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Wednesday, 5 August 2026

New YouTube video: Running trains on my Mucking Flats & Fobbing Marsh Light Railway layout

Back in late June, I wrote a blog post about the generous gift of 009/HO9 locomotives and rolling stock I was given by Richard Watson.

Once I was able to use my toy/wargame room again, I decided that as soon as an opportunity arose, I would set up my Mucking Flats & Fobbing Marsh Light Railway layout and run as many of the locomotives and rolling stock as I could. The results can be seen on the following YouTube video.

One of the locos proved a little recalcitrant and needed a prod to get it going (hence the appearance of the Hand of Bob at one point!), but once it was properly run-in, it flew around the track. Some of the longer rolling stock – particularly those that did not have twin bogies – had problems with the tight curves on the layout and proved impossible to run. I will have to leave these until I build a bigger layout.

My favourite locomotive and rolling stock is the Minitrains 0-4-0 Fiddletown & Copperopolis tender locomotive and carriages ... and although they are a bit large for the layout, I hope to run them regularly on it until I can build a suitably larger one.

The video lasts approximately five and a half minutes and can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel

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18 comments:

  1. Lovely to see some trains running on your layout Bob

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    Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      Now all I need to do is to build an extension to my existing layout!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. Bob, the F&C train is my favourite two. If you add some late 19th century US Army artillerymen to the shore battery it won't look out of place at all, as it delivers their replacements and extra ammunition. Best wishes, Arthur

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    Replies
    1. Arthur1815 (Arthur),

      What a great idea! I may have some suitable figures somewhere in my collection.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Hey Bob, Off topic here, when I click on your website or any links I get "Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network. This page checks to see if it's really you sending the requests, and not a robot" Then I have to enter the code. Strange it just started today on any device I use. It only happens on every like with a .blogspot domain. I think it must be the blogspot servers? Any ideas. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spearhead,

      I sometimes get the same message … on my own blog! I’ve asked Blogger why and not yet received a satisfactory answer. It appears that it is part of their drive to combat spamming and AI bots.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Bob,
      Thanks, all seems to be working fine now. I just got worried after googling the issue and some sources claim my system has malware or virus. But apparently that's not the issue.
      Cheers

      Delete
    3. Spearhead,

      For some unknown reason, Blogger sometimes does odd things. For example, it recently stopped me for replying to comments! The ‘ban’ lasted a couple of days and then it was gone.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. This is an excellent video Bob. The reason to that one loco stalling might have been due to it was standing on a switch. That might be challenging with pickups with a smaller and light engine with only 2 axles. What is the radii on the layout? 14cm by Kato??
    I really love that your layout has a gun position. I've recently been to a Coastal Fortress on an island in the Oslofjord and saw rails there. There has not been actual trains on this Fortress, but it inspired me to do another trip this summer. Updates will shortly appear on .y blog. Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps I've been asking about this earlier, but what's the overal size of your layout?

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    2. Roger,

      The stalling is - as you comment - most likely due to problems with the loco picking up power on the points, although it might also be done to the lack of running it had experienced. It had been untouched in its box for some years and probably needed a longer running in period before I made the video.

      The Kato track curves on the layout are the smallest they make for N-gauge and anything larger than an 0-6-0 has trouble on them, especially when pulling rolling stock without bogies.

      I’ve seen the fortress on Oslofjord from the water but never from in land. Perhaps I’ll manage it one day …

      All the best,

      Bob

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    3. Roger,

      The layout is 35” x 21” and is made from half a wallpaper pasting table.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    4. Very nice. It's less than the 'traditional' 4x2'. There usually quite cheap as well, and comes with legs. Does it means that you have a second half? I guess it can be used for wargaming boards as well. I have given it a thought when being seeing those tables in the DIY stores.

      Delete
    5. Roger,

      It is a small layout, but it works because it’s H0/009.

      I do have the other half of the pasting table and plan to build another small layout on it … with the possible option of joining the two together.

      My first wargame table was a pasting table painted green. I used it for years.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. That was a very soothing watch! "Hand of Bob" - I like that :-)

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    Replies
    1. Nundanket,

      Cheers! I’m glad that you enjoyed it … including the ‘Hand of Bob’!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Tradgardmastare,

      Cheers! It was great to get the layout on my table and run some trains on it!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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