I do love the odd balls, the underdog, the unlikely hero - perhaps it is an echo of how I feel about myself, perhaps the stories told to me through childhood? Even now, characters on TV and film who capture my attention have that same peculiar character. Strike, Perez, Mac...  (Top marks for anyone who gets all three). I digress, this Canadian National SW1200RM, or Sweep, is certainly a rarity, if not a hero. Just 8 were built before CN decided that the extra 100hp of the conversion did not warrant the cost, and reverted to a more traditional 'refresh' of its SW1200RS fleet in the mid ..read more

Whilst today’s Class 158s on the Far North will surely be facing the same fate, it is the Class 26 that will always, for me, be the most sorely missed… The autumn of 1984 proved to be the last chance to catch Sulzer type 2 power on the Kyle branch with the commissioning of the RETB (Radio Electric Token Block) system and introduction of the Class 37. As a child at the time I was blissfully unaware of that loss, instead stuck in my library book time lag where the plucky BoBos plied the route with their short Mk1 coach trains.  The Dapol N gauge model is a wonderful capture of the chara ..read more

It has been a while since I sat down and designed something, a process I've enjoyed since the first kit 10+ years ago for Narrow Planet... However a new book and a desire to do something a little different to the usual kit building, weathering and layout construction this week saw me fire up my MacBook and refresh my memory with the peculiarities of the only 3D CAD software I can drive these days, Sketchup 2017.  Opening up the laptop, opening up the software I felt that comfortable sense of being 'at home'. Buttons, tools, workflows - things haven't changed and the result, whilst clu ..read more

I love my job. Although I’ve seen examples of these here previously it’s always nice to handle quality models and enjoy their miniature reproduction. Hats off to Hattons, the P class in particular is stunning… It and the Kernow Beattie well tank are both in for ‘bringing to life’ with the specification ‘used but clean’. This sort of thing can be harder to achieve than decrepit and worn out, for it takes careful observation and a restrained hand. A wash of usual 98/33 along underframe and footplate, plus any flat surfaces on the body kicks things off. Then some careful micro painting dirt ..read more

Over the past 18 months or so HMLX, the reporting marks of Hilton and Mears Leasing have been increasingly mentioned here and there… L-R GP7 5606 (Bachmann), SW1200RM 7106 (Kaslo), 44t 1220 (Bachmann) and GP8 1701 (Proto2000). Chris and I rather opportunistically saw the need for a small leasing company to operate some of our favourite ‘last mile’ (or so) switching operations. Over time it has developed from just 1220 to include at least 4 current and 7 total locomotives.  It’s this photo of our current HMLX fleet that makes me long for Rome. I can see a day of moving storage car ..read more

In the past month I've been turning attention back to the heart of the Paxton Road journey - a love of British Rail freight in 1990 and in particular the shorter Speedlink operations in central Scotland... I had a book as a child, 'British Marshalling Yards' by Michael Rhodes, published by OPC, in fact I should say 'I have' as it still sits on my shelf - in the Scottish section you will find a few important photos that explain why, perhaps, I'm drawn back here... an 08 with Tullis Russell PAA sits at the end of the Markinch branch at Auchmuty and a 20 with Carbon Dioxide tanks at Cameron Brid ..read more

Where is the spring? We've had the daffodils, we have the lambs but we've also just had a hard frost, lots of rain and a period of cold weather that feels rather wintry to my bones... The SWEEP is finished - more on this next week when I get around to the beauty shots and writing up the build, but I've been enjoying playing with it on Beaverbrook. Posed here with excellent Modelu crew, it feels very much at home. Mostly smaller things in the workshop this week as I've been trying to clear a few things in the 'work' list ahead of a period of focus on Rushcliffe. We'll kick things off ..read more

No, you are not seeing double! I recently completed a pair of these Fourdees ‘Bristol’ freelance Peckett style tender locomotives in 009… I’ve tackled this kit previously and whereas then I followed the instructions and painting things before assembly this time I followed my gut, assembled first and painted later. The results are probably the same, and I found it suited my style of working so will be happy to try this approach with Dan’s kits again in the future.   The real problem with the Bristol is the lack of adhesive weight, there are no tanks to hide weight and being 3D printed ..read more

I was in the kitchen making my lunch at the time. The dog barked, then the familiar noise of the postman pushing something through the letter box, I wasn’t expecting anything. Then, again, a second time, though perhaps something larger, pushing against the edges of the box… Curious I ventured to the front door and amongst the usual bills and junk mail a larger brown envelope, the shade of all letters I receive from Canada, a more mustard tinge than our brown paper and on closer inspection my good friend Chris’s fountain pen inscribed address. It’s here! It’s early!  In my excitement t ..read more

I’ve done a few videos now where I’ve intentionally slowed the pace and focused upon the task. I’ve talked about how becoming more ‘in the moment’ can enrich the task, your hobby… In this latest video I invite you to watch paint dry… sorry I’m joking, no I’m just painting something non consequential on a layout commission, a job I’m sure many of us rush through to get to the exciting stuff. Instead I pause to hear the birds, to enjoy the music I’m listening to and to reflect that if we make time for our hobby rather than squeezing it around modern life it can reward us in ways we hadn’t rea ..read more