STRANGE MAGIC

In case you’re wondering what this odd-looking contraption is, it’s based on two Ford Model Ts. Jack happened upon a Branchlines kit, which was the basis for this Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway Ford Railmotor. “Colonel Stephens was renowned for cobbling together rolling stock,” says Jack. “The Ford Railmotor combined the body of a bus with two Model Ts - one at each end.” To finish the model off, Jack fitted it with a DCC sound decoder. But all is not as it seems… “I contacted a gentleman who lived in the US for a recording of a Model T engine. But, he told me that they’re not very noisy and so suggested a 1930s fourcylinder Chevrolet engine instead,” he admits. “It sounds superb, rattling and banging. It even has the traditional Klaxon horn. My collection features various oddities because I like things that are a little bit different - maybe that says a lot about me?”