The Steam Workshop

The Steam Workshop was formed in 2013 by Simon, or should I say,..... me,.... who having spent the previous 10 years building his Chiropractic clinic businesses in the Chester area was keen to start a new business centered around his lifelong hobby and passion for model engineering and steam. Together with my friend John, (who at that time was working as a tool-maker pattern -maker), we bought a tired 3" scale Plastow Burrell traction engine. The intention was to re-build the model as a fun project and then to sell it on at a profit to see if a workshop business centered around model engineering could be made viable. John was also re-building a 5" gauge BR Britannia for a friend at the same time, and so those two re-builds (SW Rebuilds number 1 & 2) really set the foundations for what the company has since grown into. I've been playing trains from an early age. My grandad, Geoff Nicholson was well known in model engineering and steam circles, and familiar to many for his annual appointment at the Midlands ME exhibition where he would demonstrate 'dome bashing' and sheet metal work to the visitors in the workshop corner. Geoff was a lifelong and prolific model engineer, and I spent a lot of time both in his workshop and putting thousands of miles on his locos while he drank tea and chatted to everyone!