Q1 class update
Just a quick update tonight to show that I’ve completed one of my locomotive identity-change projects. I’ve renumbered Q1 class C8 to C1. C1 is the only surviving member
Bachmann Fairburn 4MT – smooth, powerful and steady!
Now it’s time to get back on track (please excuse the pun!) and talk about the best performing model in my collection. It also gives me a chance to praise Bachmann, as I’m well aware that some of my previous reviews have been a little critical of the firm. This is mainly due to the…
Happy April Fools Day!
Yes, my previous post was a complete April fools day joke… there is no Cockney Coronation Society, nor was 6235 City of Birmingham ever painted in Southern colours… so don’t believe a word! The picture was a much doctored image, the real model has not been near any green paint! If you think this joke…
Cockney Coronation Society
My review of locoyards best performing engine has been put on hold to publicise what is a very exciting new venture. A new campaign to free Coronation Pacific 46235 City of Birmingham from the Thinktank Museum has started from what at first might seem an unlikely source – the newly founded Cockney Coronation Society. The…
A4 Mallard, surprisingly slow!
Today marked a minor but significant achievement for my collection – the last working model was DCC chipped. This does not mean that all of my models are chipped – there are various projects that will require DCC chips (not to mention working motors, chassis etc!) The last to be chipped was my Hornby A4 4468 Mallard.…
Hornby King Arthur N15 class – as good as it gets!
On one of my previous posts, I reviewed the Hornby T9 class, concluding that it looked fantastic but performance was poor. Well, to re-balance the review of that Hornby model I wanted to add one where Hornby managed to get almost everything right! The first King Arthur N15 prototype, was built way back in 1918…
All Change At the Yard!
Before I continue with todays locoyard developments, I’d just like to say thank you for all the positive comments I received from my last entry on the Watercress Line’s steam gala and of the pictures published on steam tube. They’re all very much appreciated! Today was a working from home day for me, which means…
There was no smoke, but there was a fire…
What a fantastic weekend we have had, perfect weather for steam gala’s; perhaps in hindsight a bit too perfect leading to very dry conditions… Gala season has well and truly started, with the Watercress Line, West Somerset Railway and Severn Valley Railway all holding their Spring gala’s on 23-25th March. It might have been for…
Hornby LSWR T9 – the best looking ready-to-run model yet?
Todays post is a piece my favourite model (in terms of looks) in my collection. Making a decent model of such an elegant prototype was always going to equal a nice model, but the lengths that Hornby went to, to made this look absolutely fantastic are incredible. It’s difficult to know where to start in…
Panning for… good photographs
I’ve spent a frustrating 30 minutes trying to get a decent panned shot of a model train going around the yard. My aim was to get an “action” shot for a change from my usual (attempt) of getting a pin-sharp result. The locomotive, M7 tank 42 (shown more clearly below) was my subject, pulling a…
Loco Yard 