Guilding a Granny, aka updating the Dapol Grain Wagon

nevard_120224_grain_IMG_2695, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

We all start projects and then lose interest or simply get side-tracked with other projects; and some of you may remember back to September one of my many projects was to upgrade the Dapol 20 ton grain wagon? A good thing about running a blog is that it forces one ever so often to look back at ongoing or stagnant projects because somebody will always remind or ask you how it's going - there is no escape, which is probably a good thing!

This elderly ready-to-run offering dates back to Horny Dublo days, probably when the real railways still relied on steam for day to day power. It was later res erected by Wrenn and later Dapol who I believe still have this in their current catalogue, do correct me if I'm wrong though!

Out of the box, it's a nice moulding.

At a first glance it does look like what it's supposed to, a grain wagon with the distinctive hopper design and vertical strapping along the sides. This spontaneous purchase was the need for some grain wagons for Brewhouse Quay. I thought all I'd need to do would be repaint and weather the wagon, then after looking at Paul Bartlett's excellent wagon site found out just how wrong the model is, well below the waist anyway! People who know me, know that I don't get too worried if things aren't quite right, my ethos being more about atmosphere and capturing the character of a working railway. However it's good not to be too predictable, so thought I'd have a play to see if I can improve on the model little, and anyway a job like this makes a change from snapping layouts or wielding a Grasmastmer!

As already mentioned, lifting the skirt reveals the greatest area where improvements could be made, so back in autumn at Scaleforum I picked up some white metal brake gear castings. I won't go into too much detail because filing and cutting up bits of metal is hardly exciting, but the job mainly involved chopping off the Dapol brake gear and fitting on some of the bits. I didn't have a long enough brake handle, so offcuts of grass (brass) were used to fabricate new ones along with some steps.

The new base of the hopper was carved up from some laminated 3mm plastic card, 4 layers in total to get the depth more of less right.

The circular 'tap' handle or whatever it's called is from an industrial piping kit and not quite right, but can easily be replaced at a later stage with something better. The wagon is 4mm too short, but to graft in extra length would make this project to one stage beyond sanity, and after all I only bought this as a quickie!

Next will be to number and weather it up, they got into quite a state as Paul Bartlett's photos demonstrate, that bit I'll enjoy the most. I'll try to do this over the weekend.

Later.....

Beware the Low Emisson Zone!

Something we need to be aware of should we have to use a van, minibus, lorry or large older vehicle to take our layouts to shows within the Greater London Low Emission Zone.

This letter came via the Model Rail editorial office (name and address supplied, but removed for this post).

'Our club was invited to attend the recent Erith Model Railway Exhibition in January. It was an excellent exhibition and we enjoyed ourselves displaying and operating our 00 layout.

However, on our return we received a warning letter from Transport For London informing us that the van we had used to transport the layout was no longer compliant with the Greater London Low Emission Zone (LEZ), and that next time it entered the LEZ we would have to pay £50 per day or face a £1000 fine. Converting the vehicle, a 10+ year old VW Transporter, could cost up to £1500, a price the owner is not prepared to pay for occasional London use.

The warning therefore to all attendees at London exhibitions is make sure your transport is LEZ compliant beforehand, or alternatively factor in the £50 per day in your expenses. If you have to cross London to get to the venue, stick to the M25.

To Greater London exhibition managers, please indicate whether or not your venue is inside the LEZ when you invite organisations to your show, and whether or not you regard the £50 per day as a legitimate expense.

This will not stop us attending a London show if asked, but we would have to hire a different vehicle, probably at greater cost.'

• To find out if the above could effect you, follow this link.

Catching out the nit-pickers

nevard_120211_combwich_IMG_2594, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

I haven't had a jab at model railway enthusiasts for some time, and I know that quite a few of you, the loyal readers, enjoy my pokes at some of the odder people that make this hobby so special, so here goes and I don't even mention armchairs for a change .....

Anyone who takes their trainset out on the road will no doubt get these solitary types that hang around their pride and joy peering over their glasses just a little longer than most. They're easily spotted because they'll tend to dwell on one particular area longer than anyone else, concentrating on something or other which isn't immediately obvious. After 10 minutes or so they'll try to capture your attention, you of course know this and will almost by instinct pretend they're not there by conveniently finding a member of the audience to chat to, or simply disappear off to the fiddle yard murmering something about swapping some trains around.

Like flies to a smelly horse, they don't normally give up and will almost certainly fail to notice the layout owner's body language which says 'go away', 'bog off', or maybe something far too colourful to type here. When they do finally strike like an oversized hungry mosquito on a mission, this will always be when you briefly let the guard down as you nip around the front of the layout to re-attach the drape or deal with a tricky 3 link coupling. Damn and blast!

These are of course the nit-pickers, they're those who have probably never built anything, but purely go to shows to find to their eyes what are errors and failings, then take a great delight in correcting the builder. When they're not at shows they'll be hanging around on internet forums giving 'helpful advice' when they could be doing something more useful like hoovering the carpet or sorting out 'mother's meals on wheels' or counting the sprocket holes on a roll of 35mm film.

My most recent one was at the Guildford show, this one was standard-issue complete with gabardine raincoat and one of those shopping bag/basket things with wheels and a handle, you know the model, the one with go-slower tartan pattern to go with the matching thermos. The subject of his observation was the Simonds Beer hoarding on Combwich, and off he went with the usual nasal diatribe; "Young man, do you know where Simonds Brewery was? It wasn't in the West Country but Reading! This is completely wrong!"

Flies and mosquitoes can be swatted, but slapping a member of the public is likely to involve a night down the local nick, so one has to retaliate verbally with a well rehearsed explanation; "it's based on such an advert that greeted motorists on the A38 as they drove through Bridgwater and underneath the Edington Junction to Bridgwater branch of the old SDJR in the early 1950's". This is of course quite true and for those that have Mac Hawkins' 'Somerset & Dorset Then and Now' book, have a look at page 212 there is the proof. The nit-picker was wrong for a change and hence the reason for this post.

Simonds Brewery, whilst indeed it was in Reading, the period advert proclaimed 'Brewed in the West Country', which with today's heavy advertising regulation would be hard to justify, but I presume in 1950's Britain, things were a little more relaxed, and of course Reading is west of Heathrow which might have been enough for the brewery to get away with such a claim!

So, all you know-alls out there, not everything in this world makes complete sense, you're not an authority on everything, and not everything must be taken too literally. But most importantly, there can be a prototype for almost anything if you look hard enough - which is great for us who actually do some model making. Of course Daily Mail readers/Jeremy Whine viewers will say that I should have an information board on the layout explaining this, but it's far more fun to catch the nit-pickers out this way to their face, even if just to treasure albeit too briefly the disappointment on their faces as they wander off to irritate somebody else.

Extending Combwich

Back of an envelope sketch of possible extension

Since the last show, and whilst the layout has been set up at home I've been pondering on extending Combwich by around 4 feet.

The idea is to extend the little 15 inch board which has the level crossing, pub and crossing keeper's cottage on to around 4 feet. The little board was originally built to allow Combwich to become a long wall hugging layout from its original 'L' shape to suit the then domestic environment of 10 years ago after the layout was res-erected from 15 years storage.

Currently the fiddle yard is where the new scenic extension will be. The current angled entrance to the fiddle yard has never been ideal, this will allow access to the new fiddle yard at a better angle. I want to replace the fiddle yard with a 360 degree rotating one as with Catcott - but somewhat longer to accommodate 4 coach trains with a loco. This will speed up operation and reduce loco handling.

The existing scenics will be kept, but the backscene will be removed which is currently to the left of the crossing keeper's cottage. Thoughts for the next section are a dairy, this would be typical of such an area and maybe a works halt a little like Polbrock, but more SR in style with a concrete edged platform. Extending the current Rhyne to run along the front could give it a Bason Bridge feel with the dairy and railway next to the river Brue. 'Exit left' will be under a bridge - and will utilize the other half of the portal used for Polbrock.

The whole of Combwich as it currently is - 13'6" including staging/fiddle yard

The Grotty 1960's

D6333 rumbles through Dawlish Warren with an inspection saloon,
22 July 1966. This loco survived to be one of the last 4 in service,
 it being withdrawn in 1972 and in due course was repainted in
BR (Rail) Blue. Photo: Richard Lewis, posted here with permission.

Compared to the present day, Britain's railways were a mucky place 45 years ago, the rest of country wasn't much different then either. Whilst it's easy to mock the grotty 1960's developments, it's easy to see why people were keen to get rid of a scruffy run down past and replace it with a shiny looking space-age landscape.

The state of D6333 in this shot rather reflects the state of grottyness which was frequently the norm. It's not easy to imagine that when the photo was taken the loco was well under 10 years old. At the time, it wiould be comparable in age to a Freightliner Class 66 now. Scary.



D6313 after an initial weathering, captured here running
around its train on the author's Combwich layout.



When I started to weather mine the other day, there was some quite valid suggestion that maybe I went too far, but after looking at a few examples in Richard Lewis' wonderful archive since, I'm beginning to think that mine isn't tatty enough. However my scenario depicts the railway as it was a few years prior, so I may well tidy mine up a little and work a little of the grime off around the cabsides to give a used sheen and to reduce the overly dusty look.

Looking at Richard's photo, flaking paint appears to be a feature of the time and probably the result of cellulose paint being rubbed off with a carriage washing plant. Modern paints are alot better in this respect and anyone who remembers polishing a cellulose finished car will know just how much paint used to end up on the polishing cloth!

It's quite trendy these days to create marks on the windscreen showing where the wipers have kept the glass clean. I had a go using a little cloth to selectively remove the weathering pigment, but after further looking at Class 22 prototype photos, this feature is rarely ever seen, and whilst the engines were often in a right old state, the glazing was generally spotless and probably wiped clean daily. I would appear that I have fallen into the easy trap of modelling a model!



Weathering, stage one.....

nevard_120131_class22_IMG_2328, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

D6313 plods in to Combwich with a goods from Bridgwater, August 1964.

Nearly all the photos of this class of loco show them in a right old state, even though they were fairly new. My depiction here, shortly after its initial weathering shows faded paintwork and a liberal coating of brake block dust. This is only the first stage, weathering for me taking 2 or 3 sessions, adding and removing the effect until I'm happy with the result, though probably more removal in this case. There is much standing back and appraising what's going on, the camera being a very useful tool in the process and far better at picking faults than the naked eye.

It's not April the 1st, but...

nevard_120130_combwich_IMG_2324, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Photo: 30587 departs Combwich with the 2pm service to Stogursey.

...but in the ethos of populist journalism for the masses, today I'm not going to let historical accuracy get in the way of a good yarn!

Until 1955, a light railway served the small town of Stogursey up in the Quantocks. This railway was part of a grand scheme to link the port town of Combwich with Watchet, but sadly the railway company owned by Sir Henry Nythe of Nether Stowey ran out of money only halfway into the line's construction in 1901.

The lightly built railway, whist it never got to the GWR at Watchet, served numerous stone quarries on route and supported the local agricultural industry to a lessor degree. Passenger traffic, as with most of these railways was very light, with the sharp curves necessitating the use of short wheel base locomotives and rolling stock. The ex-GWR coach here being the last outpost of this 4 wheeled design. The Beattie Well Tank, whilst mainly known for their use on the Wenford Bridge line in Cornwall, were also used on the Stogursey line from 1952 to 1955, making this little known railway a popular destination for railway enthusiasts.

For those readers living in the real Combwich and who keep emailing wanting more information about the railway, or to those living there who think that they know where the station used to be - the above is complete twaddle of course!

For those who'd like to see a bigger version of the above photo, click HERE!

Playing Trains

nevard_120128_combwich_DSC_1272, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Looking across a typical Somerset Levels rhyne, 43216 trundles in to Combwich with an afternoon goods from Evercreech Junction. August 1959.

I enjoyed operating Combwich so much at last weekend's local show that I've set it all up in the guestroom for a week or so to simply play trains. OK, setting the layout up is nothing new, but I don't normally add the fiddle yard due to space, however the temporary repositioning of the spare bed within the room has allowed me to set up the layout in its full operational entirety at home for the first time in several years.

So now the fiddle yard is full of stock allowing me to play trains in a proper fashion just like those rare occasions when the layout is on the road. Unlike at an exhibition, the control panel is now on the front of the layout which allows me to enjoys the punters' view.

Above is not an angle I've tried before, but I think it works, hopefully capturing the feel of a summer's days looking across the North Somerset bog half a century or so ago.

Photographically, it was just taken with a 10 second exposure under the single domestic ceiling light, the single point light source not doing a bad job at replicating midday sun. The top of the hand-painted backscene finishes just above the trees on the left and the signal to the right, so a little Photoshop was used to fill in the sky above and the cover up the magnolia painted bedroom walls.

BIGGER VIEW http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6776855695/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Fresh in from Kernow

nevard_120125_class22_IMG_2312, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Yesterday morning I opened the door to the porch to find this rather well packed parcel from Kernow Model Rail Centre sitting there in the form of the much awaited Dapol Class 22 - a very useful small loco, especially for those that model railways half a century ago anywhere west of Heathrow.

I have yet to look at it properly, but was able to find a few moments to grab this snap of the compact little beast. Obviously the detail pack needs to be added along with separate panels that clip in below the body.

I may well renumber this loco, though I know that there were many variations so I could be heading straight for a huge web of nit-pickers  - even more than usual if I get that wrong with the number-obsessives. I did try collecting trains numbers once, it lasted for 1 about hour at Eastleigh station in the spring of 1981 before I got totally bored of what to me is a pointless activity - still, each to their own I guess! I have some good friends that collect loco numbers, so at least I now know that not everyone who does this is a nutter, but 30 mins at Tamworth Upper Level Station is enough to realise these good gentlemen are a rarity, but on the other hand, odd is interesting and cool - so, so what!

The Class 22, or North British Type 2 Bo-Bo were mixed traffic locos, but lack of reliability meant that they tended to find work on less important services and were frequently seen on demolition trains on closed railways, where if they failed apart from the crew becoming marooned, were unlikely to mess up any schedule resulting in irate passengers! These locos in real life were pretty unreliable and generally unloved, so they mostly appear in photos looking more than a little worse for wear frequently with tatty worn paint - a weatherer's dream to recreate! For me it's a great choice, being ideal for the sort of backwaters I enjoy making, its compact size not over-powering the the small layouts.

Whilst they only ever appeared on the SDJR after closure on demolition trains, one did briefly make an appearance at Glastonbury in 1964 on an inspection train - see this link. Something like that would make an interesting short train in miniature. Personally I can also see this loco being used on Cement Quay on the odd occasion I decide to back date the operation and of course it will fit in perfectly on Polbrock. All in all, a good buy! Well done Kernow and Dapol!

Looking back at the weekend show

nevard_120123_45xx_DSC_1208, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

As mentioned in previous blog posts, the Astolat Model Railway Circle 2012 Expo in Guildford was to be Combwich's last outing for a while pending a total re-wire to take some of the lottery as to whether the layout will perform or not. Luckily, and much to my surprise the old girl, which has now turned 30, presented very few problems other than a dickie frog polarity switch under one of the run around crossover points. On the odd occasion it played up, a little kerfingerkerpoken under the baseboard adressed the issue with most viewers probably not noticing the workaround.

Curiously, Combwich's baseboard alignment was the best it's been since the early 1980's, ever since then, despite the layout living in dry domestic atmosphere, the baseboard join which splits station area in half always leaves the most distant siding behind the goods shed with anything up to a 1mm drop at rail height when all other roads are in perfect alignment. This isn't really a problem, because it's more of less hidden from view and very few trains ever venture that far down the siding. My theory is that the environment at the Guildford show must similar to when the layout was orginally built; I always remember my parent's house being rather hot - actually it still is, and will no doubt get hotter as they get older which will be in harmony with the television getting louder!

The photo above is of the latest newcomer, in the form of an ex-GWR 45xx. I've already blogged about this loco which will in due course be renumbered, but this photo shows the sort of landscape that suits it best. The Bridgwater service provided good reason for its inclusion on Saturday, with it really looking at home trundling in and out of Combwich with a B-Set or pick-up goods. The photo was taken with north facing natural window light, its low angle highlighting many the textures in the scene and soft warm colouring that I like to get into my model making.

Update: Combwich.mov shot by Fungus McBogle at the Astolat Show last weekend: http://youtu.be/cmxLY_ZSv7Q via @youtube

• For photos of Combwich at the exhibition - click here.
• For a bigger version of the above photo - click here.

Guilty Pleasure - Dabbing with the GWR!

nevard_120121_45xx_DSC_1094, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

A Bachmann ex-GWR 45xx after an initial weathering captured pottering about on Cement Quay Old Quarry Wharf. In due course it will be renumbered with etched plates once I have finally decided on a suitable number, which will probably a loco from Taunton Shed(?). I'll be honest to knowing very little about the GWR other than it was the arch enemy of the S&DJR and Southern Railway, but their hansom locos do have a certain charm even if is potentially dabbing with the dark side.

In my imaginary world, Combwich also had a service to Bridgwater, not to connect with the S&DJR at Bridgwater North, but with the GWR. For this service ex-Great Western motive power and trains were used, most usually a Pannier Tank or a 2-6-2 tank like this one on a B-Set.

As a guilty pleasure earlier this evening I started weathering up this delightful Bachmann offering for the weekend show, and whilst it won't have the etched number plates in time, it now blends in a little better with the rest of the trains.  It's also a really steady runner, something that is always a bonus on a shunting plank.

BIGGER VIEW http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6732602539/sizes/l/in/photostream/

All up and running

nevard_120119_combwich_DSC_1024, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

43216 arrives at at Combwich with the 2.15pm service from Evercreech Junction, August 1961

This afternoon, Combwich was assembled for an up and under prior to this weekend's show in Guildford. Much to my surprise, it ran pretty well first off, apart from a slight problem with a Peco polarity switch being a tad lazy - next job will be to dismantle the layout and ship it down to the show which is just a couple of miles away. Fingers crossed it will behave itself upon reassembly. We shall see!

The layout has for the last few months been stored vertically with the boards facing each other. I thought I'd stopped the cats getting in, but one of them has obviously managed to get inside, and in trying to escape pulled some of the Silfor grass matting adrift, a little PVA sorted that out. Luckily none of the buildings were damaged by the little darlings. 

Here is a bigger version of the above photo.

Combwich - on the road again, just one more time.

nevard_101106_wycrail_IMG_8340_web, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
Wycrail, 6 November 2010. Note the cast of 'Last of the Summer Wine' in the foreground.

Combwich hits the road again on Saturday 21 January at the Astolat Model Railway Circle annual show in Guildford.

Combwich is 30 years old now, and whilst the layout has been contantly updated to give the impression of being far more youthful than it appears, the wiring dates right back to the early 1980's and is very overdue for a full replacement. For this reason, the show will most likely be the layout's last outing for the time being until that gastly job takes place.

Fingers crossed everything will hold out for this one day show, it's rather like running an old English sports car with Lucas electrics, TLC being the best tool in the bag. However, if you see a lack of activity and hear rude language from under the baseboard, that will be me cursing some failed solder joint or wire!

• More about the Astolat Show here.
• More about Combwich here.

Then and Now

8702_hurstbourne-via_50042_p, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

25 years on from this photo taken of 50042 running high across water meadows at Hurstbourne on  lovely sunny day in February 1987, we can still enjoy a similar view without having to get up from our armchairs. Googe Street View is a great tool, but it's often not possible to capture an almost identical angle.

'The and now', apart from the train, the only other significant change is that the elegant tall tree has now fallen, and I suppose could have been a casualty of the 'Great Storm of 1987' which changed much of the UK landscape literally overnight - this photo being grabbed prior to that of course.

Still comparing 'then and now', the water course looks more of less the same, albeit with less in the way of random old wooden posts. The pasture above would appear to have been nibbled, the same view now having alot more grass. This is probably just field rotation, suggesting that maybe the 1986/87 season it was used for animal grazing.

• A bigger version of the above snap here.
• The same view now.

The 50's in the 80's

8405_barford_50020_p, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

50020 powers through Barford St Martin a few miles west of Salisbury with a Waterloo bound service during a rather splendid April day in 1984.

It's incredible just how the railways have changed over just a couple of decades, for back in the 1980's the majority of long distance trains were loco-hauled. As a photography student in Salisbury during the mid-1980's, this meant that I was perfectly positioned to capture English Electric Class 50's on the Waterloo to Exeter service weather permitting.

Luckily though, it is still possible to travel behind one of these powerful locos from time to time on the main line, albeit as stuffed tigers, but they do occasionally get hired out to TOCs for use on normal service trains from time to time.

For a whole load more Class 50 photos like the above follow this link...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/sets/72157628706915311/

And if you'd like to see some Class 33's follow this link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/sets/72157628677193769/

Something for Crompton Nuts

8504_salisbury-mpd_33103_p, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Pictures say far more than words here; just a quick note to say that I've just uploaded my Class 33 shots taken between 1981 and 88 to th URL below.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/sets/72157628677193769/

All muckied up and ready to roll

nevard111228_bachmann3F_DSC_0671b_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

The new Bachmann 3F you may recall from before Christmas, has now received its final session of weathering after a renumbering to Templecombe's 43216. I tend to weather engines in stages, breaking for a day to two to appraise the effect under the layout's lighting and how it looks in relation to the layout and other stock. I like to get a uniform but not necessarily totally even look between engines and other items of rolling stock so nothing stands out too much.

After looking at several colour photographs of this particular engine on the former SDJR I noticed that the smokebox area was frequently rusty, probably due to excessive heat effecting the paint. Apart from that, they had a slightly oily sticky appearance which would have attracted soot and grime. "Imagine Christmas Pudding smeared all over the engine rather than Barry Scrapyard" I recall somebody many years ago saying down a railway club.

This is a good looking engine, especially now a bit of fake patina really highlights the fine detail. But one thing I hadn't really noticed until last night when weathering the tender frames, was the crazy positioning of  the tender brake shoes, despite reading about them but obviously not taking on board the recent excellent Model Rail review on this very subject.

If you click on the link below to bring up a bigger photo, it's very obvious that the brake shoes are flush with the tender frame sides and nowhere near the wheels. They're so far out that I'm sure sure even if it was regauged to Irish broad gauge they wouldn't be anywhere near!

• Bigger version http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6588011739/sizes/l/in/set-72157625418433737/

As yet I haven't done anything about this, but now the weathering tends to highlight the flaw even more so, in due I'll be ordering some bits from one of the plethora of men-in-shed-suppliers to address what I'm hoping will just be a matter of cutting the shoes away and replacing with some brass or white metal bits.

Anyway, above we have the usual pretty photo, today's one being of the grubby little fella complete with my usual load of old bull;

'After working the empty return trip from Bath Green Park Goods down to the sidings at Brewhouse Quay, we see Templecombe's 43216 resting before the fully loaded return trip. This trip, the last of the day was always popular with certain crews if near the end of shift (Drivers mainly!) because it left at 7.15pm which allowed for a few pints in the nearby brewery tap bar; the fireman was then given the dubious honour of driving the loco back to Bath Goods!

Merry Christmas!

nevard_111225_BQ_DSC_0545_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

When I took this photo around 0600 this morning, I quickly came to the conclusion that if a Christmas Pudding or Plum Pudding was a loco it would be a Beattie Well Tank, compact, un-athletic, well rounded, rich and oozing in character.

I hope you'll agree with me that it looks perfectly at home tootling about the sidings on Brewhouse Quay, so much so that history has been re-written, well in Nevardland anyway!

Imagine if when the delightful locomotives left Wadebridge shed for the last time in the early 1960's, that one of them at least was whisked up to Bath to operate the tight curvy brewery sidings, an ideal task for a design which spent much of its life on the windy and curvy Wenford Bridge line. The loco would not only shunt the brewery rail-network, but would also perform the occasional trip working from the brewery to Bath Green Park goods.

Merry Christmas!

Secrets of Brewhouse Quay

nevard111223_bachmann3F_DSC_0529_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Bachmann Midland 3F weathered and renumbered as Templecombe's 43216. This loco was the 3F allocated to the former Somerset & Dorset line and was withdrawn in 1962.

For photographers, this was taken on a mid-1960's Nikkor-S (Ai converted) 35mm f2.8 wide angle lens on a somewhat newer Nikon D700 digital body. 2 sec, f16, Adobe RAW/CS5 using the layout's own lighting. The only digital post production apart from basic level adjustment during the RAW conversion is the addition of fake smoke.

To find out a few secrets of Brewhouse Quay, click on the above photo to take you through to another photo, then float your cursor over the image for detail notes.

Bachmann Midland 3F

The recently released Bachmann Midland 3F arrived yesterday, and I must say that first impressions are that it's rather splendid. I'm not going to dwell on accuracy and suchlike, that I'm sure will be debated for the next 25 years on model railway forums, and anyway for the real truth there's a cracking review in December 2011 Model Rail (163) by people who really know what they're writing about - so get that back-issue of you're not already a subscriber.

Instead my two pennies worth will be a few snaps to hopefully show the little beastie from from different angles to those already seen. Just click on the images below for a BIGGER view.

Looking down (the layout is Brewhouse Quay), and it's very apparent just how good the cab detail is. The coal load is cast and actually loose, so if you want to replace it with real coal and to keep the weight a strip of lead might need to go in its place, though actually if you're happy with a full load, a layer of coal sprinkled on to PVA should work.

Side view showing the compact nature which is rather like a 4F but squashed. The compact nature of this delightful loco makes it ideal for small layouts like this which normally only receive tank locos. It runs nicely too, and the wheel back to backs didn't need any tweaking to get them to run through the code 55 handbuilt finescale track here.

Another side-view, but this time from the other side showing the gubbins on the side of the boiler. I'm no rivet counter, but what's depicted does look rather good, I'm not going to count them for you though.

Flying across the rooftops, no I haven't rebuilt Brewhouse Quay, but simply placed my stock-photo-thingy on top of the wharf to take advantage of the layout's built in lighting. The eagle-eyed will notice that the cross-member has become detached from the brake hangers at the front, easily popped back in to place - the result of me being too eager to snap the engine after taking it out of the box without checking it over first.

Next I have to pluck up courage to renumber  and weather it up!

Happy Christmas

xmascard2011_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Merry Christmas &  Happy New Year!

I hope that Father Christmas brings your the model train you want. Looking to 2012 and that all important new year's resolution; if you're an armchair modeller, you will finally build that layout. If you're a modeller, you will finish that project and start a new one!

Above all though, have fun and don't pay any attention to anything I say!

Chris

Old Sox

111216_rydes-hill_DSC_0157_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

As a model maker of mostly historical scenarios, I'm always on the look out for bits of 'olde England' to record for posterity to aid model making. Currently in Surrey, older street lighting is being updated with new low energy systems which can be controlled and monitored from a central remote point, the outcome being that power will be saved and failed lighting easily pin-pointed.

In residential areas like the above in Guildford the familiar rich orange coloured low pressure sodium lights (known by lighting aficionados as SOX) are being replaced with white flourescent lamps, and on busier roads, pink high pressure sodium lamps (SON) are rapidly taking over due to a longer life and a slightly less overpowering monochromatic effect on colours.

Sadly though it's not just a case of replacing the bulbs and control gear because many of the columns are suffering from internal corrosion and could be a danger hazard. This means that lights like the above are repidly becoming a thing of the past, with Rydes Hill in Guildford being one of the few roads left with these 1960's Stewart & Lloyd lights as I type this.

When the above Corby manufactured lights were new, they would have probably had mercury vapour lamps emitting that familiar blue-green glow which would have been replaced with the 35w sodium lamps seen here in more recent times. Whilst it's sad to see these lights go, environmentally the newer 'white' lighting in residential areas does make for a more pleasant experience, like many I've never liked that sodium glow that works past any gaps in the bedroom curtains. As the orange sodium-polluted sky gets replaced with a soft whitish-green hue in the side roads, in a funny kind of way the effect is quite retro and must be more like those night-skies of the 1950's when mercury and tungsten mostly lit the way.

• More photos of older lighting here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/sets/72157623047631965/with/6521472631/

Forums, the web, mags and green nonsense.

nevard_110731_BQ_IMG_0666_WEB800, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

Forums, the web, mags and green nonsense.

The internet came along and changed everything, with all age-groups embracing the possibilities it bought. There can be few things in western society that the internet has not infiltrated, whether it’s shopping, banking, watching tv, gaming, research or simply uploading photos of drunken parties onto social media sites.

For me, internet hobby-forums are a great way to see what other model makers are up, what’s hot and what’s not. It’s also a great social tool for like-minded nutters like me, and since re-joining this hobby a decade or so ago. I imagine that 95% of all the modellers I now know in the real world I had first contact with via the internet. 15 years ago, such was looked at as being slightly odd, possibly because in those days those ‘online’ were frequently socially challenged computer types – not always though, but mostly! Mix that up with toy trains and you really were entering Jimmy-no-Mates land, that underworld of smelly types in sheds, multi-coloured biros, bad breath, GWR green enamel under the finger nails, infrequent changes of underwear, a bath tub full of Lima boxes and overly well organised tidy notebooks.

We all know this hobby doesn’t have the best of image, but interestingly the guys doing the really great model making are sound upstanding members of society, not the odd-balls often seen trolling around shows with that fruity-aroma in tow (they’re mostly collectors I gather). The smart ones tend to keep their passion private and away from their professional lives where they could be ridiculed unless they have the character to carry it off of course!

Like many hobbyists I'm not in a local railway club, possibly because what I see in the clubroom around the corner doesn't really inspire me, so would rather spend time working on my own projects. And anyway, when it comes to toy trains, I’m a bit of a control freak and would almost certainly snap at those who don’t know which end of the tube the glue comes out of (as it ends up all over my latest wagon). Luckily several times a month I get to travel the country to see other modeller's layouts up close through a lens (and over several cups of tea), so that takes care of my yearning to see other people's fabulous modelling first hand, but without having to share glue with people who stick their fingers together.

Traditionally the printed hobby-magazine prior to the web was the only platform to share modelling with a greater audience beyond that of a club open day or exhibition. But now, the internet, or more specifically forums are changing the way that magazines used to work, in the future magazines will probably have less emphasis on breaking news to become of more of a showcase for classy layouts and modelling professionally photographed, written and presented. I might be wrong of course, but with the ability of the internet to transmit breaking news globally at an instant, manufacturers clamouring for pole position increasingly will rely on the web as the first port of call to introduce their new wares.

Some will say that the bell tolls warning the end of traditional paper media, but I think that there will always be a demand for something that doesn't need batteries. For many, large volumes of text are easier to read printed on paper than on a computer screen - though maybe that's just me? When photography was invented they said that painting was dead, when TV was invented they said that film was dead. Nonsense of course!

But I do think with all these extra ways to get our fix (or is it distraction?) less model making takes place these days because there still are only 24 hours in the day, the likes of Hornby & Bachmann know this of course, and will happily swap some of your salary for an increasing arsenal of ready-made bits and pieces to save the modeller time ultimately turning us all into collectors.

In this increasingly ‘green’ society we live in, I always find it fascinating that we have a hunger for electricity that is far greater now that it was just a decade ago. When you’ve finished reading your paper book or magazine you can recycle it into egg cartons or newspaper and a new tree can be grown. On the other hand electronic display devices are costly to make, use many toxic materials, cannot really be recycled to any real degree and require bigger and bigger power stations to produce all the electricity to manufacture and power the devices.

Rounding up on a positive note, we have more choice than ever before with electronic and printed media living side by side, with some model railway magazines unlike their other paper stable mates covering other subjects are actually increasing their sales! Of course there will always be those that favour one media form over another, so now there is something for everyone which is always a good thing. Me? I love the web for its immediacy in getting information across and being able to communicate and share the hobby with like-minded souls, but nothing will beat the proper printed page to appreciate a good model railway properly photographed, short of seeing it for real of course, but I would say that wouldn’t I?

New Sign for the Pedant & Armchair

111205_polbrock_IMG_2125_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

The Pedant & Armchair is now fully open and is complete with appropriate signage on the front. The nearby railway also has warnings to warn of its presence, but of the course the clientele would never dream of wandering onto the line because they almost certainly read government health and safety guides before going to bed. They are also unlikely to be drunk, 'mother' would never allow it.

I just need to think of a suitable name for the licensee to post above the door, thoughts?

Thanks to Troels Kirk for the inspiration.