The Third Rail

The Third Rail Trains, trains, trains!!! We are one of the few local shops that actually carry a lot of stock. Advice, free. Friendship, free.

I am preparing for tonight’s layout building. Finished the 8E quickly. Took some quick pictures. Lekker julle!
17/11/2025

I am preparing for tonight’s layout building. Finished the 8E quickly. Took some quick pictures.

Lekker julle!

17/11/2025

If you repeat this…… I will deny it.

8E in 16.5mm gauge. Will take pics tonight when she is done.

At the expo, a LOT of guys asked for loco bodies. Everybody prior to actually seeing the models in real life, thought SA...
12/11/2025

At the expo, a LOT of guys asked for loco bodies. Everybody prior to actually seeing the models in real life, thought SARMODEL used donor or modified bodies from other manufacturers.

Let me put this to bed. All SARMODEL models are bespoke custom designed items. They are all done from engineering drawings. Each body, chassis, diesel tank, battery box, sideframe, wheelbase, pilot and so forth is done from drawings. So intricate that even slight discrepancies between eras are modelled too.

And, the bodies are designed to work only with its dedicated chassis. I DO NOT SELL PARTS OF LOCOS!!!! Each chassis is designed to only work with its own gearboxes. You cannot buy a SARMODEL body and put a Frateschi or Athearn or whatever chassis underneath it.

The result is a model designed to exact dimensions. Also, somebody mentioned that they cannot go to 12mm now as they are too far in on 16.5mm gauge.

SARMODEL BUILDS BOTH 12mm GAUGE AND 16.5mm GAUGE MODELS. IT IS EITHER OR. I CAN SUPPLY BOTH GAUGES!!!!!!!

SARMODEL BUILDS BOTH 12mm GAUGE AND 16.5mm GAUGE MODELS. IT IS EITHER OR. I CAN SUPPLY BOTH GAUGES!!!!!!!

SARMODEL BUILDS BOTH 12mm GAUGE AND 16.5mm GAUGE MODELS. IT IS EITHER OR. I CAN SUPPLY BOTH GAUGES!!!!!!!

SARMODEL BUILDS BOTH 12mm GAUGE AND 16.5mm GAUGE MODELS. IT IS EITHER OR. I CAN SUPPLY BOTH GAUGES!!!!!!!

SARMODEL BUILDS BOTH 12mm GAUGE AND 16.5mm GAUGE MODELS. IT IS EITHER OR. I CAN SUPPLY BOTH GAUGES!!!!!!!

😂😂😂😂

Anyway, at the expo a guy taps me on the shoulder with a whole book on the 8E. You see, he was part of the DNA on that loco. He knows EVERYTHING there is to know about them. John Hampson. He gave me the book. It is in my stash. I’ve read it through a couple of times already. And he bent down and on my model pointed out what was what. His mind was blown when he saw the gutter over the rear of the hood to keep water out the electronics, was indeed on the model.

At that point I was a bit demoralised because I realised that very very very few people knew enough about the prototypes to understand the detail we put into these models. I will make a seperate post on that later. And then John walks in. And he SEES the effort. He looked the paint of that model lol.

A guy looked at the 6E1 as well and whistled through his teeth. “I have never seen a model like this”.

I have no idea how many people were there. But out of all of them, maybe six dudes noticed the detail and the effort.

And then it dawned on me…… instead of me throwing my toys and thinking that everybody else were daft idiots, is it not more productive and stimulating mentally to educate those that don’t know?

Like the pictures below of a SARMODEL Class 34GE. As delivered. No saddle filter, no battery boxes. How many of you knew about the grids in the cover before the saddle filters were fitted? Hmmmm?

😂😳

Another interesting story. Couple of weeks ago when I was in such a hurry to get things done for the expo, I left an unp...
12/11/2025

Another interesting story. Couple of weeks ago when I was in such a hurry to get things done for the expo, I left an unpainted, unprepared SARMODEL sugar wagon in the garden…..😳😳

5 weeks of rain, heat and at one point it fell into the flower bed, which is why I missed it. Gardener brings it to me yesterday morning. I am working from home as I had electricity issues at the workshop again.

It turned almost beige. And it warped as it had no primer or anything on it. I heated it up with a hairdryer, bent it straight and tried to primer it. Fish eyes everywhere. So I chucked it in the bin.

And then took it out again lol. Fitted bogies and it tracked ok. All wheels on the ground. My weathering stuff is at the workshop. I sprayed it with a tin of gray etch primer I’ve had for years. Did the wash, fading and the rust with Rustique, Parchment and Guillotine Petit Rouge chalk paint. 😳😂

4 hours later…….

Christmas presents!!!!
11/11/2025

Christmas presents!!!!

Soon, my significant other will have a full range of decals out for modellers. I will also be bringing in some more of m...
10/11/2025

Soon, my significant other will have a full range of decals out for modellers.

I will also be bringing in some more of my decal fix of choice. I know most guys want blue backing paper, and we are working on it.

I will let you know when the website is up and running. If any of you want custom decals, send a mail to [email protected] so we can have a look at it.

Decals are printed on an Uninet i-color 650 at a whopping 1200dpi.

This makes stuff a bit more expensive but you will never have a transparent decal in your life again.

I am posting pics of two decals. The Paystar decal is 2.8mm long and 0.8mm high.😳😳

The 8E manufacturing plate decal is 4.1mm long and 1.2mm high.

The SAR whiskers are done on our white paper with Microscale Micro Sol softener. You can see how it follows the contour of the marker light. I only use GSW decal fix.

Lekker julle!!!!

09/11/2025

Had no time writing a story, so I told it rather.

Those of you that were at the expo, saw the display case I had there. That thing stood here for years. I just keep chuck...
05/11/2025

Those of you that were at the expo, saw the display case I had there.

That thing stood here for years. I just keep chucking stuff into it. It was dusty and bland.

A dash of paint, fixing the lights and it has gotten a new lease on life now. Put some of my 12mm stuff in there and it looks fantastic.

Lekker julle!!!!

03/11/2025

And a plan to incorporate the expo layout into the grand scheme of things.

03/11/2025

Aijajai, what a weekend. First time ever that I actually did a layout for an exhibit. Steep learning curve. You guys that did see it, can you imagine how it would have popped if I remembered a backdrop lol?

I was so busy. Saw some old faces and a lot of new ones. I learned a couple of things as well. The power of social media. I never knew that so many people know who I am! Never knew that so many people understand what I am trying to do.

I did pick up though that there are still misunderstandings. I will address those in future posts.

The alarming thing for me as a business though, is that out of the thousands of people there, but a handful will be prepared to take the plunge and buy my stuff. I did see a couple of people that aren’t sure yet. They want what I had there, but they think they can do it cheaper.

I also had a few that preached to me that there is space for everybody in this hobby. Sure thing. You do whatever floats your boat. I am on a different boat. Here a model is right or it is not. There is no compromise. Like I said before, choose your camp.

12mm HO scale South African railway modelling will be the domain of a select few. However, I am a glass half full type of guy……. I have some youngsters in my camp that has already either pulled the trigger on my models or are saving up to do so. These dudes bring with them an energy that I feed upon.

Also made a new friend there that I know I will get along with. He is still on the fence but he is so ready to jump lol. Come on Charles, you know you want to!!!!

Today, I am going to unpack. Tomorrow I start building locos again. Thank you to everybody that visited. I got orders for a few things I need to build. I need to get 8 locos out in HO and one in 1/24 CG1 before the end of the year. That is going to take some doing.

Lekker julle!!!!

We are all set. Trains run smoothly. I am awake lol. The 6E1 was mine exactly 45 minutes from when it started the first ...
01/11/2025

We are all set. Trains run smoothly. I am awake lol.

The 6E1 was mine exactly 45 minutes from when it started the first time. It’s sold. Funny how certain models just fly. The 35GE is the other firm favourite.

We will see how the upcoming 34GE does. Pull in dudes, I am right at the door.

I am leaving now. Couple of Red Bulls and away we go. The Palm trees at the Police Station I have completely forgotten about. Will go pick them up now.

If there is one thing I never gave any thought, it was a background for the layout. As the other guys started setting up, it hit me like a hammer on the forehead. That and curtains for the legs bit.

I will post pics and videos as we go along. See you there.

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