Friday Update: Nine One Twenty-six…

Welcome to the first update of the new year, and I hope you survived the worst of the storm. 30cm they said, of the white stuff… we’ve barely had 2cm here, yet the kids are convinced it’s draconian that school is still open. Ridiculous! I meanwhile, have a few snow related chores to attend to once I’ve finished this coffee and written you today’s rambling, so I’ll try to draw this out as long as possible…  

We’ll start with the most pressing and exciting news! Compendium 4, suggested last year has been pushed over the finish line by an extended feature on Inside Out. Remember, this isn’t ’new content’ rather a best off, unplugged version of the blog itself. As such, it’s a way of me presenting my favourite content in my hand, rather than the way the internet demands I create, and I love it. I’m doing no more than 60 copies. The price for the UK is £15, overseas at cost, £20 for EU/US customers. Canadians, you need to use the main listing and it should calculate postage for you! I made the listing live last night and 1/3 are already gone, so if you’re keen to get a copy then I wouldn’t hang around. The image is a link to the listing on Light Railway Stores. Once all 60 are sold, I’ll press go on the production…

What then, of Ribbons? For a second issue to happen I need content, so get in touch if you’d like to contribute, as I’d like to see what happened if we manage a second issue…

It has been a slow start really, in the workshop. Very cold, and jobs to do after the previous snow, repairs and such, but I have focused on the 16mm projects that remain unfinished from last year. Visible progress on the Hudson GoGo and more 3D parts for my Ruston 30DL. The ‘last’ job of 2025 is to finish painting the NGG16, which will become a focus again next week, all being well.

Talking of 009, you’ll have seen the ‘blue’ Talyllyn on Monday. The decals for the name are to my own design. Another supplier offers these, designed for 16mm and so beautifully detailed, however in 009 he still wanted north of £20 despite the fact that detail wouldn’t render in the smaller size - so I designed my own, 3 colours (yellow shaded red and black) and ordered enough to fill the width of the custom decal sheet so I’ve got some spares - these are now for sale (£10 including postage) from Light Railway Stores. Click on the picture to go to the shop.

I shared the arrival, before Christmas, of a bargain Alco RS1. This old Atlas yellow box model has a very sweet Kato Japan drive, and in evenings this week I’ve finally managed to squeeze in an old Soundtraxx (Bachmann Sound Value) Alco S2 decoder. This is much chunkier than typical installs, so thinner wiring and a few judicious cuts have managed to create enough room at the end of the long hood, to the side of the motor. Speaker is squeezed the other end over the truck, and lighting is now via micro LEDs. She works, but I need to tune the decoder settings a touch I think, but now I’m wondering ‘what next’. Reassemble and move on or further refine and restore!? We shall see… 

Also on the bench is another of the 08 conversions. This one will be 09001, as seen in Hereford in the late 1980s. As such I’ve removed the front equipment cabinet, as I did with the RMS Locotec version last year, and made good with styrene. You’ll also notice the cab windows have had the wooden frames removed too… I’ve got some handrails to add, and then I can re-prime and move through the paint shop. In other news, another 3 08s are on their way - one for the permanent collection once repainted (more on that another time) and a pair for a Garrett project for a customer, which will leave me with two bodies - thinking I’ll repaint these in BR blue and sell them but they might give me options to swap around models here? You’d be right if you thought I have a gronk habit!

I’ll close with a note about thoughts and ideas for the year ahead. I recognise the blog is very much my comfort zone, I love writing and sharing and it’s immediate - I’ve developed this into printed forms, for the tactile unplugged benefits and enjoy choreographing and creating that content too… you’re here, I guess because that appeals - I’m pondering what this looks like in 2026! Beyond, I’m also thinking once more about workshops, weekend retreats and potentially some sort of gathering of readers - we shall see… the coffee has been finished, the snow has started to melt so I must clear it off the shed roof before that is further damaged - so I’ll sign off here - thanks for your continued support, until next time more soon…

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