You'd be a mug if you don't!!

One of the great joys of the internet is the ability to be able to enjoy the hobby of model railroading at the click of a few keys. Wind back 30 years ago this wasn't possible and we were probably still enjoying our Lima 44 class locos.
The creation of the 'blogspot' sites has allowed anyone to be able to create a reasonable web site presence easily. Easy being the magic word is why I started to create my own blogspot mainly as I think I said on my first posting to form an electronic diary of your progression of the layout.
Hopefully this site will never disappear so it will always be there to remember.
As followers of this site will know by now I have decided to pull the plug on South Coast Rail and venture into the world of Victorian narrow gauge.
Something many people do when they go overseas is to bring back souvenirs such as tea shirts, spoons, postcards etc. These are all mementos that are suppose to jog the brain six years after you have been to Bali, then you start remembering all the good times.
Well I have got hundreds of photos of South Coast Rail for me to look back on but I wanted something that would be more meaningful. 
I generally find the time to drop in on all the other rail 'blogspots' to see what the others are up to. One of those site is Phill Overton's site Philden Model Railway. One look at his site and you can tell he is a man of many talents.On the right hand site of the blog I noticed he had an image of a mug with Central emblazoned on it.
In an exchange of emails between Phill and myself the suggestion was made that he could arrange a mug to be made with a photo of South Coast Rail on the mug. What a top idea!. So I sent off a photo of my ex garratt 6039 chuffing along the valley. Another email came and it was all ready, so quick.

Wrap around for the mug

This can all be arranged through the "Shop" tab on his web site. Once you are there you will see some mugs. Click on one and it will take you to the page to order a "South Coast Rail" mug. (If you are desperate). I have already ordered three mugs.
Now what could be better that when you have your mates over for an operating session to be able to drink out of a mug with an identifiable rail theme rather than a dog or some other strange pattern on them.
I already have a selection of mugs that I unintentionally started to collect that reside inside in the wall unit. But once I get the new layout all going I will set up an area to show them off.
This idea of mugs also brings about another similar themed idea. I'm not sure if it is still a big thing in the USA now, but modellers used to have "passes" made of their layout and they would swap them with other friends. Now wouldn't it be a great idea if other modellers get mugs of their layouts and we started swapping mugs with each other! I would be quite happy to swap a South Coast Rail mug for a Bylong mug, a Main North mug or a Philip's Creek mug or anyone else that wanted one. So you swap mug for mug.
For those that like something stronger than tea and coffee and comes in a see through glass, you might have to ask Phill about that one.
I'll put up a shot of the mug in front of the scene where it was taken when it shows up.