I’ve been pondering further about why the expected derision and rolled eyes haven’t yet appeared in connection with this project (don’t worry, still plenty of time to get some in; e.g. five years later: “You’re not still building that toy train track, are you?!”). Nope, apparently a garden railway is…well, “cool” would be wishful and hilarious thinking, but certainly an interesting curiosity.

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s been made acceptable by James May.

You see, May presented a light-hearted programme called James May’s Top Toys back in xmas of 2006. In it, he gave his rundown of the best boys’ toys of all time, and at no.1 was: the model railway. And at the end, he bid on and won a rare Hornby Blue Pullman set at auction. Which he immediately took home, ripped out of the box and proceeded to thrash round his train set with all his mates and not a little beer. In other words, exactly like having your mates round to watch sports, except with the boring bit replaced with a train set. People saw that and thought, “Hey, it’s OK to play with trains when you’re a grown man. Well, let’s face it, men never grow up anyway! Besides, James May is urbane and sexy.” Um well, they might think something like that anyway.

Hence, Wrack and Ruin is proud to nominate James May as our God Of The Blog, or Star In A Reasonably-Priced Anorak. James, we salute you! You may hang around with that Sun-reading tosser in the baggy jeans and that little spiky-haired twerp who thinks strapping yourself into the world’s fastest jet-powered car in the name of great telly is a good idea, but we thank you for your services to sad, lonely, maladjusted railway hobbyists everywhere. Big hand, everyone!