Titch

I'm pretty sure that if you'd asked my Dad which was his favourite of the Melbridge Dock locomotives, he'd have plumped for "Titch". Not really a serious loco, as far as operating the layout goes, Titch is a petrol-powered LNER shunter. Built from a Branchlines etched brass kit, because it looked interesting, I think there is definitely something attractive about this little model. Unlike the GWR version, modelled on a shed, the LNER had these nice curved ends - whitemetal lumps on the model that add valuable weight. Only powered by a single-axle drive, this isn't a powerful model, but it can haul the odd wagon around, usually out of the permanent way siding at the front of the board. It's quite handy for testing to see if electricity is reaching all the rails as the wheelbase is so short. One issue is that the unpowered axle, despite being compensated, sometimes is reluctant to rotate. If it didn't have to have pickups on it, I'm sure this would be less of a problem, but we need all…