Why blog at all? I model quite a lot, on and off. I've found out how to do things over the years and solved lot of problems. I've learned a lot from reading what other folk get up to on RM Web and other sites. Maybe what I post here will be of interest to others. I hope so. If readers find anything of use here I'll be pleased enough with that.

How did I get to here? We grew up in the 60's not far from the mighty Toton and within earshot of the approaches. Distant, spluttering class 25s could be heard frequently, and it wasn't unusual to be stopped at the level crossing in Long Eaton while a pair of green class 20s and a long train of clumping 16 tonners passed, Toton bound, up the Erewash valley line. For many years as a kid I didn't have a model railway, although I wanted one. Eventually Dad relented and I had for xmas, a long time ago, some sectional track, a Hornby Dublo 8F and a few random wagons. Happy enough for a while. One year I had a Bradford Barton book as a present, London Midland Steam in the North West. I examined every detail of the railway revealed in that book and came to the radical conclusion that my railway models didn't look much like the real thing. Attempts followed to add missing items like brake blocks to locomotives. Wagon kits were built with varying success. OO made way for EM. A Wills 4F was built, with brakes and other details, mostly from scratch and with the most basic of tools. I didn't know any better. University and work intervened. Settled in Gloucestershire and found the time to take up the hobby again. This time BR green in EM. That quickly became P4. Acquired skills and tools. Moved to Derbyshire and settled again, closer to the North Staffs than the Midland. Unsatisfactory excursion in N gauge, soon given up. Since then most of my time has been spent on P4 BR green period and industrial railways. I tried a little 7mm, enjoyed the change, did nothing much with it other than a couple of coal wagons. Recently I've taken a renewed interest in 7mm, it's a little less model making and a bit more engineering, which I enjoy.

The workbench in the photo is tucked away in the corner of an upstairs room in a laid back, flaky, unfashionable old house. A happy refuge surrounded by part of a huge collection of railway reference books, too many unstarted projects and boxes of parts and materials and a decent tool chest.

Modelling time comes and goes. Sometimes things get plenty of hours and effort and results emerge rapidly. Other times life interferes and then timescales for getting stuff done become geological.

Right now I'm working on a Dave Parkins 7mm etched brass 1/108. That'll be the subject of this blog for a while, probably with excursions along the way.