Trevanion Dries is the name of a long-term project in 2mm finescale. It's an attempt to re-create the atmosphere of the railways in the clay country of South Devon and Cornwall primarily from my memories of growing up in the area in the mid-1990s. The period will cover the CDA hopper operation and Speedlink wagonload services of the late 80s and early 90s stretching through to the introduction of the first EWS-liveried Class 37s... roughly 1988-1997.

Trevanion Dries will be a small model of a fictitious clay dries located in the Trenance Valley to the north-west of St Austell. The facilities, including Buell and rotary driers, have not been modernised for a few years and production is under threat of being switched to the nearby Blackpool Dries. The limitations of the site mean that it can only accommodate small trains (in a similar fashion to the Drinnick Mill branch), a further reason why its future is not guaranteed. In the meantime, however, there is a reasonable amount of activity with the St. Blazey 37 fleet dropping off a wide variety of wagons for the works' ex-BR 08 to shunt, before being tripped to St Blazey, Fowey or further up-country as required. The occasional train of domestic coal in HEA hoppers, fuel oil in TTAs and timber traffic in OTA wagons may also appear en route to some private sidings a little further up the valley, but china clay will be the mainstay of interest.

In terms of modelling, this will be a 2mm finescale railway utilising predominantly RTR stock with changed wheelsets, couplings, extra detailing and weathering. The intention is to have a super-detailed rake of CDAs as the centrepiece, complemented by visits from ICA, PAA, PBA, PRA, VDA, VGA, TSL Polybulk and Cargwaggon variants, with HEA, TTA and OTA making guest appearances on occasion. Control will be DCC and the layout will be small enough to be easily portable, albeit larger than box-file size. Focus will be on the stock first.

I've started this blog for a number of reasons: firstly, there's rarely any better motivation than the positive or constructive comments of others - and as I'm often prone to starting more than I finish, this should help me focus my efforts! Secondly, having viewed so many excellent blogs on here over the last few months (especially bcnpete and rods_of_revolution) I wanted to share my own experiences of ways I have tackled similar problems - realistic couplings in 2mm and track inset into concrete to name a couple. Lastly, I'll definitely need help along the way as there are many gaps in my knowledge and skills - this is my first 2mm venture - so this is a plea in advance for assistance when I come unstuck!