Life of a Line

John Wilkes models and narrates the life of a narrow gauge railway from its beginning to its end to its preservation.
Filmed for OxRail virtual exhibition.

[@althejazzman]

I love how this tells a bigger story than the physical size of the layout. Lovely concept.

[@Jasper_4444]

What a delightful idea, to have three eras on one layout. Also, as a modeller and musician myself, I appreciate that you wrote the music yourself. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@markjames6669]

This is so beautiful. And what a big meaningful story in such a tiny world

[@thegiq]

This is a layout you can describe in one word: gorgeous

[@dubiousName]

The philosophical railway model, great idea, great work.

[@PrinceStreet]

What a fantastic idea for a layout and so nicely presented.

[@jamesbroughton620]

Fantastic! Love this

[@moorwatch9654]

What a brilliant layout with great detail and some comedy elements too, fantastic

[@DanQuine]

This is exceptional modelling, and such a great narrative in a very small space. Congratulations!

[@Crlarl]

It belongs in a museum!

[@flippop101]

Very impressive, and I hope, encouraging to others. A lovely video, great channel, subbed!

[@locowerke]

Superb! I really enjoyed that journey; thank you.

[@ProfPtarmigan]

Superb idea and well executed.

[@stanleydomalewski8497]

Magnificent !😊

[@alantoulcher4899]

Thanks for sharing your video with us. Very well presented and narrated.

[@TheJpec361]

Outstanding job on a lovely layout!

[@trafficface]

What a model and your voice is fantastic, sorry that sounds strange

[@brewcityboatclub8299]

What a brilliant layout, props to you!

[@johncunningham6928]

That is wonderful...

[@terryrigden4860]

Absolutely brilliant. Doing in 3 eras is a fascinating idea

[@dismaldog]

Love the Cave idea,lovely layout allround

[@JohnDavies-cn3ro]

I've seen your articles in OO9 News - nice to see the line running. Green Scene, I think, market packs of dyed birch catkin tips, which I use in OO for ivy leaves - don't envy the person who has to collect them! And I've similarly got three 'time zones' on my main loft layout too. The late John Ellison made a point that, as you only see a small part of a layout at a time, you can have different times or places adjacent to one another without incongruity, if its done well. His 'Delta Lines' used the trick very successfully.

[@johnwilkes8266]

Sometimes the birch catkins can be a bit big for 4mm scale. They are easy to collect, but separating them from the seeds is like sifting for silver ...

[@JohnDavies-cn3ro]

@@johnwilkes8266 Thanks for replying - gives me chance to correct a mistake. It was Frank Ellison, of Delta Lines fame, not John. I approach scenery from an artist's view point, and prefer a 'broad brush' effect, rather than an exact scale one. Each to his own. Did I meet you about three weeks ago at the Ross on Wye show?

[@walterg.dinkla2478]

I appreciate your thoughtful approach and attention to detail. Well done!

[@joetraincool]

Been following 009 society off and on since the mid 2000's, had no idea y'all had a youtube channel

[@stevemellin5806]

Nice layout . Great story thank you

[@holidaymoviecompany]

A wonderful layout! 👍🏼

[@dr.deborahkatharinestevens318]

What a delightful concept and exquisite execution❤.....yes, even the cursed Portaloo of purgatory!😊

[@chaturongarchary9773]

Such a little loco is my idea...a charmingly simple layout...

[@vanessahawarden9028]

This is wonderful, I’m particularly impressed by the growth on the track

[@peterbennett4518]

Wow I was watching a gentle video and what a great a voice. Keep it updated and I look forward to others. Well done.

[@edscoble]

It would be great to have closed captioning with it, as the auto captioning make it very hard to enjoy the video

[@sarahmartiniom]

I love how your layout isn’t just a place to run trains it tells a story witch is realy cool =D

[@ukewarrior]

Brilliant ! So nice is such a small space with a lovely story.

[@Lighting_Desk]

Well this layout is lush.

[@ChinaAl]

Cute. Very nice

[@Roy-gi5ul]

Food for thought!

[@fettlerjohn3419]

Fascinating 👍🏼

[@rottenroads1982]

I like the locomotive in the video.

[@chocolate_maned_wolf]

haha that was funny and entertaining

[@farmerdave7965]

Brilliant !

[@hansvanderheijden153]

Heel leuk filmpje, aardig bedacht ook!!!

[@johnwilkes8266]

Danken

[@onkelmichl3300]

TipTop 👌👍

[@DasMusketKid]

Hey, I'm going to copy this for a project I have on school, but worse lol

[@dhh7501]

Lovely concept and You squeeed so much into a tiny space :o is it N, Z or T scale?

[@johnwilkes8266]

It's 009, a peculiarity of the UK. 4mm:foot scale or 1:76. Very common here of course but rare in the rest of the world. It uses N gauge track and to HO/OO scale.

[@Chessie-Steam-Special]

Why is just me or it feels real.....

[@THE-OUT-SIDE-FRAME-PORTER]

Where did you get the locomotive from?

[@johnwilkes8266]

It was scratch built by Paul Windle.

[@allanegleston4931]

for a yank whom is not in the loop, what is 009 model railroading? thanks .

[@tracksideshorts2361]

Hi Allan, 009 is narrow gauge, 4mm/foot or 1:76 scale, running on 9mm gauge track. It's used in the UK to represent tracks between 2 feet and 2 feet 6 inches. Something like HOn30 in the States. More on the website 009society.com

[@allanegleston4931]

@@tracksideshorts2361 thanks for the information. am looking at the website now. i like . the design and sofourth. reminds me of early web design. very clean and easy to navigate .

[@grouplondono159]

, Batman

[@willhooker9567]

Wow... I'm speechless! An amazing layout.