Friday update: Nineteen seven nineteen...

With the summer holidays about to kick off here in North Wales it's been a very busy week on commission work to try and make some headway...

Before that a few shots from playing trains in the garden last weekend. The two youngest enjoyed and co-operated playing on the tramway, coming up with whatever trains they fancied led to some colourful consists!

When they'd had enough I had a bit of a play myself with some black and white photos of the Alan Keef down on the wharf. I build my locomotives so the driver figures can be removed, and by leaving items around you can suggest 'life' such as the flask left in the cab in this case as well as the door wide open.

I also have nearly finished building a 009 layout with the pair of them. This uses Tomix tram track which gives a nice solid base and easy for young children to 're-rail' stock. The buildings re-used from my childhood layout, my Dad built the office for me when I was very young. The signalbox/ground frame I built in my teens. The small hut by the steam roller was built by my son last year.

Progress on commissions though has largely been focused upon the large scale 7/8ths Hudson Hunslets - these models are 100% designed by me - and assembling something you've designed is incredibly rewarding. The trio of 32mm gauge models (seen below) are now ready for the paintshop whilst the first of the 45mm gauge examples has it's chassis and drive assembled and tested. This shows the underside of these models and how little space there is really, although on a 45mm gauge model there is a little more space between the frames. At the back of the chassis are the on/off switch and the charger socket. In the centre the small N20 gear head motor drives the rear axle, and then the axles are linked with a chain. Next up will be to add the brake shoes and brake rigging on this example before starting on the bodywork.

The summer should see these models nearing completion but not starting much in the way of new work however there are plenty of exciting commissions lined up for the autumn and winter and into 2020 so I'm looking forward to the next 6 months work. If you'd like me to design and build you your own custom dream model, do get in touch via the website contact form, forums or Facebook. More soon...