it is to give. These are absolutely delightful. No wonder you were so chuffed (and I bet that Richard enjoyed the giving all the more for your reaction and clear enjoyment of them).
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, James
James Fisher,
DeleteRichard even offered me a suitable layout to run my collection on, but unfortunately I do not have the room to accommodate it at present.
All the best,
Bob
Those are nice!
ReplyDeleteRob Young,
DeleteThey are ,,, and they have given me lots of ideas for possible layouts!
All the best,
Bob
What a awesome gift Bob!
ReplyDeleteI friend of mine have the Zillertal barrel wagon in G scale from LGB. It's a really nice one. I wouldn't mind travelling with the original. The MiniTrains items are not only looking excellent, but are also very smooth runners. To bad the founder passed.
Roger,
DeleteI count myself as being very lucky to have been given such a gift. As for the beer train ... well, how often might it have arrived empty on a hot day?
The Minitrains are very nice, and fit in well with my existing Liliput and Egger-Bahn/Playcraft/Jouef locomotives and rolling stock.
All the best,
Bob
I was familiar with the MiniTrains Fiddletown & Copperopolis rollingstock but not the story behind them. Very interesting. I have some few unlettered pieces myself.
DeleteRoger,
DeleteI am doing some investigation into the history of the Fiddletown & Copperopolis Railway and hope to write a blog post about it in the near future.
All the best,
Bob