No1 Squirrel. This is a Merlin kit of a Barclay 0-4-0 petrol shunter. It was our first loco and was built at the Marks Tey works in Essex back in 1982. The name came from the way the loco scurried back and forth with its belt drive transmission from a Como motor/gearbox unit.

No2 Toby. I had this Lima O gauge Fowler 4F loco that I'd bought at a jumble sale, and wanted to get something running quickly as Squirrel's transmission was proving a problem on our new railway near Swindon. A simple tram body built from plywood and scraps in the bits box seemed a good answer, and I had a Wisbech & Upwell tram on my 4mm layout to use as reference so off I went. At the time the Ringo Starr narrated Thomas the Tank was on TV, so that kids associated the result with the Rev Awdrey's creation and Toby the Tram it was. The Lima chassis has worked fine for over 20 years, but the plastic elements of the drive train are wearing out and a new chassis will be essential.

No 3 Liddington Clump. A sustained period of overtime saw the bank balance improving in the mid 1980s, so a live steam engine became a reality. I was working in Doncaster on and off, so a Roundhouse Lady Anne 0-4-0T meths fired pot boiler was ordered. Maroon was the chosen colour for the steam fleet (we had grand ideas) and No3 was brought home to Swindon. Originally named Lady Sylvia, a change was deemed prudent when I re-married, and inspiration was initially around the ancient sites on the Ridgeway. The pre-historic workings at Liddington are visible from the bedroom window as I write this, and Liddington Fort (or Castle) was considered, but at the other end of the hill is the big clump of ancient trees that make a welcome landmark when returning home along the M4 from the East. Once I see the clump I know I'm about 8 minutes from the front door, so Liddington Clump was the chosen name.

No4 Clochemerle. A Roundhouse Fowler 0-6-2 gas fired loco. The name is taken from Gabriel Chevallier's novel about the Beaujolais town and its pissoir. I had intended to use that name for a more continental loco that would have been No5, and had agreed with a good pal and fellow steam enthusiast that we should honour Chevallier's fictional town on an LTR loco. At the time No4 has been running nameless for about 3 years albeit that I hame a set of Barbury Castle (after another Ridgeway site) nameplates ready pending me fitting running plates to the loco. When my pal died suddenly in 1996 I decided to name No4 Clochemerle instead (and never did fit the running plates, although I did fit a cowcatcher in 2003).

Why the Lydiard Tregoze Railway? Well I got into garden railways whilst living near the Essex/Suffolk border, and started to call my garden line the Border Counties, partially also in honour of Jack Wheldon's line that had provided much inspiration. When I moved to Swindon (ironically not far from Mr Wheldon) I saw on the deeds of the house that we were in the parish of Lydiard Tregoze. A name like that deserves a railway, so we gave it one. Since then the line has moved to Chiseldon and to it's current home, but we kept the LTR name.

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