This is the page where all the other bits that are not locos, trucks, coaches, buildings or people will end up.  I hesitate to call them miscellaneous as I have the feeling that this page will be more interesting than some of the other main pages.

1. The travelling storyteller.          2. A Postbox.          3. Bamboo fencing.

After I finished the roof rack for luggage on the red carriage I started thinking about some things to put in it.  I made a crate for some bottles I had.  These bottles were coke bottles but repainting the bottle caps gold and making a high enough sided crate makes them appear more beer like.  I got some traditional Japanese material and made a couple of 'furoshiki' (carrying/wrapping cloths) and wrapped two small blocks of wood.

There was still plenty of space so I decided to make some luggage.  They would have to be light as I didn't want to add extra weight to the top of the carriage and make it wobble due to a higher cenrte of gravity.  Balsa wood is very light and easy to work with (so I thought) so I went out and got a pack of two lengths of 40mm by 40mm (I think) balsa wood. 

Sanding the wood into luggage shapes is a really satisfying pastime.  I used about 8 grades of sandpaper from 320 down to 1500.  The wood still retains some grain so I decided to make a steamer trunk.  This I coloured with very cheap (50p 200ml) water-based wood stain.  I used a walnut stain, which I gave around 5 or 6 coats.  This built up the depth of the colour and makes the wood look much heavier.  I scored grooves with the back of a blade to represent the openning edge and finally painted gold for locks/hinges/strapping.

I enjoyed making the first piece of luggage that I went on to make over 25 other pieces.  Some I gave away while I was in England.  There isn't much luggage available to buy and the range isn't all that interesting so this is a great way to add details to stations, trolleys and luggage racks.

I'll put op some more photos when I can to show the finished range of luggage articles I have made.

Well, it is essentially a bicycle, though the reason for it is on the rear rack (above the rear wheel).  Let me explain...

Long, long ago in ancient Japan, before Playstations, TVs or puppets, local children were entertained with traditional stories told by a man with a special bicycle.  This bike had a wooden box on the rear which was the stage for the story.  Illustrations would be inserted in the frame and the man would relate the tale to all the children sitting or standing around him.  Some men had a drum which they would use to attract the children as an ice cream van plays music.

This form of entertainment pre-dates the bicycle by a long way.  Yet, over time the two were married and led a happy life together.  Since the end of the 1930s these travelling storytellers have disappeared, replaced by the radio, TV and Gameboy.  A recent visit to a local toy museum with my wife's parents had them reminiscing about this phenomenom.

On to the model.  A stroll up the road aways brought me to a small and cramped model shop.  This one has corridors narrow enough for passing a fellow modeller to include trying not to send the towers of boxes tumbling down on us.  A good dig around brought up a few interesting finds.  The cheapest one, at 500 yen, was a bicycle.  This box, and contents of,left happily with me back to the refreshing air-conditioning of my home, a short five-minute walk.  What I got in the box was all the bits to make a standard bicycle, the box anf frame for the storytelling, a bench, street lamp, fake tree with support and a bit of pavement.

The bench is great and will be painted and put on a station platform.  The street lamp might go the same way too.  Off course I'll have to get busy with the modelling clay and make a storyteller and children. 

Just as soon as I make the bike I'll put up a picture.  Shouldn't take too long.

Complaints of letters being lost through the usual system, giving them to the train drivers or guards, has resulted in the instalation of a new-fangled post box (1909 version, Japan).  This is decidely slanting to the left, undoubtedly due to the weight of letters.  Made from modelling clay, it took me all of an hour from start to finish, including 20 minutes in the oven.  The next one will be even older, dating from 1867 or so and made of wood.

Another purchase from a 100yen shop are these sections of bamboo.  I would never have the patience to tie all those knots.

Let's hope they will stand up to the Japanese weather.

I picked up this all metal kit from Lineside Delights.  I soldered it togrther and gave it a few coats of matt black acrylic paint and a touvh of weathering.  Flat matt varnish to protect the paint and it is ready to be used by the railway workmen.

Even the wheel goes round!