This weekend I’m helping out on a friends trade stand at the greatest gathering in Derby. These rail open days and events really aren’t my thing, but having the opportunity to wander round some classic British first generation traction has been a pleasant surprise.
Back to the Future
The opportunity to wander amongst the locomotives, with some of them idling really brought back some memories of the 70’s and 80’s. Some of those were regrets too. Seeing stock like class 313’s, now gone, and realising again the missed opportunities of taking pictures which I should have done,brought home that gap that I missed.
Thirty Somethings
Tomorrow’s another day, and I’ll be fortunate enough to be there amongst friends just enjoying the craic! I’ll take a camera this time…
Here’s a thing, often in the UK there’s a lot of emphasis on being in a model railway club or society for all the benefits and experience you can gain. At the moment I’m only a member of one society, I’ve not been a conventional club member for twenty plus years. Quite a few of my close associates are the same. If I take one of my layouts to a show it’s very common to be asked what club are you from?, and I’m not sure why there’s an assumption that a layout or team is from a club.
Shelfie 1
It may be part historical that UK exhibitions traditionally have been organised by clubs, therefore if exhibiting you’re probably a club layout or personal layout with a show team made up from club members, as thats the convention. I left club membership after the last one I’d joined closed more than a few years back, but realistically the writing was on the wall before that, as I found for me there wasn’t a great deal of benefit of actually being a member. Now thats not to say that clubs are’t excellent places to learn skills, techniques and immerse yourself in the hobby, they are, especially if you’re new to the game. For me however the independent route works.
Simon George’s Heaton Lodge Junction
Independence works for a good number of my friends too, regardless of whether they are making a small layout or like Simon’s monster Heaton Lodge junction. What works for me is the freedom of not being constrained by a ‘requirement’ to build something that works in a club context, I can swap from scale to scale, era to era etc as and when I desire. Thats a good thing the way I work because it gives me the opportunity to do multiple projects, and also contribute to other external projects too.
An area where the indy route has benefits for me, is in trying new techniques. Above you can see some of the trials I did with AK Interactive acrylic gels to get the right water effect I desired for a river side scene on Shelfie 4. This went through many iterations before I settled on the finish I preferred. I think that process in a club environment would be quite tricky, particularly if spread out over several weeks or in this case with the number of trials I did, it would have been months in a club ‘once a week’ context.
Shelfie 2 ‘Guyzance’
Independence also allows me to change direction on a project, it’s all on me, time, costs and frustration. Shelfie 2 above had a significant variation in its gestation, at one stage being a southern region 3rd rail terminus, now its complete as a Northumbrian coal disposal point. Where independence really helps me is in the thought processes behind some of the design concepts I have had. This is very apparent on Shelfie 3, Lower Mill Street.
Shelfie 3 ‘Lower Mill Street’
This is one that hasn’t worked and is in the process of revision, potentially to a completely new presentation. I’ve got a provisional booking next year already so I’ll need to act on this in the foreseeable future. What has been good is pushing the display potential which I have in mind, and it’s really only the type of build you can do for yourself, there’d be too many WTF questions in a club environment! I’ve still learnt from it though, even if what I want isn’t going to work in the current context. So changes are coming and are likely to involve the concept on, and in, a different scale.
A couple of days back I wrote about Red Wharf Bay, memories of an Iain Rice plan, jogged by standing on a beach watching the tide roll in. The beach features in this post too, but of an entirely different kind. This beach is in the rolling Welsh/Shropshire borders, features a Colonel Stevens light railway and an industrial lead mine. So for me basically it might just as well be catnip.
My late father was a keen cyclist, photographer and interested in railways. He and his friends were members of the CTC Cyclists Touring Club, and often rode into Wales and the borderlands. In his book collection was Eric S Tonks book on the Snailbeach, I’ve no idea how many times I flicked through it and read it cover to cover. Way back, my first proper layout was a 009 effort, a simple loop with a GEM white metal kit of the Baldwin 4-6-0, and eggerbahn hoppers taking the place of the real Snailbeach varieties. It worked ok for a first effort, and was my first step into scenery, I just wish I’d had the mind to take some pictures of it. So this line as well as the Bishops Castle, and Shropshire and Montgomeryshire lines are all traceable back to Dads interests and book collections, he saw all three lines in varying states of dereliction, I just wish I’d spent more time asking about them..
Peco 009 Snailbeach Hopper
What’s this got to do with modelling? Ten years ago who’d have thought that in a few years time, the hobby would have had high quality, accurate ready to run 009, easily available to punters walking in off the street? Today I have in the man cave some of Peco’s recent releases into the 009 market, prototypical large hoppers for the Snailbeach line! This model sits in their Great Little Trains range of products with three versions available, Snailbeach livery, unmarked grey, and dark brown.
GR-340A Snailbeach District Railway SDR Grey
GR-340UG Snailbeach District Railway Plain Grey
Peco Snailbeach Hopper
GR-340UB Snailbeach District Railway Plain Brown
Unusually for a narrow gauge backcountry minor branch line there is a surprising amount of data available on the line and its stock.
In addition to Eric Tonks’ book there is the excellent Twelveheads Press book above, but both unfortunately now out of print. There were two hopper designs on the Snailbeach, large and small, and the version Peco have presented us with is the larger version. There were a number of different detail differences which are outlined in the drawings and images within both books, and its those I’ve used to make this appraisal of these models
Dimensionally the wagon bears up to data in both books, and represents a 1906 build wagon from Granham Moor Quarry. This quarry was originally served by the Snailbeach line before a batch of their wagons were bough by the SDR in 1920. The dimensional accuracy are close estimates, the drawings coming from known dimensions, one surviving example and close study of images.
The wagon is of plastic construction with metal straight spoked wheels, it weighs in at just over 5 grammes. The quality of the moulding is excellent with crisp detail and sharp edges across both body and chassis. The brake lever and shoes are all are all correct to match published images of these vehicles.
Peco GR-340UB Snailbeach Hopper
The wheels run smoothly and concentrically and are a press fit into chassis lugs, running on pin point axle ends. While this looked a little odd, it’s the same style as the latest Peco N gauge private owner wagons, and to date those have been no problem.
Peco GR-340UB Snailbeach Hopper
Brake gear is correctly represented on one side only, and plastic moulded standard 009 type couplers are a firm press fit into their mountings. It takes quite a firm pull to remove them so in normal use this won’t be an issue. Because of their size this does leave quite a large gap between each wagon. The vehicles did couple with each other and other manufacturer stock with complete reliability. The bodies have strapping represented in the correct places, there is however no internal detailing, except for the very bottom of the hopper representing the shutter doors.
Peco GR-340UB Snailbeach Hopper
The chassis represents one with double buffing plates, there were examples with a single buffer plate. The curved ends to the wagon and double struts underneath the hopper are extant and as above match published drawings and images. The price of the wagons currently (mid 2025), is around the £30 mark but they can be found discounted at various retailers. While that may seem expensive it is a bit of a niche product, as perhaps 009 generally may be too. There are however the original Parkside Dundas kits which are still available, those too make up well and a mix of both types could look really effective in capturing a down at heel light railway.
Peco GR-340UB Snailbeach Hopper
The livery printed on the Snailbeach wagon is sharp and opaque the model moulded the same light grey as the unliveried version. Packaging for these is excellent, with one slight drawback. The wagons are held in place on their mount by a clear plastic strap which has to be cut to release them. (this is the same with the N gauge PO wagons). You can gently stretch the strap and release the wagons sideways, but for me this isn’t ideal.
One thing that has appealed to me with the development of the various 009 ranges of late is the accuracy and ‘joined up’ thinking that manufacturers are putting into the ranges. These Snailbeach wagons are a natural partner for Bachmann’s 10-12-D Baldwin tank (below) which has been released in Snailbeach livery as well as a good few other schemes.
Bachmann 009 Baldwin
Referring to the books and the models the possible question for regular readers is will there be a 009 shelfie? The answer to that is yes, and it’s very much in the planing using both books mentioned above. There are things I want to change, couplings for example, and get a bit of a different look to 009 track using a new technique and layout structure design.
One thing I’ve not done yet apart from one passing journey is visit the area, its good gravel biking country and the line was less than six miles long. Weather looks good this week….
Why’s this a throwback? Well, standing on this beach took me back to 1991 and Iain Rice’s Light Railway Layout Designs book.
These two books, a year apart, really caught my imagination. I love the way they draw you in to each subject matter, with Iain’s unique style they immediately light a fire for me.
Over the past few years we’ve spent a lot of time in North Wales, and grown to really love the location. Light Railway Layout Designs has always had a natural appeal for me, much of it off the beaten track, (remember that one Geoff?) and that influence is almost certainly extant through Albion Yard, and the Shelfie layouts.
Standing on the beach here my mind went back to the book, we’d just dropped in here by chance en route for dolphin watching, but this was the first time I’d really placed myself into the ‘landscape’ of one of the plans. The thing that has always drawn me to this plan, and the pennies only just dropped, is it’s a system. Whilst only a small light railway it always struck me as three layouts/locations that could be joined and operated together. The system concept has always sat in the back of my mind, amongst loads of other junk!, and having seen and operated Geoff Taylor’s Cambrian system, this scratch is itching more and more.
Red Wharf Bay Branch, (Bartholomews Map)
Despite Albion Yard being full of Panniers as a rebellious yoof I always liked the LMS and in particular the LNWR. Not the plum and spilt milk mainline stock obviously, but the small branch lines, Holywell Town for example, there’s another shelfie layout screaming, make me! make me! regularly at me. So far I’ve resisted but it’s been a close run thing in the past.
Red Wharf Bay Anglesey
We watched the tide come in looking across at Red Wharf and up towards Benllech, just out of sight around the headland. With so few people there it was so engaging, one of those layout thought moments, what if?….
Recently I visited the York model railway exhibition, it’s usually a good one and one or two layouts really catch my eye. This year I was immediately taken back to early days of the blog and those Yahoo groups before forums and Facebook took off. Above is an overview of the bare Albion Yard baseboards, which had developed out of a desire to build an Iain Rice plan, ‘Cornfield Street’. As such the track plan is immediately familiar to me when I see it.
Swan Street Goods EM Gauge
Well at York I was immediately taken back to reading MORRIL, Iain’s article and plan and my attempt to get the plan working. This was because I was standing in front of Swan Street Goods (above), an EM rendition of the plan that is an almost exact replication of Iain’s concept.
Albion Yard, The Start
With best intentions I’d started the same way to replicate Iain’s plan as far as possible with Peco Code 75 track, the 3-way point that had recently been introduced being the fire starter to get the project going.
Swan Street EM
I’d kept as close as possible to the plan, but this is where using ready to lay track can be a disadvantage. Whilst I was able to replicate the plan, the ‘flow’ wasn’t there as the points whilst excellent quality have the restrictions of them being either left or right handed. I’d also used 9mm MDF for the track bed. That’s not a problem as such, it forms the track base for all my layouts so far. The issue was the thickness, and while I wanted to keep to Iain’s plan with two layers, the depth and point motor position wouldn’t allow that.
Swan Street EM
I’d also mirrored the plan, and that too had lost something in translation, I’d done that to accommodate it in its home of the time. The depth of the constructed boards and the track base thickness precluded me from having the lower level in place, so the overall impact of the original design was lost early on. This was particularly apparent in the section above, for me there was literally no clearance for the road vehicles that worked, so that went too! Ultimately I had something that wasn’t really like what it was supposed to be or I’d hoped it to be! There was one side benefit though, with this transformation I was no longer constrained by the original project concept, hence Albion Yard became a photo set, with different buildings and careful management of sightlines, I was able to disguise its origin and the fact that it had a pretty small footprint, the scenic section only being 8ft x 2ft.
Shelfie 3 WIP, Lower Mill Street
Above, is another return to try and scratch that urban itch. True to form though, it’s nothing like the original concept…..
Below is a Facebook post from the Hobby Industry Coalition, a group of North American hobby companies whom in the main supply ‘US’ outline products for their market.
The US Tariffs are recognised above, as a potential threat to the North American model railroad hobby the longer the Chinese Import tariffs remain in place.
This is from Craig Fuller CEO at Freightwaves
The beloved hobby of model railroading, a cornerstone of American culture for generations, faces an existential threat. As the toy and hobby industry grapples with potential new tariffs, small and mid-sized businesses find themselves on the brink of collapse. The proposed up to 145% tariff increase could spell doom for an entire sector, reducing it from a vibrant niche to a relic of the past.
At the heart of this crisis lies the unique economic structure of the model train industry. Unlike mass-market products, model trains operate on razor-thin margins, typically 15-20%. The industry relies heavily on pre-selling, with 95% of products sold months before arrival. This leaves no room for sudden price adjustments when shipments arrive, making the proposed tariff increase catastrophic.
The nature of model train production further compounds the problem. These are not mass-produced items but highly specialized, low-volume products. The costs of tooling and engineering are spread across small production runs, meaning there’s no economy of scale to offset the tariff’s impact. Whether a company produces 2,000 or 10,000 units, the fixed costs remain high, making any significant tariff increase devastating to the pricing structure.
Some might suggest moving production domestically, but this solution is neither economically viable nor logistically feasible. Labor and compliance costs in the U.S. are 5-10 times higher than in Asia. More critically, the specialized infrastructure required for model train production—including tooling, mold-making, and specialty die-casting—no longer exists in the United States. Decades of outsourcing have left the country without the plants, parts, or trained labor to match the precision and efficiency of Asian manufacturers.
It’s crucial to understand that these tariffs miss their intended target. Model trains and similar hobby products are not subject to dumping or unfair subsidies, nor do they pose a threat to national security. These legacy products, deeply embedded in American culture, were previously distinguished by the Section 301 exclusion process, but its removal now lumps them with mass-market imports that operate on much larger volumes and margins.
The consequences of this tariff threat are already unfolding. Inventory is frozen, orders for future seasons are being canceled, and production lines have ground to a halt. Small importers find themselves unable to clear containers or finance future shipments. Retailers are not receiving pre-ordered stock, and entire product lines are being shelved indefinitely.
If this tariff increase stands, it won’t just lead to temporary price hikes. It threatens to eradicate a uniquely American subculture, leading to permanent closures and the disappearance of generational brands that have been fixtures in the hobby for decades.
The modelrailroad industry isn’t seeking a bailout or special treatment. Rather, it’s calling for the reinstatement of the Section 301 exclusion process—a targeted tool that recognizes the economic scale, cultural significance, and trade harmlessness of this industry. Without such recognition and action, a cherished piece of American life may soon vanish, taking with it not just businesses and jobs, but a rich tradition of creativity, craftsmanship, and community.
As one industry insider poignantly stated, “If this stands, it’s not a temporary price hike—it’s the end of a uniquely American subculture.” The clock is ticking, and without intervention, the model railroad industry may indeed face its final stop.
The US RTR industry is very similar to ours, whilst we consider the brands we see on the shelves as manufacturers, for the most part they are comissioners, and no disrespect is given to them for that business practice. For us in the UK we need to go back to the 1980’s where we saw the first examples, Mainline and Airfix with Hong Kong produced models that we welcomed with open arms. The quality of their products compared to old Triang tooling releases, or even the contemporary Hornby releases of the time was significant.
Well, in parallel across the pond a similar revolution was taking place. The US hobby was familiar with high quality products from the far east, the expensive pinnacle of their RTR were Japanese and Korean brass models, which are still well regarded today. However like the UK, at street level the importing and production of mass produced models at attractive prices had a similar impact, and you’d see latest releases at knock down prices.
Simply put the Chinese factories were able to produce better, more affordable RTR models than the home industries, and production for our and North American ‘manufacturers’, moved offshore. Over the past years there have been comments to bring it home from voices who appear to have no commercial sense. And cutting to the chase can’t understand that even at UK national adult minimum wages of £12.25/hr (2025), assembly of highly detailed and intricate models will be unviable. Thats without all the backup of a factory, premises, machines for tooling and injection moulding, and paying the toolmakers and designers whose skillset would demand higher wages for their efforts.
So where does US tariffs potentially affect us? Well short term if the American market stagnates with companies holding off new production, then those slots will possible be available for the UK market manufacturers. This could mean faster deliveries of announced products, and also completely new products. Selfishly for the UK modellers this may be super news, but only if ‘we’ continue to buy new releases. Is our hobbies commercial appetite sufficient to sustain a flood of new products? Going back to the bring it home mouth breathers, whom already cry that our toy trains are too expensive, its safe to say that they aren’t going to support either an increase of new, expensive, Chinese manufactured imports, let alone more expensive UK made models flying the Union Jack.
Retailers on both sides of the pond will have their challenges too, regardless of if they’re a one man band or superstore. In the US there may be a dearth of products on the shelves, no product to sell no income, or if its doubled in price, a much smaller customer base. Here, if we aren’t going to buy this windfall of new products, then the retailers will have bulging shelves and no stock going out of the door in sufficient volume…
The above thoughts are just my own musings, there is no connection with any of my friends who work within it. The images chosen are at random, varying in scale and manufacturer, they all however are Chinese manufactured, and taken on exhibition trade stands.
One thing is for sure, the hobby isn’t going to die, but it will adapt to a new world.
Albion Yard 
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