Monday, February 17, 2025

Doncaster haul

 

I enjoyed limited shopping time at Doncaster, and most of what I had was used to aquire magazine projects for the future. Combined with my general lack of mojo and mahoosive backlog of project already, and the trade didn't do that well out of me. 

Obviously, I can't help haunting second-hand stalls. The club stand that furnished me with the Hornby German coaling stage, also served up a couple of original 16mm scale Cooper Craft wagon kits on the Sunday afternoon. I spotted them earlier and wasn't that worried, but at seven quid each, they were a bit of a bargain, and I do like building them, so since no one else wanted them, they came home with me. 

More useful, was some large (Size 4) brushes from Brushes4You - a company supplying excellent brushes at reasonable prices, who don't have a website. They attend lots of shows however, so supply isn't an issue. I have a lot of small brushes from the company, but recenlty found myself lacking something capable to covering a reasonable area, this is now sorted.

On a whim, I picked up some lining brushes at the same time, out of curiosity. Sign-writing fascinates me, and I'd just like ot have a play with the tools. 

These weren't the only goodies from the show though. More of that tomorrow.

Sunday, February 16, 2025

The Festival of British Railway Modelling 2025

 

Seven days ago, I was half way through a busy weekend in Doncaster. Numbers were up, the trade seemed happy, and our new stand looked magnificent. All the panels light up so it really catches the eye, which might have helped sell more subscriptions than normal. Well, that and the free rucksack on offer. 

I am particually pleased with the seven foot square shot of St John's I took last year for a feature. OK, the camera could really do with more pixels for this sort of thing, but viewd from the aisle, it looks cracking. 

My little NG7 found a space in the corner, and I spent the weekend chatting about the model, how and why I built it, and generally waffling about the hobby. James Finister commented on his blog that it attracted loads of children, and maybe this is partly the size of the models. I'll admit that kitbashing the station is a project I've really enjoyed, and the result is very pretty. 

Being a top celebrity type, it fell to me to be interviewed by The Yorkshire Post - you can see the results here

I shot four layouts, but didn't have much time for other picture taking, but here's a few. 

Tony Wright had a few O gauge bits to sell off for charity. 

The Hornby Live Steam club showed an interesting cutaway model. 

And the owner of Llanfair Caereinion was away from the layout for a few minutes.

But what about cake? To be honest, I didn't find any at the show. There was probably some in the food court, but I didn't look properly. Not to worry, Saturday night involved a trip to Whitby's Fish and Chip restaurant, organsied by Elaine's Trains for a select gathering. 

Dinner started with haddock, chips and Yorkshire guacamole.


 Followed by knickerbocker glory. 

Delicious! The only trouble was that the 13 of us used up all thier large ice cream glasses!

Saturday, February 15, 2025

Saturday Film Club: Kilmersdon Colliery Incline

Shot in 1971, and turned into a film in 1974, this is the last vestiages of industrial railwyas, and steam in the UK. If nothing else, there is some terrifying health and safety!

Friday, February 14, 2025

As British as Bratwurst

 

R191

Another find for the Hornby Collectors Club series - R191 Coaling stage. 

As a kid, I actually built this kit. It probably cost a bit less than I paid for the second-hand, but looking complete, version. I doubt I worried too much about the prototype accuracy, just being glad to build a plastic kit for my train set. 

Let's be honest, this looks nothing like a UK coaling stage. The little crane (quite a nice set of mouldings) and timber framed brick base says Tyrolean to me, but then I'm no student of German architecture. The smoke deflectors poking into the side of the photo give the game away a bit too.

Does this matter? Well, for my purposes, no. What I'm doing is transporting readers back to a time when Hornby fobbed customers off with random German kits that didn't have any basis in Blighty. Not that this would have worried young Phil much.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Turtles (not tin ones) in March Garden Rail

Garden Rail March 2025
 

Garden lines have to contend with a lot, but as the name suggests, The Turtle Creek Line has a few unique challenges. Rabbits, horses, giant tortoises, and of course, an Australian Snake-necked turtle, are all part of the scenery for this G scale line.

We take a look at Archangel's first coal fired steamer, 'Jack' and renovate a Locobox 'Isabel' steam loco.

On the workbench, we build an electric Harrods delivery van, and take you step-by-step through designing your first wagon for 3D printing. If you fancy some heavyweight building, our team reviews Model Engineer's Laser kit for a Talyllyn flat wagon.

Finally, we include a FREE showguide for the Midlands Garden Rail show.

All this and more, including all the latest product news, in the March issue of Garden Rail

Garden Rail is available from all good newsagents, and online: www.world-of-railways.co.uk