Nostalgia might not be what it used to be, but it still drives our modelling says CHRIS LEIGH .

August 2, 1980 – the day I saw my first High Speed Train. I can well recall that day, three months after I’d started spotting. We were on our way to Newquay for a family holiday. We didn’t have a car

In the first part of a new occasional series exploring heritage skills and crafts, Steam Railway looks at signwriting, which is both an art and a science, as MATT GREEN explains.

Grounded van bodies can still be seen across the UK. Steve Nall created a handful of vans, in varying states of dereliction, trying out different weathering techniques in the process.

Irish holiday fun

Chris Leigh ponders whether a bus on a bridge is a railway modelling cliché, or a useful scenic device to fix the location and period of the layout.