Winter has finally come; winds have stripped most of the leaves from the trees (burying Lin�s Garden Bahn again), and crisp frosty mornings have arrived. Time to sit in by the fire and compose the annual missive.
As ever the year seems to have rushed past, and it is hard to believe that twelve months have past.

2006 started quite slowly, with Lin recovering from surgery at home, and Phil working for Thompson.
Then in February, the annual winter expedition. This year, we both travelled together, taking ferry to Esjberg and driving on up to G�teborg.
Winter had finally come to the north, and there was snow on the ground to either side, but luckily, the roads and the weather were clear.


After a couple of days with Ulf and Gunilla, in G�teborg, we set off north to Kl�ppen, and found our new stuga, further up the hill than before, bathed in sunshine, with balcony looking out towards the slopes.
No shortage of snow this year! The snow cannons were parked off the slopes, but the recent sunshine had left the paths and runs quite icy.
A couple of days later and we had snow a plenty, as the most snow fell in southern Sweden for 40 years! (Currently, there is very little snow, and all the runs are closed)

Lin returned to work on our return, and was soon commuting up to Holborn, and it wasn�t long before the garden railway season got underway with the usual weekend visits.





After missing out on our summer trip to Scandinavia last year, this year�s holiday in July was eagerly awaited.
We used the flexibility of the channel tunnel crossing, driving north to Hamburg and Minuatur Wonderland, where we met up with Ulf & Gunilla, then on to G�teborg, dropping in on Lin�s Swedish teacher in her newly extended summer cottage.
We also visited the G�teborg HobbyCenter, where Phil received a personal demonstration of the Roco crane and Joystick Control from the designer Rutger Friburg, and a preview of his New working Container Terminal model (now available from Heljan - and yes, we have one).



Being July it was peak season in Sweden, and many camp sites were full, we found a lakeside site, at Vassbotten, just south of the Norwegien border, and when we said we would stay for a week we got given a prime spot with lake view.
The weather remained scorching, and afternoon dips in the lake were a delight.
We took a number of day trips, including a train trip to Louise in Oslo,
& back to G�teborg for a sail out among the islands with Mikael and Katrina.
We also visited the Munkedal and Anten-Gr�fsn�s Railways. In the end we stayed 10 days.



We spent a couple of days on the way home, revisiting the first site we�d ever used when camping by car in Sweden, in Skane next to their outdoor pool! using it as a base to visit the newly referbished Angelholm railway museum, and local railway shop.





September saw the annual trip to IBC, Amsterdam, where the weather was still warm and sunny.
An eventful trip this year in that the �Serpentine� (�fan belt�) broke on the Discovery, and thanks to a jammed bolt, required the use of a hire car for the duration, and return as a foot passengers on the ferry, whilst the car was repatriated (to The County in Barnstaple) with all the luggage a few weeks later!
Despite this we managed to find a local model rail fair where Phil aquired some useful bits quite cheaply.

The weather finally cooled, and Phil was now working on the layout in the new Loft.
When the conservatory was completed, re- organisation of �stuff� finally began.
Phil was kept occupied throughout October by preparation for the Computer Fair and this was well attended again.
Then came the Solent Group G-scale autumn event, and the first outing for �Bruksbanen�, our shunting puzzle layout. (Built after our return from Amsterdam). Lin mass produced scale Pumpkins from Fimo for the event.

Upper Left: Exhibition running by our Y7 Railcar on another SRS member�s layout. Centre: Ilfracombe Track Laid as work progresses in the loft
Lower Left: Lin�s Garden Layout - Loop relaid (first of many improvements during the year) Right: Bruksbanan: Shunting Puzzle (Pictures by Glyn Smith)


For Halloween we used a disco smoke generator to add atmosphere for the trick or treaters to their surprise and amusement, and the warm weather continued into November for a musical extravaganza at the Royal Military Achademy: an evening of music,
fireworks and visual presentation representing the creation of the earth through to armageddon.
Despite being near the back of the picnicing crowd, we could still feel the heat of the synchronised flamethrowers.

Garden Railway events continued into December, and the Diary is already beginning to fill for 2007..
Which reminds us - we have a garden to reinstate. best wishes from Phil and Lin
Domestic Interest Pages:..

The Rainhill Trials 1999 Live Steam 3½" Gauge under the Willow
The Garden Railway First Steps into LGB MTS 45mm Gauge 1:22.5 Scale
An English Country Garden A Model Garden - not ours!
Lin's Garden Bahn Pictures Trains, Planes, Automobiles, People
G Scale Trackside Pictures inc. Fellow G Scale Member's Garden Railways
Christmas Card Designs Each reflecting our activities during the year
Christmas Card Design 2005 Reflecting our activities during the year
Christmas Card Design 2004 Reflecting our activities during the year
Christmas Card Design 2003 Reflecting our activities during the year
Beechingless Barnstaple 1976-2005 OO Gauge based on North Devon using Zero-1/dcc
Beechingless Barnstaple 2006 Rebuild Rebuilt from Scratch with new techniques
Scandinavian Railways Real and Model
Scandinavian Travels Winter and Summer
The Cats Never Forgotten
The House Extension New Conservatory / LGB Terminus
The Shunting Puzzle Layout (G-Scale on a Door plus ½) Shunting Puzzle

Created in HTMLEdit Studio by Phil & Lin Spiegelhalter - Updated November 2006