Big transfers

 

Time for the big transfers (never decals) to be applied to the sides of the wagon. I'd given them a generous coat of Humbrol clear, which was fully dry, so the next stage was to give it a go. 

Each part was cut out from the sheet, and then I dunked the main name in some water, that had a tiny drop of washing-up liquid in it. After a couple of minutes, the print started to slide on the backing sheet, and I slid it off on the body. 

What followed was much patting with a kitchen towel, some Micro Sol being brushed on, and more patting. 

Reasonably happy, the other transfers went on, using the box art as a guide, 

There is a hint of silvering, but it's not bad. The transfer sheet changing the colour of the background slightly is probably more of an issue, but I can live with that. Some of the raised bolt detail has poked through the sheet, but touching that up with either black or white won't be hard. I'm leaving it to dry fully before this stage however. 

Then it's time to turn the model over and do it all again! 

Ally Pally haul

Or, "What rubbish did you buy from the show this time Parker?"

You know the law. If you go to a model railway show, you are required to buy something.  Anyway, where's the fun in coming home empty-handed? 

We start with some almost sensible items. The Woodland Scenics kits could be useful additions to projects, especially the water towers and tool shed. The middle one is, Tractor Pit Stop, there are whitemetal castings and scenic materials in the box, and it was cheap. Probably a blog project one day.  

I spent more than a penny on these two public toilets, but they are interesting kits. Artitec stuff is always high quality, and the design of the building looks amazing. PN SUD Modélisme are a new name to me, but this one is mostly cast plaster with some slightly (compared to Artitec) agricultural resin castings. More blog projects, as neither really fit into magazines I write for, but they look fun. 

 Looking at the website, I wish I'd bought the lovely looking PN water tower now. But I have enough kits. 

Moving to the German Railway society, I picked up a genuine carriage board. Obviously, I snagged the one with Wuppertal on it as a souvenier of my trip. It's accompanied by a Groudle Glen Railway fridge magnet from Saddletank Books, proving I will buy anything GGR related. 

And a planned purchase - Bob Symes from Buggleskelly Models. I met Bob once at Brighton show, where I was exhibiting Hellingly. He knew the line, and we had a very enjoyable chat. 

I've been trying to buy this 7mm figure for several shows, but I always forget until the end, and he's always sold out. This time, I had him put by early. A wise move as it turns out. 

Now the big stuff. 

I have coveted a raindeer car from Bachmann for years. 2016, to be precise, when I first saw it in the catalogue. Apparently, the heads move in and out as the car moves, a bit giraffe car ish. Just up my street!

No idea why the blokes from the MRC wanted to take my photo doing this. I suspect fowl play in the future. There will be a proper blog post at some point in the future on this wagon. 

Finally, before the show even opened, MRC shop operator, and layout booker for the show, Tom, spotted me, and offered me some junk he didn't want to put back in the van at the end of the weekend. He felt that out of the ten thousand people visiting, I was the only one likely to be mug enough to hand over a fiver.

Yes, it's an Airfix Railway System Multiple Train Control (MTC). According to Wikipedia, it is an analogue system introduced in 1979 and used 20V sinusoidal alternating current on the track with a superimposed control signal. It can control up to 16 locomotives, of which a maximum of 4 at a time be controlled simultaneously. Unfortunately, it was only produced for about 18 months when Airfix went into receivership, and the concept was dropped.

And yes, this fascinating item will also be a blog post. To be honest, it is a bit of a waste of money, but it has been such a good laugh already, I'm glad I bought it. Now, does anyone want to buy it off me? 

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. 

New elastic for the chimney

 

I can't remember how old The Melbridge Box Company is, but it must be at least 25 years. However, I'd said I'd take it along to Ally  Pally to act as a display stand for the World of Railways exclusive locos, so it was time to pull the model off the shelf, and make sure it was exhibition-ready. 

First - dust. Lots of it. While the boxfile might close up, there are holes in the ends to let trains out, and it seems, dust in. Much work was needed with a soft paintbrush to clean the model up. 

Then the main problem was the chimney. It has four stays holding it up, and as the tube splits for transport, these are made out of thin rubber thread. After all this time, this had perished and needed replacement. 

Once the old thread had been cleaned away, and the superglued knots where it attaches to the buildings (it's too smooth just to tie a knot) I was faced with trying to rethread the thing. Not as easy as you might think. The holes in the sides of the chimney are just big enough for the thread, and the rubber doesn't stay straight, so getting it into the chimney is fine, but finding the exit hole isn't. 

In the end, I passed a length of wire through the chimney, and superglued the thread onto the end, then pulled it back through. This worked a lot better than I expected it to!

After that, a bit of knot tying, some superglue and a kicker, and the job was done.  

Little Brian

 

I have a fun way to remember my Dad. A miniature caricature of him has been commissioned from Rob Bennet. I ordered four, one for Mum, sister and me, plus a spare to drive a steam engine. They came unpainted at my request. 

We've each kept one of his caps, Dad rarely went out bare-headed, so I've done my best to copy the colours of each of our headgear souvenirs. 

The rest is a beige M&S windcheater, Humbrol 121 dry-brushed with 147. Trousers are a dark blue and antracite mix, with dry-brushing in blue. 

Anyway, we love Rob's work, and are sure that Dad would have as well. 

I have a plan though. 

Little Phil, and Little Brian, will live in my bag as miniature me has been doing for a few years, and we will go on adventures together. Next time Little Phil finds himself on top of a mountain, or an interesting railway location, he will have company. 

Update: The little people have enjoyed their first day out, a visit to someone who was a friend to both of us, and his 32mm gauge garden railway. 

Dad's celebration day - 31st May 2026 - you are all invited.

Back in January, we lost my father, Brian. 

He'd never been religious, and didn't want the fuss of a funeral, so we didn't have one.

However, we still wanted to say goodbye, and give friends the chance to join us in this. 

So, on Sunday 31st May, we will be jumping into the L&WMRS planned open weekend with a few tributes to him. 

I hope to bring Melbridge Dock along, it was the most successful layout we both built. If I can recruit some operators, we'll be running it all weekend. 

At the boat club, we'll have a model or two he built on the water. We're also donating a bench to sit where he used to enjoy watching boats on the water, swifts catching flies over it, and a chip butty. 

A set of coaches he built will run on the outdoor track.  

There will be food laid on. Probably a barbecue, hopefully some rhubarb (his favourite) and definitely NO custard! (he hated custard)

That's the current plan anyway. It's definitely won't be maudlin, Dad wouldn't have wanted that. He was incredibly proud of the model railway club, so it seems the ideal place to celebrate him. 

Because it's a normal open weekend,  all the club layouts will be operating, so there will be loads to see and do, even if you didn't know my Dad. 

So, please put the date in your diary - the more the merrier! We're right in the middle of the country, and it's a lovely spot, the perfect day out. 

(Note: So we have an idea for food numbers, drop me a line if you are coming.) 

Saturday Film Club: Unboxing English Electric locomotives

Steven and I had great fun filming this unboxing of a couple of Hornby locos. I played with some DCC, and enjoyed it!

Ally Pally time

All being well, by lunchtime today, I'll be in that there London for a capital show.

Yes, it's time for The London Festival of Railway Modelling, two days in the magnificent Alexandra Palace. 

It's one of my favourite venues, so much more character than your average exhibition hall. I just need to stay in the show and not spend my time gawping at the view over London. 

It's the show's 25th Birthday too. Doesn't time fly? I still fondly remember IMREX in the Horticultural Halls, and now the show that replaced it when these became too expensive, is a quarter of a century old!

As ever, there will be a wide variety of layouts and trade, details of which can be found on the exhibition website.  

I'll be on the World of Railways stand for the duration - at least when I'm not wandering around shooting layouts for future issues of BRM. 

If you aren't sure about a visit, let this top chap persuade you. 

 I hope to see you there! 

Help, my lorries got no wheel! In April's BRM

 

 

On my workbench in the April issue, I've taken an Oxford diecast Christmas lorry, and ruined it. Off comes the festive lettering, and one of the wheels. On goes dirt and graffiti, plus a pile of bricks to prop the thing up. 

There is also a wooden shelter - from a Scalemodelscenery kit whose construction defeated me, but I built it anyway. Well, bodging is an important skill...

The camera has been out for three of the four layouts in this issue: 

Broadwell lives in Cardiff, and is an impressive club-sized tail chaser with a very familiar station building. 

As well as the material on the page, the layout appears on BRM TV. 

Next, a first for me, T gauge, with the Ock Valley. 

Finally, a fun micro layout, Broad Arrow in 009. 

 BRM magazine is available from all good newsagents, or our online store: www.world-of-railways.co.uk

Supermarket customers will, I think, find it bagged with Garden Rail, which has a DVD on the cover.  

Tidy corners

 

Always turn your brain on, before taking the top off the glue. 

I didn't, and very nearly got my corners on the Manvers wagon mixed up. There is an end door, and this should go at the end of the wagon without corner plates. It took me a little while to twig this, as I sat wondering why the corner joint wasn't as neat as I'd expected. Fortunately, this was at the dry-fit stage. Which is why you do it of course. 

With all the parts in the right place, the corners are neat. Even the floor is the right size, not always a given in smaller scales. I've sanded a couple of mm from the sides and ends before now, so the thing would fit in the bottom. 

At the ends with corner plates, there was a tiny step, so I glued a tiny piece of Microstrip in. Once full dry (overnight), I was able to scrape and sand it to represent the bent bits of metal these parts represent. I'm being picky, and suspect most people wouldn't be bothered, as you can't see anything when the train is thrashing around the layout behind a steam engine!

Manvers Main G1 wagon

 

I mentioned yesterday that I felt the stirrings of modelling mojo coming back, and one of the kits that is helping me with this, is the Gauge 1 PO wagon from Northern Finescale, picked up at the Midlands show. 

Pawing at the components, something in me wanted to break out the plastic glue and stick the thing together!

Northern Finescale kits as injection moulded plastic models, a bit like a larger Parkside model, and since this isn't the first one I've built, I'm confident that it will be nice and easy to put together. 

I appreciate that this isn't the first model from this manufacturer on the blog, and as I have half a dozen more to build over time, it won't be the last! I will try and find something different to say each time to avoid boring you too much... 

Anyway, in the box, which is big enough for the finished model (do they still say that in Railway Modeller) are the parts moulded in greay and black. Only the pastic axle bearings are supplied on the sprue, everything else has been neatly cut off. Only a tiny suggestion of nib remains, nothing that a few strokes of an abrasive stick can't deal with. 

Now, where's the glue?  

Abrail haul

 

I don't need any more kits, but when rooting around under a stand at Sunday lunchtime, it seemed rude to pass up some very cheap Wills kits. They are a handy "get out of jail" card when I need a magazine, or even a blog project. Seated people are very handy too. I've been using a few figures recently, and hadn't realised how few of these I had. These, plus the Ratio drums and Mabex transfers, cost me a tenner. 

The N gauge lorry and horse-drawn parcel wagon are potential four-step BRM projects, and only a quid each.  

My point is, that bargains are out there. I was 3/4 of the way through the show. What was there to be found on Saturday morning? Or am I just weird in the things I choose to buy?  

One thing I really don't need is an O gauge loco kit. Trouble is, I've looked longingly at this one many times. I know it's marketed as a beginner's kit, and I'm an experienced etched builder, but I just like the look of it. Being a Connoisseur product, I know it will go together nicely, and should be a fun build.

To date, I've looked, then carried out the calculation of the final cost once motor wheels and gears are added, and decided against it. Here, we have the kit with those parts, for the price of the basic kit. I pondered for most of the day, but since no one else had snapped it up by late afternoon, I gave in. The thing is, the more I look at the kit, the greater my enthusiasm to put it together. Considering my lack of enthusiasm for personal projects recently, it's worth the money for that alone.

Abrail 2026

 

How has this show flown under my toy-train-seeking-radar for so long? 

It first came to my attention when the guys building Duxbury at the club mentioned they were taking the layout. That was just after they had inserted four feet in the middle of it - cue some hard work bringing it up to standard! A job well done, judging how well the layout ran at the show with some seriously impressive length trains. 

Seeing I had a free weekend, I thought a visit to support them was in order. Then I spotted that there were over 40 layouts. "There must be some that are blokes called Dave who've just nailed a bit of track to a plank to make up the numbers." I thought. 

I was wrong. 

There were over 40 layouts, and all of them were good. Some were great. No Dave's nailing Peco to wood here!

I'm not going to try to run through the lot. There is YouTube for that, but take some sea-sickness pills first, judging by the videos I've seen. 

Instead, a couple of highlights. Basically, the layouts I'd like to build. 

Rye Sands is a beauty. OK, there's nothing much here, but what there is, is superbly done. Loads of atmosphere. Based on a prototype, we are firmly in pre-grouping territory, with lots of curved-ended wagons. 

Sheep Croft is a very buildable layout, with plenty of operating potential, yet not very long. Perfect for a home-based layout that can be left out all the time for impromptu operating sessions. The 3-link couplings were challenging, but the low operating height made things a little easier for those shunting, as well as putting the model on the eye-line of shorter visitors. 

One issue with the show was the venue. Lovely as the college was, its classroom time, and with so much on show, the place becomes a bit of a rabbit-warren. I'll admit, I missed the building full of N gauge layouts, and didn't realise until I had a proper look at the programme back home. This is annoying, as if the quality of these was as high as the rest of the show, I'd have enjoyed them. To be fair, there is nothing that can be done about this. Exhibition centres aren't found on every corner, and when you locate one, the hire costs can be horrific. 

Catering was better than expected. Branded Costa, it turns out this is just the coffee and some of the food, but there were extra goodies on offer for very reasonable prices. I enjoyed the chocolate shortbread for only £1.50 a slice. Less than half what you'd pay in a proper chain coffee shop. 

To be fair, the trade side was OK, but not special. Mind you, I still managed to spend a few quid, which I'll explain tomorrow. 

Will I go back - YES. This is a cracking event. In future, I'll have a layout-booking hat on, and look at the programme properly, so I don't miss anything! 

Saturday Film Club: 1972: Crich's National Tramway Museum

Shot in1972, this is a proper bit of history, showing the early days at Crich tramway museum, including the working quarry, which is now derelict. Early preservation era, could be a very fertile time for model railways if anyone fancies it. 

A pair of 3Fs

 

A pair of 3Fs hauled out of the display case for work, showing how much the hobby has changed over the years. 

On the left, a Bachmann model released in 2011. On the right, Tri-ang from 1958. 

Both have been worked over a little by me, but nothing massive. The Tri-ang model is my first locomotive, and was painted and detailed when I first joined the model railway club over 40 years ago. 

The newer 3F was weathered for a Hornby magazine project when it first came out. While I'm sure there will be plenty of people on forums telling the world that it was time the loco was upgraded to "modern standards", I think it still looks pretty good.  

Obviously, both tenders had received a load of real coal, a simple task that really lifts the look of the model in my eyes. 

Mind you, I don't think the 1950s model looks too bad. The general shape isn't hopeless, you'd guess the prototype if asked I think. Fortunatly, we no longer have skirts under boilers to hide the chunky cast chassis and X04 motor, nor moulded on handrails (although I liked the improvement when these were replaced). 

Garden Rail April 2026

 

We travel to Arizona for our lead feature on the impressive Grand Central Railroad — a large, action-focused line built by a dedicated team of enthusiasts.

Remaining in the United States, we present a detailed model of a locomotive converted from a farm tractor. Created by master modeller Chuck Doan, this build showcases techniques used to achieve museum-quality results.

Moving to steam, Dave Pinnigar introduces Yvette, an articulated locomotive with notable engineering interest.

On the Workbench:
• Scratch building Churchwater Slate Railway rolling stock
• Re-purposing a control unit from a toy
• Converting a toy lorry into a locomotive
• Building platform barrows
• Seasonal tasks for garden railways

We also include a preview of the upcoming National Garden Railway Show, along with the latest new products for large-scale modellers.

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

It IS quicker by train

 

Spotted on Quorn station. Even if it's not quicker, at least you can have a snooze, or read a book...

Rapido Fireless locomotive

I've been hoping to blag one of these since the model was announced. With my interest in industrial locomotives, Rapido producing a RTR fireless loco ensured this was always high on my list. Fortunatly, there are a number of projects to be carried out on this model, so it has made its way into my clutches. 

The livery is, I think, the best of the batch, overall green with a BP logo. It's the World of Railways exclusive model. 

In my hands, I notice that this is a heavy little beast at 130g, there's a lot of diecast metal in here. 

The pack contains details, which appear to be cab doors. Not sure if these will get fitted, but they would change the look of the model, so I really ought to give them a go. We'll be leaving one open so the ModelU crew can be seen clearly. 

Underneath, there are four wheels, and some simulated inside waggly bits. A nice touch. Obviously, it runs impercably, annoying for those of us who have spent hours trying to make kit-built locos work so well. 

Talking of kits, it's odd that there has only (to my knowledge) been a single one in all the years I've been modelling, that being from Impetus Models. I'd have expected much more interest, is this prototype just too esoteric for the modelling community? Not in RTR form, as it's selling well. 

For various reasons, I have dug out my boxfile layout, and of course, posed the loco on it. 

 You can read more about this model on the Rapido website. 

Midlands show haul

 

I don't need any more kits, but when you find Northern Finescale Gauge 1 wagons at a bargain price, it seems churlish not to add a couple more to the rake. With the range now history, I reason that if I decide I don't want them, well, someone will take them off my hands. 

There's a 16mm scale 1950s teenager with a camera - a seconds from The Gauge Gallery. I think he looks fun, and you may well see him appearing in various places in the future. 

Finally, a gas canister connector. It's what you buy when purchasing cheap gas from a trader, and reaslising that none of your existing adaptors fit...

I don't need any more books either, but adding to my collection of Peter Jones Garden Railway Guides brings me closer to a complete set. Tag's Live Steam Workshop is a Garden Rail publication - so I ought to own a copy, and I'm sure I'll learn something from it. 

Odder, is The Plynlimon & Hafan Tramway, a bargain at £4.50.  The tram loco "Victoria" has always intrigued me, and there's a plan of it in there, along with lots of other locos and rolling stock. And I love plans. 

Midlands Garden Rail Show 2026

 

Time was against me this year. My two days of wandering were trimmed to one due to other commitments. Not to worry, I cracked on, and talked to all the trade, as well as enjoying a little of the layout. 

According to the people I chatted to, Saturday was busier than it has been for years. Sunday seemed to be about normal to me, so I'd say this is very good news for the hobby. Busy shows hopefully mean the trade take some cash, and there are loads of people enjoying themselves. 

Over the years, the members of the 16mm modular group have been upping their game, with some stunning models, full of detail, and worthy of being layouts on their own. 

Another star was Brunel Models Gauge 3 of Ross-on-Wye station. Part of a much larger layout, one I'd love to see!

Among the layouts, Loft City Central has been expanded considerably, but now takes half a day to set up!

Little Phil had to make do with a sausage roll, as the Saturday crowds had depleted the stocks of cake. 

I've been experimenting with shooting video on my phone, so see if it's good enough for social media. The results don't look too bad to me, what do you think?