Elsbridge Tramway Company: Elsbridge Town - NeilHB's layout

[NeilHB]

A very quick and easy wagon build undertaken today. Having assembled the chassis frame sometime ago (as part of the last batch build of wagons), I figured I really ought to build a body for it.

 

The plan had always been to replace the coal merchants wagon with a standard ETCo designed 4-plank open, and this has now been achieved:

 

The bodywork has been assembled, all that remains is to drill hundreds of holes and add the plastic rod to represent bolt heads etc. That can wait till tomorrow though - to get to this point only took a couple of hours in total.

 

All three ETCo 4-plank opens - livestock wagon, open and coal merchants private owner. 
 

Still need to build a few more ETCo wagons though. I think a couple more 3-plank opens, and another van or two should do for the time being. 

[Ruston]

Elsbridge is looking very good in the June BRM. Well done, Neil.

[DLT]

On 20/03/2023 at 20:49, NeilHB said:

The bodywork has been assembled, all that remains is to drill hundreds of holes and add the plastic rod to represent bolt heads etc. That can wait till tomorrow though - to get to this point only took a couple of hours in total.

Lovely work Neil,

Have you tried adding the nuts from small cubes of plasticard?  Saves all that drilling and fitting.  I chopped bits of the end of 20thou square microstrip and applied them with tweezers or a sharp point, and Mekpak.   You get pretty quick at it, and you can move them if you get them in the wrong place.

 

All the best,

Dave.

[NeilHB]

1 hour ago, Ruston said:

Elsbridge is looking very good in the June BRM. Well done, Neil.

Thanks Dave, much appreciated. 
 

21 minutes ago, DLT said:

Lovely work Neil,

Have you tried adding the nuts from small cubes of plasticard?  Saves all that drilling and fitting.  I chopped bits of the end of 20thou square microstrip and applied them with tweezers or a sharp point, and Mekpak.   You get pretty quick at it, and you can move them if you get them in the wrong place.

 

All the best,

Dave.

 

Thanks Dave, I hadn’t thought of that before tbh. I’ve drilled all the holes out in the wagon shortly after the last update, but haven’t managed to progress since then. There’s a few more wagons to build once I’ve got over the current chest infection (back to back ones since Easter unfortunately), so I’ll try that out when I build them. I really do like that cattle van, and may have to build something of a similar design for the tramway.

[DLT]

There is a reason I make the ironwork out of black plasticard.  When its all added i paint the vehicle, without worrying about where the paint goes.  And then scrape/sand the grey paint off, leaving perfect black ironwork.  Only then do I add the nuts from WHITE (so you can see it) plasticard, followed by a tiny blob of black paint.

This method avoids the painful and annoying process of trying to paint all the ironwork black while failing to keep the paint off the grey woodwork.

[NeilHB]

A very sensible decision Dave! Next time I build some wagons requiring black ironwork I’ll give that method a try.  

[Andrew Young]

It is my sad duty to report that Neil Blair has passed away. Neil collapsed at home on Monday and the paramedics were unable to revive him. Neil was 35. 

 

This shocking and unexpected news has knocked us for six in the Trent Valley Group in which Neil was heavily involved. Neil and I would discuss our latest modelling silly idea almost daily. However our loss is very small compared to that being felt by Neil’s Mum and Widower Dan who we are keeping in our thoughts currently. 

 

The only small blessing at this time is that Neil received a copy of BRM and got the satisfaction of seeing his layout in print before he died. 

 

It is Dan’s wish that Elsbridge still appears at Burton as Neil intended. Those of us who were going to help Neil at the show will be ensuring that the show goes on and the layout will appear. 

 

Will post funeral details when known and also further news on the layout here when the future is decided. 

 

Andrew

[AY Mod]

I was absolutely floored by the news from Andrew. So sudden and unexpected and at a cruelly young age with so much more in life he was looking forward to. I'm thankful that I got to spend a few enjoyable hours with Neil a couple of months ago taking the pics of the layout so it could be in the mag to tie in with the show. Neil came across as a lovely, open and warm bloke and we had quite a few laughs doing the shoot.

 

My thoughts are with Dan and Neil's friends and family.

 

[Annie]

Oh this is awful, a terrible shock, my heart goes out to his partner Dan and all his friends and family.

[TT-Pete]

This is really shocking news, I had conversed with Neil on a few occasions and found him to be a really likeable chap, my condolences to Dan and the family.

[Mike Bellamy]

As well as a close modelling friend, Neil and I had worked together for about 10 years in the Quality Office at the University of Derby until I retired towards the end of 2019. For many years he was seen as my 'apprentice' as I taught him all he needed to know about the job - however we were often told to stop talking about trains!

 

I was devastated when Andrew told me this unexpected news as we had all been talking on zoom only a couple of days before - as our local narrow gauge group had been every two weeks since lockdown put an end to our pub meetings. Neil was so proud to have his layout featured in BRM and we will ensure that Elsbridge will be at the 7mm Narrow Gauge exhibition at Burton next month.

 

Mike

[hartleymartin]

It is terrible news that he passed away. My condolences to his family and friends.

[sir douglas]

Taken far too soon

[MarcD]

Very sad news.

Marc

[DLT]

Very sad news, and difficult to take in.  Especially when we had been in correspondence just a few days ago.

[JustinDean]

This is really sad news. Only just started speaking to Neil about showing the layout in Derby next year. Condolences to his partner and family. 
 

Jay

[Corbs]

Tears rolling down my face as I write this. I never got to meet Neil in person but he was a lovely person to talk to online and I am such a fan of his modelling. I'm really happy that he got to see his creation in print. He will be missed.

[ngtrains.com]

I’ve struggled for something to say. Not at all like me but the news when Panda called stunned me. Neil’s loss leaves a big hole. We’ve been friends and co-conspirators in model matters for a long time and I, like the rest of the modelling group, are going to miss him.

 

The Trent Valley Group is affiliated to the 7mm NGA but in truth its a bunch of mates that do narrow gauge modelling stuff with all the beers, mickey taking, pranks and silliness that goes with that. Pre covid the TVG met once a month in a pub in Derby which, truth be told, wasn’t all that inclusive.

 

During Covid the group went online fortnightly by zoom, met more regularly and got some modelling done. Imagine a gathering in a room with a beer and some modelling stuff to spend a couple of hours taking the mick, having a beer and building something. This is what we did just in our own rooms and on zoom. The TVG has a wide reach, so this inclusive meeting had the Derby regulars and visitors from York and South Wales. It was in this format that we watched Neil build Elsbridge whilst I took the mick that the tram locos that came for DCC & Sound needed mechanical and electrical rebuilds first – engineer he wasn’t.

 

Post Covid the TVG relaunched its members day and revved it up with a targeted spam campaign. Neil was key to organising this. It debuted his layout and he and partner Dan were also a key part of the catering. We were planning our new group layout, his layout at the 7mm NGA do in June and the next modelling day for January.

 

Since Panda phoned me on Monday afternoon with the news there has just been a hole. I, no we, will miss him immensely.

[Dava]

The news of Neil’s passing is so very hard to take, I am sure others feel the same way.

 

I think we first met in 2013, at the annual Trent Valley group winter event at Mickleover. We were both building Gauge O microlayouts and showing them rather tentatively in public, in the same room, for the first time, as well as working in 7mm narrow gauge. I remember we talked a lot and Neil had fun operating my Coney Hill layout with Paul Martin’s Ixion Manning Wardle saddle tank, which we both rather coveted.

 

At that time Gauge O was becoming much more accessible with the first plastic RTR locos from Ixion and then Dapol and Minerva. This reduced the need for loco chassis-building and I followed Neil’s creative exploits in converting and adapting a fleet of RTR locos, especially Terriers. He had a fertile imagination for modelling locations, especially in the Furness Railway and Cumbrian context including the Burnside Tramway and his later Ffarquhar-inspired Elsbridge Tramway, and was a prolific wagon builder and converter. 

 

We will all miss Neil greatly, he was everyone’s best mate, always friendly and supportive. Sincere condolences to his partner, family and many friends.

 

Dava

Edited May 19, 2023 by Dava
Correction

[Andrew Young]

3 hours ago, JustinDean said:

This is really sad news. Only just started speaking to Neil about showing the layout in Derby next year. Condolences to his partner and family. 
 

Jay

Jay,

It was only the day before his sudden passing that Neil put me on to the proposed gathering next year and I know he was looking forward to going. And was one of the reasons I phoned him the next day only to receive the bombshell from Dan. 

 

I will be in contact with you about something to take to the day you’re organising, but what that will be I do not know just yet. 
 

Andrew

[Andrew Young]

Since receiving the bombshell from Dan last Monday and taking on the job of phoning round the grim task of phoning round all our mutual friends, these last few days have been a bit of a blur and trying to write more has been very difficult. It’s certainly taken a while to sink in that Neil has gone. Taken far too soon. We would chat via Messenger most days about some silly modelling idea or another and having an eerily quiet phone has just demonstrated the hole that Neil leaves behind him. 
 

Paul Martin sums up Neil in a very good way and his involvement in our Trent Valley Group. He’d taken the initiative after Tim Allsopp’s passing and become almost the lynchpin in the group, being very much the instigator in the Zoom sessions that breathed new life into the group. They were a great opportunity fortnightly to catch up with friends, enjoy some banter and also helped improve all of our chances of getting some modelling done.
 

Through these Zoom meetings we saw Neil’s layout progress, in addition I would call round quite regularly on my way home from work for a brew and a chat, we’d discuss the latest progress and Neil would use me as a sounding board for his options like I would with him. I was quite sceptical when Neil decided to rip it all up and start again, but that decision was very much the right one as it gave Neil renewed vigour to progress the layout and ultimately call it (very nearly) finished. He was very proud of the layout appearing in BRM and I’m only relieved that he lived long enough to read the article for himself in a copy sent pre- release. 
 

Paul has touched on Neil’s tram locos. The look great and are a fantastic piece of freelance modelling design, but as Neil admitted himself, his Achilles heel was the mechanical side. It’s a mark of our Group that resident mechanical expert  Paul was able and willing to help Neil with that.

What Neil was exceptionally good at was scratchbuilding wagons, using styrene and castings. Every time I went to an exhibition with him, Neil would be rummaging round the bits boxes for useful bits and the results were superb. Neil made for me a two plank dumb buffered private owner wagon for the slate quarry on my Abermelyn project. A wagon that I will cherish and remind me of our friendship for as long as I am able. 
 

Rest in peace friend. 
Andrew

Edited May 20, 2023 by Andrew Young

[Adrian Stevenson]

Just read this. Cannot believe it. I am so sad. Condolences to Neil’s husband and family and his many friends.
 

RIP my friend.

[34006]

Only just read about this.Stunned and saddened,and words fail me.

 

RIP Niel

 

Phil

[Tom F]

I'm still in shock from this.

I hadn't had the good fortune to meet Neil in person, but we were friends on social media and had chatted online, and as a fellow Sudrian modeller, we'd chatted regarding Awdry. I'd hoped for him to come for an operating session on my layout, but sadly that's not to be.

I can only echo what others have said. 

I'm having an operating session with a friend tomorrow. We'll raise a glass to Neil tomorrow over lunch. 

[Johnson044]

I've just read the news- I opened RMweb and saw a new Elsbrige post- I've enjoyed Neil's thread for such a long time and opened the post looking forward to seeing a new wagon, some changes to a locomotive or a new building. What terrible news- cut down so young, with so much to give and to enjoy. 

 

I never met Neil- but we conversed over the last year or two on all things 7mm and Freelance- and he struck me as being an immensely kind person, who radiated goodwill. 

 

My heart goes out to Dan and to the rest of Neil's family- and to those in the railway fraternity who were close to him. The world is a lesser place without this lovely, creative and imaginative man.