SWAG haul

 

Well, there was a second-hand stall, and funds from this help to support the event. Since we don't charge an admittance fee, someone has to help fill the coffers. 

The Peco book has been on the list for a while. I'm always interested in the wider aspects of parts of the hobby, and Peco do a good job with this sort of thing. For three quid, how can I go wrong? 

Fair Price is a brand I've looked at on eBay many times, and trying one of thier kits would make sense to me, possibly as a magazine project. 

Finally, a plastic kit wagon. I know I've got loads in my stash, but I thought I could perhaps just stick this one together as a blog piece. A bit of fun, with no great purpose in mind. 

Oh, and a Hornby Railroad Class 121 DMU. I've a soft spot for single-car units, and despite being in the cheaper range, this one looks pretty good to me. Some dangly bits on the buffer beam wouldn't go amiss, and dirt on the chassis and around the exhaust pipes. 

I think it might be fitted with a Ringfield motor too. If so, there is a remotoring kit looking for a suitable test piece in my magazine pile. 

Best of all, I can see me finding a use for this. A short halt-based layout perhaps. 

SWAG 2025

 

I've not been to the South West Area Group of RMweb's annual meeting for a couple of years, but happily accpeted the invite this time. And then a few months later, attendance became compulsory for me, to celebrate RMweb founder Andy York's life. 

We'd agreed this wasn't to be a solem occasion. We'd have a group of friends, some excellent model railways and fine pasties with cake. Exactly what he would have wanted. 

And that's what happened. The hall filled with small layouts, and then people. We all talked an awful lot. Many reminisced about our recently departed friend, but mostly a good time was had. 

I managed a photo shoot of the ex-Iain Rice layout "Trerice" for a future BRM, but otherwise was too busy to do more than graba few shots on my phone. 

For better photos, keep an eye on the RMweb thread for the show. 

We did have a short break to remember Andy properly. I think it does him justice. 

Thanks to Jamie Warne for the video.

Saturday Film Club: Smells like White Spirit

This caught my eye on YouTube, inspired by trying some new sanding sealer, which is washed out of the brush with methylated spirits, and not cellulose thinners. It doesn't smell as exciting as the old stuff either...

Off to the National Garden Rail Show

 

I'm off today to collect my van, which will be filled with plants to make up the "Layout in a Day" at the National Garden Rail Show. 

As ever, I don't know what the display will look like, until I build it. Fingers crossed it OK - and if you are visiting the show, I'll be the one wearing tweed. Well, the one wearing tweed hanging around the Garden Rail stand anyway. See you there!

The "Garden Rail Flyer" appears in the May issue of Garden Rail

 

Garden railways don't just appear, they grow over time. Paul Duncan may only have a modest garden, but the G scale Woodlock Railroad has developed over a decade, getting better each time.

On the workbench:

• Restoring a Saltford Ruston
• Building a FR Quarryman's coach
• Rehabilitate a steam locomotive paintwork
• Improved track clamps
• Modifying a cheap plastic steam loco
• Building a propeller-powered railcar

We take a look at Merlin steam locos, and of course, there is the latest news for the large-scale modeller.

Warehouse Wednesday: Fix that windmill

 

It's not often you get the chance to photograph serious windmill repair, so when I did recenlty, I couldn't resist. 

Chesterton Windmill, has been without its sails for a couple of years, since it was discovered they were rotten. Walking around it is a popular passtime, and the council don't want lumps of wood falling on anyone's head. 

All this takes time, no matter what the locals posting on Facebook think, but the work has now been completed by a specialist firm. There are some nice in-progress shots here. The finished job can be seen here. 

Now, if you use an Airfix windmill kit, this scene would be quite eye-catching on a layout, and if you can find a suitable vehicle, not too difficult to do.

3D printed Garratt

 

A few days ago, I posted some photos from my local club night, one of which was a G1 3D printed Ruston diesel by Big Chris. The model had been enlarged from a TT scale file, and looked pretty good. 

Well, he's been at it again, this time enlarging a 009 Garratt file to G scale after a slightly random conversation with a mate. 

Printing, and curing, took 50 hours, but the result is a nice solid-feeling body, that should stand up to outdoor use. Maybe it lacks some of the finesse of a body created from scratch in the scale, but not much. Using the "6 foot rule", you'd be hard put to notice anything. 

Obviously, the model needs a chassis. In 009, it runs on a pair of RTR units, but for the bigger scale, Chris is talking to Ed the laser about a few options. Watch this space for more details.

Fitting a point lever

A big missing detail on the NG7 layout, at least in my eyes, was a way of operating the point in the scenic section. What I wanted, was a nice casting for a hand lever, but couldn't find anything suitable in this scale. 

Asking at Northumbrian Painting Services at the 7mm NG show a few weeks ago, they said they had a mould for something suitable, so I said if they cast it, I'd buy one the next time I saw them at a show. 

Well, a few weeks ago, a box arrived. It contained some TT:120 figure, a 7mm bench, and my point lever. Not just a casting, but a laser-cut base to go with it. Oh, and four Empire Bisuits!

Happy days. As I chomped on delicious baked goods, I gave the lever a quick coat of paint, on the Thursday eveningbefore the show no less, and popped it in the box with the rolling stock. 

On the Friday, while rocking the hi-viz look (a requirement for shows in exhibition centres during setup) I scraped away some of the car park, so the lever and base could be stuck down with PVA. I had to work neatly, as the materials to patch things up were a couple of hours away, back up the M1!

After all this, you'd expect a finished photo, but sadly, I forgot to take one. Trust me though, it looks great. And yes, I did finish the buscuits!

The fallacy of "Future Phil"

 

I'm terrible for thinking that some time in the future, I'll pull it all together, and become a powerhouse at getting things done. No more looking at projects, and deadlines, and seeing them rush towards me. No, I'll not only get ahead, there will be time to dig in to the pile of kits and ideas that seems to grow all the time. 

Truth is this "Future Phil" is going to be just as useless as current day Phil. I'll still aquire projects with the vain hope that I'll crack on with them quickly. And those dealines will still catch me out. Sadly, I don't have the unique talent of Douglas Adams, who could say, "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." Normal people can't get away with that...

Anyway, the "Future Phil" project that is in my head right now is building a 32mm gauge steam engine, for next weekend's NGRS. As in other years, I should be building a small garden railway with 32 and 45mm gauge tracks. Every year, I decide it would be nice to have a battery-powered steam engine intead of just the diesels in my fleet. 

And every year, for many years, I've failed to find the time to build one. So, we'll be using the diesels, including the mobile wardrobe I built during the year. A loco as far as you can get from pretty. 

However, I have found time to investigate the brake coach in my IP Enigineeering set. A few years ago, it ran perfectly. Then it took to leaping off every few circuits. I've added weight to it, checked the B2B's, but never taken a proper look. No time. 

But, this year, I've extracted the train from storage early, and had a look. Almost imediatly, I spotted that the axles weren't at right angles to the sides. Measuring, it's less than a couple of mm out, but I can't see any other problem. 

Weird this, as the axleboxes are integral to the solebars. Maybe the wagon isn't perfectly square. 

Removing an entire solebar wasn't easy, but a sharp knife and some waggling with pliers did it. I took a bit off one end, and fixed it back. The axleboxes are now square. The chassis sits flat, and I'll reset the B2B's. 

Fingers crossed I've found it, as this is an attractive train that runs for a long while on one set of batteries - making it very useful.

Saturday Film Club: QED - Testing Testing

I remember how much I enjoyed the BBC TV series QED from the early 1980s. Here's one that came to mind when having a discussion on social media a few weeks ago.

Taunton, for the pasties and cake

All being well, on Sunday, I will be in Taunton for the South West Area Group of RMweb's annual extravaganza. It's a fun little show, with some top quality modelling, and even better refreshments. 

Obviously we will be missing Andy York, but very quickly after the announcement of his passing, we agreed that he would be very upset if the event was cancelled. Andy loved the people and the models on show, and so it's very much in his memory the event continues. I'm sure he will be looking down on us approvingly. 

More details can be found on the RMweb thread.

Down the club

Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of model railway clubs. Yes, you have to work a bit to fit in, and there are some "characters" who might be a little offputting, but there are also many really good aspects. 

Here's a selection of things spotted at the Leamington & Warwick MRS last Thursday. 

A group were running a production line building Airfix cement wagons. They are being improved with brass bearings and metal wheels. The aim is an attractive train for the OO layout. 

A group were watching a figure painting demo using military modelling techniques, lead by one of our newer members. 

This is a Gauge 1 Drewery Shunter, 3D printed in one piece, and based on a file for a TT scale model. We think a fully running locomotive should cost around £150, including a chassis from Model Engineers Laser. 

In addition, several layouts were being worked on, and people were chatting over tea. 

Not a bad way to spend an evening. 

Warehouse Wednesday: Lisbon warehouses

 

Spotted near the Lisbon waterfront - don't these just look like something Faller would produce as plastic kits? 

Since we were hunting food at the time, I only had the chance for a single quick phone shot, but you can have a better look on Google Streetview.

Little Lisbon trams

Did I go all the way to Lisbon to see trams, and not bring back some souveniers? Don't be daft!

Ryanair luggauge limits, obviously reduce the amount of tat I can put in my suitcase. Useful, as there is a LOT of tat for sale in the city. 

However, I wasn't going to come away entirely empty-handed. So, in the middle, we have an Atlas originals tram bought before the holiday in an Oxford Diescast sale. I like the Atlas trams, it was cheap, and meant I didn't have to find space on the plane. Handy, as there wasn't one for sale in the city itself. Oh no. Nothing nearly as accurate...

At the front, a fridge magnet, to join my collection including the train from Switzerland. 

Behind that, a little model, complete with a bit of overhead, for my mate Tim. He's passed on a couple of little Australian trams from trips, so I return the favour. 

And at the back, a drawing (print) bought in the market, from the artist. I took a photo of him, and will stick it on the back. There's quite a bit of art featuring trams, and some of it is quite fun. I liked this as it's small (A5) and different from anything in the tat shops. 

I did manage to avoid the horrors such as models with bogies though! Maybe next time.

Pires & Thadeu, Lisbon

 

"I want to go into that tat shop", I said. 

"Why? We've been in loads already.

I point at the picture of a train on the awning. That, and the stack of Oxford Diecast models in the window. 

The shop is in Lisbon's old town - the touristy bit if I'm honest. But, inside it's more interesting than most shops. Apprently, this is one of the city's oldest toy shops. You can tell that because of the somewhat faded plastic kits on the top shelf. 

There was a little bit of train track in a cabinet, but no trains. No paint or glue either. Loads of diecast cars though. Oxford ones mainly, so better than a lot of the horrors in other shops. 

The rules say that if I'm in a model shop, I have to buy something. Ryanair's rules say that if your bag is too big for the tester, it goes in the hold, at a price somewhat more than buying the airoplane. So I bent the rules a bit, and bought some stamps. To be fair, not the easiest things to get your hands on!

Address: R. Áurea 148, 1100-063 Lisboa, Portugal

Riding the trams in Lisbon

This time last week, I was on day two of a short break to Lisbon. A full-on city break with my travelling buddy. We flew out 9:30am Saturday, and back 8:30pm on the Sunday. 

Day One, once we'd landed, found a hotel, and some food, was a tour of the city funiculars - three of them. Quite a lot of walking, but worth it to tick off what I thought was a full set - only to find a fourth appeared a couple of years ago!

 

It was more than a little damp, and my trainers didn't grip well on the limestone pavements, but we explored the city, thanks to Christian, our guide, and saw a lot that we'd not have found off our own bat. If you are in the city, I'd definitely recomend this tour. 

Day 2 was all about strolling around the old town. A trip to The Lisbon Story filled in a lot of the history of the place, including a flying priest. 

A trip up The Rua Augusta Arch gave us a vantage point to watch some of the action on the river, as well as a large group of Portugal fans getting ready for the match later that day. 

Day 3 - A three hour walking tour, including a ride on the famous route 28. The one the tourists like. 

To be honest, we caught the number 12 instead, as our guide insisted on queuing up on the corrrect side of the street, where the sign is, not the narrow strip of pavement on the side where the doors open. 28 is notorioulsy difficult to get on, anyway, so this didn't help. Not to worry, the route is nearly the same, and there was space to sit, and run around the car taking photos. 

The ride was fantastic. I can't believe how steep and windy the roads these trams traverse are. Well beyond the limits of conventional wheel grip to my mind, but they charge around quite happily. The drivers have to work hard though to deal with the terrain, and insane traffic conditions. 

Our guide then took us on a tour of more interesting bits of the city. To be honest, he did go on a bit, and it wasn't long before me and another member of the tour started to wander a bit as we wanted to take photos of trams weaving through narrow streets. I manged more of this later  in the day too - and could easily spend a whole weekend doing this!

Cake-wise, there is a bakers about every three shops, and Breakfast Pastel de nata for breakfast too!

You can enjoy the full gallery here.   

Saturday Film Club: J72

While I was looking for photos of Andy York, I found this video we shot five years ago. It seems appropriate to post it here this week.

Best before dates

 

According to the top of the bottle, the big one here was made 03.11.2021, and the small one 03.12.2024. 

And on the back, it says that the shelf life it 12 months from date of manufacture. Interesting. The big bottle is past its best, and we have a couple more that are pretty poor now. 

I'd never really thought of PVA having a "best before" date, but there's obviously something in it. From now on, 500ml is enough, I'll probably use that up while it's still at its best. And if I don't, well, the stuff is cheap enough, and the next bottle will be good for 12 months too!

Andy York - RIP

 

I lost my good friend and colleague, Andy York, on Tuesday.

Exactly when I first met Andy is one of many things I can't remember. A show at the Midland Railway Centre comes to mind, but I could be wrong. It was certainly a long time ago.

We became better acquainted while I was running MREMAG.com, and our biggest “competitor” was this forum called RMweb. In truth, we complimented each other, and so Andy and I would chat by phone and email quite a bit, comparing notes, and bantering about model railways.

A while later, I found myself working for BRM, something I think Andy might have had a hand in. He was certainly involved with my taking over the editors chairs at Garden Rail and Engineering in Miniature magazines. For this alone, I owe him a debt of thanks.

Over the years, I helped out herding the cats on the forum. Andy trusted me, a rare honour. With his encouragement, I took on more layout photography for the magazine too. He would offer advice politely in a supportive way, and I think was pleased as my abilities improved.

This tribute could go on and on, but right now, I'm not in the best place to create content. I suggestthat for more memories, you read the thread on RMweb.

Suffice to say, Andy and I were good friends, and like the rest of the team, I'm going to miss him a heck of a lot. Yes, he could be grumpy, but then so can I, and now I don't have someone to enjoy a mutual moaning about work/hobby/other stuff with so easily. There is also the Andy-shaped hole in our team at work that we're trying to cope with. I'm doing what I can, I don't want to let him down.

Farewell Andy. I'm going to miss you. 

It's a tradition that I include colleagues names on the layouts I build. Andy appeared on Ruston Quays, with, what I thought, was appropriate business...

Warehouse Wednesday: Cotton Print factory, Glasgow

I was on my way to collect some Empire buiscuits, and spotted this building down a side street. Maybe it's not the most exciting in the world, but there is modelling potential here. No idea how old it is, but the front is more ornate than it needs to be with the coloured brickwork. A feature offset by the bricked up windows!

From another angle, you can see the large factory area. Again, not beautiful, but not a difficult job to scratchbuild. A nice background lump for a layout I think.

Get your nylocks out

 

My original plan with the NG7 layout had been to pop it on a table at shows. Not perfect, but it saved me making a set of legs for the thing. 

But, we have a new stand for exhibitions, and the nearest it had to a table, was a kidney-shaped counter about the length of the model, and less than half the width. Bugger. 

So, a bit of online shopping brings me a pair of Homcom Steel Builders trestles from Robert Dyas. Putting them together is a bit of a fiddle, and all there is is a single exploded diagram. From this, you can work out where bolts go, but not easily, which ones. Still, after a bit of trail and error, I managed to put the things together. 

The trouble with nuts and bolts, is that when you rattle them around in a car, they come undone. And when you take a trip to Doncaster, shortly followed by a trip to Glasgow, the result is missing bolts. So missing I can't even find them in the car!

Fortunatly, the bolts used for the wooden cover on the layout fitted for the duration of the show, but I've now been to the hardware shop for replacements. 

To be honest, I've over-ordered on the length of the bolts, but with a bit of luck that will stop the nuts falling off the end, even if they do unscrew themselves. I've also started to replace the vital nuts with nylock versions, so when they are screwed up tight, they will stay put!

 

These legs work well, and hopefully will perform sterling service for many years to come. If they don't fall apart first, so let's hope I've cured this!

 

Loco-motion lubricant

 

When I dragged my Hornby chassised Smallbrook Studio bodied loco out of the display case, where it had sat for year, to do some work on the NG7 layout, it occured to me that I probably ought to lubricate it. 

Not long ago, John from Deluxe, pressed a bottle of Loco-motion oil in my hand, singing its praises. Now, I'm naturally cynical about this sort of thing, but the loco has done many hours smoothly running around the layout, and I'm inclinded to say this stuff works. OK, there isn't a non-lubricated loco to test it against, but this chassis is running better than any "Smokey Joe" based model has any right to. 

Impressed, so far, yes.

London haul

 

It's the law - you go to a show, you come away with a box. So, what did I bring home from Ally Pally? 

First, I did remember to pick up MEK and Woodland Scenics scatter. Thanks for the reminders to those who remembered though. I wasn't going to be allowed to forget!

Interesting that Squires has swapped Slater's MEK for Barrie Stevenson's. This makes a difference to the price. My old half litre cost £27.80 back in February 2022. One litre from Mr Stevenson is £24.99.  I wonder how long this will last? 

Now on to the silly stuff. 

One corner of the second-hand stand, was piled high with rocket kits. Someone selling a collection apparently. Not really my thing, I can't help wondering how you stop a model of the ISS falling apart when it's made of plastic and living in gravity, but I like the look of this Mercury kit. It is pretty comprehensive with a launchpage and support vehicles. 

I'm in London, so of course I'll buy a Thames Barge kit. At 1:83, it's sadly not a useful railway scale, but the finished model will be a modest size, so it is possible I'll get this one built one day. No, I won't be trying to put radio control in it. 

The kit came from a railway preservation stand on Sunday afternoon, and I suspect they were grateful to find someone like me to take it off their hands!

Finally, the really weird one. 

 I knew nothing about this when I bought it, other than it was in the running for the weirdest thing I've ever bought from a show. And for a fiver, I am curious enough to want to know more. I have taped the box up to stop bits dropping out. Besides, who else would have paid money for the thing?

This deserves a post of its own, but in case you are wondering exactly what it is, this web page has the answer. 

Not too expensive an event. OK, I could live without everything apart from the MEK and scatter, but where's the fun in that? 

The London Festival of Railway Modelling 2025

Busy shows make for terrible show reports on this blog I'm afraid, and Ally Pally this year was very busy. With our stand being just inside the door, the crowds, and sadly the draughts, found us early, and on Saturday at least, kept me busy all day talking about toy trains. 

The NG7 layout went down really well with loads of interest in all aspects of its design and construction. Maybe it's a London thing, but building a roundy-roundy in a small space seemed to really catch peoples imagination. That, and kids loved watching the train go around and around. 

Sunday, was as you'd expect, a bit quieter, but this simply gave me time to get another layout shoot in, the third of the weekend. I broke my rules about not shooting when a show is open here - but the model in question was in the West hall, and there was plenty of trade to grab the punters before they got to us. 

From what I saw, the layout quality was really high, and appreciated by the audience. I asked our video guy to get some trains moving shots to accompany the various layouts appearances on the page, and he had problems because people were lined up along the barriers all weekend so he struggled to get in!

Anyway, all this means I just have a few random shots for you: 

One highlight was that on the Saturday evening, we'd booked to go and watch ice hockey, or as the Candians call it, hockey, at the rink on the side of Ally Pally. To be honest, it wasn't that exciting, the place lacked atmosphere. But, we had to walk back to the car along the front, and I finally got to enjoy the spectacle of London at night I've only glimpsed in the past. 

The photo doesn't do the scene justice sadly. Maybe I'll get the chance to try again next year. 

Anyway, a busy show with lots of chat. Thanks to those blog readers who came along to say hello. Sorry I didn't know everyone's names. As I type this, I've fallen asleep twice today already, and by the end of Sunday, I'm not even sure I could remember my own!