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The Aussies pay a return visit
Three years ago, I was invited over to Australia for the BRMA conference. I can't have offended them too much as when paying a visit to "the old country", three of the people I met over there were...
View ArticleSaturday Film Club: Matt makes a Northern Finescale wagon
This week, a guest post from Matt Scrutton. Just to prove that not all youth are plastic kit-phobic, he's built a G1 wagon. I'll leave it to him to take up the story:It became apparent to me that there...
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RMweb members day 2017
Pistachio and courgette cake. That was my reward for a 2 1/2 hour drive starting at 6:50 am. It's a good job it was a particularly delicious pistachio and courgette cake, or I might have been grumpy....
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Pre-production Well Tank
Bought for a pittance from Kernow Model Centre at the RMweb do, this is an interesting addition to my collection. A pre-production version of their excellent Beattie Well Tank. Pre-production models...
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Mending a Well Tank
Beattie Well Tank. £25. Guaranteed non-working. How could I resist? After yesterdays pre-production model bought from Kernow, I bought the production version while I was at it. Well, I've always...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Modern times
Bit of a rubbish picture today - I had to shoot it from a train as we approached Reading station.The main interest was the big self-store warehouse. It's a pretty typical (nowadays) tin shed but with a...
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Wooden 32mm gauge track
A rather neat kit - wooden track panels from I P Engineering. Designed for 32mm gauge, it's essentially a set track system for 16mm scale garden railways. Curves and straights are available, all laser...
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Old garden railway photos
Digging through old photos last week, I found a few of one of my earliest garden railway efforts. First, we have Ben, a scratchbuilt Barclay-alike. I always liked the Backwoods Miniatures Barclay but...
View ArticleSatruday Film Club: The Gorton Garratt
From the Macdermott files, a the largest loco ever to run in the UK -the LNER Garratt. Building a model of this has always been high on my wish list. I've seen both 4 and 7mm versions and they are...
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Associaiton of Larger Scale Railway Modellers, Reading 2017
A new show to me, the ALSRM cover scales from O gauge upward so I was expecting to see plenty og G1 and the garden railway scales. The first surprise was that Reading station is really impressive....
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Boat spotting on the Thames
In the capital for a drink with friends last week, I strolled across Westminster bridge. The tourists were busy photographing parliament, taxis and double decker buses. I pushed my way through the...
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Is this a real GWR plaque?
Bought this weekend for a tenner, this is a cast iron GWR coat of arms. Obviously it needs restoration, that was most of the appeal. Well, that and the price.What confuses me is, is it real?I don't...
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Warehouse Wednesday: KX200 telephone kiosk
Spotted in a Banbury back street, a BT telephone kiosk. A KX200 for phone box anoraks, what you'd need to wear to use this in the rain. Amazing to think how old fashioned these things are. Who uses a...
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Book Review: Polar Bear and Sea Lion by Pauline Hazelwood
Publisher: Saddletank BooksISBN: 9-780-992-723934Size: 25 X 20cm SoftbackPrice: £4.99My collection of Manx railway books is pretty impressive but the latest addition might be one of the most...
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KMBC Lifeboat day 2017
Last Saturday, I spent 3 hours in a car park. Well, more specifically, parking cars for the KMBC annual lifeboat day. I had my hi-viz jacket to protect me from the chilly wind and an RNLI baseball cap...
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UK Slot car festival 2017
After all the lifeboat fun, Saturday afternoon was given over to the UK Slot Car festival at Gaydon transport museum. Last year's swapmeet whetted our appetite so my dad and I were keen to see the main...
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G Rail 2017
A common whine from people who take a brief break from their computer screens to venture into daylight and visit an exhibition is "I didn't see anything moving". Seasoned exhibitors know that this is...
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Bit of a shock in Banbury
So there I was having to change trains at Banbury. It was approaching 4pm, so I though, "I'm in no rush, I'll wander along to Trinders." It's an excellent in-town model shop where I've enjoyed many a...
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SR overhead in Hornby Collectors Club magazine
A rather complicated project for HCC magazine Number 111 - Spring 2017. With the arrival of the Hornby Class 71 electric loco, people are likely to want to run it over the appropriate 3rd rail setup,...
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Warehouse Wednesday: Building site
There's a lot of building going on around here and a few days ago, I took a stroll around some of the sites. They already have residents so there is an interesting mix of finished and part-built...
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