The first project

The first project I am starting is something I started 10 years ago which is a Stanier 8f.

When I started this project Hornby's 8F was still tender drive and still had the steam roller wheels and  I wanted something a bit better.
When Comet introduced the replacement chassis for the 8F they also introduced a detailing kit which included a new etched cab, tender and other bits n pieces.
As I had a spare Mainline tender from an old Jubilee I opted for the fowler version which is intended to go with a 4F, unfortunately the body of which I cannot find :-(
So what work do i have to do, well the first thing is the cab decided to detach during its time in storage but thats a small thing the biggest headache is going to be the chassis.
There is a slight twist in the main frames which i dont know if it has been dropped or built in to it when I bodged it together and the valve gear is appalling so that will have to be stripped down cleaned up and reassembled .
So all I can say is watch this space and hopefully I will end up with a reasonable model

OMWB (On my work bench)

As all modelmaking blogs have an OMWB section I thought I should have one too.
So I thought what should be the first entry into this section so I thought as i was starting afresh the first subject should be my workbench itself.
it looks a bit basic at the moment but its going to grow also the area between the bench and the wall is destined to become the fiddleyard of my railway so all I can say is watch this space.

The start of a new railway

Finally I have been able to make a start on my model railway. It is housed in the attic room of my house and has already posed a few problems.

So far I have put the basbords down one side which leaves me with a shel 12' x 2' but this will eventually spread around the room.

I must apologise for the state of my woodwork but as its going to be a permeant layout the carpentry could be a little more basic.

The bit of track I got is temporary and I wont be doing any decent track work until all the bords are down. 

As most of my stock has been in long term storage I thought I needed a bit of track as I need to do a lot of servicing.

I thought the first train to run should be a a test train from the RTC

This should be the first of many blogs and will also document the progress of my railway