We're on holidays at the moment, on our way to visit our daughter, who lives in Budapest Hungary, for Christmas. We flew into Paris firstly, spent a couple of days there, and we're now catching trains across Europe to Budapest. The chance to spend a few days in Mulhouse, eastern France, was one not to be missed, as this attractive city also contains two of France's best museums- the Cité du Train and the Cité de L'Auto- both of which are absolutely outstanding museums.
The Cité du Train is France's National Railway Museum and contains some absolutely amazing items. Overall I'd say it represents the vast history of France's railways very well. The museum is really in two parts- the original part and a newer part built for the Millenium. The newer part is where you enter, and significantly at this time of year it is heated, the original part is not! As a museum 'junkie' I definitely liked the newer part better, although the original part contains vastly more items. Effectively it is a very large metal shed, with no windows, and the interior is completely satin black but with very effective spotlights highlighting the exhibits.
The first train that you see is the superb 'Micheline' railcar (Autorail) which I am very fond of. The only other place in the world that you can see one of these is in Madagascar! For me it symbolises French engineering generally- a willingness to try out different, hopefully better, ways of doing things, albeit not always successful ! In this case, as the name alludes to, the wheels are actually pneumatic rubber tyres, while of course still having steel flanges, an idea that ultimately didn't catch on.
In this section there were all sorts of sound effects, including 'conversations' by 'passengers' which I'm sure were quite amusing, though my French wasn't good enough to understand them. There were mannequins, which I usually detest in museums, but these were caricatures and were very effective.
There were many details that were highlighted, and which as a collector, really fascinated me.
Moving into the original section was something of a shock as it was seriously cold! Mind you, it was snowing outside too! There were windows in the roof as well, which made photography a real challenge, if not impossible. Despite this, though, there were some truly amazing locomotives on display, including all my favorite Hornby O, AcHo and Jep HO prototypes!
It was a 'fantastique' day out, I can definitely recommend this museum, though perhaps not in winter! France can be very proud indeed of it's railway and engineering history, and it's railway museum.
Some good progress recently on the Trainbarn, and at our property 'Whistlestop' generally, though nothing particularly photogenic!
The Trainbarn
The interior of the main display area of the Trainbarn is now two-thirds complete. I decided to tackle the chair-rail (belt-rail) and skirting boards around the area that has been painted, and was really amazed at how much difference this made to the look of the area. The chair-rail was easier than expected to install on my own, made easier by the nice, level floor and the fantastic Makita compound-mitre saw that was a gift a year or so ago.
This is the area just to the left of the archway, where initially the Classic British O gauge layout will be. The layout here will be 25' 10" x 11' 6", which is a really great size! I have used Australian Dulux paint exclusively, the wainscot is Hog Bristle, the plaster walls Hog Bristle Half, and the ceiling Antique White USA, and I couldn't be more happy with the end result. This is about one third of the display area and just behind where I'm standing, taking the photo, the second third is now also finished, however the final 'third' of the area is still unpainted plasterboard, but certainly I am feeling that the end is in sight!!
Slowly the entry area of the 'barn is evolving too. Something that I enjoy enormously is getting things out of boxes that have been in storage for many years, and this Bachmann G scale loco is a typical case!
This is the Bachmann 2-8-0 Consolidation in 1:20.3 scale, which accurately represents a 3 foot gauge prototype on G scale track (45mm/ 1 ¾"). I bought it online many years ago in a 'close-out' special but it had never been out of it's box before now. I'd like to run it some day, but until then it looks great on the entry area wall!
Also in the entry area is my temporary display table, currently with various N gauge items set-up on it. We had some international visitors come to our place, minus a translator, so I wanted them to see something other than N gauge, as I didn't want them to think that the whole Trainbarn was only going to display these tiny trains! As the two operating Japanese locos were electric, I decided to get out other electric catenary-equipped locos of different sizes. So, out came the Lionel (MTH) 408E in Standard Gauge, the Lionel O gauge GG1, and my Auscision HO Victorian Railways L class.
Not a very convincing display, I'd have to say, but hopefully it conveyed the effect that I wanted.
With the immense amount of wall area that I have available in the main display area, much of which will ultimately have train display cabinets on it, I also need to hang some appropriate, as-large-as-possible, pictures etc, to avoid the very bare look that it currently has. Of course there are many posters and prints available, but I want everything to be as relevant as possible and one source that I've 'discovered' is jigsaw puzzles. I have found that I really enjoy doing them, particularly when my wife- who sees things very differently to me- helps out.
Not a good photo, but this 1000 piece jigsaw of a 1926 Lionel catalog cover is exactly the sort of thing that I was looking for, though it was extremely difficult to do, as every piece was a different, odd shape. Unfortunately we both did this while away from home and to transport it back it needed to be partially disassembled, but with all the odd shapes it didn't come apart well, so might effectively need re-doing. Anyway, we'll get it whole again, glue it together and get it framed, and it should make a great display.
Whistlestop generally
About half my time recently has been spent outside, mowing and generally tidying up the property, which I enjoy immensely. There are still a few areas that are infested with African Love Grass, which have never been cleared or mown, so I'm trying to gradually chip away at that. Every little bit that's completed really makes a difference, and also seems to lead into what needs to be done next. Once mown the Love Grass actually makes a reasonable, if somewhat lumpy, lawn, and looks quite presentable. Mowing it down also allows the other native grasses to get a look in.
It's been great to have the time to get some of these jobs done, some of which I've been 'planning' for many years. It is really great and encouraging to see good progress!
