Uncle Nick, as I used to fondly refer to him, was my mentor and friend. He was one of the first people at the RSME to help me steam up my very first loco. He always had time for the youngsters, encouraging us and sharing his hard earned knowledge freely when needed. Uncle Nicks loco’s were built to an astonishing standard; the meticulous detail and strict proportions keeping everything to scale made each loco something to marvel at, and they all ran beautifully. Up until COVID, Uncle Nick would still bring a loco to the RSME for a few laps and to talk to the other members. You would’ve needed to attend every meet for over a year before you saw every loco he had built. One of his loco’s ‘The Springbok’ is on page 7 of Martin Evans, ‘the Model Steam Locomotive’. I was fortunate enough to drive his 16DA on one of our club days; if precision equipment were a model loco the 16DA would be it. I will miss him very much.

Uncle Nick and me with his 16DA; the day I was fortunate enough to take it round our track.