Friday Update: Thirty-one Ten Twenty-five…

This week has been incredibly busy and has gone in Athearn blink of an eye. Very little work, lots of trains, and introduced with this rather moody shot of Cardiff docks from the view point at Penarth on Monday night…

The start of the week saw a whistle stop visit to Mum in Penarth with my daughter - travelling by train was without trouble, and we arrived on time ready for 24 hours in and around the Welsh capital. The second photo here, taken the following day from the pier, shows the rather mixed but mild weather we experienced. This journey is very likely to become a regular fixture now Mum is fully settled in to Penarth.

Penarth station itself continues to provide an interesting muse, I’ve got some thoughts on that to share tomorrow! Single track, rationalised, mixed architecture… all parts of my favourite muse.

Wednesday saw me collecting my son (by car) from Congleton, visiting for a few days. We stopped at Helsby station to break the journey and in the autumn sunshine it was lovely to watch and listen to the semaphore signals - even seeing a MPV on the RHTT service - otherwise a series of CAF units passed through in the half an hour we spent on the platforms.

At home, another 08 (number 10) has arrived. Pictured here with number 9 (the Mainline 09) the RSS was my first with sound. This has been removed for now, but may see re-use in one of the examples I have for Modern Goods, whilst this beautiful running model will be repainted in RMS Locotec livery for Cwmbach… the 09 is destined to be 09012, which I think I’ve mentioned before… that is another story.

Yesterday saw an autumnal trip on a Woodland Wanderer, behind an unusual double headed train formed of Prince and Taliesin. We jumped in the observation ‘zoo’ car and despite the weather, it was an absolutely primal magical experience.

 

Back at Porthmadog we braved the weather and wind for half an hour taking photos before retreating to Spooners for more cake and coffee! Nice to bump into regular blog reader and previous customer, Matt, earlier in the day too, hello, if you’re reading today!

 

As I write this the big dog is pestering to go for a walk, but I’m conscious of time - as I’m due to catch the train to Chester, and on to Crewe (!) again with my son who is desperate for a ride on a Avanti 805. So a week of trains and very little commission progress - at least visible progress. Behind the scenes materials for the layout build continue to arrive and I’ve been cleaning up some 3D parts too… next week will see me back at the bench in earnest.

A brief Ribbons update - the first copies are going in the post today, as it has arrived into stock at Light Railway Stores. We’ve sold over 75% of the print run now and remaining copies are on sale - I don’t expect them to last long, so this is probably your last call, for now. I can’t wait to hear what people think!

I hope you have an enjoyable weekend wherever you are and find some time for your hobby. Until next time, more soon…

Support my work

I love writing and creating material for the blog. If you enjoy what you read and engage with I would be appreciative of any donation, large or small, to help me keep it advert and restriction free. Alternatively, feel free to buy me a coffee.