Our Story
Step back in time with Chris
Chris with Bongo – Fiery Fox in the books
Chris driving Bongo across the farm in Kent
Thrilling Adventures at Full Speed
Racing Trains published in 2019.
With a new engine to complete, Grandpa and the children find out how fast trains can go.
More adventures, projects and stories from the old days!
New Activity Book published in 2018
Colouring, Crossword, Anagrams, Join the Dots, Maths, Spot the Dangers,
Brain Teasers, Terrible Train Jokes and Spot the Difference.
The Four Seasons
Written and published in 2017. In winter, it is time for a workshop project
The two books which were written and published in 2016
The boys are making Go-Karts; just like their dad
2016 – Peter’s Railway Young Engineer’s Centre opens at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway – Pickering.
It’s a great honour to have been invited to create this space at one of Britain’s biggest preserved railways. Professor Folkson, President of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers came up from London to perform the opening ceremony.
One of the demonstrations at the NYMR is “Blow up a Grown up”.
Here you can see the President of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers trying it out. A family too…
Great Train Robbery came out in 2015
2014 – The first Peter’s Railway Young Engineer’s Centre opens at the Severn Valley Railway.
The aim of the room is to tell youngsters about engineering with displays and interactive machines.
After all the hard work of building the display room, the railway offered Chris and the artist, John Wardle, the chance to play trains for the day with one of their fabulous steam locomotives.
Holiday at Lunan Bay printed in 2014.
Book 5 of the hardback series is the new book for 2013, together with an Activity Book.
2012 saw the publication of four more paperbacks.
A new project in 2011 was the writing of four paperback books.
Peter’s Railway to the Rescue came out in 2010
2009 – a tough year for Chris – Two hardback books written in the same year!
The first Peter’s Railway book came out in 2008. Only 5000 were printed and they sold out in about 3 months…
How (not) to paint a locomotive
This was Chris’s first book. It tells the story of the successes and disasters of painting Bongo – an eighth scale model of an LNER B1 steam locomotive. (Bongo is called Fiery Fox in the Peter’s Railway books). Published in 2006, it is still selling and has now been printed for the 4th time…
Bongo is finished after 8 years of hard work.
Chris is driving the engine on the little farm railway which features in the Peter’s Railway books.
(The books are not really made up at all!)
Before and after painting the locomotive, 2003/2004
Chris was overjoyed to win Gold Medal at the 2004 Model Engineer Exhibition in London.
Ivan Law, the chief judge, is presenting Chris with a cup. (It was Ivan who persuaded Chris to write the painting book.)
Go back about 50 years!
I think around 1974/5. Here is Chris showing early enthusiasm for all things “Engineering”.
The Mini bike with a mower engine (and a pulley from Mum’s washing machine – the big white disc)
A small steam plant generating electricity
Racing Go-Kart. Chris was given a box of bits (incomplete) and this was the result – endless fun! Note the distinctly home-made silencer!!
An earlier design of Go-Kart.
Sulphuric acid, hundreds of Amps and exposed gear wheels – lethal!
Even Mum had a go at driving it. Note the trailer for carrying a friend…
Chris just would not sit still to have his photograph taken – until he was given a Meccano gear wheel to play with…
Just in case you were in any doubt, Chris was clearly fascinated by engineering from a very early age!
Dad and Uncle were trying to mend the lawn mower but Chris made such a nuisance of himself (trying to help), that they put it in his playpen with the frustrated young engineer locked outside.
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