We're Coming To Shildon!

You may be forgiven for thinking that we had no intention of making appearances after that at the Shoeburyness Model Show last November. But fear not - we've just been looking for the right events (and for clear spaces in our calendars!) to book - and now we have!

We're delighted to confirm that we'll be making our official debut - with the full collection of items - at the National Railway Museum Shildon's 'Model Mania' event, taking place on August 1st and 2nd 2015. We'll be there alongside a whole host of other model trains, planes and automobiles for what looks set to be a great and interesting weekend of the world in miniature.

If you come along during the weekend, be sure to say hi - and see if you can spot one or two new pieces to the collection...

HOW TO GET THERE

We're looking for model planes, trains, automobiles and more to go on display at our MODEL MANIA event on Saturday...

Posted by Locomotion - The National Railway Museum at Shildon on Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Becoming Top Props

You may have noticed, or had it pointed out to you, that our name has now changed to "Top Props."

As many will know, the term "Sodor" is part of the "Thomas & Friends" franchise, and as such, would come under the brand's copyright when used in a way related to Thomas. Some research into the word brings up:

• Old Norse for the phrase Southern Isles
• Sodor and Man being the official name for the Anglican diocese of the Isle of Man since 1684.

To use the word and try to claim either of these as our meaning could perhaps be classed as cheap and desperate. Therefore, we have both decided that we shall play things safe and have changed to "Top Props."

We would also like to make it clear that we have attempted to change the page name on Facebook. However, Facebook does not allow this unless the page has fewer than 200 likes. Some geographical locations are offered a name-change request form, however, it seems the United Kingdom is not one of these. We shall continue to chase this up to bring all our platforms in line with one another.

Some may have picked up on the URLs being "TopPropsCO" for Facebook, Twitter and the blog. Both 'TopProp' and 'TopProps' addresses were taken on all platforms. The 'CO' in this instance does not mean 'Company' (which is usually designated by 'Co.'), but is instead an initial from each of our first name. For all intents and purposes, we are "Top Props."

We thank you for your understanding, and look forward to announcing new acquisitions and bookings throughout the year.

Harvey Face Moulds

Well, we're now into 2015 and it has already started impressively. We can announce we have now acquired a set of face moulds from the character "Harvey The Crane Engine."

Despite being of the same expression, the moulds are of slightly different stages of construction. For more information, please look at the collections page.

Happy New Year!