2013 has been a remarkable year for a steam and model railway enthusiast and it has been a pleasure to report on it here on http://www.locoyard.com. Today we reflect on the past year’s many blog posts that involved poll’s, competitions and guests….
The poll to find our favourite colour that 60163 Tornado has been painted was carried out, the answer being Apple Green! The other competition was the search to find the worlds most famous steam locomotive, the winner of this was of course 4472 Flying Scotsman.
A Valentines Day themed competition was run with a prize was run with Brookes Castle to find out people’s most loved model locomotive and to hear why it was their favourite. Pictures with the description were posted on to the ‘Model Railway Blogs’ Facebook page. The competition entry with the winner can be found here.
Perhaps one of the more disappointing competitions this year (given its success last year) was Locoyard’s Movember 2013, which received just two entries. Despite this, through other social media it could be seen that the idea of adding a mustache to a train caught on outside of this website, including on at least one real train! This has got to be a good thing, as the message is about spreading awareness of men’s health issues (click here to read more). In 2014 there will not be a competition on locoyard, but the message will be promoted nevertheless!
Edward Farms submitted a series of blog posts on Weathering- Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. The vote for the most famous steam engine also lead to plethora of contributions. “The Unnamed Engine” speaks: a guest blog by W.P. Allen, Australia’s Most Famous Loco – NSWGR C 3801 a guest blog post from Thomas Barnes and a pictorial contribution – King of Kings – 6000 King George V – a guest blog post from Nick Littlewood.
Nick has been a very prolific contributor, also sending in the following material – A Princess in Paddington, Coronation 1937 LNER Brochure, Railway Magazine’s August 1937 article on the Coronation, Sheffield Victoria Station, The Wisbech and Upwell Tramway drawings by G. Hastings plus the following:
Golden Arrow Postcard from the 1950’s
Locoyard Advent Calendar – 3rd December 2013
Locoyard Advent Calendar – 13th December 2013
Locoyard Advent Calendar – 16th December 2013
Nick contributions often show that there is more to railways than trains, an important lesson for me as much for anyone else!
One of the more unusual blog posts of the year was “Inspiration for an Artist”, a guest blog post from Stephen Bedser of Cornish Inc. Stephen’s art is inspirational for all, I strongly suggest you take a closer look at this!
Loco Yard 