The London Festival of Railway Modelling 2026

 

A busy show. Even busier for me, than normal. I spent the time either chatting on the stand (thanks for coming along blog readers who identified themselves) or taking photos. I managed four full shoots, plus a couple of side projects. 

Since this was the 25th exhibition, there was cake. Lots of cake. 

Above is the Warners cake, but Ally Pally also supplied cake, which I didn't get to partake in. The last slice was left for me, but the only time I saw it, it was being wolfed down by our publisher!

Never mind, I did try a slice of the work cake, and a couple of cupcakes, over the weekend. 

Pretty restrained I thought! The cupcakes were given out to the public, and it was interesting to see how often adults needed to explain the concept of ricepaper to their kids. Yes, you can eat it. I mean it doesn't taste great, but then you have a rather nice cake attached to the bottom, so stop moaning. 

Little Brian and Little Phil were out and about. We met some nuns. 

And a celebrity. 

Dad got to visit the set of one of his favourite films. 

A good time was had by all. Sorry, I'm a bit light on general layout photos, there really wasn't as much wandering time as normal. As it is, recovery took a couple of days. Am I getting too old for all of this? 

Saturday Film Club: Inside Rev W Awdry's Office: The Creator of Thomas the Tank Engine

A look inside the Rev. Awdry's office, now recreated in the narrow gauge railway museum. I've been in here, and it's an interesting insight into the way he worked. 

Who keeps old glue?

 

A sticky addition to the Beatties collection - two tubes of plastic cement. 

Sadly, one has overheated at some point and turned into froth, sticking it in its box, but the other one is mint. 

I guess that these were discovered in an old drawer. Fortunately, the finder had the presence of mind to list them on eBay. And I was the one daft enough to buy them. Price, no different to a couple of tubes of glue, possibly a bit less. 

They arrived with a plastic bag too. 

Now all tucked away safely in the Beattie's collection box, they await me setting up the virtual museum. 

Can you believe people think I'm weird for keeping this stuff?  

Break out the airbrush

 

My dream workshop includes a room for airbrushing. All the equipment will be set up, including a great big extractor fan. The door will be close-fitting so the smell stays in the room. And it will be warm. 

As it is, I have to spray in the garage, setting some of the equipment up each time. The smell escapes into the kitchen, and it's the coldest room in the house. 

Which is why the first coat of Humbrol Wine (73) was applied to the wagon using a brush. The second coat on one side and the end was applied the same way. 

Then I caved in, stopped being lazy, and fired up the airbrush. Even allowing for cleaning, a task I hate, painting this Gauge 1 wagon this way was far, far quicker than manually slapping it on with the brush. The finish is much better too. 

I still wish I had a suitable spare room though.  

More details

 

A few more details to attend to on the Box Company. 

First, replace the point lever. These Springside whitemetal items are vulnerable to track cleaning with a rubber. Best buy plenty and accept they will be broken occasionally. A little paint, followed by some UHU (PVA didn't work) and this little feature is back in place. 

(I've just noticed, there is more from me on point levers on World of Railways) 

Next, a missing oil drum. This fell off when I opened the box up, and disappeared, leaving a PVA footprint. No problem, I've just picked up a pack of these Ratio items, so replacement is easy. Or it would be if I could find matching paint. Some nearly-the-same and a wash of rust over them looks OK. 

Finally, a figure had fallen off, leaving some superglue footprints. Once these were chipped away, a quick look in my painted figures box brought this model of Andy York out, and he's now glued in place (with PVA, hopefully more resilient), showing the "gaffer" his camera. 

Little jobs, but on a tiny layout that I hope will attract a few photos at the show, ones that make a difference. And a few pleasant little jobs for an evening.