"Halloween Special: Fowler's Ghost"

Air Date:

30th October 2009

These are the stories they tell...

It is all Hallows Eve, and Stephen is telling some ghost stories to the other engines.
He tells the tale of a steam engine, scorned by its builder, left to rust, and plotting its revenge...

Happy Halloween Everybody!

Until next time...

"Ghostly Goings On..."

The British Railway Series: Episode 17 Trailer

"Fowler's Ghost"

A spectre haunts the yard...what does the mysterious engine want with Stephen?

Coming Soon to a Platform Near You!
30/10/09

The contents of these videos, including all text and photos,
(except where credited otherwise) are ©Simon Martin

2007-2010 Music composed by Kevin Macloed.

"Heljan's Latest Bird takes Flight"

I took delivery this afternoon of Heljan's latest limited edition model, Kestrel. A big shout out to Trains4U of Peterborough who took my order on two years ago when the model was announced.

The model is contained in the standard Heljan container - stylish, and protects models perfectly.



Each model comes complete with a certificate (numbered, with an information pack regarding the prototype chosen and its technical specifications in both model and real form), a spare bufferbeam, a plethora of spare bufferbeam pipes and couplings, and a set of tension lock couplings too.





Now for the model itself.

Its livery is perfectly applied. All lettering is crisp and legible. In particular the cabside Hawker Siddeley logo is stunning.



The colours seem to be spot on for prototype photographs, and the general shape and proportions of the locomotive look correct.







Separately fitted handrails and bufferbeam detail add to the exquisite detail of this model:



The motor and chassis is based around the Heljan class 47, which has ensured a smooth running and very powerful model locomotive.

There is only one minor downside for myself. This was not noticeable until it was pointed out on another forum. The moulded horns on the cab roof are disappointing in shape. However I should point out that I have seen worse representations on other (and current) models. There are no other real problems at all. Roof detail is all moulded, but captures the look of the prototype perfectly.

In short, I feel Heljan have produced a worthy succesor to their Falcon model of two years ago and produced a stunning model of a unique locomotive. This is one pleased customer who will be making a rather unique lineup of Kestrel, Deltic and Falcon at Christmas in a short video parodying Top Gear somewhat!

Roll on Lion, please Heljan!

"No.1 in the Works"

Time for an update on the GNR no.1!

To begin with, we have the Bachmann Emily Model, minus face, and with a Kitmaster stirling single tender attached. The tender came as part of a strange lot of engine plus trucks (and the Triang 3F which was paired with the tender became my J17). The Bachmann Emily needed some carving, and I am most grateful to the LNER Encyclopedia forum for some tips as to where and how to carve the body up.







The engine's body has had a few changes made. I had drilled out the cab spectacles, cut down the running plate on both sides, removed the moulded handrails and added a suitable smokebox door. The tender at this point was still in its form from when it had been built by its previous owner. There was an obvious problem with the heights between the cab and tender (see above).

Then I had an idea, mainly caused by a suggestion on the old RMweb of carving the Bachmann Emily tender up to make the GNR pattern one I wanted so much...brace yourselves...

I decided to carve up the Kitmaster tender and mix 'n' match the components from the Emily tender to make one tender which was distinctly more GNR like. This also meant I'd have a better ride height, and it also meant that I could attach the tender in the original (more efficient) arrangement.





The now cut up pieces of the kitmaster were assembled to see how they fitted to the emily tender chassis (the frame sides had by then been stuck down and moulded to fit):



A final pic of the day's modelling - I decided to add a little colour to the front end to see if I felt it would look the part:



Until next time!