Planet Industrials: It's in my blood...

It struck me the other day that industrial locomotives have been at the heart of my hobby and interest since the beginning of my interest in trains and railways...

My earliest railway memory is of summer holidays in Bristol at my Dad's parents home in Ashton Gate, and walking across to the harbour, seeing Henbury, the big Peckett doing brake van rides as well as the ex-Port of Bristol Authority Hudswell Clarke diesel owned by Western Fuel Company, whose depot was behind the harbour side warehouses at Wapping Wharf, where M-shed is today. Mind you, I didn't know Henbury was anything other than a green saddle tank, and the diesel was 'the big yellow diesel' to me aged three!

1983, ex PBA Hudswell Clarke at Wapping Wharf, Bristol.

I was very lucky to grow up with a father who loved building model railways and had an extensive layout that developed through my childhood that he was building in a single garage. This had a round the room mainline and a long branchline that looped around under itself providing a continuous run, goods yards and a harbour for shunting. I enjoyed modifying the ready to run items, practicing weathering and repainting before I was even at college and remember one year around 1994 when I visited the Manchester Model Railway club exhibition at Christmas. I bought a Branchlines kit including the Dapol 04 shunter chassis, wheels and motor and considering this was my first etched kit put together with the most basic of tools, the fact that the chassis ran at all was a miracle, but run it did, if a little stiff.

Dapol 04 with Branchlines etched chassis kit - built circa 1994

I lost focus, not interest, during my late teens and during University but when I got back into the hobby in my early twenties I decided to try my hand at P4, and wanted to build an industrial locomotive. I had discovered the industrial lines around Stanlow, part of the old Manchester Ship Canal Railway at Ellesmere Port, and decided to build a Sentinel. Feeling that a compensated 0-6-0 was probably a stretch to far I was very pleased with the Judith Edge kit of the 0-4-0 I built around a P4 gauge Black Beetle bogie - it runs very well indeed, although has never been joined by any further items in the purest of 4mm scales.

Judith Edge Sentinel in P4, built 2010.

More recently I have modelled extensively in 009, but the lure of standard gauge and my experience of kit design led me to put together the Hibberd Planet and form Planet Industrials as a brand with my good friend Steve Fulljames (of Narrow Planet fame). That leads us up to today, and explains why I am passionate about industrial modelling, and my ideas around kit design, ease of use and forming an achievable scale result for beginners all draws on my own experiences.

Hilton Model Trains 'OO Finescale Railways' aspiration circa 1995.

Even back at 15 I was day dreaming of running my own company - Hilton Model Trains might never have taken off, but I'm very lucky to now run my own model making business, James Hilton Custom Model Railways. The 'finescale' ethos remains however... an exciting year of releases under the new brand awaits, and I can't wait to share it all with you! What got you into model railways, and how has your inspiration been fostered by experiences over the years? Let me know, it's always interesting to read comments. In the meantime, more soon...