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Chris Nevard's Blog

A blog by Chris Nevard in RMweb Blogs

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About this blog

Welcome to my RM web BLOG, it's used like most to highlight recently modelling projects and photographs. The postings here tend to mirror my independent BLOG at http://nevardmedia.blogspot.co.uk/

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Moonlight Express

nevard_111120_warely_IMG_1980_MOON_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Under a crisp full moon, 44560 passes Kimble North Signalbox with the late service. Captured at The Warley Show last weekend; the sodium light is unsuitable for serious photography, so rather than battle with the mixed sodium and daylight, a little Photoshoppery was used which primarily involved removing the ceiling of the NEC and replacing it with a Mediterranean sky. I also decided to de-saturate and colourize m

November 24, 2011

19

Penguins & Pillboxes

111119_polbrock_IMG_1960-web, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Mr & Mrs Penguin ponder on whether they should go in to The Pedant & Armchair public house next to the halt at Polbrock. Deep down in the mystical country of Kernow all sorts of strange creatures are know to exist, everything from druids and dragons through to the well known but elusive Beast of Bodmin Moor. The Pedant & Armchair public house was known to attract all sorts of strange creatures, many with thic

November 18, 2011

12

The Armchair & Pedant Now Open for Shandy and Rover 400 Drivers.

111116_polbrock_IMG_1930_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. The Armchair & Pedant is now in place to hide the right hand exit to the fiddle yard on Polbrock. Of course it still needs a proper sign, but my printer inks have dried up, so until I waste yet more time on cleaning the printer heads and taking out a mortgage to replace the inks it won't be happening for a bit unless I get a print done in the local Boots or Happysnappy next time I'm down in town. The sign on the right han

November 17, 2011

21

'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

November 14, 2011

5

Oooh Beattie, You're a Right Beauty!

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 gre

November 12, 2011

8

Sabotaged & Defeated!

111112_polbrock_IMG_1894_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Polbrock - late summer 1971 and the contractors are slowly clearing the line from a railhead 4 miles to the west of here. By May 1972 the rails had finally gone for good. Bigger version of the above photo here.

November 12, 2011

3

Rural Backwater and a People's 'Grasmaster'

111109_polbrock_IMG_1809_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Hopefully a little scene a tad like that from the excellent Railway Bylines? Here we picture an EWS class 08 trundling through Polbrock with coal for the nearby china clay works. Passenger trains haven't stopped here since 1967, and despite lack of use the ex-GWR corrugated iron 'Pagoda' looks in fine form considering its age. It would also appear to be in Southern Region colours, a result of frequent regional boundary changes.

November 9, 2011

12

Beer, Cake & Toy Trains

Operator's cake, this hospitality rapidly becoming the trademark of Wycrail, with the cakes becoming more luxurious year on year! ï»¿ï»¿ ï»¿ï»¿Wycrail is always a shining jewel in the toy chuff chuff calendar, it being a wray of virtual sunshine the weekend after the clocks change plunging us into dismal, miserable darkness for 5 months. I gather it's to do with farmers in the very north of the British Isles, though why they cannot just set their clocks an hour later than everybody else

November 6, 2011

11

Damage!

nevard_090820_elford_4z05_66546_DSC_5501_web, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Damaged cross members on the 4Z05 empty Drax - Daw Mill coal train captured at Elford Loop on Thursday 20 August 2009. Right, now I have your attention; that cat hasn't had a rampage by the way, however here's something I've never seen modelled, probably because it would be quite tricky trying to get the effect with moulded plastic - more of that in a minute. I'm no expert on coal hoppers and loading, but thi

November 4, 2011

9

Demolition!

nevard_110101_catcott_IMG_1739_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Catcott Crossing, September 1966. It's just 6 months after closure and the demolition contractors have already started to dismantle the railway. Most of the railway buildings on 'The Branch' survived the demolition men, with many of then ending up in private hands, unlike the Bath to Bournemouth line which ended up losing well over half its stations to the swinging iron ball. It's interesting now as to whether the same

November 3, 2011

8

Another dose of the pedants

nevard_110101_catcott_IMG_1728_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. It's Wycrail this weekend, so Catcott Burtle has been set up for the last week or two sufficiently high off the ground to hopefully avoid the various scenic details being chomped on again by the cat who has a taste for white metal, brass and plastic card. The happy snappy above is of Catcott, the ficticious (maybe more 'faction') scenario depicting a mixed train off the Bridgwater Branch which regularly featured suc

November 2, 2011

25

Steady progress and a name at last!

I've had a rather busy week out snapping other people's model railways and taking care of the airwaves for a minority satellite TV sports channel. I have however shoe-horned a little time to carry on with the 'Cornish Project' which now has a name in the form of 'Polbrock' which is one of the places the Bodmin to Wadebridge line passed through. I'm not going to be too specific on the history, that way I'll hopefully avoid being nobbled by all the 'model railway experts' who've never even pinned

October 25, 2011

12

Count Down to Wycrail!

nevard_111016_catcott_IMG_1527_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. The excellent Wycrail in High Wycombe is in just under 3 weeks on Saturday 5 November, and this year I've been invited to take Catcott Burtle along for the day. 'CB' is all ready to go, so there's no midnight oil to burn, which will make a nice break fom the norm, but I do need to finish repairing an ex-LSWR lattice signal post that one of the cats chewed the top off. I don't know why, white metal and brass hardly mak

October 17, 2011

1

The Return of the Titfield Thunderbolt

nevard_111011_CatcottB_IMG_1462_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. It's not generally known, but following on the success of the Ealing Comedy, 'The Titfield Thunderbolt', the iconic Ealing Studios shot a sequel called 'The Return of the Titfield Thunderbolt' in the summer of 1956. The film was released the following summer, but was a complete flop due to the total Americanization of the cast, so sadly the movie has been lost in the mists of time but does occasionally make a secret appea

October 11, 2011

6

Sweet Bridge

111008_cornish_int_IMG_1410_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. A very kind Mr Sweet mailed me this rather nice bridge casting for the Cornish project last week. I'm sure you'll agree that it is a wonderful piece of work, with nice deep rendering which would be quite tricky to achieve by scratchbuilding. When it arrived, I expected it to be resin or plaster, but much to my surprise it is fibreglass! The stone being moulded into the gel coat. The joy being that it is very tough and ver

October 9, 2011

8

Now that's clever..

111007_cornish_int_IMG_1430_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Track laying on the Cornish thing using C+L components; note the folded etched brass chairs where strengthening copper clad sleepers are required. They are a test product from Pete Harvey Designs www.phd-design.co.uk/ of this 'ere parish. Normally one would simply solder the rail to the sleeper top, then have to cut in half the C+L plastic chairs and glue - quite a fiddly task. All that's needed here will be a good splos

October 7, 2011

2

Micro progress

111002_cornish_int_IMG_1427_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. The little GWR/LSWR-Cornish-esque 2'10" x 12" micro continues to take shape. Not bad I guess seeing it was only a twinkle Sunday before last - but it is only dinky winky so no great challenge. Yesterday you saw the GWR 'pagoda' and platform manifest, and the afternoon before saw a little track construction using C+L components. Note the lower level siding and catchpoint, something that's nearly always missed from sidings

October 3, 2011

5

Something for the Weekend

111002_cornish_int_IMG_1420_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Cornish Interlude (working title) update What better that to move the workbench outside when the weather is as good as it has been! No need to hoover up after either! This weekend saw the repaint and weather of a Bachmann Scenecraft GWR 'Pagoda'. The weekend also saw the construction of a short platform from foam board, embossed plastic card and Das modelling clay. Note the faded BR Southern Region colours, this to di

October 2, 2011

6

Books

110928_cornish_int_IMG_1342_02_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Cornish Interlude (working title) update. Railways enthusiasts generally love books, and I am no exception, needing little excuse to buy another for the collection. They are never idle purchases, they get looked at over and over again to inspire my model making. I think this is why I have far too many ideas, the purchase of a new book inevitably resulting in the back of an envelope sketch for some kind of mini or not

September 29, 2011

7

3 hours work with glue, hammer, saw, blood, less fingers etc....

110927_cornish-interlude_IMG_1336_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. 3 hours work with glue, hammer, saw, blood, less fingers, and we have a baseboard in a box. This is probably the average time most armchair modellers sit online before lunch pontificating about flanges, why they've lost interest in the hobby, why they don't have enough time to actually do anything, why 66134 has not been released in S gauge, why aren't model railway magazines free and how much Photoshop does that Mr

September 27, 2011

21

Having a little doodle

cornish interlude 01_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. 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 forthcomin

September 26, 2011

13

Sunday Night Snaps

With work looming for many tomorrow, here's a little cheer up snapped earlier today in the car park at Scaleforum! Brewhouse Quay, not you you can tell was balanced on the roof of my car, it not being officially part of the show. The lovely little loco, an Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 is owned by Captain Kernow - oh lucky chap! Click on the photos below to enlarge.....

September 25, 2011

5

Grain Wagon

nevard_110920_grain_IMG_1294_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr. Currently on the workbench; a Dapol grain wagon. Breweries and maltsters need barley to turn into malt, so at least a couple of grain wagons will not look out of place on Brewhouse Quay and as part of a good train for my other layouts. At Model Rail Live last weekend, the fine folk at Kernow Model Rail Centre who had a stand at the show with all sorts of goodies, also had a bargain bucket to suit cheapskates like me who

September 23, 2011

2

Duffers day out!

Yesterday a few of us nutcases met up for a jolly tracking down full sized trains with cameras in the north Oxfordshire/Warwickshire area. Without rambling on too much about what a nice day we had hanging about on station platforms and railway bridges - here are the results. Oh yes, and we also bumped into fellow blogger Phil Parker. To the PHOTOS You might like to check out what fellow photographers Chris Perkins and Tony Callaghan captured on their cameras too.

September 22, 2011

2

Video of miniature chain shunting

Chain shunting a wagon at Brewhouse Quay onto the wagon turntable, the turntable then rotates and the wagon is pulled clear. A wagon with more drag would probably produce a better effect - something else to add to the pile of things to be done. In real life shunting like this would be done with rope with chain only on the the very ends, but sadly law of physics give fine thread too much memory to be practical for such a small model. Sorry, I have no idea how to embed a clip...

September 20, 2011

13

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