Great Electric Train Show 2026

I don't know if this can described as a "trend", but there were several layouts this year that offered little operation at the front, replying on the fiddle yard operator being efficient and sending around a constant procession of trains. 

Instead of operation, they provided superb scenic displays. I particularly liked Penhelig, seen above. It's a halt, and very accurately, doesn't have much other railway around it, but treated as an attractive moving picture, it just works. 

I like this idea, and it's one I've pondered building in the past. You need a wide selection of trains made up, ready to be fired around the layout so the viewers aren't left waiting for some movement, but for a stock builder, that's no problem. In my head, I'd also include a couple of animated scenes to provide interest. The fun would be in the building. 

A feature that intrigues me, is this coaling stage on the layout Marley Potts & Witherwack Sidings 

Is there a prototype for this? It reminds me of the Hornby/Pola model from the 1970s that I built last year.

Layout quality overall was really high. Even Making Tracks was behaving itself on the Sunday when I visited, although Pete mentioned that the day before, one of the control boxes had released some of those bad electrical smells we all dread...

Food wasn't bad. Lunch was a very nice jacket potato with chilli and cheese, which looked a bit like the eggs in Alien. After this I really fancied something sweet, but there wasn't anything on offer, apart from bars of chocolate, so I nipped up to see the nice chaps of the Double O Gauge Association, and blagged a jam doughnut. 

Numbers looked good, but it wasn't hard to get around. Layout watching was a little challenging, because of the numbers who are filming the models, and so have to occupy a prime spot for a long while.  Grabbing a photo is one thing, long video sequences? Not so sure, especially those filming on an A4 size iPad, for whom there is a special place in hell reserved. The bit where the only model trains as N gauge GWR!

Anyway, more photos on my Flickr feed.  

Saturday Film Club: Mazda K360: The quirky three-wheeled truck that changed Japan’s roads

When I mentioned the Mazda K360 a few days ago, it inspired me to try to find some video of one in action. This is the best the internet can serve up, and it's an interesting, and pleasingly concise piece. 

Off to Gaydon this weekend for the Great British Model Railway Show

 

This weekend, I can be found at the top of the escalators at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, for the Great British Model Railway Show. 

All being well, I'll fill a couple of tables with various projects I've carried out of the years. In deference to the organiser, many with be from The Hornby Collector and TT:120 club magazines, but there will be a few BRM and Garden Rail projects too. 

Please drop by and say hello. I'm there to talk all things model railway, and not to get any modelling done!

Visit the Great British Model Railway Show website.  

Look mum, no wires!

Out in Birmingham last week, I found myself tram spotting while waiting to go into the town hall. This is the section of the line where the trams run on battery power to avoid having to install overhead wires. 

For modellers of the modern scene, this is a gift. The hardest part of any tramway build is the knitting in the sky. Now we can just pretend that the model shows a battery section - job done!

It also occurred to me that it's been a long while since I've ridden Brum trams, and the only place they went in those days was Wolverhampton. The route is now being extended, and the trams have changed too! Another for the list of places to go.  

Why was I in Brum? Well, an evening making my little grey cells do some work...

 

That's the lid on the barge build

OK, we are calling this done. This "quick" project has been rumbling on for over two months; it's time to declare it finished. 

Right at the end, the kit decided to fight me again. Assembling the roof was easy enough, but painting it...

I sprayed the whole thing with grey primer, but fancied a lighter grey finish, so out came the acrylic pens. Three coats of grey later, it looked nasty, the paint was streaky, I suspect because it dried too fast to blend properly. 

Looking at the colour, it was too light. To be honest, this barge is more Sylvanian Families than scale model, the roof should be flush with the edges of the sides, not with an overhang. The correct thing to do would be to trim it back, and then paint in the same green as the sides. I wasn't convinced I'd produce the neat result that would satisfy me, and anyway, the overhang is quite attractive. 

Out with a pot of Humbrol 66, and it covers the pale grey nicely enough, but then dries patchy. A second, thinned, coat isn't much better. Left to dry overnight, I tried a light spray with Dullcote - a little better, but I am still wishing I'd gone in with a dark grey spray to start with. 

However, I can live with this. It's not perfect but the longer I spend with the kit, the more it becomes like the Irish road directions, "You don't want to start from here". I can see loads of things I'd do differently were I to build this model again. The roof would go for a start. The interior would be reconfigured to put the log burner at the other end. I'm not convinced by the railings around the back either. 

I could go on, but as was explained to me by the manufacturer, it's aimed at a market that isn't as exacting in terms of detail. On that basis, this is a winner. Not difficult to construct, and the finished model is attractive and a little different.  

I have enjoyed this build, which is the point of the whole thing, and I have a feeling someone with a greater knowledge of canal craft could really go to town with it. Perhaps if the project hadn't had to grab little moments of my time among all the other stuff I'm doing, it would be even more satisfying. At least I wouldn't have taken so long over it!