Back in 2022, I made a video reviewing Hornby's new Playtrains range. Obviously, I'm not the target market for a set aimed at children, so I recruited a freinds daughter to give me a hand. As a thank you, I made sure she recieved a set, which was later added to with some more track and a second loco.  Now, I've always liked Playtrains. It's a good solid product that allows youngsters to build a railway. Not just a circuit of track, but a proper model railway with points and loops and sidings. The prices are good - when it first launched, I worked out £250 would buy you everything ..read more

Things I am not very good at Number 10423: Bending wood.  My first go, with the roof piece supplied in the kit, spent 12 hours soaking, and was still as stiff as it had been when dry. Trying to force it into anything like a curve resulted in a splintering sound, and a handful of fodder for the fire.  Fortunatly, I have plenty of spare, thin plywood, so I cut another piece out, rounding the corners using a 10p piece, and dropped it on to soak again overnight.  After making my breakfast, I pulled the wood out, and strapped it to a large can of varnish using elastic bands collect ..read more

A bit of a photo dump today. When I was last at Steam in Swindon, I took some shots of the traverser at the back of the sheds.    ..read more

  Sometimes, an evening of modelling can generate several posts. Not this time. Getting the paint on the Roundhouse coach has been a bit of a mamoth effort, taking several sessions.  First thoughts on the livery involved white above the wasitline, and so I put on some fresh Revell Matt white. But it didn't look right. Next, I changed to Humbrol 121. This creamy colour looked nicer, but took four coats applied with a flat brush. To be honest, I've never really got on with flat brushes, but didn't have a big enough round one. Yes, I could have sprayed, but it was cold in the garage so ..read more

  If I have anything approaching a new years resolution, it's to get on top of my reading. Lots and lots of magazines come my way, and they pile up. What I need is less doom-scrolling, and more reading the words of people interested in the same things I am.  Watching the piles grow, especially of society journals, is embarrasing. I know how much work goes into them, and so they deserve to be read. OK, I'm still likely to drop the mag into the recycling, but at least I should have extracted as much information out of it as possible. They is definitely a better use of my time than rea ..read more

4698 days. That's how long I've been on Twitter, but no more.  At first, it was something interesting. There was a lot in the news about this new website, and I decided to give it a try.  A little bit of me wondered if getting to know the Blue Bird, would help me drive visitors to this blog, and other websites I looked after. Something I learned fairly early, was that answer was "no it won't". That didn't matter, I looked in to get my dopamine fix, and occasionally, people wrote something interesting.  However, once it was renamed "X", the site gradually developed into right-w ..read more

Vengeance Most Fowl was the best thing on TV over Christmas, and I'm fascinated with how it is made. So, here we find out ..read more

  Derek at Footplate knows how to make a sale. Early in our chat last week, he mentioned this old Airfix GMR loco, that he would be taking to a swapmeet and flogging for a tenner. He said it didn't work, but that wouldn't matter. Someone would buy it.  An hour later, that someone was me. I've often fancied one of these. In fact I fancy the whole Wild West Adventure set, but those things are rarer than Unicorn poop. I don't think I've seen more than two ever. The coaches do appear, they were sold seperatly, and I've nearly bought them in the past, to sit in the Tri-ang operating mode ..read more

  The North Teign Light Railway took Max Jones over five years to build. Meandering through an extensive garden, sadly it is no more. We enjoy a trip along it in its prime, showing just how a model railway can enhance any garden Over on the workbench, we have three coach construction articles, working on a 16mm scale Talyllyn Railway four-wheeler, Gauge One pre-grouping body and finishing the amazing Darjeeling and Himalayan Railway vehicles. We also build a Planet locomotive in 16mm scale, as well as converting an old Tri-ang 'Big-big' model to make it look more realistic. Finally, Simo ..read more

Another excellent spot from Duncan Young - this factory in Leeming Bar is very modelable. If nothing else, those painted signs are pretty inspirational. Thanks Duncan ..read more