Bachmann GWR 49xx Hall Class Review

Class: GWR 49XX Hall Class Use: Mixed Traffic Region: Western Era: 1928-1965 Preserved examples: 4920 Dumbleton Hall – South Devon Railway 4930 Hagley Hall

Bachmann 49xx Hall DCC Fitting Guide

As some of you guessed correctly, Locoyard’s ghost train in the Halloween blog post was indeed a Bachmann 00 scale GWR Hall class. 4936 Kinlet Hall is going to be put through it’s paces before long, but in the meantime we learn how to fit a DCC chip to

Bachmann GWR Collett Goods Class 2251 Review

One of the defining models of modern times, Bachmann’s 00 scale version of GWR Collett Goods class 2251 was one of the first of a new breed of high-fidelity models. Much time has passed since it’s first release, so today we review the model and see whether

Bachmann Collett Goods Class 2251 DCC Fitting Guide (DCC Ready Version)

The latest addition to the Locoyard fleet is likely to be used as donor locomotive for the SER 01 project. In the meantime it will be DCC chipped and reviewed, so today we start with fitting the DCC decoder. Fitting a DCC chip to

Bachmann GWR City Class Review – A Tale of Two Cities, Part 2

Steadily over the past few weeks, I’ve been reviewing locomotives in my collection, with the general aim of providing a free resource for 00 scale steam modellers. Seeing as it is 100 days until Christmas (a scary thought!), hopefully these reviews are becoming available at just the right time! Following from the Review of …

West Somerset Railway 21st Gala March 1997; My Journey in becoming a Steam Enthusiast, Part 7 Chapter 2

Continuing from last Saturday’s post is the final chapter of part 7 in my journey in becoming a steam enthusiast. I hope all locoyard followers will enjoy these photographs! Todays post begins in Minehead and then follows 43xx Class 7325 and Castle Class 7029 Clun Castle double-heading to Bishops Lydeard. Post thread continues – click…

West Somerset Railway 21st Gala March 1997; My Journey in becoming a Steam Enthusiast, Part 7 Chapter 1

Following on from my previous post, this is one of the final of this series of memories and a fantastic one at that! One of my most fond steam memories from my younger years came from a visit to the West Somerset Railway when it was celebrating its 21st anniversary in March 1997. An incredible…

8750 Class Pannier Tank 3738 at Didcot Halt

During last week’s visit to Didcot Railway Centre, British Standard 7MT 70000 Britannia was not the only locomotive in steam. On another demonstration line, pulling an auto-coach was GWR black liveried 8750 class pannier tank 3738. This locomotive was operated from “Didcot Halt”, a faithful recreation of a GWR branchline. A Great Western themed attraction would not be complete without…

Modern Great Western Miracles

Following from yesterdays blog post on GWR locomotives to be found in Didcot Railway Centre is a close look at two special (though very different) steam locomotive. These are both examples that the engineering spirit of the Great Western Railway is still alive. We start with the magnificent 60xx King class 6023 King Edward II. This example of…

Great Western Prowess on Display at Didcot

One simple reason for the steam enthusiast to want to visit the Great Western Society at Didcot Railway Centre is fairly simple – it houses the largest collection of GWR loco’s and rolling stock in Britain. Last Sunday’s blog post looked at the Didcot site and as promised we will now look inside the engine…