A-HOIST THERE!

With copies of Model Rail issue 175 now on sale, I've already heard a few positive comments concerning Spencer Pollard's latest feature. SP did a cracking job of assembling, painting and weathering the Ratio loco hoist kit and it is now sitting proudly on part of my Maudetown Colliery extension. I was especially pleased with how he'd treated the bare metal working surfaces of the winching mechanism and the oily, grimy yellow finish blends in well with other items of plant and machinery at this NCB location - not least my little 0-4-0 diesel shunter Imperial.

There's still lots to do on this new baseboard, the scene here being finished off expressly for photographic purposes. However, I was particularly pleased with the textured ground cover, which was a couple of new Geoscenics products under trial - look out for a review and demo in Model Rail in the new year.