Month: July 2021

Whilst enjoying a very long overdue and hugely enjoyable visit to my family in Northampton I was able to visit my childhood model shop which I am pleased to see is still very much thriving. ( https://themodelshop-northampton.co.uk )

In my youth it was usually a weekly trek for Model aeroplane kits and balsa wood..
… Now I am able to enjoy it for Model Railways.
Amongst other bits and pieces such as OO9 points and track I left with these rather colourful Hornby ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘Sgt Pepper’ Beatles wagons.

I am planning to resume work on the N Gauge ‘Stowey Green’ layout in a few weeks, so, in the meantime I thought I had better ‘Finish Off’ my pending ‘OO’ tasks.

One of these was getting out our Hornby Peckett which was bought as a birthday present all the way back in January…
.. The Loco really is a beauty..

With a LOT of details especially in the cab.

The HST is probably my favourite ‘Modern’ locomotive, both as a modeller and as a traveller.
After over a year of searching I have finally have an HST with the running numbers to match my Mk3 Coaches (43002 & 43003). Although I have travelled on HST’s all across the country, I have a particular affection from travelling on them between London and Weston-Super-Mare soon after they were introduced.

.. I missed out on the amazing Super Detailed Limited Edition ’40th Anniversary’ version from a few years back. So I had hoped to get the updated, good value and well reviewed ‘Railroad’ version from a year or so ago. This has also been hard to find at a sensible price – until this weekend where typically I ended up with a choice of ‘As New’ models. One was in a collectables shop and another on EBay.
I went for the one in the shop as it was the same price – and I could give it a proper look over first.

It looks Great and runs well – SO much better than the older ‘Pancake’ motor versions.

It is unlikely to see much action on Burton Phoenix – for even in a fairly ‘Minimum’ configuration – 1st class, 2nd Class and Buffet .. the train is almost twice the length of the station..

.. It will be a while before I can run a train with my current rake of 7 Coaches…

Most of the famous ‘Little Trains of North Wales’ were built for quarry work – particularly slate.
So, as a resident of North Wales I have become quite interested in them and have a preference for 3D printing this kind of rolling stock. I have finally got round to finishing and painting them – it’s has been a long time since I did any kind if model painting, Airfix as a teenager, so I have a lot to learn/relearn. Most of the items are in ‘OO9’ scale – which is effectively OO scale on 9mm track. But I have also printed and decorated a few items on O16 which is ‘O’ scale (7mm/ft) using OO/HO track.

A rake of OO9 slate wagons with simulated loads.

And are some accompanying passenger coaches. Not bad for a first attempt – need to do a better job of fitting the roofs in future.

And here are the few O16 wagons I have made. One of the joys of 3D printing is that you and up and downsize models.. Hence the resemblance to the OO9 ones: