Model Railway Journal
December 2017
Having spent many years buying and avidly digesting the Model Railway Journal - to many the spiritual ‘home’ of the finer end of finescale modelling - I was approached by Barry Norman to write an article for the magazine about how I made the Goods Office on Monk’s Gate with particular emphasis on the brickwork. It was an honour and real pleasure to write for the magazine, and also re-awakened a love of descriptive writing that I had convinced myself I wasn’t any good at since school days back in the 70s/80s! The icing on the cake, however, was Ned and his dray appearing proudly on the front cover. Bless.
July 2018
My second article to be written for MRJ appeared in issue No264. This article describes in some detail how I developed and made the tea chests, packing cases, wicker baskets, crates and other items once so common goods on the railways. The description and photos will be of great use if you fancy having a go yourself, using the products available here in my shop.
October 2018
My third MRJ acticle appeared in Issue No 266, describing the construction of the Midland barge (or Lighter to give them their proper term). Very pleased with Jerry Clifford’s editing and arrangement of photos. Further constructional notes can be found here.
February 2019
My fourth article in the Model Railway Journal is in issue No 269. It's another 'how to' article describing in some detail how I went about representing the hard landscaping elements of 'Midland in Bristol'. Again, very pleased with Barry Norman's editing and page layouts.
October 2019
Issue No 274 contains a fairly in-depth look at Midland in Bristol, with some great photography by Jerry Clifford (also the editor of this edition) and Adrian Colenutt. I’ve approached the write-up a bit differently to the usual ‘nuts and bolts’ style. Instead I’ve majored on the motivations and inspirations behind how and why Bristol came about. If you get the chance to obtain a copy and read my article I hope it strikes a chord and inspires you to achieve something you maybe didn’t think possible. Without giving too much of the game away, it all started with my break down in the spring of 2017; indeed Jerry’s editorial and at least one other article talk of the many health benefits to engaging in a creative hobby. I hope in future articles to dwell more on the methods and techniques employed - which I have to say are still being developed and honed as I go along my modeling journey. It has been - and always will be - a great source of ongoing inspiration and satisfaction to me to know I can in some way encourage you in your own modeling journey.
