I recommend that you start a Manor Model Railway Club. Members could pay a reasonable fee to help clean & restore the collection. Visiting school groups & other clubs could be given tours. It should definitely be saved as part of your Grandfathers legacy. It's another reason for me to follow your journey. Great twist to the tale. Thanks for sharing..
This is so beautiful and incredible, it should become an exhibit and be part of the manor tour. Get the trains to run and the whole thing cleaned. Paint the walls of the attic rooms white and display posters of trains, train stations throughout along with pictures of your grandfather working on his train sets. Advertise it. I think it would interest alot of people including train enthusiasts.
This channel is fantastic. The way you described your granddad sneaking in trains made me laugh, as I do the same with bikes and bicycling accessories. Hopefully, you get it running fully for future generations to enjoy.
You turn that railway set up into a tourist attraction! So many people would come to see it. You could do a " STAY & PLAY" package where people can stay two nights and get to play with the set . It's a money-maker. Or a "FIXATION STAY" where model train enthusiasts could stay cheaply for a week and work on re setting up the set again in another building.
This is SO worth its own Patreon channel to build its own ground floor building, well lit so every detail can be admired, with a club of model railway enthusiasts and an engineer or two to supervise the renovation. I can imagine a group of carefully supervised children helping with the restoration. Maybe an few extra feet of track to bring it all into one cohesive entity, around the perimeter of a space large enough to receive visitors. It is its own little museum. I used to build model railway buildings as a little girl, and as an adult, I typed (only the typing!) the operating manual of CP 4744, a prototype 3-phase locomotive which took the place of 6 locomotives. It's a thrilling hobby.
As someone who has and works in Tourism for years, consider keeping and opening to the public. It is uniqueness that interests others and sets your manor house apart from others vying for visitors.
It’s not practical to have general public in the attic. Maybe specialist tours where the visitors sign a waiver. Plus this looks like a fire hazard too
*The first person who came to mind was SIR ROD STEWART the singer, his is also a huge train enthusiast, as he too has a huge train set-up in his home. Contact his wife Penny via the police station that she works out of, as he would love to see this set up too.🙂 But I have to say that your grandfather was amazing to set up a trainset as long and as big as the attic.🙂 Is there a photo somewhere of him with the trainset... or even holding a train... cos that needs to be put up on the door to the entrance going up to the attic.🙂 I would love you to do a series of getting this all cleaned up and all working again... 🙂 what an amazing find and it is so HUGE.🙂 If you were thinking of moving it.... then you need to build a very long building the length & width of the attic that will be warm and dry etc before even attempting to move it all. Then you can set up tours where people will pay to see it all working again... yep this will take time & money... but this really needs to be seen by the people... then name the new building after your grandad...🙂 There are train enthusiast around the world who would travel to see the biggest train set up.🙂nz*
Just what I was thinking! Only a few days ago I read about him and his interest, together with Jools Holland. But Rod lives in Beverly Hills now, doesn't he? Or maybe he has an old manor in UK too, for a summer house?
@@percronholm8536 *Sir Rod's wife Penny works as a police officer in Britain.... so Sir Rod spends heaps of time in the UK with his wife and the youngest of his children. I think he also owns a football (soccer) club too in the UK. So the USA home is probably where they go on vacation & a base for when ever he is there on business etc. 🙂.*
@@percronholm8536 There is an article werein he moved the layout to the UK. Found it in Dec 2024 'Model Railroader'. A US publication so have to look for it in UK.
That is absolutely astonishing! My father built us a model railroad set when I was young, well over 50 years ago. We loved watching it run as did all our friends. How wonderful would it be to restore it in the attics and then have times when train enthusiasts and their families could come and observe it in operation. Could be a money maker and a huge legacy to your granddad. Simply blown away at what he has done!
Love your channel! You need to get this out of the attic and exhibit it where people can see it. Tag the train enthusiasts to assist you in fixing it up and moving it where people can see it. I am sure there are a team of local enthusiasts who would love the opportunity to assist.
You have your money maker right here. Move the model railway to one of the buildings you’ve emptied and set it up there. Hire a muralist. Set up a small museum and charge admission to tour. You could put in under plastic domes to protect it. Have a gift ship that sells like items in it with your family brand on them
Wow this is fabulous James thanks for sharing. I love thinking about the history of your Grandfather’s Model Train Railway and about how he built it and the pure joy he would have felt all those years ago. It would make a fabulous part of the house tour if it is a part of the manor that can be accessed by the tour. It would be wonderful to keep your Grandfather’s legacy alive by cleaning it up and getting it moving again Wow! ❤🇦🇺
That is amazing. Could be a great money spinner for the estate. ❤ I am 73 and have always loved trains since I was a little girl . My dad used to take me on his bike train spotting in the days of steam ❤ Do keep us updated xx
That is an amazing space! With all those old electrics running hither and thither please make sure your fire detection and protection systems are up to date! 🙏🏻
LOVED THIS! 👏🏼 My dad had a model train display that took up half of our garage growing up. We loved helping him with it as we got older. It was passed down to him from my moms father ❤ Very memorable times made together as a family with model trains. Would love to see more of this throughout your UA-cam journey moving forward 🫶🏼💯🙏🏼❤️
I started watching this channel because I am a cyclist and GCN viewer. However, my other passion is model railways and it is so wierd watching Hank do a model railway video 😂 its like a 'worlds collide' situation or like when you introduce two friends from different parts of your life, only to find they already know each other😅. I'd love to get involved with this and help you decide what to do with it. It looks like a mammoth task for even a team to take on! 😮
Honestly, this is so great a mans life passion, the hours spent fettling away, tweaking and fixing, It would be great in the future when you get it working if you could open this to the public, so many people would love to see this work of art up close.
I think that the comment "this work of art" really captures the value of the layout. As Alex noted in the video, many, many of the pieces were chosen, painted, and placed specifically. It is a life's work no matter the dust and age and clutter, it is a life's work as is any other "artist's" and deserves to be preserved.
Incredible! Takes me back to spending hours in my room with a railway on an 8 x 4 foot board and going to the model shop with my dad. I’m sure this would bring happiness to a lot of people.
Wow Alex. That is amazing. My Dad was a fireman on the steam trains in the 50's in Australia. His job was to keep the boiler at the right temperature to keep the train running. I grew up with steam trains and my Dad also had model trains made by Hornby. He even had one with a little spirit container that you could light to make steam come out of the funnel. I have so much respect even to this day for those beautiful powerful engines. Maybe one day you will have a son so you can enjoy it together. What an amazing inheritance.
Such a cool hobby your grandfather had,Hank! I'm a plastic scale modeler but am always fascinated by scale train layouts. Hope you can save it all and would love to see the outcome of it.
It's such an impractical space for people to come and see it - so why not get a crack team of train enthusiasts to recreate it in one of the farm buildings? Then you could replicate the current layout-ish and turn it into an attraction that people could actually visit - because you'd never get the attic past health and safety. Wonderful thing, great to watch
I can totally see the parallels between train enthusiasts and bike enthusiasts. Think of how you bicyclists feel about your custom road bike - it’s your baby, or at least my husband’s is. There’s a huge untapped throng of people either personally interested or who have a sentimental reaction to trains - a huge opportunity to increase your subscribers and feed the algorithm without having to debase yourself with extreme click bait headlines and such. Sorry, I don’t usually comment - complete lurker - but something about this train set has really touched my heart. You know he probably had representations of all of your family - at least one of those little people is you and maybe even Emma! It is so rare that someone is able to leave such a pure representation of their passion. It’s very touching. I hope you are able to find a way to share it with many many people. Also, I think it may be easier than you think to find parts if you’re creative where and how you look. Unfortunately, your grandfather’s generation probably represented the height of the model train community (sorry if that’s wrong - I forget how he wanted it described) and I don’t doubt their are many heirs who have this stuff and just don’t know what to do with it. If you started a museum, people will show up with stuff to either give you or sell to you. I’m sure there are tons of train people on UA-cam- many opportunities for collaboration. Sorry, I’m a marketer at heart. If you ever want a FREE, REMOTE, OFF-CAMERA intern for BRAINSTORMING - I’m your girl. I’m also a mom of three and a business owner so I’m watching your videos through many different lenses. My house is only 100 years old, and the largest event I’ve hosted only drew 1500 people (perennial plant exchange in the spring). Oh my goodness, the possibilities. My mind is literally exploding with ideas. You have the most amazing situation I’ve seen and as an architecture and history freak, I’ve watched many videos of people trying to make their stately homes support themselves. Yours would be so much fun to run - having your extended family involved and the respect you show the past while still being open to future change is just such a different vibe and it’s a joy to watch. I think we do events differently over here, but the intersection between new/different and comfortable/homely could be an entirely new event that is different from what others are offering and can generate news and bring more people to the estate - or even encourage return visits. You could get the same people coming five, six times a year - the house tour, (do you have an outbuilding tour - if not I’d bet you could develop one with a little research) can be the possibilities are literally endless and a lot of them wouldn’t take much monetary investment, seeing the trains - which they could do seasonally if you played up the seasonality/holidays, and then again for various events such as a plant exchange (anyone who has perennials has to split them in the spring, people would pay a small fee to enter if they bring plants to exchange and others pay a larger fee if they don’t have plants. Plants are free to take within limits, leftover plants go to a charity in some way. Garden centers or other garden related businesses sponsor and there can be a large education component as well about things like invasive and native plants. It could also be an annual event. Early spring - not quite sure about your seasons, but mine has to be in early May - I think yours would probably be April, around Mothering Sunday), or one of many other events you could host. Sorry, I’ll just watch the rest of the video and shut up now. 🤦🏻♀️ 17:42
Love this! My Dad built a village & model train for under our Christmas tree as a kid. And he built a new one for me and my kids now as an adult! I would love to see more videos on your grandfathers model train! Thanks for sharing
I do love trains, very nostalgic for this old Canadian Army brat. Alex is the sweetest, his cheeky grin says everything about how much he loves trains...and his Grandfather. Cheers guys.
That’s absolutely INCREDIBLE! I got chills when it started going. I would definitely love to see more about your progress if you continue to work on it!
Marvelous discovery! There are many groups that would be able to completely restore this historically impressive layout. Reach out to them. The work is tedious and complicated but it can be done. People will come just to see this collection running.
My grandfather also had a big model railway. It filled a room, not an entire estate attic. It was his distraction from the pain of having lost a leg and then having lung cancer. I always think of him when I see model railways
WOW....... WOW...... That is so amazing, and so LARGE a setup. YES, please try to get it up and running again. It's part of your heritage just hidden in the attic.
You guys do such a fantastic job of showing the world modern royalty and the everyday challanges you face and conquer, you are all such a class act! Plus you are so much fun to listen too, you both remind me of my playful six month old puppy! LOL
I'm not into trains, but I would really enjoy seeing train enthusiasts get that setup up and running again. Seeing that train was moving. To think the last time it moved, it was by your granded. He'd be so pleased to see being played with again.
Awesome! I've been a Model Railroader all my life. Great hobby! I got my first train when I was 8 for Christmas. My Grandpa, Dad and Great Uncle set it up and played with it before I had a chance....hahahaha
It really is a wonderful set up. I think it would be wonderful to have special train enthusiast days at the house. Quite the process to get it to that state. What a great way to remember your Grandpa !
Add a mezzanine to your barn and move the model there. It would be another great visitor attraction. Use your local model train group to move it and to run it for you.
Amazing! Might be worth it to build especially for this. A place where the local train enthusiasts could have meetings as well as additional way to entice visitors to the manor and cafe. Could become a revenue source. I can imagine a train set especially for younger children to control as well as an area for the 10-14+ set to have more sophisticated trains to run. Something for all ages.
How incredibly all the different parts to this massive model railway. I don’t know anything about trains, model railways etc but I would love to see more about the cleaning, the maintenance of getting everything serviced, it all set up again and the day your able to run the whole set in one go. Thanks for showing what has been living in your loft space for all these decades. I hope you have many hours of discovery, learning about what to keep, or even sell to keep, repairthis wonderful project. Many years of I would think some wonderful fun ahead. 🏴❤️
Maybe Pete Waterman could help. He and a team broke some kind of model railway record. You are my new favourite channel. I love the variety of what you show us and your obvious love of the place.
How amazing This be so cool, moved and put on display with all the trains for public to see, and other train enthusiasts to come clean move and set up ❤
At the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, for a substantial additional charge, they have Behind The Scenes tours. I think you should hire a team to thoroughly clean it all and organize all the supplies to make them easily accessible for repairs. Then cover it all with plexiglass to keep dust and little hands off of it, and then get it to make some revenue for the estate. I bet your Grandfather would be looking down with a huge smile! Editing to add: the process would make a great series!
Wow, that is amazing! Thanks for sharing. My grandfather also has train models and other models. One would go around the christmas tree and had a village. I know that it would be a lot of work, but it would be amazing if you could clean it up and set it up somewhere where people visiting could see it and enjoy it. Please keep us updated. 😊
When I was a child my Grand father and I had a large ( not close to the size you have). But I am impressed with what your grand father has built.. I think you have a lot of money there in just the trains engines and cars. You may want to have a a true collector or a person that knows the worth to come up stairs and give you a true evaluation of what you have.. OR just get it running and keep it as a memory of your Grand DAD.
What a lovely video, obviously a suitable space for this layout to be displayed, is a must, followed up by model railway enthusiasts carefully dismantling, cleaning, and moving it to its new permanent home where they could operate it, and it could/would bring in much needed ££££. What a massive job your grandfather undertook, creating his layout.
This is so cool. As a child in Ohio, USA there was a pizza restaurant near an old Quaker Oats factory that had a large second floor room with model train sets. My siblings and I loved to watch the trains while we were waiting for our pizza.
What fun! I'm not a train enthusiast, but I'd love to see more. I'm glad I found your channel in its infancy, but... now I have to wait a whole week for new content!
Love it. Try getting in touch with James May. He’s a bit of a train enthusiast. He’s got a few shows on trains, as well as eating some world records with model trains. Maybe do some kind of collab.
My father had an HO (American) He would have loved to help you with the electrics, which was his passion. Start with a low volume vac and as you said get something to go all the way around.
Ok, here's my suggestion: get volunteers and donors, find one your huge out buildings and transfer and rebuild the whole thing out of the attic. Yes, the shape of the tracks will have to change but you can keep the scenes and the trains. Start with taking pictures of the whole thing, mapping the whole layout and doing an inventory of what is there. The final vision would be the whole thing accessible to the public and a model of the original construct, so visitors could see before and after.
I really enjoyed seeing your grandad’s railway, I believe you should leave it where it is, clean it up, for your family to enjoy it, keep somethings private. Xx
AMAZING!! You have lots of room at the stables, if you can start a club of train enthusiasts volunteer to come and help you set it up, I'm sure they would LOVE to help! Plus they could sell and trade between each other or charge admission for visitors who are not part of the club! I bet you would find artists who would love to design miniature landscapes and villages to join! This is very special and exciting!❤❤
I recommend that you start a Manor Model Railway Club. Members could pay a reasonable fee to help clean & restore the collection. Visiting school groups & other clubs could be given tours. It should definitely be saved as part of your Grandfathers legacy. It's another reason for me to follow your journey. Great twist to the tale. Thanks for sharing..
Very well said!!! 👏🏼❤️ I agree!! Can’t wait to see how they honor his love for trains and hopefully turn it into a beautiful tour!
This is so beautiful and incredible, it should become an exhibit and be part of the manor tour. Get the trains to run and the whole thing cleaned. Paint the walls of the attic rooms white and display posters of trains, train stations throughout along with pictures of your grandfather working on his train sets. Advertise it. I think it would interest alot of people including train enthusiasts.
I agree. 😊❤
Totally agree.
This could be another channel - the restoration of this room and space. There are people who would watch and subscribe. Seriously!
Logistically impossible and not good for the trains. They need a big new space.
Fantastic idea!!!!! 👏🏼💯❤️
Thanks for inviting me guys! Loved every minute 🚂
This channel is fantastic. The way you described your granddad sneaking in trains made me laugh, as I do the same with bikes and bicycling accessories. Hopefully, you get it running fully for future generations to enjoy.
Fast forward 50 years and see Hank's grandkids showing Alex's Dura-Ace component collection.
You turn that railway set up into a tourist attraction! So many people would come to see it. You could do a " STAY & PLAY" package where people can stay two nights and get to play with the set . It's a money-maker. Or a "FIXATION STAY" where model train enthusiasts could stay cheaply for a week and work on re setting up the set again in another building.
Brilliant idea as well!!! 👏🏼❤️
This is SO worth its own Patreon channel to build its own ground floor building, well lit so every detail can be admired, with a club of model railway enthusiasts and an engineer or two to supervise the renovation. I can imagine a group of carefully supervised children helping with the restoration. Maybe an few extra feet of track to bring it all into one cohesive entity, around the perimeter of a space large enough to receive visitors. It is its own little museum. I used to build model railway buildings as a little girl, and as an adult, I typed (only the typing!) the operating manual of CP 4744, a prototype 3-phase locomotive which took the place of 6 locomotives. It's a thrilling hobby.
I have this mental image of model train enthusiasts arriving by bus loads and climbing the drainpipes to get into your attic!
One of the outlying barns or "extra" buildings could be put to good use and charge a quite-large entry fee.
DEFINITELY WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF THE MODEL RAILWAY ❤❤❤
As someone who has and works in Tourism for years, consider keeping and opening to the public. It is uniqueness that interests others and sets your manor house apart from others vying for visitors.
It’s not practical to have general public in the attic. Maybe specialist tours where the visitors sign a waiver. Plus this looks like a fire hazard too
*The first person who came to mind was SIR ROD STEWART the singer, his is also a huge train enthusiast, as he too has a huge train set-up in his home. Contact his wife Penny via the police station that she works out of, as he would love to see this set up too.🙂 But I have to say that your grandfather was amazing to set up a trainset as long and as big as the attic.🙂 Is there a photo somewhere of him with the trainset... or even holding a train... cos that needs to be put up on the door to the entrance going up to the attic.🙂 I would love you to do a series of getting this all cleaned up and all working again... 🙂 what an amazing find and it is so HUGE.🙂 If you were thinking of moving it.... then you need to build a very long building the length & width of the attic that will be warm and dry etc before even attempting to move it all. Then you can set up tours where people will pay to see it all working again... yep this will take time & money... but this really needs to be seen by the people... then name the new building after your grandad...🙂 There are train enthusiast around the world who would travel to see the biggest train set up.🙂nz*
Just what I was thinking! Only a few days ago I read about him and his interest, together with Jools Holland. But Rod lives in Beverly Hills now, doesn't he? Or maybe he has an old manor in UK too, for a summer house?
@@percronholm8536 *Sir Rod's wife Penny works as a police officer in Britain.... so Sir Rod spends heaps of time in the UK with his wife and the youngest of his children. I think he also owns a football (soccer) club too in the UK. So the USA home is probably where they go on vacation & a base for when ever he is there on business etc. 🙂.*
@@percronholm8536 There is an article werein he moved the layout to the UK. Found it in Dec 2024 'Model Railroader'. A US publication so have to look for it in UK.
This project needs its own channel and patrons
Got emotional watching this…there was a lot of love put into this wonderful set of trains.
These videos are just insane, love seeing you guys every week. Best content on youtube! x
That is absolutely astonishing! My father built us a model railroad set when I was young, well over 50 years ago. We loved watching it run as did all our friends. How wonderful would it be to restore it in the attics and then have times when train enthusiasts and their families could come and observe it in operation. Could be a money maker and a huge legacy to your granddad. Simply blown away at what he has done!
Love your channel! You need to get this out of the attic and exhibit it where people can see it. Tag the train enthusiasts to assist you in fixing it up and moving it where people can see it. I am sure there are a team of local enthusiasts who would love the opportunity to assist.
You have your money maker right here. Move the model railway to one of the buildings you’ve emptied and set it up there. Hire a muralist. Set up a small museum and charge admission to tour. You could put in under plastic domes to protect it. Have a gift ship that sells like items in it with your family brand on them
gift shop
You absolutely need James May on the case! I bet he'd absolutely love to get involved with this.
I think that Pete Waterman is an enthusiast also Rod Stewart
Wow this is fabulous James thanks for sharing. I love thinking about the history of your Grandfather’s Model Train Railway and about how he built it and the pure joy he would have felt all those years ago. It would make a fabulous part of the house tour if it is a part of the manor that can be accessed by the tour. It would be wonderful to keep your Grandfather’s legacy alive by cleaning it up and getting it moving again Wow! ❤🇦🇺
So glad you shared this! This could become yet another attraction for visitors to your estate.
Just WOW!! Perhaps clean up the attic and finish everything around the tracks for the tourists! LOVE!!!
How wonderful Alex was able to get the train moving again. What a wonderful legacy your grandfather has left.
That is amazing. Could be a great money spinner for the estate. ❤ I am 73 and have always loved trains since I was a little girl . My dad used to take me on his bike train spotting in the days of steam ❤ Do keep us updated xx
have no trains. 100% would watch a series on this. absolutely crazy! i love it.
Glad you enjoy it!
That is an amazing space! With all those old electrics running hither and thither please make sure your fire detection and protection systems are up to date! 🙏🏻
I think this is amazing. Preserving this would honor your granddad's memory and if there was a way to share this with others - I would.
That was a fantastic episode. Yep get Sir Rod or James May involved.
LOVED THIS! 👏🏼 My dad had a model train display that took up half of our garage growing up. We loved helping him with it as we got older. It was passed down to him from my moms father ❤ Very memorable times made together as a family with model trains. Would love to see more of this throughout your UA-cam journey moving forward 🫶🏼💯🙏🏼❤️
I started watching this channel because I am a cyclist and GCN viewer. However, my other passion is model railways and it is so wierd watching Hank do a model railway video 😂 its like a 'worlds collide' situation or like when you introduce two friends from different parts of your life, only to find they already know each other😅. I'd love to get involved with this and help you decide what to do with it. It looks like a mammoth task for even a team to take on! 😮
Honestly, this is so great a mans life passion, the hours spent fettling away, tweaking and fixing, It would be great in the future when you get it working if you could open this to the public, so many people would love to see this work of art up close.
I think that the comment "this work of art" really captures the value of the layout. As Alex noted in the video, many, many of the pieces were chosen, painted, and placed specifically. It is a life's work no matter the dust and age and clutter, it is a life's work as is any other "artist's" and deserves to be preserved.
Would love to see more of this. What an amazing layout and connection to your Grandad
Incredible! Takes me back to spending hours in my room with a railway on an 8 x 4 foot board and going to the model shop with my dad. I’m sure this would bring happiness to a lot of people.
Wow Alex. That is amazing. My Dad was a fireman on the steam trains in the 50's in Australia. His job was to keep the boiler at the right temperature to keep the train running. I grew up with steam trains and my Dad also had model trains made by Hornby. He even had one with a little spirit container that you could light to make steam come out of the funnel. I have so much respect even to this day for those beautiful powerful engines. Maybe one day you will have a son so you can enjoy it together. What an amazing inheritance.
I saw a video here on UA-cam with your grandfather showing this. It was amazing!
Amazing layout and a heartwarming story behind it. Would definitely like to see more content and get involved with any restoration work!
give James May a ring
Such a cool hobby your grandfather had,Hank! I'm a plastic scale modeler but am always fascinated by scale train layouts. Hope you can save it all and would love to see the outcome of it.
Hank, that model railway needs to come out of the attic and in to a bar so it can be enjoyed by more.
It's such an impractical space for people to come and see it - so why not get a crack team of train enthusiasts to recreate it in one of the farm buildings? Then you could replicate the current layout-ish and turn it into an attraction that people could actually visit - because you'd never get the attic past health and safety. Wonderful thing, great to watch
I can totally see the parallels between train enthusiasts and bike enthusiasts. Think of how you bicyclists feel about your custom road bike - it’s your baby, or at least my husband’s is. There’s a huge untapped throng of people either personally interested or who have a sentimental reaction to trains - a huge opportunity to increase your subscribers and feed the algorithm without having to debase yourself with extreme click bait headlines and such. Sorry, I don’t usually comment - complete lurker - but something about this train set has really touched my heart. You know he probably had representations of all of your family - at least one of those little people is you and maybe even Emma! It is so rare that someone is able to leave such a pure representation of their passion. It’s very touching. I hope you are able to find a way to share it with many many people. Also, I think it may be easier than you think to find parts if you’re creative where and how you look. Unfortunately, your grandfather’s generation probably represented the height of the model train community (sorry if that’s wrong - I forget how he wanted it described) and I don’t doubt their are many heirs who have this stuff and just don’t know what to do with it. If you started a museum, people will show up with stuff to either give you or sell to you. I’m sure there are tons of train people on UA-cam- many opportunities for collaboration. Sorry, I’m a marketer at heart. If you ever want a FREE, REMOTE, OFF-CAMERA intern for BRAINSTORMING - I’m your girl. I’m also a mom of three and a business owner so I’m watching your videos through many different lenses. My house is only 100 years old, and the largest event I’ve hosted only drew 1500 people (perennial plant exchange in the spring). Oh my goodness, the possibilities. My mind is literally exploding with ideas. You have the most amazing situation I’ve seen and as an architecture and history freak, I’ve watched many videos of people trying to make their stately homes support themselves. Yours would be so much fun to run - having your extended family involved and the respect you show the past while still being open to future change is just such a different vibe and it’s a joy to watch. I think we do events differently over here, but the intersection between new/different and comfortable/homely could be an entirely new event that is different from what others are offering and can generate news and bring more people to the estate - or even encourage return visits. You could get the same people coming five, six times a year - the house tour, (do you have an outbuilding tour - if not I’d bet you could develop one with a little research) can be the possibilities are literally endless and a lot of them wouldn’t take much monetary investment, seeing the trains - which they could do seasonally if you played up the seasonality/holidays, and then again for various events such as a plant exchange (anyone who has perennials has to split them in the spring, people would pay a small fee to enter if they bring plants to exchange and others pay a larger fee if they don’t have plants. Plants are free to take within limits, leftover plants go to a charity in some way. Garden centers or other garden related businesses sponsor and there can be a large education component as well about things like invasive and native plants. It could also be an annual event. Early spring - not quite sure about your seasons, but mine has to be in early May - I think yours would probably be April, around Mothering Sunday), or one of many other events you could host. Sorry, I’ll just watch the rest of the video and shut up now. 🤦🏻♀️ 17:42
Love this! My Dad built a village & model train for under our Christmas tree as a kid. And he built a new one for me and my kids now as an adult! I would love to see more videos on your grandfathers model train! Thanks for sharing
You need to get Pete Waterman involved in this project!
Elton John?????
Best video you have ever done Hank!
Fabulous! Rod Stewart would love it 🥰
I do love trains, very nostalgic for this old Canadian Army brat. Alex is the sweetest, his cheeky grin says everything about how much he loves trains...and his Grandfather. Cheers guys.
That’s absolutely INCREDIBLE! I got chills when it started going. I would definitely love to see more about your progress if you continue to work on it!
Marvelous discovery! There are many groups that would be able to completely restore this historically impressive layout. Reach out to them. The work is tedious and complicated but it can be done. People will come just to see this collection running.
My dad would love this! He takes his models to shows around the country!
My grandfather also had a big model railway. It filled a room, not an entire estate attic. It was his distraction from the pain of having lost a leg and then having lung cancer. I always think of him when I see model railways
WOW....... WOW...... That is so amazing, and so LARGE a setup. YES, please try to get it up and running again. It's part of your heritage just hidden in the attic.
My father was crazy about railway as a child he built many railway systems.. your grand fathers railway is incredible
Beyond awesome. Thanks for sharing it. 👍👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it
You guys do such a fantastic job of showing the world modern royalty and the everyday challanges you face and conquer, you are all such a class act! Plus you are so much fun to listen too, you both remind me of my playful six month old puppy! LOL
I'm not into trains, but I would really enjoy seeing train enthusiasts get that setup up and running again.
Seeing that train was moving. To think the last time it moved, it was by your granded. He'd be so pleased to see being played with again.
That is just wow ! wow😮
Awesome! I've been a Model Railroader all my life. Great hobby! I got my first train when I was 8 for Christmas. My Grandpa, Dad and Great Uncle set it up and played with it before I had a chance....hahahaha
This is one that I would love too see come back to life.
Gosh if you keep this set, your son or daughter had this they'd be excited when they get older. Please don't get rid of this set.
It really is a wonderful set up. I think it would be wonderful to have special train enthusiast days at the house. Quite the process to get it to that state. What a great way to remember your Grandpa !
Add a mezzanine to your barn and move the model there. It would be another great visitor attraction. Use your local model train group to move it and to run it for you.
Yes I think move it to a barn so it easier to see and walk around.
Amazing! Might be worth it to build especially for this. A place where the local train enthusiasts could have meetings as well as additional way to entice visitors to the manor and cafe. Could become a revenue source. I can imagine a train set especially for younger children to control as well as an area for the 10-14+ set to have more sophisticated trains to run. Something for all ages.
How beautiful. I’m sure you’ll be inundated with volunteers now. Xx
How incredibly all the different parts to this massive model railway. I don’t know anything about trains, model railways etc but I would love to see more about the cleaning, the maintenance of getting everything serviced, it all set up again and the day your able to run the whole set in one go. Thanks for showing what has been living in your loft space for all these decades. I hope you have many hours of discovery, learning about what to keep, or even sell to keep, repairthis wonderful project. Many years of I would think some wonderful fun ahead. 🏴❤️
Hank.... You are the life of GCN for me and now you and you whife have made a massive gem on youtube. This channel is fucking awesome🤩🤩🤘
Maybe Pete Waterman could help. He and a team broke some kind of model railway record.
You are my new favourite channel. I love the variety of what you show us and your obvious love of the place.
How amazing
This be so cool, moved and put on display with all the trains for public to see, and other train enthusiasts to come clean move and set up
❤
At the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, for a substantial additional charge, they have Behind The Scenes tours. I think you should hire a team to thoroughly clean it all and organize all the supplies to make them easily accessible for repairs. Then cover it all with plexiglass to keep dust and little hands off of it, and then get it to make some revenue for the estate. I bet your Grandfather would be looking down with a huge smile! Editing to add: the process would make a great series!
This is incredible, I love trains! I hope you find a space to display it on the grounds and earn some revenue for the manor. This is awesome!
Your grandad had a cool hobby! Rewarding to honour his legacy by rebooting it I bet.
What an amazing connection. What a way to honor your grandfather! ❤️
Absolutely amazing! I actually was moved to tears! Thank you for sharing this.
I love the train! More trains please! So cool!🚉🚞🚋🚇
Pete Waterman and James May are huge model railway fans, I see a collaboration coming up......
Love it! My Dad has a tt gauge setup. What a unique legacy.
Please, please make sure you get a valuation. Some of those carriages, engines and etc will pay for a new car with boxes etc.
Wow, that is amazing! Thanks for sharing. My grandfather also has train models and other models. One would go around the christmas tree and had a village. I know that it would be a lot of work, but it would be amazing if you could clean it up and set it up somewhere where people visiting could see it and enjoy it. Please keep us updated. 😊
Grandpapa had a good hobby. Not for me, but I do admire the time and love you can put into something and make it truly special.
When I was a child my Grand father and I had a large ( not close to the size you have). But I am impressed with what your grand father has built.. I think you have a lot of money there in just the trains engines and cars. You may want to have a a true collector or a person that knows the worth to come up stairs and give you a true evaluation of what you have.. OR just get it running and keep it as a memory of your Grand DAD.
What a lovely video, obviously a suitable space for this layout to be displayed, is a must, followed up by model railway enthusiasts carefully dismantling, cleaning, and moving it to its new permanent home where they could operate it, and it could/would bring in much needed ££££. What a massive job your grandfather undertook, creating his layout.
Absolutely love this channel,,,, my husband loved model trains too!!
Definitely spend the time renovating the attic and track in place.
Best episode yet. Jules Holland is a big enthusiast too that may be interested
This is so cool. As a child in Ohio, USA there was a pizza restaurant near an old Quaker Oats factory that had a large second floor room with model train sets. My siblings and I loved to watch the trains while we were waiting for our pizza.
What fun! I'm not a train enthusiast, but I'd love to see more. I'm glad I found your channel in its infancy, but... now I have to wait a whole week for new content!
Wow, what a bit of kit.
More of this railway 🎉 really nice work your grandfather have done here
This needs its own series please.
Why this way he has total control of what he wants
@ wtf are you on about. I mean the two of them plus helpers on this Channel.
Soooo cool!!! Thanks for sharing
I really would like to see more of this model railway become what it once was.
Love it.
Try getting in touch with James May. He’s a bit of a train enthusiast. He’s got a few shows on trains, as well as eating some world records with model trains. Maybe do some kind of collab.
I would like to see more! My Dad would have loved this. He had Lionel O gauge when he was a kid.
My father had an HO (American) He would have loved to help you with the electrics, which was his passion. Start with a low volume vac and as you said get something to go all the way around.
That is awesome you gotta get it all cleaned and working again sort through it all it would be so cool
Ok, here's my suggestion: get volunteers and donors, find one your huge out buildings and transfer and rebuild the whole thing out of the attic. Yes, the shape of the tracks will have to change but you can keep the scenes and the trains. Start with taking pictures of the whole thing, mapping the whole layout and doing an inventory of what is there. The final vision would be the whole thing accessible to the public and a model of the original construct, so visitors could see before and after.
OH WOW!! PLÉASE WANT TO SEE MORE!! ITS AMÁZING, LUV IT!!🤗👏👏😁❤️❤️❤️
You could definitely have a track running around the roof of the cafe!
That would be amazing!
I love this channel, also I saw you penny farthing past my house in Witney! I thought you must have been a local nutter 😆
Awesome!
I really enjoyed seeing your grandad’s railway, I believe you should leave it where it is, clean it up, for your family to enjoy it, keep somethings private.
Xx
AMAZING!! You have lots of room at the stables, if you can start a club of train enthusiasts volunteer to come and help you set it up, I'm sure they would LOVE to help! Plus they could sell and trade between each other or charge admission for visitors who are not part of the club! I bet you would find artists who would love to design miniature landscapes and villages to join! This is very special and exciting!❤❤