Coincidence?

 A couple of years ago we were walking through Holbeach, our local small town, when we saw a somewhat crude, large-scale, station for sale. It was in the window of an antique shop, and as is often the case the owner knew nothing about it.

It didn't fit with any of my plans, but it seemed worth taking a punt on, being reasonably priced.

Fast forward, and whilst on a solo househunting trip, when I was working, my wife came across an antique shop in Shropshire. In the window was a signal box.

Now call me Sherlock, but they appear to be by the same builder. So does that mean these were part of a commercial range, or is it a coincidence?

And another thing...

 A delivery that arrived just after I'd published my last blog shows the power of the model rail world as a community.

In the excellent, and free-to-download, Throwback Modeller, it was mentioned that I was looking for some replacement simplex axle-boxes for an old Saltford Models kit. 

Within a month someone 3D printed me off a full replacement set, and refused to even accept a contribution to postage. I did, though, make a contribution to a preserved railway on their behalf.

I should stress because Brian Clarke can get very touchy about this, to say the least, that these are not direct copies of his castings.

The loco was built by the late Brian Dominic. One of those people who crossed my path in many worlds: 16mm garden railways, Discworld, and canal boats, particularly the Brum Tug. 

I have other work to do on this loco, like replacing the tissue paper curtain. Then I have to decide about its future. It is something I think should be handed on to for the future.

New deliveries

 Leaving aside the three new grandchildren this year, a few parcels have been arriving  here.

Chris Rennie at Loco Remote  has extended his range of 7/8ths wagons and I couldn't resist some skips and a few underframes for other projects. They probably complete all for the wagon stock I need  for now.

Meanwhile, I finally got hold of some Tramfabriek OO9 chopper couplings. There really are excellent. I think I'll be converting all my OO9 stock to them over time - when I find it all again.

Last but by no means least, I made a snap purchase of some  7mm Eardington Station buildings from Dan Evason at Tunnel Lane Models. 

These are painted versions of the expanding MS Models range.

Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, I have a very vague idea of a 7mm micro.

All four suppliers make products and, also provide excellent service. It was a joy to use all of them.