"Changes afoot"

There will be changes to the blog over the next week. Watch out for the new look!

Until next time!

"A print to remember"

A few years ago, on the suggestion of a close friend, I ran a competition for charity where the prize was a print of the three main characters of The British Railway Series. Well, I resurrected the idea in 2011 and commissioned a Christmas portrait of the main characters on shed at Copley Hill, as a prize for the Facebook group's Christmas Art Competition (which was a rousing success).

The above photograph shows the stunning result, which will be sent up to Newcastle on Friday for the artist to sign, and then send onto the BRWS Facegroup winner.

Until next time!

"Thompson D Class 4-4-0, The Morpeth" - Update 4

We're getting there with 62768! I've put it into a black matt coat, and will varnish the areas where there are to be transfers applied. The camera does show up a few areas to sand down again - the steps, for example, so we're not quite ready to shout "finished!" by any means.



This is where we were a day ago, with the model unpainted and with the steps, new buffers and bufferbeam detail newly added. In hindsight I should have sanded it down more, but that can be done when the Archers rivets arrive next week in the final stages of the build.

I sprayed the body the same matt black I applied to the tender, and have temporarily fitted the the nameplates, worksplates, safety valves, whistle and cab glazing to get a feel of how it is going to look when finished.

I'm much happier with where I am with it this week than I was last week. Working away from home has meant that modelling time has been very limited, almost to a few snatched hours at night on a Friday or Saturday before trudging back to High Wycombe in the car Monday morning.

Is it a perfect recreation of the lone Thompson D Class? No, definitely not. Is it a decent representation? I think so, in so much that as a budget conversion, it's the best I could do currently, though hopefully lessons learned from this build can be applied to the next couple of ready to run conversions I have planned.


Next jobs are addition of the rivets, sand down the steps carefully, and repaint areas required, before applying the transfers, weathering and sealing the finish thereafter.

So, a small update on a project I am thoroughly enjoying.

Until next time.

"Thompson D Class 4-4-0, The Morpeth" - Update 3

Very minor update today, I had a go at modifying the smokebox door to better represent the lone D Class 4-4-0 as I am intending to portray it. Namely as British Railways 62768, with full mixed traffic lining out but with the early lettered branding as opposed the cycling lion on the tender.

Next jobs to do are rivets, steps, buffers, front coupling, painting, lining out, weathering and sealing...!

Until next time.

"(Un) Happy Knight"

While researching and writing new stories for my books, I came across on an internet forum an absolutely beautiful photograph from the late 1940s. For copyright reasons and with respect to the owner of the photograph, I won't reproduce it here, but the photograph was screaming out to be developed as children's story (and indeed, on the forum one user commented rather favourably in this vein).

The photograph concerned showed British Railways A2 Pacific Happy Knight on a train going through Grantham station. There on the bufferbeam, in small Gill Sans lettering under its number are the immortal words "Copley Hill", for it was allocated to Leeds Copley Hill in the late 40s. The Peppercorn A2s left in 1949 and 1950 and were allocated further up north, mostly in the Scottish region, thereafter.

The idea of Happy Knight being an unhappy knight - and as to why - perhaps tying into, as suggested, "why that name" (it was named after a racehorse in reality), and perhaps playing on it somewhat to induce a moralistic story, appeals greatly.

Plus, it's another excuse to add one of those fabulous single chimney Peppercorn A2 Bachmann models to my ever growing collection, one day!

Until next time.

"Unnamed Portrait"

British Railways no.60114 rests at Copley Hill Leeds. Dean Walker.

It's not very often that I feel I need to sing to the high heavens on - well - anything! But on seeing this portrait drop into my email inbox, I needed to reiterate once more, with a cropped and slightly edited version of the whole artwork (so that the story itself is not revealed), just how good the artwork for Tale of the Unnamed Engine is turning out to be.

I have so enjoyed going through my emails, reading up on how much some of you are looking forward to the book, so I'd like to offer my apologies for not being able to respond to everyone individually, and to say thank you for your continuous support.

2012 I hope will be the year of The British Railway Stories, and I will do everything in my power to make it so. There's so many stories still to tell, and fresh ideas being found, recorded and developed all the time.

So, to those of you on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Blogger, and who may be writing in by email - you have my thanks and gratitude for your support.

Until next time!

"The Last Run"

2012.