KMBC Open Day 2025

It's a long while since I've put a boat on the water. And my last visit to the KMBC pond on an organised day, well I can't remember that. For various reasons, including being so busy at work, my model boating has been pretty much non-existant. 

Still, on a nice day, when the club would be putting on a show, it would be daft not to nip down for a couple of hours. 

There was certainly inspiration on show. The Rother lifeboat looked magnificent, and reminded me that the very same kit has been "maturing" in my collection for well over a decade.  

A 3D printed Thunderbird 4 appealed too, and proved how hopeless Garry Anderson vehicles are when they aren't attached to strings. This one has all the technical gubbins attached to the underside, and works like a conventional boat. Looks good on the water too. 

For reasons I can't fathom (pun intended), members were being given free food. Being a generous soul, I insisted on paying for mine - a couple of quids worth of cake isn't going to break the bank, and I can'[t see a little more in the club coffers will hurt. Orange and giner in the photo, since you ask. 

Talking of money, there was a bring'n'buy stall, and of course I left some cash there. 

 This literally has my name all over it!

At first, this looks like a Meccano copy, but on closer examination, it's not quite as simple to use. A proper play will appear in a future blog post, this deserves more than a passing mention. If anyone remembers this stiff, please comment.

And considering this is boat club, picking up a large-scale wagon for a fiver was a surprise. 

It's really solidly constructed from wood and metal. I fancy regauging it to 45mm so I can add it to my steam train freight set. I've no idea if this was a kit or scratch-built, but the construction is very tidy. 

So, a nice couple of hours away from work.I really must get something back on the water. 

 You can see a fuller set of photos over on Flickr. 

Saturday Film Club: Track Cleaning

I've been looking at keeping your tracks clean in one of my latest BRM TV videos, which is now on general release, so you can enjoy it here. 

Let's change a number in July's BRM

In this month's British Railway Modelling magazine: 

I renumber a diesel, in TT:120, although the techniques work in other scales too. I just happened to have the loco handy.  

 

My camera has been out for three layouts: 

In P4, a classic that I'm really chuffed to have been allowed to shoot, the late Iain Rice's "Trerice". 

Jerry Clifford, the current custodian, has worked with us to produce a fitting tribute to a modeller who influenced me, and many others. 

Next, in N, Lammermuir: 

And finally, up into an attic, for a layout that never leaves home, the OO gauge, Charlemont Parkway: 

For subscribers, I have a couple of features on BRM TV too.

In honour of Rail 200, a cavalcade of locomotives through the ages, modelled in Gauge 3: 

 And a review of a personal departure board:

 BRM is available from all good newsagents, or our online store. 

Garden Rail July 2025

How many kinds of sweet steam engine run, in an English country garden? Mark Nixon will tell us of some that he knows, as he describes his line. 

We've a busy workbench this month: 

• Building a laser-cut kit for a 16mm scale WHR coach
• A removable viaduct
• 16mm scale Ruston 20DL ‘Susan’
• Gauge 1 tram engine for beginners
• Private owner 16mm scale covered van

There is the first, in-depth look at Garden Railway Specialists new NGG11 Garratt locomotive, as well as all the latest product news for modellers in larger scales. 

Available from all good newsagents, or online: https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/ 

Warehouse Wednesday: 16 ton mineral wagon

OK, it's not actually a warehouse, but you can store coal in it. 

Spotting this 16t mineral wagon at Rothley station, I was taken by how battered the thing is. Sides bowing outwards, and the section above the end door being distinctly wobbly. 

Even with the somewhat over-restored paint job*, this is a wagon that has seen a lot of life. Trying to model all the dents and dings would be a nightmare, and incredibly difficult to get looking right. I've seen people's attempts to miniaturise the wobbly sides of a diesel locomotive, and that looks odd to my eye. 

Maybe some things simply can't be modelled? 

*no criticism intended for the excellent work of the Great Central Windcutter team. People restoring the rolling stock that actually made the railways work.