Collections: No.2 forestry narrow gauge…

Those with exceptionally long memories may trace my narrow gauge modelling on this blog back to one particular German prototype, a Schoema diesel based on one that operated at a coal mine in Germany and was later re-gauged for use on the Isle of Man…

That first kit built model, using a Worsley Works etch, plenty of scratch built details and running on a Kato tram chassis, was another example of a rabbit hole! Tethered to the renewed interest my best friend from childhood, Tim, had found in building and 009 layout (although primarily a British model) we discovered the wonderful Minitrains chassis, European prototypes and personally I began designing kits for the first time, with Steve at Narrowplanet. My first model was the O&K 40 hp and through researching this particular prototype I ended up deeply entrenched in European narrow gauge with so many inspirations… Keith Chester’s wonderful photos of the Bosnian lines were an early draw, however I found myself becoming interested in forestry models in particular probably driven by the wonderful photos and video available of the still operational forestry lines in Romania…

So from one thing to another, from a scratch built Krauss 0-6-0t on a Roco N gauge BR80 chassis through a Polish LAS on a Fleischmann chassis to early kits developed with help from Steve as well as Jon at Bowaters for the Faur L18H and the LKM V10C… there were plans for a layout in fact, my first 009 layout which never got beyond a flat baseboard. Readers may remember Bejsu Reka, It’s size was only 4’ x 2’ but it didn’t lend itself to easy storage, or have a permanent home and so was an early casualty. Whilst my interest continued to develop the model collection grew and I kept promising myself that “the next layout will be the forestry one”… I still haven’t built it.

So what is interesting is that this particular collection has evolved, continues to grow, and exists without any tangible plans to construct said forestry layout. There was obviously something about the genre that has got under my skin, I guess these models, of my hand, have a deeper sentimental value that perhaps at first glance is not apparent.

Over the years I have built and modified locomotives of different prototypes and scales, these come and go but often they are the ready to run models. What you see here though is a handful of handcrafted memories, driven by only photographic and video inspiration, yet through the rich photos of my book collection I feel as if each of these models tells a story about the prototype, and I love that about them. Will they ever see a layout built? I’d like to think so but I am not overly troubled by the thought they may never run in anger because for now, they sit, as a collection, and I enjoy them.

More soon…