2005 has been a mixed year for Ride on Railways.

Due to the heavy demands of the day job, Ride on Railways was really put on the back burner during 2005. Despite this we did have a good year with two open days and a club visit to Canvey Island. I have time off work in the next couple of months so I am hoping to clear up all the back orders and develop a few projects I have been dabbling with over the years.

I have not made any details public yet as I need time to get the projects on the way so I can get a realistic release date sorted. On a bad note, 2005 saw steel prices rise by a huge amount. Unfortunately we cannot cover these rises in our margins. That said we are going to reveiw our whole range and some prices will fall.

2005 was the year of the Hercules. We sold 4 for every Trojan. With this in mind we are to introduce the industrial body on the Hercules chassis. These are to be produced in 1.5mm steel. To help with the heavy work load we commissioned a batch of 10 Hercules body from a local fabricators. WOW is the description of the finish. Although more expensive I think most people will be willing to pay the extra to avoid weld penetration and removal of the need for filler before painting.

The Hercules is to get a few improvements in the coming year but you will have to wait.

For all out 2006 news I will publish a page at the end of January.

The three prototype wagons. Due to time constraints the production batch has sat on a shelf for just under a year. Hopefully these will appear in February.

A Maxitrak Coronation. Purchased off ebay. I have restored the bodywork but I am trying to source a rubber drive belt as all the original drive gear has been removed.

2005 saw quite a few projects on our railway completed. The station area and tunnel mouth had a major overhaul along with the introduction of a signalling system. The signals above not only protect the tunnel but are also tied in with the single line token. The post signals are mounted on plugs which are simply plugged in to a socket mounted on the ground. We hope to market this system in the near future along with a track circuit system.

We also managed to finish the footbridge. Shown here on one of our two open days.

In June we spent a days filming with a film crew from Shine Studios. The final product was a 4 minute slice on the Secret Life of Suburbia series shown in November on Sky One. After initial fears of being shown as a pair of anoraks I think we came out OK. If you missed it see our video page

During the year we set up our 40m portable track in the local school on two occasions. On the second visit we set up a 10' radius curve which allowed us to go around the corner and run a further 15m.

A personal project. Our production kiddy coach sits on a standard chassis. It suffered from two major design floors.1 with a single passenger the other end tended to lift, 2. the floor is high leading to a high seat position. I set to on the computer to design a well wagon which would lower the floor to with in 10mm of the rail. By extending the chassis ends the bogies could be located under the end seats. The extended size also allowed for a central seat. The only draw back is the amount of cutting and welding.

One of the best features is to run a control lead through the chassis. This allows the train to be driven from a carriage behind so you can keep an eye on you passengers. Especially useful as most children get restless and start squirming. If anyone is interested in one of these coaches please get in touch for a quote.

October 9th Jasper arrived two weeks early. An overnight stay in hospital meant he had to wait until he was a day old before he could ride on the train. Clark and his cousin Harrison are riding in the kiddy coach.

2006 - Full details are to follow.