A week on the 'Valley (Indoors and Out)
In my last entry (which I slightly lost track of by posting it in the wrong blog!) I promised that my Victoria Bridge diorama would be appearing at the SVR behind the scenes weekend. Having a small local exhibition to aim at was an excellent encouragement to get the 'bridge working if not entirely finished, presentation wise.
In the end, the weekend was a perfect test run with a number of RMWebbers to say hello to as well.
I did my best to assemble stock that matched, or sort of almost matched if you squint a little, examples running on the railway 'proper' in recent years.
First, my GWR stock, the Mark 1 is properly prototypical, and vital in real life as my 'close coupled' Toplights would not couple to unmodified Dapol Collets, luckily the new Farish buffet (with shorter corridor connectors) happily bridged the gap. It's funny how a little running thows up all manner of troubleshooting issues.. all a learning process.
The simple fiddle yard worked reasonably well, but it showed my modelling naivety with dodgy insulfrog points found in the bottom of a cupboard! There was also opportunity to demonstrate that with N gauge a small 6foot long diorama need not rule out long trains, I think we got as many as 13 carriages and a rather smart Dapol 'Oliver Cromwell' (Cheers Alistair!) circulating happily... tricky parking wise though...
With sensibly proportioned trains, it all ran smoothly with the ability to let something run around gently while chatting to a visitor or getting a cup of tea!
Long trains are all very nice (the odd prototype Deltic even snuck in here and there!) but the scene was set the best with a humble Dapol Prarie repainted and renumbered as local '4566'.. it proved to be the day's best and most consistent runner as well.
And, also attracting kind comments was my little '813' which ran a treat with a short demonstration freight.
All in all, I really enjoyed my first exhibition with a layout of my own, while learning countless little lessons about what had gone wrong, what was right and what generally needed some sort of 'fettling' to sort out. I should also thank the excellent hosts at Kidderminster Railway Museum and my companions from Kidderminster Model Railway club who made it an enjoyable, and surprisingly relaxing, weekend.
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Just a few days later, on Friday 27th July, the day dawned brightly and Mrs J (Katie) and I figured it would be a good day for lunch and retail therapy in Bridgnorth. A trip to the shops is all the more paletable when to get there involves:
A Class 50 (Ark Royal, a ship with particular resonance for me as it was where my late grandfather attended to the rigging of Fairey Swordfishes in WWII) wearing a bizarrely handsome fictional take on Load Haul livery. I know I probably hadnt ought to, but I really like it....
....dear Dapol....
Waiting in the sun at Kidderminster, the chance was there to get some useful pictures for my scheme to create some Gresley Teak open third carriages from a mixture of Ultima and Dapol bits. More of this soon.
Much has been made of the SVR's recent steam loco shortage (a sudden run of bad luck blighting many of the regular locos, all soon to return to the fold) but on Friday, in my eyes, they were offering a tidy and progressive selection of locomotives, two 50's filling the gaps in the steam roster (the other one was the more old-school large logo 'Hood') as well as a Manor and a unique LMS mogul.
Once on the way, the acceleration and contrasting sound of the 'Hoover' up front made for an interesting change. The bright colour scheme seemed to attract the attention of the local wildlife as we passed by.. the curve around the West Midland Safari Park might make another interesting diorama. I wonder if you can find Rhinos somewhere in the region of 1:148 to 152 ish?
Good lighting for some details shots that will help to finish off the current diorama:
In any sort of preservation scenario, a little imagination goes a long way. In the summer sun, the single track winding its way through the valley could have been mistaken for one of the twistier portions north of Par on the way to Newquay. Thoughts turned to whether Bridgnorth could supply a Cornish pasty!
Summer certainly did seem to have arrived, I was taken with this rather timeless scene at Arley:
Finally, for now, a reflection on SVR scenes still to come (and another good move by Dapol!), 'Sir Keith Park' getting nearer front line service undergoing tests at Bridgnorth. A very lovely Pannier has recently arrived from Didcot to bolster the fleet, and SVR favourites 1501 and 2857 will also soon make welcome returns to service.
Soon after, the camera battery expired. The trip home was hansomely hauled by 43106, 'The Flying Pig' with a rake of lovely (very comfortable) LMS Stanier era carriages. Now I wonder how I could create such a thing in N gauge? Would the chassis from a Farish Standard 2-6-0 fit the bill I wonder?
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