View from the fiddle yard

nevard_121108_BQ_IMG_1385, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

I'm always keen to try out new angles on my layouts, and it's after exhibiting Brewhouse Quay at Wycrail last weekend became aware of this never before tried view from one of the other fiddle yard exit points on BQ when messing about at the show with a camera. In fact unless one has a really small head it's not possible to see this, but today's little high quality cameras can get into all sorts of places- ohhh errrr.....

Note how the canopy has been cut back over the years, the most recent modifications since the local take over of local line by the BR Western Region with their even bigger locos. Well, that's my story, but in reality I should have mounted the building a tad higher! Still, this osrt of thing happened in eal life!

30587 after residing at Eastleigh for a few months in 62/63 after finishing on the Wenfordbridge line, ended shunting Brewhouse Quay sidings until the late 1960's - its short wheelbase and nimble frame being ideal for this little known brewery railway network. Shortly after this photo was taken, the engine was painted green, lined out and named 'Mashtun'.

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!

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!

Dirty Beattie

Beattie Well Tank No. 30587 trundles through the open crossing at Polbrook with a freight from Wenfordbridge to Wadebridge on a sultry summer day in 1957.

111204_polbrock_IMG_2088_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

"She smells a bit but has a heart of gold", as coined by John Cleese when introducing his slightly less than fresh wife at a drinks party on a well known Monty Python sketch.

Here though I'm writing about Kernow Model Rail Centre's recently released Beattie Well Tank. The model supplied is quite delightful in pristine shiny black, any weathering being left to the modeller. Locos in service were generally a little grubby and had an acrid smell of hot oil, steam and soot - this aroma being perfume to steam fanciers

My method is to brush on a sludge of water based black acrylic and weathering powders, then wipe most of it of. These locos were generally quite well kept, so to reflect much use of an oily rag to give a nice sheen, Humbrol Metalcote was drybrushed on here and there to give a metallic oily look. To complete the effect, three link couplings have also been added, though I have still to remove the socket under the buffer beam used for the supplied tension lock couplings. I have also added one of the supplied distinctive Southern Railway route disks that sits just in front of the chimney.

• Bigger version of the above photo HERE!

'Doris' settling in

111114_beattieWT_IMG_1919_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

With the little Beattie Well Tank now in my possession I couldn't resist popping the little beauty on to Polbrock to see whether it fits in. On that note is 'it' a 'she' or 'he'? Presuming 'she' had a name, I think that 'Doris' would suit? That being the case, 'Doris' is all rather pristine and will in due course be given a little fake patina replicating a working engine rather than looking like a finalist in the X Factor. The trick with weathering is to create the effect of a working engine, but not make it look like it's been trashed and dropped in due-to-be-changed-cat litter - it's often a fine line. Maybe 'Kev' would be a better name for mucky engine?

The 'set' is of course my latest micro Polbrock, which is far from complete, but finished enough to use it as a prop to photograph stock on. Recent work being to tidy up some of the static grass around and between the rails. During application I over-diluted the PVA glue a little too much making some of the grass fibres fall over through lack of support, over thinned glue being limp like a manager promoted beyond his or her capability. It was an easy enough job to rub the almost horizontal fibres off and re-apply with some less diluted PVA about 2 parts glue to 1 part water. Now the freshly applied fibres stand up boldly unlike limp management.

Interestingly enough the grass fibres between the rails have no effect on running performance as long as they don't stray between the loco wheels and rail surface. A disposable razor run along the rail top is a good way to remove any stray fibres followed by a good vacuum and dusting of hair spray to keeping everything in place - you don't really want the little fibres getting in to engine mechanics.

For the shot here, the camera was resting on the level crossing and the scene lit with natural window light. A large pale blue board and my rolling stock photo plinth thingamajig were then placed in the background to hide the lack of proper backscene and domestic furniture! Later in Photoshop I replaced the blue board with a de-focussed actual sky because the pale blue wall had some shadows on it. The smoke is the only other embellishment. I'm looking forward to sorting out the proper backscene which will have a fuzzy, misty Cornish inspired landscape which will negate the need to mess about with bits of board and computer editing too much.

• Bigger version of the above photo here.

Oooh Beattie, You're a Right Beauty!

Click image to enlarge

Earlier today a much awaited Beattie Well Tank commissioned by Kernow Model Rail from Dapol was handed to me by the postman. This is the main reason for my current 'micro' taking the name of Polbrock, it being built to justify this delightful purchase which rarely ventured outside Cornwall.

This isn't a review, that's been well and truly covered in the popular press and on various railway forums, so this more of a punter's appraisal, and the first thing to make an impression was just how great the packaging is, a proper foam inlaid box complete with a ribbon inside! I normally chuck the packaging, but won't be doing so in this case. The little loco is tiny indeed, after seeing close-up photographs in the various reviews for some reason I thought it a little bigger, but of course the real thing was only pint sized, it spending most of its life on the lightly laid Wadebridge to Wenford Bridge line pottering about mostly with mixed goods and china clay wagons.

Looking at the photo above which I've lit to highlight the fine detail, shows that this is really no toy with a plethora of separate mouldings all factory applied, leaving just some vacuum pipes and route disks for the owner to place should he or she so desire. In my case I'll add these along with some working screw couplings topped off with a little weathering and probably some replacement real coal.

This loco as already mentioned is a special commission by Kernow Model Rail, and from what I can gather as with Model Rail's recent Sentinel also commissioned from Dapol selling really well. I do hope though that the majority of purchasers are modellers who intend to run these locos and not funny collectors who will simply keep them in boxes under their beds away from Mother who will almost certainly disapprove of their flamboyant purchase.

• If you'd like to see a few more snaps of 30587 like the shot above, follow this link HERE.

Having a little doodle

I like doodling and thinking of ideas for small layouts, small layouts appealing to me because they can cater for all the different type of railways I like. I don't think I could ever commit to just one big project, I'd probably get bored halfway through.

Here we have a back of an envelope plan for a 3x1 foot (excluding fiddle yards) micro depicting a fictitious halt and crossing on the Wenford Bridge branch line. The forthcoming Kernow Model Rail commissioned Beattie Well Tank being the catalyst and now on order!

The rear of the layout will be about 3 inches higher than the front which will be a gnat's todger lower than the rail height, the halt being set into the cutting on the far side. High 'Cornish hedges' will add a nice and easily achieved feature. The backscene will be photographic as with Catcott, (see here) this I'll shoot myself, and prepare for the local repro/printing house (I have just penned an article for the popular press on how to do such). I will probably use a flexible 1 foot high plastic base for this which will give me the all important curved corners rather than using 'Bendy MDF' as with Brewhouse Quay. The photographic image will be treated a little in Photoshop (with 'Paint daubs' as with Catcott) to get rid of the pure photographic look, it's important that the modelling takes centre stage rather than the backscene, but it's also important with such a small layout that it feels like it is part of a much bigger landscape.

• A detailed construction of this layout starts in the May 2012 issue of Model Rail Mag - find out more here.