Christopher Vine has always been fascinated by all things mechanical and electrical. In fact his first words were "Turn it on" and "Turn it off" which just about covered everything of interest. He started making things early on with his first working go-kart at the age of seven. It had a car battery and starter motor as motive power and ... Read morea morse key as the switch. The next dangerous device was a motor bike made from a tiny child's bicycle and a lawn mower engine. The drive involved a large and vital pulley from his mother's washing machine. So started a lifetime of improvisation. The only thing he wanted for his eleventh birthday was a lathe. An old one was found for GBP 20 which, although worn out did, with a lot of help, produce a Stuart Turner No. 10 steam engine. About this time he made friends with a farmer who had built a 7-1/4 " gauge railway across some fields and this sowed the seed of an ambition to build a locomotive to run on the farm railway. Later on a set of unwanted castings and drawings were acquired for a small tank engine to the 'Bridget' design. This locomotive worked well but something still larger and more detailed was desired. Some years later work started on 'Bongo', the painting of which is the subject of this book. Show Less