Postman Penguin

nevard_101027_combwich_peng_IMG_8239_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Here's Postman Penguin snapped at Ankle Bend Crossing near Combwich Station!

My wife collects miniature penguins, with this one from Murano Glass being one of the cutest and smallest of all at a mere 20mm tall. This little fellow was found on Ebay and is one of around a 100 in her collection of these beaky, slippery, black & white creatures! I'm really tempted to do some more silly shots with a few more of these penguinesque fellas because they're far more fun than badly moulded and painted white metal figures that look like they've escaped from Quatermass or Doctor Who.

Perspective Dilemma

nevard_101027_combwich_4mt_IMG_8245_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Bath shed's Class 4 Ivatt 2-6-0 has just arrived at Combwich with the mid morning working from Templecombe formed of a brace of LMS subs and an LNER Pigeon Brake Van. Note the trucks on the narrow gauge 2ft 3inch gauge wharf tramway. For a bigger version of the above snap CLICK HERE .

It's all the rage these days to photograph model railways from a worm's eye view in an attempt to make them look more 'real', occasionally though, it's nice to get up a little higher to show off more of the layout. But, photographically if too elevated the backscene can start to take on an odd perspective spoiling any realism, so it's probably not the best approach if you're trying to pass off your pride and joy for the real thing. A similar problem occurs with low relief buildings if not perpendicular with the camera, with my pet hate being half low-relief houses which look very odd when the ends are not hidden by a tree or some other tall structure to hide that fact that the rear of the roof is missing.

The low relief end-on warehouses seen top right in the snap above very much highlight this problem, with them looking rather odd from most angles unless viewed head on. In hindsight I'd have been better off with a bank of trees, but it wouldn't have given that mildly industrial look I was after at the time and only having 1/2 an inch depth to play with.

• Find out more about Combwich 
• Visit Chivers Finelines 
• Just over a week to Wycrail

Drunken Railway Cat and other things....

nevard_101026_combwich_jinty_IMG_8230_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

47276 arrives at Combwich with a Sunday engineering train. See a bigger version of this photo HERE!

I must apologise for maybe getting a bit tardy with all these Combwich snaps, it's just that I haven't had the layout set up in the house for years! Here's another grab under the available room lighting, this time of the little 'Bagnall' arriving at Combwich with a Sunday engineering train formed of a rake of repainted Heljan Dogfish and a LNER Dia 120 4W BY Pigeon Brake Van built from a Chivers Finelines kit. Whether they ever acted as a brake on such a train I have no idea, but it was on the layout at the time and I quickly snapped and processed this shot just before going to bed last night.

The cat on the ganger's hut was bought at Pendon many years ago and looks rather more like a fox that had a spell with the local chimney sweep, or at least inbibed in too much local cider judging by the angle. The SR concrete hut could be treated better now, I'm much better and doing concrete (you'll have to wait for my feature on the printed page) these days. This angle shows off the refresh with the Noch Gras Master, a fabulous tool that allows one to place hairy grass on almost any existing surface in a matter of seconds.

• Combwich
• Visit Chivers Finelines
• Just over a week to Wycrail

A Balmy Day in '62

nevard_101025_combwich_8f_IMG_8217_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Bath Green Park's 48660 is captured shunting the sidings at Combwich in September 1962. Black 5 No. 45440 can also been seen on shed - quite what it was doing here is uknown, but it's though to have hauled a 'special' working to do with the nuclear power programme at nearby Hinkley Point. See a bigger version of the photo here!

Of course the above is just aload of old rubbish - all just a bit of fun.

Like with previous shots of Combwich being tidied up for Wycrail on the 6th Nov (and also Railex in May '11) this one was taken under the single 60w domestic bulb in the ceiling with a long exposure. 5 identical images focussed on key spots were combined using software to increase the depth of field. The sky; the lower section is the the actual rather badly painted backscene, the area above a little wash with Photoshop to hide the walls and windows the layout is currently residing in.

• Combwich
• Wycrail
• Railex

Photo of the Day

nevard_101024_combwich_jinty_IMG_8191_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Bull: Gently simmering away, Radstock's '*Bagnall' No. 47276 is captured resting between shunting moves at Combwich on 2 October 1965.

Reality: simply taken with daylight coming through the window, the only messing about is the bit of fake clag. Combwich is currently set up in preparation for Wycrail on Sat 6 November. Work on the layout today involved a few tweaks to point blades and a little refresh of the scenery using a Noch Grasmaster.

*A 'Bagnall' (what S&D men called a Jinty) is just a renumbered and weathered Bachmann.

Countdown to Wycrail (aka pulling my thumb out)

nevard_101022_combwich_4f_IMG_8152_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Baloney caption: Under a stunning clear blue summer sky, a nicely buffed up 44417 poses next to the photographer's Morris Traveller at Combwich Station in July 1962.


I woke up at 04:00 this morning in a restless state realising that Wycrail is only 2 weeks away; "so what", you say "you finished this layout years ago so there's nothing to worry about". All quite true, but the problem is that Combwich hasn't been run since 2004 at the Farnham Model Railway Exhibition. Model railways, like old cars don't like to be forgotten and ignored because they break down or at least refuse to work properly. What's more, Combwich is 30 this year, so whilst not a classic is at least an old heap with all the associated problems apart from rust.

With permission from the domestic authorities I've taken over the extension and set the layout up in there. The cats are rather amused by the goings on especially seeing it's where they normally hang out at bed time.

One of the first jobs was to set up the layout on Cement Quay's trestles, these are a little higher than Combwich's old ones which are now firewood. That bit worked out OK, but does mean I'll need to sort out a longer drape to mask the trestles (I'll pinch Cement Quay's and add another section). Next job was to power it all up, this bit took me by surprise in that everything works - amazing really since it has spent 5 of the last 6 years in a slightly damp garage. The last 9 months however has been in a warm house.

The backscene and fascia was a little scuffed, so a slap of paint has sorted out that, matching the blue sky was a little tricky but feathering the new paint hopefully has worked to blend it in.  Then the lighting rig was erected and the big nameboard displaying 'Combwich' in finest Gill Sans fixed with the aid of a hot glue gun.

That's pretty well it, so the above snap was taken at tea time under a single 60 watt bulb in the ceiling which gives a good representation of midday sun with it being to overhead. In case anyone thinks we have nice blue walls then of course that it not the case, that bit is just a bit of cgi....

• More about WYCRAIL 
• More about Combwich

Return of The Titfield Thunderbolt!

nevard_090503_catcott_1451_IMG_4625c_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

It's a little known fact that 1451 and its GWR autocoach made a trip along the old S&D between Highbridge and Evercreech one Tuesday in 1964. Here the little ensemble is captured by Hungarian photographer Draven Rehpotsirhc after a chase from Evercreech Junction. Some say it was run to shoot footage for the failed cinema release 'Return of The Titfield Thunderbolt'.

Of course, this is just a load of old tosh and a chance to wind up the purists;-)

• More info on this little station can be found here.
• Find out about the original Titfield Thunderbolt.

"Chim chiminey Chim chiminey Chim chim cher-oo!"

nevard_101015_cornish_pump_IMG_8141_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

With the near completion of the long-winded cornish pump for Mendip Colliery, last night a chimney was built up from plastic sheet and earlier today a little paint splashed onto it. Read more about it in Model Rail Magazine in due course.

Cornish Pump Engine: Update 11 Oct 2010

nevard_101006_cornish-pump_IMG_8079_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Cornish Pump Engine: Update 11 Oct 2010.

Today's work included making up the beam from plastic sheet, wooden shutters and additional paintwork. Ignore the gap around the base, that will be filled when the structure is set into the ground. There is still quite a bit of detail to be added to the area below the beam. I'll post a snap in due course.

Voie Libre No. 62

It's always a joy when from across the Channel the French railway modelling mag VOIE LIBRE pops through the letter box.

Talented editor-in-chief François Fontana has the uncanny knack of tracking down, photographing and reporting on some of the finest narrow gauge modelling from around the globe and then presenting it in a most wonderfully stylish package.

The inpirational content makes me realise just how far behind many of us Brits are with this all encompassing hobby when it comes to scenics, presentation, imagination, ingenuity and above all having fun.

And now the contents of No.62.......

Layout Features
The marvellous island of Thomas Schmid
The sawmill of Michel Lecoursonais

Show Reports
RailExpo 2010

Layout Idea
Beet network in Picardy (00e)

Rolling Stock
The engines Resisted (0 16,5)
30 T the Meuse Victor' S Scale Models

Report
Weekend in Ardèche Miniatures

Project
To build a network for your trams, continuation (H09)

History
Trams of Jorat (continuation)
What is nine?

Book Review
Van Decauville Tarn and the Garonne (1/43,5)
Rolling stock of the TW of Jorat (1/87, 1/43,5)

• Visit VOIE LIBRE online and to download your ENGLISH translation!

Disheveled Looking Cornish Pump

Disheveled looking Cornish Pump, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Mendip Colliery - Cornish Pump: after the result of basic painting, windows, beam etc still to add along with local colouring. This will form part of Mendip Collery 3 (working title) in Model Rail Mag in due course....

Model Rail 149

Those top chaps over at Bauer Towers have been rather busy again, for Model Rail 149 is just hitting the shelves with 3 really classy railway layouts, quality reviews, a DVD(!) and of course more leading 'how doos' to take some of the mystery out of the hobby. Oh yes, and a few snaps by me..

• News: First pictures of the first engineering prototype of the MR/Dapol Sentinel. Still lots of small detail and rivets to add.
• CAD outline of Olivia's Class 76
• Reviews: Hornby 28xx and Hawksworth coaches, Bachmann Class 03, Farish Mk1 coaches, Scenecraft depot structures, Bachmann Blue Class 105, Hornby watercart 'Arthur'
• East Dean - Hillingdon O gauge layout
• Static grass
• Run it like a real railway - Goods yards
• Diesel detailing
• Hellingly Hospital Railway - OO layout by Phil Parker
• Supertest - weathering products
• 5 ways to weather without an airbrush
• George Dent tweaks a Class 14
• Hendre Lane.
• 28xxs at work
• Not a'N'other DCC feature!
• Masterplan: Craven Arms
• Darren builds a JLTRT Class 20
• Plus all the regulars including Model Mail, Q&A and Backscene.

---

Links

• George Dent's BLOG
• Phil Parker's BLOG
• Model Rail Mag FACEBOOK
• Model Rail Mag TWITTER

See Combwich at Wycrail Saturday 6 Nov 2010

Templecombe's Midland 4F No. 44417 is captured running around the 1.15pm service from Evercreech Junction at Combwich. Notice the disused narrow gauge tramway embedded into the quay.

nevard_100307_combwich_IMG_6437_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

*Updated, Sat 2 Oct*

All aboard the 2.15pm Service from Bleakhouse Road to Combwich! A unique Somerset and Dorset train service will operate at this years Wycrail exhibition on Saturday 6th November.

The 37th annual model railway exhibition organised by the High Wycombe and District Model Railway Society, on Saturday 6th November is being held at:

John Hampden Grammar School
Marlow Hill
High Wycombe
Bucks HP11 1SZ

Open 10am till 5pm

This year will see two well known Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway layouts come together under the same roof for the very first time! After several years of eager anticipation and discussion, the High Wycombe and District Model Railway Society have created a rare opportunity for this overdue pairing of layouts to at last become reality - but only for one day! On the day, the highlight will be the anticipated passing of passenger and goods trains between Bleakhouse Road - Tim Maddocks' (CK) fine portrayal of the Somerset Levels and Combwich - Chris Nevard's exhibition shy, but web famous, layout based on the banks of the River Parrett.

Over 20 high quality and inspirational model railway layouts will be attending, of both British and continental outline and in a wide range of scales and gauges including N, 3mm, 00, H0, EM, P4, 0 and narrow gauges.

As well as the aforementioned, layouts exhibiting are: :

Oxendale Junction,
Stony Lane Depot,
Ashcombe,
Purbeck ,
East Street Wharf,
Neham Goods,
Hayesden,
Flockburgh,
Nugatory Basin,
Wiggenhall Road Depot,
Mytchett Green Tramway,
Egypt Brewery,
Gas Lane,
Keyhaven Quay (some of you may know that one),
Schloss Adler,
Smrzovka,
Gamle Carlsberg,
Mason's Bridge yard,
Pine Bluff's & Ceda Falls,
Prospect Valley.

Full trade support will be present ranging from tools, kits, electronic components, R-T-R models to books and also includes the Hornby Hobbies roadshow, the RMweb & the Hornby Magazine stands.

A free vintage bus service is once again being operated from the Railway Station and Town Centre to John Hampden Grammar School. The bus service will depart from Wycombe Railway Station on the hour between 10:00 and 16:00. Return journeys will depart John Hampden Grammar School every hour between 10:30 and 15:30 with the final two journeys departing at 16:25 and 17:05 immediately after the show closes.

Some useful links!

• Combwich
• Wycrail
• RM Web exhibition thread
• Flockburgh

Brentford Waste Terminal

Brentford Waste Terminal, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

An aerial view of Brentford Waste Terminal looking towards the centre of London. The waste after processing gets shipped off in the yellow containers by rail to a landfill site at Appleford, Oxfordshire. The photograph here is a montage of 6 frames.

• Follow this link for a bigger view

Rull Britannia

MJ Bladet, Summer 2010 www.mj-bladet.no/

MJ Bladet the Norwegian equivalent of the UK's Model Rail mag dropped onto the doormat.

Rather than the Norwegian content you'd expect, this issue is mainly dedicated to foreign climes, in this case us Brits. Inside there are many iconic layouts that will be familiar to regular readers of the UK press and exhibition circuit.

I'm delighted of course that my Catcott Burtle is on the cover of this issue, complete with a feature on the little trainset too - all in Norwegian of course!

I queried 'RULL BRITANNIA' thinking that heaven forbid maybe it was a spelling mistake,  it is however Norwegian humour and a play on words, 'RULL' being Norwegian for 'ROLL'.....

• MJ Bladet

Another day out with the lads

nevard_100903_spotters_lower-bas_DSC_9358_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Maybe it should be called Last of the Summer Wine instead? Anyway, for once the sun shone for most of the day, and we even got some heritage power too...

http://nevardmedia.fotopic.net/c1882359.html

Reflection

The railway modelling side at Nevard Towers has been rather quiet over the last few weeks, not due to a lack of interest but quite the opposite, more due to magazine shoots and and attempt to enjoy the autumn styled summer we've been enduring.

So, the address the railway modelling aspect of this BLOG, here's a chance to see some of the best UK model making around from various clubs and highly talented individuals captured for the printed page over the last year or two. If you've seen this collection before, it's just had a major update with older images removed and new ones added.

PORTFOLIO

Evening Panorama

A couple of evenings ago this was my view of Brent Knoll seen from 'that hotel' many will have seen high up on the hill overlooking the M5 at Webbington in Somerset. Click HERE for a bigger and better experience!

If you're a frequent listener to traffic reports, this stretch over motorway between Highbridge and Weston super Mare is often at a standstill or a sea of Hungarian trucks and caravans. Given the choice, I imagine for most supping a beer with such view would win over being stuck in the car with screaming kids or moaning backseat drivers as yet another articulated lorry slows the whole motorway down as its selfish driver tries to overtake another lorry at a 0.00000000001 MPH advantage.

What's this go to do with trains? Nothing really other than it uses the technique I'll be writing about in due course for producing a photographic back drop for a model railway, and oh yes, the Highbridge branch of the beloved S&DJR used to run from left to right just beyond the hill in the distance.

Cockney Rubble

nevard_100810_moreton_66188_DSC_8939_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Until I took this snap earlier in the week it had never dawned on me that with the construction of the 2012 Olympic Village at Bow in East London that there might not be enough room for all the waste mud and rubble generated during the building process.

So now not only has the Cockney accent moved to most parts of the southeast and beyond, but now also some Cockney East End rubble - this London overspill in the wagons above being destined for the very well-spoken middle class Oxfordshire!

If you like wagon loads for some odd reason, I've posted a few more here.

Getting Soaked on a Railway Bridge

nevard_100810_didcot-nth-jct_motleycrew_DSC_8837_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

A week of two back a date was chosen to catch up with some old pals for a nerdy day out snapping trains in the Thames Valley. Of course in this 'nanny state day and age' such innocent activity is often mistakingly seen akin to terrorism, so going on mass makes one less susceptible to attracting the wrong kind of attention from over zealous public and jobsworths. Above is the dangerous looking motley crew, I hasten to say before we all got a good soaking!

With hindsight we would have chosen a better day, for we all gave up just after lunchtimes due ot the rubbish wet weather. Still, the joys of digital capture allow one to record scenes in the most inclement weather!

Here are the snaps;
Mine...
http://nevardmedia.fotopic.net/c1882359_1.html
Tony's...
http://www.tony4170.fotopic.net/c1882701.html
Chris'
Coming soon....

Stone by Stone

nevard_100804_cornish-engine_IMG_7535_02_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Rather than clad the Cornish Engine currently on the workbench as part of my Mendip Colliery project (posed with a bit of CGI in the form of Priddy in Somerset very near to the caver's Mecca of Swildon's Hole in fact) in embossed stone effect sheets, I wanted a more rustic random effect. There's only one way to do this, and that is to carve each stone individually using a sharp object into a surface that will take such abuse - which in this case is Humbrol Air Clay.

Obviously the colour is way off, it being the native red colour of the clay - this will be addressed in due course with paints and weathering. Some of the clay crumbled a little - something that I'm quite pleased because it's part of the effect I'm after, and something that could not be done with embossed plastic. The random cracking is also a useful 'feature' of Air Clay, to further the rustic effect.

To date I've only done this one wall leaving the rest of the structure to be done another day - infact something which is ideal for passing time by when supposedly doing something else like watching dull TV...

Wild Grass is TALL!

nevard_100729_priddy_IMG_7522_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Many railway modellers will go to enth degree to ensure that their flanges are to the correct scale, yet they still model their landscape with grass no taller than what might be seen on a top of a golf course. I'm not quite sure why this is, I hazzard a guess it's because many of them are so flange obsessed they don't have time to look at the real world or are so short sighted due to all that flange gawping they literally cannot see it due to damaged eyesight.

This snap; another taken in the delightful Somerset village of Priddy high up in the Mendips shows tall summer grasses backlit by the evening sun, the height of which must be getting on for 5 or so feet tall (that's 20mm in 1/76th scale land!!). Of course, those flangists would never model anything so tall because you never see such in real life do you?

Please note; not all flangists are totally ignorant (some of them are quite decent and I even have the odd one or two as good friends), just there are enough of the other ones out there for me to have a harmless poke at as well as giving me an excuse to write some drivel to introduce the above photo.

Neolithic Priddy

nevard_100731_priddy_DSC_8757_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

Over the weekend we took our tent down to Priddy high up in the Mendip Hills. On one of our walks to various watering holes we climbed past the bronze age Ashen Hill Barrows a dash under 1000 feet up a mile or so north of Priddy.

This is the result 2 RAW transfers of the same image combined, one optimised for the sky and the other for the foreground. In the old days we'd have shot in black and white and used a red filter, or if in colour used one of those dreaded Kokin graduated filters and maybe a polarzing filter to separate the blue sky from the clouds.

Cracking on with the Cornish Pump

nevard_100728_cornish-engine_IMG_7508_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia.

This afternoon it was a nice sunny one, so I moved out into the garden under the apple tree and made a start with the Cornish Pumping Engine for 'Mendip Colliery'.

Rather than build around a resin or metal 'ready to plant' structure as before, a basic inner has been made up from 4mm foam board which is a fabulous material to quickly put together a sturdy base using PVA as an adhesive.

Stone effect will be scribed onto a layer of Air Clay rather than use embossed plastic overlays. This will allow finer stone detailing around the curved apertures and corners. The slightly uneven surface will also help to create the rustic effect I'm after. Tests earlier today with this worked rather well.