Just a quick post today. En-route to visit family I stopped at Basingstoke to see 4464 Bittern arrive. Originally 6201 Princess Elizabeth was scheduled to take the service, but she failed yesterday. Fortunately her super-sub was more than capable of taking its spot. I had hoped to meet Simon of Brookes Castle at Eastleigh, but unfortunately…
Todays post is a reflection on the names given by Southern Railways to their top-link express locomotives. As the names are so evocative and well-thought out, I wanted to discuss some of the reasons why they work so well. I’ve illustrated the piece with locoyard fleet locomotives; both past and present. King Arthur Class Although…
Model Rail magazine announced today that they have commissioned Dapol to produce a RTR USA dock tank. This is a fantastic development for Southern modellers like myself to have a RTR version of something very unique in 00 scale. The locomotives were constructed in Pennsylvania for use during the second world war and were used throughout Europe.…
It’s been an extremely busy week and as a result, pretty quiet in the yard. However, I’m looking to bring in an all new exciting model review format this Sunday! The first review in this format will be of Hornby’s rebuilt Merchant Navy pacific, a modern classic. In the meantime, here are a few…
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
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
Loco Yard 