OK, easy stuff first - where does one find motive power typical of the GER, or rather, specific to the 'Bunt' in RTR form? Aha! if only Hornby produced a locomotive like the J15...but alas, the Alan Gibson kits will have to be the source on which to rely. But wait! No! Come late 2014 we are promised RTR J15s in LNER and BR forms, so we are saved. Instant GER branch line!

Well, in the intervening period I have salted away five J15s to give me a blue GER, a grey GER, an early 1930s LNER version and two BR versions. Words common to the lower decks come to mind now Hornby has entered the fray, but watch out for more on these locomotives. Currently two bodies are complete and one chassis is undergoing 'prototyping' - which means that I am fussing about how to build it consistently for five locomotives. This includes the scratch building of replacements for the Gibson chassis - OK, Alan Sibley made them work, but they are not for me. They will be sprung using the CSB technique and utilize High Level gearboxes, Mashima motors and Exactoscale wheels. I have thought about this a lot, so no nagging me to change my mind please! Anyway, the 'proving' version is under way and looking good so far.

Of course, with all that space under the boiler, some fool is about to add Brassmasters working valve gear to them too. Like I said, you may have to wait for more on this subject!

The 'trade' has been busy in the mean time, providing us with the Heljan Class 15 and 16 locomotives, both typical of rural East Anglian lines. Indeed the definitive tome on the subject of all things Buntingford Branch by Peter Paye shows both classes evident in the dwindling years of the branch so those two are taken care of pretty easily. A renumbering may be on the cards once I get the hang of doing so on RTR products; not something I see as difficult given what I have read in the press/here so far.

Now, for passenger services in the contemporary period we can rely on the Lima 117 - or rather a hacked up/cut and shut modification to give us the uniquely East Anglian Class 125. I'll bring you up to date on my efforts on this one soon enough, but in the mean time Kernow Model Centre have promised us a 116 which is pretty damn close, so I am quietly hopeful...

Failing a satisfactory 125 any time soon, I have a Bachmann 105 to hand which I can 'excuse' into the picture as a replacement - in actuality these units did cover for the 125s and the one I have is the Welwyn GC destination version, so it could well have strayed!

From a locomotive-hauled perspective the passenger stock of the late 1950s can be covered very easily by the Bachmann 57' suburbans. Right now they are all cosy in their boxes, but some time soon I imagine they will be subjected to a replacement Comet chassis and Shawplan glazing to make them look a bit more contemporary with the Hornby BR Gresley and Thompson suburbans skulking in the same box for now. Thus we have passenger stock in the postwar period covered, while freight motive power is catered for by the Heljan products.

As for freight stock, a mixture of RTR Bachmann vans and minerals as well as Parkside Dundas cater admirably for this period. In the latter case the plastic bodies have been combined with etched chassis from Bill Bedford and, latterly, Justin Newitt/Rumney models. More anon on that subject also...