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On the map…

I love maps, I always have - a visual language, a way of understanding how pieces you may know connect through places you don’t…


Flat, colourful drawings, not just lines on a page but when interpreted you can see the landscape, the valleys, trees, rivers and man made elements together. In the days before satellite imagery being widely available via Google, a map was a story teller, the reader painting their own picture.

This map is a work of fiction and folly. A means to stitch disparate yet connected places together with some meaning whilst largely being good fun to create. See if you can spot the various layouts I’ve created already (and a few more you won’t spot, for future ideas) - there are three scenes here that have already graced the blog - and Cwmbach should (!!) be next.

I’m off to day dream about future model railways, read some books and enjoy this coffee before it goes cold. Until next time, more soon..,



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Comments

  1. Roger S1 February 2026 at 09:35

    Brilliant! I nearly got the Jowetts out to search for Cwmbach in relation to the disused line..
    Have a splendid Sunday!
    Roger

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    1. James H1 February 2026 at 09:45

      Thanks Roger. I have Ken Karlewitz’s new book on The Batten Kill Railroad here and it is truly excellent…

      Delete
  2. stephen1 February 2026 at 12:18

    Very good, nice to see what Pont-y-dulais looked like beyond the bridge.

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    1. James H1 February 2026 at 12:40

      Perhaps not quite like this but yes, the colliery beyond the bridge was always in my imagination…

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  3. WillL1 February 2026 at 13:26

    I really like this, I'm guessing the chemical works is Molington Road? I've done similar in the past, albeit more a way of inserting fictional stations and places within real areas. Something I've always wondered is what software/app you use for drawing?

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    1. James H1 February 2026 at 13:46

      I hadn’t thought of that Will. Actually the chemical works makes fertiliser and is owned by PiChem…

      The drawing is done on my aging (and creaking) iPad Mini with Pencil and an app called Paper, with the subscription to unlock the better tools.

      Delete
  4. Ian Holmes1 February 2026 at 13:49

    I love maps too. You can't beat pouring over the details of OS Maps. Using maps to tie all your layouts and their histories together, can breathe new life into an idea that you might feel has run its course. Maybe 40 years ago now I drew my first map of the route of my fictional East Lincolnshire Light Railway. Scribbled in pencil on an OS Map of East Lincolnshire. That has lead to a whole history of this fictional light railway, that I use to pull some of my ideas into a coherent whole. Why just this week I was looking for a name for my latest micro layout. I traced the route of my railway, and found it passed close to a farm - "Clyde House". So my layout is now called Clyde House Farm Sidings. Complete with a history. I really should do a video on the process for my YouTube channel....

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    1. James H1 February 2026 at 15:33

      Thanks Ian, it seems it is not only me then! As a teen I surveyed my own route to Ullapool to create a ‘what if’ route that shared a parallel history to reality along with Steve Flint’s Kyle of Tongue… that was my first proper effort but I’ve always drawn maps…

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  5. David Hall2 February 2026 at 00:31

    I love this. And I love maps too! That is the reason I became a town planner! So, I know spend a large chunk of my working weeks looking at OS maps.

    As a kid, I spent hours and hours drawing maps, conjuring up imaginary railways. That creativity hasn't left me as an adult. In fact, sometimes I think that that the planning and design stage is my favourite part of this hobby. No doubt that sounds very stange!

    Thank you for reminding me of what makes me happy 😊

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  6. Tom Lloyd2 February 2026 at 16:49

    I've spent quite alot of time rearranging the Camel valley in Cornwall and adding extra sidings! Maps are fantastic things. It always helps to ground a model railway in reality too.

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    1. James H2 February 2026 at 22:13

      Fantastic Tom! Make sure you haven’t forgotten Penpont on there!!

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  7. Mark6 February 2026 at 16:47

    I love this - I always have a written backstory and a map for my layouts - sometimes the map is handwritten just like this and sometimes it’s superimposed onto a OS map where I’ve created a ‘new line’ where one hasn’t existed- I guess that’s a bit of storytelling

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