Hello chums - welcome to my toy steam collection!
I have been fascinated by steam engines from as far back as I can remember, especially beam engines, both real working ones and the marvellouslly engineered models I recall seeing as a boy in London's Science Museum. Despite a Mamod Minor being included in my yearly list for Santa, for some reason he resolutely failed to bring one, and it wasn't until very recently that I decided to make up for lost time. Industrial landscapes and factories always fascinated me too, especially those with vast arrays of chimneys, which may be why I have a special fascination with steam workshops.
I make no apologies for not including huge amounts of background info on the models I own. There are others far more qualified to than I on that score, and I particularly recommend a visit to my chum Mosseman's site - www.freewebs.com/odilon - who, bizarrely enough, lives a mere stone's throw from me, and who I share many enjoyable evenings with in a haze of oil and meths fumes. The pleasure I derive is simply from owning a small and fascinating peice of history, many from immediately pre / post WW1 and WW2, reflecting an age of toys that is now long gone, and endlessly tinkering with a confusion of drivebands and various layouts. All my engines and models have to work for their keep and are regularly run, and given only the occasional rub over with a little linseed oil or Brasso to clean the worst of the muck off. Respraying is only done as a last resort; I like my engines to show their age, and to reflect the enjoyment that others have had from them; in some cases, for that's nigh on 100 years.
This site is really just a way of sharing my enjoyment of these little beauties, with like minded souls who can appreciate the sometimes intangible but very real enjoyment of chilling out and gazing at them for hours on end happily and eagerly beavering away.
Lastly, in a previous life, I was a member of a couple of the UK's more disreputable beat combos - for those brave enough, some of the more printable stories can be found at www.paulgraybass.co.uk
OK - let's get steamin'!
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