LNER steam railcar? I think so! Would say "oh my poor wallet" but it's a complete train for less than the price of most new locos, so... Remind me again why the Heljan takeover was a bad idea? youtu.be/9g7AgI5eSag?...

Really striking that multiple retailers have worked together to put this message out. The Heljan news has clearly got them very worried about disintermediation. Understandably.

Big news that Accurascale have acquired Heljan! Probably makes a lot of sense - the Heljan brand was pretty tarnished after their iffy 45 and bobbins 47s. Now being sold off at 100 quid a pop (tempting though?). The next wave of 86s have been re-priced sensibly too (definitely tempting!). #BSMRGUK

Now the 222s are confirmed for two more operators, I wonder if they're a strong contender for an RTR model. Plenty of livery options, and suitable for modellers spanning several decades... #BSMRGUK

Seems there's another wave of X-odus going on. If you're here from #TMRGUK, you're very welcome! I put a little starter pack together for people to follow - enjoy, and @ me if you'd like to be added. As with any community, it will thrive if we all chip in. #BSMRGUK

Ooh - will Dapol be adding this to the liveries available on their 323s? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

It's a big day for modellers - Era 12 is here! Dilemma for modern image modellers is now whether to take the plunge as models start to emerge, or stick at Era 11 and protect your wallet... #TMRGUK #BSMRGUK

Dunno if anyone would be interested in a bit of an oddity, but I recently acquired some original promotional material for Thameslink and the class 700s - now on eBay: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15751691...

I like Rails, the customer service is excellent... but this is just gouging, sorry. I expressed interest in EMR 180s to Revolution, who opted not to make them. Their regular 180s are £350 to pre-order; Rails's EMR 180s are a full HUNDRED POUNDS more. railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/e...

It's 2025. Why the hell is Network Rail putting 480p standard definition videos on the Internet?? youtu.be/KGU1y47nT1Q?...

New Accurascale loco needs to be a 43, surely? So many people making 47s, but nobody's snatched Hornby's lunch out of their hands on the HSTs? Baffled me for ages. Mk3 coaches will surely follow if they do it. youtu.be/sqvRoY6ACMo?...

New Accurascale loco needs to be a 43, surely? So many people making 47s, but nobody's snatched Hornby's lunch out of their hands on the HSTs? Baffled me for ages. Mk3 coaches will surely follow if they do it. youtu.be/sqvRoY6ACMo?...

I love Thunderbirds and this looks really cool, but... how do you know how big to make a scale model of something that never existed in real life?? Particularly when the original shows weren't super-consistent about scale / relative sizes...

More EMUs! Lovely to see, but the choices from most manufacturers do seem a bit... un-obvious (Electrostars aside). I'm all in favour of it though - this hobby isn't dying, it's reaching a crescendo in terms of the range and quality of models available.

Deliberately left myself with a slightly long wait at Sandy, and it turned out to be gorgeous autumn sunlight.

A good tip is a good tip. #tmrguk #BSMRGUK

Decision made: this layout is set in autumn. (Red dots are where catenary masts will go.) #BSMRGUK #TMRGUK

GETS done for another year. Good trade stalls (though surprised not to see Rails!), maybe lacking any wow-factor layouts. Plenty of good ones, of course.

Pre-GETS breakfast. (Tesco café, Fenny Stratford, if you ever want a food alternative near the show.)

Currently on the last northbound train of the day at the NYMR gala, with literally about two other people. Baffles me why after-dark running isn't more popular - it's so atmospheric! (I know the SVR do it - sampled it last year and it was great.)

One of many interesting details in this is the image of the A4 at Alexandra Palace - remarkable to think of such a big engine being run up that tiny branch line!

My (late) summer holiday starts with a pint at Paddington! Will be sampling the Pullman dining experience once I get underway...

So - Greatest Gathering yesterday! I'm not going to spam your timeline with loads of pics - let's be honest, we'll all have taken more or less the same photos, right? But here's a few quick personal highlights for me.

If anyone can identify this individual who today at 1501 helped himself to an N Gauge Graham Farish DCC Sound Fitted Strathclyde Class 108 DMU at the Greatest Gathering event please let us know.

This is where I was going! I bet you couldn't guess!

I'm off on an adventure! But where to? It's such a mystery! You'll never guess!

Got an invoice from Revolution for the second half of the money for their WIA car carrier wagons. Hadn't heard a dickie-bird from them about the project for ages - hopefully they'll turn up soon. Shame my 175's not here yet. The TfL livery was still current back when I ordered it...

Oof, I see Accurascale have had a right bitch about Sam's Trains - that's quite a level of contempt on show, to make a remark like that. Suspect unfortunately it's the mask slipping - lots of 'serious' modelling people seem to be snotty about Sam [contd] www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp_C...

I know it's a bit pot luck buying stuff off ebay, but I've never had coaches with such filthy roofs before. Needed a bit of elbow grease, not just a quick wipe! #BSMRGUK #BMRGUK

So many class 66 models to choose from, yet nobody's swooped in and pinched Hornby's lunch with a newly tooled class 43 power car. Got to happen soon, surely? #BSMRGUK

#BSMRGUK #BMRGUK

Love the intro sequence on this video! Interesting layout build too. youtu.be/tr80hsOHkrg?...

GNER Metro! Looks quite smart actually, doesn't it?

I've got some coaches and other bits and bobs on eBay at the moment. Check them out if you're in the market for some OO gauge Lima blood & custard Mk1s, a Hornby (Railroad) BR green class 110, or an odd little collectable from EMR... www.ebay.co.uk/sch/1/i.html... #BSMRGUK

Don't want to just post the one negative message about the Ally Pally event - there was lots there and I'm glad I went!

Just arrived at this. First impressions, unfortunately, are that the stewarding is really poor.

Hello to anyone new here because of the latest Twitter outage. If you're looking for model railways, here's your starter pack :)

A few snapshots of Abecedary Junction for #ModelTrainShow2025. One day I'll do some properly edited videos, when it's more detailed up; but for this year, a few quick one-shot postcards from my little layout...

Fireworks on a model railway layout - that is quite brilliant.

Well, very interesting. Accurascale turning to EMUs, and Electrostars no less, feels like a bit of a milestone in modern image modelling. I really hope it's a success for them - the industry will get very wary of modern image stuff if it isn't. #BSMRGUK

Ah, very nice. Three years in the making.

My Accurascale 31 has arrived! Three years, to the month, since I ordered it. Still, glad to have it, and looking forward to getting it on the layout later.

Quite like this view down the platforms...

Looking forward to this.

Are these re-dos of the old Matchbox toys from the 90s? Used to have the full set, sold them when I was a student. Probably won't re-acquire, but the thought crosses the mind...

Are these re-dos of the old Matchbox toys from the 90s? Used to have the full set, sold them when I was a student. Probably won't re-acquire, but the thought crosses the mind...

Little running session on my little layout. Er, catenary to follow at a later date, but the 87's a lovely model.

"You will be visited by three spirits." The three spirits:

(Of course, it helps to quote the relevant post and not another random one from your timeline, as I managed to do earlier...) I particularly voted for some of the obvious large families of DMUs and EMUs that are still missing in RTR.

If 56% of people tell YouGov they think spiders are insects, it does not make spiders insects.