Live Steam 009...

This was a very pleasant surprise at the WHR Great and Small exhibition this weekend - Brian Canton was there with some of his live steam 009 engines...

These are beautiful little works of art, entirely hand made with a nice sensible speed thanks to gearing to drive on the rear axle. The piston is in the cab, the burner in the middle with fuel tank under the front, with a boiler placed above. Very clever indeed...

The saddle tank and two side tank versions were produced for Brian, retailing at around £650 each when he made them - which when you consider they took 65+ hours each to manufacture is a complete steal! The lining is done by hand as well, with a Rotring pen - and each model came in a lovely wooden box with all the tools you need.

Brian had also made this lovely little trainset carrying case - which I was very taken with!

Brian now has a young apprentice, Will, who is learning the craft and has produced an initial batch of 5 under Brian's careful eye - pictured three of his early work above. More about this soon I'm sure!