Hello

Please note the Upstairs Downstairs shop in Sandown will close at 3pm on Christmas Eve (24th of December) and will re-open at 10am on the 5th of January. Orders placed on our website will still be dispatched as usual.

Don't forget to read our latest modelling tips located at the bottom of the newsletter.

Frances Peacock sent us some pictures of her layout. She explains: "The project was a steep learning curve for me, but great fun, and your newsletters, tips and website were a great help.  I opted for a lighter snow covering,  as so often seen in the British countryside, rather than a complete whiteout.  I also made all the vehicles from cast kits, the coal wagon has my great grandfather's name on it - he was a coal merchant 150 years ago!  Thank you for your interest." Click on the images to access more pictures.

This week in Christmas history - On the 24th of December 1965, the last remaining steam operations on the East Coast Mainline between London and Edinburgh were brought to an end.

 
Well, it's that time of year again, the season of peace, goodwill and hopefully a new loco under the Christmas tree! In this week's newsletter, we are embracing the festive spirit and decided to see if it is possible to recreate the twelve days of Christmas using models. This turned out to be not as easy as you might think, but if you are sitting comfortably with a mince pie at the ready, we shall begin.

We turned to Langley to kick us off on our seasonal search and found some drummers drumming and pipers piping but had to use a Lord Mayor on the 10th day as no one has figured out how to model a Lord in mid-air yet! Next, for the 9th day, we took a cheeky peek at Noch's ladies, but we suspect they will want some money to perform any dancing, probably best you only look at this one if you don't blush easily (and are over 18!). Maids are milking for sure on day 8 thanks once again to Langley, and Busch really nailed it on day 7 with not only swans, but a house for them all to live in too!

We continue on the 6th day with some golden geese (well white metal ones anyway) from Springside Models, five of Gaugemaster's best ring terminals (except there are 6 of them, but in our defence, we had enjoyed a few sherries by this point), some calling birds and some hens that live fairly close to France for the 4th and 3rd days. Day 2 saw some actual turtle doves and for the very first day of Christmas, a beautiful pear tree, perfect in every way (except for the partridge who seems to be missing in action), well we did say it wasn't easy!

Have a fantastic Christmas everyone.

 

• Can I run a model train from batteries?
• What scale is H0m?
• What are the differences between Hornby and Bachmann era systems?
• What is an electrical relay?
• What is a tree armature?