Bodmin General Station – 2010

Another addition to the Steam Diary is a brief visit to Bodmin General, early on 17th July 2010, when Beattie Well-Tank 30587 was

Bachmann Junior 0-6-0 Tank Engine Review

Today we look at an example of Bachmann’s “Junior” range of models. Other models in this range include an

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

Southern Locoyard Scenes

Just a quick post of three Southern scenes in today’s

Bachmann BR Standard 9F Class DCC Fitting Guide

Today we have a very brief glimpse at Bachmann’s BR Standard 9F class and find out how to fit

A New Flush Glaze Project – Grafar Suburban Coaches

Some of the earliest posts on this blog looked at a Flush Glaze project to improve Bachmann Bulleid coaches. Ready installed Flush Glazing on ready to run models is a fairly modern phenomenon and in my eyes really makes a significant visual difference to the appearance of models. Although not quite as effective as the…

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

Hornby Bulleid Q1 Class Model Review

Following last week’s review of the Hunslet Austerity saddle tank; today we look at another Austerity design, this one more unloved than most! Bulleid’s 0-6-0 Q1 class was the most powerful 0-6-0 ever built in the UK. The design was very unconventional and gave it a unique appearance. Previous articles have been written on the…

DCC Stay-Alive – is it as good as it sounds?

I’m sure I’m not alone in being frustrated by model locomotives not running well. Getting constant power to a model’s motor is an all too common problem. There is a lot that we can do to help this – keeping the track, wheels and power wipers clean and of course having good well-laid track…

Splitting Headaches and a Split Chassis – a bad combination (or why split chassis DCC conversion is VERY Hard!)

This weekend has allowed a good amount of time for working on the layout and projects. In hindsight, it should of been a good opportunity to simply operate the layout, as having caught some serious man-flu; coughing, headaches and tiredness meant full concentration wasn’t on the cards. I should have sat back with a cup…