Saturday, 8 February 2025

It was 20 years ago today...

Well, yesterday (ahem), that I took the first under-construction photographs of what was to become 'Cumbria'. I may not have realised it at the time but this model was pivotal in my O9 modelling journey, being a step away from the heavy kit-bashing that had gone before and my first model closely following a prototype, in this case the Ravenglass steam tram 'Flower of the Forest'. My styrene techniques had been honed on a couple of experimental models in the month previously and would develop further as the months went on.


In a turn-around that I'd struggle to achieve these days, three weeks later the construction and detail work was complete and the paintshop was on speed-dial. After spending thirteen years as 'Cumbria' a partial repaint and rebranding undertaken by James Hilton saw 'Flower of the Forest' finally emerge from the works as a reminder of many journeys behind the prototype at Cleethorpes. 


As the coming months may offer up several 20th anniversaries I am considering how to best present these on the blog, especially as the recreated Fotopic site pages of the era are already hosted on the site, for example this page for the 'Cumbria' build. I expect I will highlight the milestone events such as this and maybe casually mention the others now and then... (OK, enough with the Beatles references!)

Colin

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