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Here's a video I made recently explaining the backstory for my layout The location is somewhere to the North of Aberllefeni and South of Brithdir on the Dolgellau to Barmouth GW line. The idea is that the Corris Railway was taken over by the Cambrian as per the 19th century act of Parliament that really happened. The line was built as a through route to the GW at Brithdir from Machynlleth, more or less following the Corris Railway route to Aberllefeni, then plunging through the hills to emerge on the scene of my layout. During WW2 there were a number of serious floods that destroyed the trackbed beyond the road bridge at the northern end of the station and left it with no usable loop. As the army had training camps nearby they installed a crossover within the platform limits to enable their supply and troop train locos to run round....

A bit of detail at the base of the cliffs today with crushed chalk added and some more signage and traffic management. I wanted to make some water filled traffic barriers like this. (this is the sort of thing I was after) I started with some trusty balsa cutting into three strips and sticking it together. (balsa strips stuck together) Having stuck the strips together I chopped them into scale 1m sections before painting them white and red (painted red and white. I then drew two black spots on each side of the base to represent the forklift lifting slots) They were then stuck on the the road to reinforce traffic movement at the top of embankment. (barriers in place. I made up some spare to stack in the corner of the yard) Having completed this I stuck down some chalk I had ground up along the base of the cliff. (bashing up chalk with a hammer) (chalk stuck to base of cliff with watered down pva) (more chalk along the cliff) Having completed this I then put some chevrons along the base of the cliff to keep vehicles on the straight and narrow. (chevron signs fitted to the base of the cliff) (and the other side...) Thanks for reading..

In 1884 the GWR centralized the provision of provender, so that every stable block on the system received a regular supply by rail from the provender store at Didcot, typically every 1-2 weeks. The supplies consisted of hay, chaff, straw bedding and sacks of feed. The feed included oats, beans and maize, either pre-mixed or separate. The sizeable stable block at Farthing obviously needs a regular supply of feed and bedding, so two provender wagons have been made. I began with a diagram Q1, using the Coopercraft kit. The GWR only made a total of 12 dedicated provender wagons, in two slightly different lots of six. The Q1 kit represents the later batch, built in 1903 with diagonal bracing. They were very camera shy, the (cropped) image below is the only one I have seen so far. As usual, the build involved modifications. The Vee hanger on these wagons was significantly off-center, towards the right. The instructions don’t mention this. So both vees were cut off. The solebars need shortening, and the end brackets must therefore also come off. Here is the original solebar (top), and a modified one (below). Then, sides and ends. The locating pips for the floor were removed. They make the floor sit too low, and the solebars in turn end up beneath the headstocks. As provided, the brake gear does not take the off-center Vee into account, as this trial fit shows. So the brake gear was modified to suit. Looks a bit odd, but that's what the drawing and text in Atkins et al shows. The DC1 brake gear was made using parts from the Bill Bedford etch (recently withdrawn). The buffers are from Lanarkshire Models. The built-up wagon in GWR wagon red, as it would have been painted when built in 1903. Apart from 12 purpose-built provender wagons, most of the GWR's provender was carried in numerous standard open wagons of all sorts. Several photos show them loaded improbably high. I decided to have a go at replicating this. This close crop, from a much larger shot from Vastern Rd yard at Reading, illustrates what I was aiming for. I set to work on some plumber’s hemp, cut fine and built up in layers on a foamboard box, using diluted PVA. Not the 9 o’clock news! Then sheets (a.k.a. tarps) were made, using my usual method. Ian’s superb sheets were re-numbered and printed on regular paper, then laminated with thin foil and varnished multiple times, before weathering. The result is a shell that can be easily shaped and supports it’s own weight (see this post). I designed the load to fit my 4-plankers. My initial plan was to have the entire load and sheeting detachable, in line with my normal approach. In this shot, the tarp and load are separate, but magnets hold them together and allow easy removal. However, with a high load like this I felt that the lack of roping looked odd. So I decided to see how it would feel to have permanent loads and sheets. I recruited one of my 4-plankers and added roping and side-cords, using painted sewing thread. Indents were made in the sheeting by pressing the edge of a ruler into the paper/foil shell, in order to emulate the ropes pulling down the sheet. This is what I ended up with. Don’t look to closely at how the cords are tied at the ends. Photos of provender trains don’t show clearly whether and how they were used in a situation like this. Sometimes, the GWR used two sheets laid sideways instead, as illustrated in this cropped detail of a train of hay bales. I decided to do the same on my high-sided Q1 wagon. Here is the usual foil shell, this time composed of two sheets. For the roping and cords, I loosely followed the cropped image above. I also tried to fold the sheets at the ends as per that photo, but gave up: Try as I might, it just looked weird in 4mm scale. Another time maybe. The wagons together. The charm of everyday solutions versus boxy functional design. Here are a few photos of the wagons in action on the (unfinished) new layout. A Buffalo class arrives with the weekly delivery of provender. Conveniently, the stable block at Farthing happens to have a siding alongside. Meanwhile, Betty is having a drink in preparation for the morning round. Proper care of railway horses was a serious matter, though hardly for ethical reasons. Horses were a company asset and an important part of operations, so obviously needed good maintenance. The loco has left, and the wagons are sat in the sidings. The camera has exaggerated the sheen. A close-up, warts and all. The mind struggles to accept that the hay wasn't completely covered over. There is room for improvement with the roping and cords, several lessons learnt there. I'd like to experiment more with the shaping of the sheets. Here I have made slight rounded indents along the bottom to avoid a straight line. Period photos show that, although sheets were pulled as taut as possible, there were still lots of wrinkles etc. Despite these experiments, I’m still undecided about permanent loads and sheeting. To illustrate my doubt: It's the next day and the Buffalo class is back to pick up the provender wagons. But wait, what’s this? They are still full and sheeted! More thinking needed. It never ends.

I've been thinking that railway modelling needs a better public image. People seem to think the hobby is a bit weird and nerdy, when really we’re a bunch of smooth adrenaline junkies. Here are some examples from my own awesome life. Firstly, we railway modellers have really cool gear. These DIY tamping and scribing tools were made from coffee stirrers and my wife’s discarded sock knitting needles. Max bling! The top three are for smoothing DAS between sleepers and under rails. I use Latex gloves to help seal glue containers. After years of doing this, I’m now wondering if they are in fact permeable. But never mind, it adds a bit of style. I keep the bottles on the back stairs where our neighbours can admire them. Recycled kitchen sponge, used as a stop block. Works quite well I find. If you’re lucky, there are old bits of food left in there. "So what do you in your spare time?”. Oh, I like to put on latex gloves and scrub things with a toothbrush. The stuff I use for paint stripping is some serious sh*t. Not sure what the proper English term is, it's called "brown soap" in Danish. Used for cleaning floors. Wild, man. At weekends, I really let my hair down. In one recent highlight, I spent an hour painting sewing thread. Then there’s our risk-taking mindset. For example, I recently sorted the kitchen cupboards. This revealed more spices than we’ll never need, so I decided to experiment: Would spices work as weathering powders? For improved adhesion, I mixed in some baby powder. Feeling reckless, I also tried ground ginger. The verdict? Well it works OK in a pinch, but proper weathering powders are better. The layout smells great though. Makes for a good pick-up line. Speaking of pick-up lines, I like to experiment with dung. These are lumps of weathering powder on PVA. I think it could work for horse droppings, though more testing is needed. It also seems to work when brushed into setts. Horse dung would be trampled and distributed pretty much like that, I reckon. Ordinary people don’t reflect on such things. I guess they just lack vision. So there’s railway modelling for you: Living on the edge, every day. Anyway, I‘m off to grab a Red Bull before I tackle those couplings. Hang loose, dudes.

Happy Christmas all, A quick update on the Brake Van kit started previously. Prior to painting I wanted to explore installing a working tail lamp. After various searches I found one by ModelYard and after a few helpful email exchanges with Rob, he sent me a kit and a wiring diagram. The intention was to power the lamp from the track using wipers on the wheels fashioned from a kit previously bought at a show. The lamp was set up and various wires fed through to the underside of the chassis to link up with the pickup arrangement. This then proved to be troublesome as I found it difficult to get the spring action of the wire against the inside of the wheels. The lamp was on when on the track but upon moving the BV they slipped off and the lamp flickered...but not in a good flicker way! So a quick reorganisation the day after with the wires trailing on the top of the wheels...again, the same result So after another conversation with Rob, I decided to go old School and run it off a small battery but with a small inline switch that Rob provided. For this to happen I had to modify the roof to make it removable to access. This needed to be done anyway as the sides were bowing inwards. A few experiments with various layers of plasticard enables the roof to now slot in and out, whilst realigning the sides. I also took advantage to remove the curved rain strips to the roof which was subject to comments on the last post. So now it can move to the paint shop. Rob of ModelYard was very helpful and should I require more lamps I won’t hesitate to go back to him. As always, comments welcome... Pete Roof removed - the bowed sides can be seen... The crude inserts which enable the roof to sit properly... Light off... Light on...

Having done the detail up against the cliff base I thought I could build the parapet fence on top of the retaining wall. I was wanting to create something like the below: (standard boxy parapet fencing) I couldn't find anything off the shelf so it was back to scratchbuilding with plasticard strips. I painted the strips up in the colour I wanted before predrilling holes for stanchions. These were glued in place before the long horizontal strips were stuck on. I used thin balsa as spacers to get the strip heights correct. (stanchions in and first horizontal bar going in) Used this technique for the second strip and then stuck the third on top. (other two strips on and building fence on the other side) Having completed the fence I then set about putting more signage about the place. This included on the level crossing, ramp, and speed limit repeater sign. (completed fencing with rockfall signage) (more chevrons on the ramp this time) I've been trying to find a way of making n gauge Road cones. I then hit upon the idea of using a pencil sharpen to sharpen 5mm diameter balsa dowel. (shaving the dowel) (cone on balsa sheet base and a painted example in the background) Once I had sharpened the point I cut a 5mm top section to represent a 750mm cone. (cones in place) Need to make a few more of these cones to create the right impression. Many thanks for reading

A very long time ago, I read an article by Cyril Freezer in the Railway Modeller. It was called "Modern Image is Easy" and if you judge by the impact on my modelling it must have been the most important magazine article I've ever read. At least it's the only article that has ever resulted in me scrapping my layout, selling up my stock, and completely changing direction in my modelling. Mind you I was a highly impressionable young teenager at the time. I was then attempting to build what can be classed as a trainset, which was supposed to be a GWR/LMS joint operation, and a branchline. It was GWR/LMS because those were the cool companies in those days , unlike dowdy difficult and neglected things like the LNER or SR, where you needed to be a scratchbuilder of the calibre of Frank Dyer , Barrie Walls, Iain Futers or Nigel Macmillan to be able to make a go of a serious model. At that age I couldn't build a wagon kit tidily. It was a branch line - because that's what you did, as evidenced in the Railway Modeller. And it was steam because it hadn't occurred to me that you could model anything else. In those days even modelling BR steam was a case of "why would you want to model a depressing period of decay like that?" It was a startling revelation to find the editor of the Railway Modeller arguing in detail in a 3 page article that it was not merely possible but straightforward and attractive to model contemporary BR . The attraction of modelling a railway I'd actually seen, rather than one that had effectively vanished about the time I was born and I would never experience, was immediate. The East Lincolnshire line had closed in 1970 so I hadn't seen a lot of the contemporary railway, but I'd seen something . The thing was out there, and getting to Grimsby or New Holland or Market Rasen or even Kings Cross was a great deal more practical than acquiring a TARDIS and visiting the 1930s. And CJF had explained in detail how it could be done. There were even layout plans, taken from his 60 Plans for Small Railways - one of these (that marked 3) purported to fit a continuous run in 6' x 4', and I came to the conclusion that a version could be done in 10' x 8' in the loft. I didn't much like the through terminus Cyril Freezer had drawn so I thought a few loop lines tricked up like a station would act as a sort of fiddle space. So I got parental permission and funding for some lengths of half inch chipboard about 18" wide to be supported off the roof trusses on metal shelf brackets There was no baseboard frame - these were effectively crude shelves. My existing rolling stock - three engines, some coaches and wagons - was sold. (There seemed no point trying to sell the few kits I'd attempted to build. Three wagons were much later rebuilt and recycled for the boxfile, one Ratio coach eventually went in the bin, another has just been completely rebuilt for Blacklade, and that just leaves a badly built GW 4 wheeler which I 'm considering rebuilding as engineer's stock.) With the modest proceeds I had a model railway spending spree. My birthday produced a blue Wrenn class 20, and the rest of the funds went on a blue Airfix 31 - the latest thing in RTR diesels then - three or four coaches and three "BR vans": my first venture into the world of the discount mail order box shifter, bought from a prominent advertiser of the time, Eastbourne Model Centre. I soon discovered that the "BR vans" were not like the ones that took malt from ABM Louth - they were pre-nationalisation types, and further investigation suggested there weren't any of those left. But I was stuck with them , even if they weren't authentic. Cyril Freezer had claimed that an authentic modern BR train could be made up with a van , two brake seconds, an FO, and a catering vehicle; and that a mix of Mk 1 and Mk2 stock was authentic. I duly bought a pair of Hornby Mk2 "BSK"s and an Airfix Mk2D FO . An old Triang Hornby Mk1 RMB was found on a junk shop, and repainted rather roughly into blue-grey with Humbrol enamel (I remember freezer tape was used as masking, the catering red stripe was actually a narrow strip of the original maroon self-coloured plastic, the corners of the grey weren't rounded and there was no lining. Or numbers and branding). I also acquired two Lima BGs, and a pair of their CCTs - I thought I could add a parcels train to the mix. The idea was that with a BG and RMB I had an InterCity rake, with these cut out and a 31 on the front I had a semi fast/local train. My express loco was to be a second hand Triang Hornby 37 , bought for a tenner from the junk shop. It barely ran. I eventually took it to a model shop I'd discovered near Grimsby station to be sorted out. They did their best , but it was still pretty rubbish . I bought a new Lima 08. It was a badly flawed project. Nobody in the family had ever had a model railway, I didn't know any other modellers, there were no local clubs, no local model shops and in those days of course no internet. I was totally on my own bar a few copies of a monthly magazine, and I had no real idea what I was doing. I was under the impression that Brasso would be an effective track cleaner. After all it is sold for polishing metal and rails are metal... The whole thing ran like a dog with frequent derailments. I'd reused every Hornby point I'd ever bought - it's only now, many years later , that I wonder if there might have been some back to back issues in there somewhere , and whether some of the points may have been a bit coarse for some of the wheels. I remember I ultimately rewheeled the Hornby coaches with wheels sold by a model shop in Grimsby - Romfords no doubt. Were those really going to run happily through 1970s Hornby trainset points? About 18 months into the project my father was seconded out to the Australian branch of his company, and progress stopped. We spent most of the next few years in Sydney, where I found a 1500V dc suburban railway with a 15 minute frequency service on my doorstep , and in due course acquired a NSW Student Railpass for use on the same. A chance find of a months old copy of the Model Railway Constructor on the bookstall on Wynyard station ramp led to modelling restarting in the form of a small tram layout , which went through 2 versions , the second of which boasted two BEC kits and worked quite well though it ate card buildings and came back asking for more, and I never did get more than a few centre masts without wires up.. An attempt was made to resurrect Flaxborough when we returned home about 9 months before university, and during holidays , but it didn't work well, progress was limited - and when I moved south to start work the project was quietly abandoned . Modelling restarted about 2 years later with Ravenser Mk1 However this was not quite the end of the matter, because I was a good little boy, kept my stock boxes and packed everything carefully away in cardboard boxes in the parental loft (beneath the derelict remains of the layout). Those boxes eventually ended up in my own flat - and as I don't like wasting stuff , the stock is very slowly resurfacing. The Wrenn 20 and Lima 09 were reused on Ravenser - where their mechanical limitations became abundantly obvious. The Airfix 31 which was probably the best of the locos is now being detailed up for Blacklade. One of the two CCTs has already been comprehensively upgraded, and another awaits its turn. An Airfix LMS van which suffered my first attempt at weathering was reworked for the boxfile, and a Mainline Mink is now earmarked for reworking as a tail load parcels van for the steam period on Blacklade. Other stuff will surface in due course. The two Lima BGs are earmarked as donor vehicles to take a couple of pairs of Comet sides when I pluck up the courage to face attempting blue/grey with spray cans . I don't suppose there'll be a lot left of them when I've finished but at 64' there's not much else to be done . There's a Lima Mk1 SK tucked away somewhere - which raises the question of whether the secondhand Kitmaster SK kit someone gave me should be built as a TSO instead. Most of the TTAs I got for 50p each second hand have now been reworked , and at some point I may get round to reusing the body of the 37 with an Athearn PA1 chassis and some Dave Alexander bogie frames ( both already stockpiled) under it .Whether the Mk2s are really worth the huge effort of upgrading is moot. I started , got seriously discouraged - I'm not sure I'll finish There's one other ghost, a slightly more subtle one. The tram layout, allegedly 4' gauge, was set in a Midlands county town, which was supposed to have a GC and MR presence (E Midlands county towns generally did) . I had a copy of the East Midlands volume of Great British Tram Networks, and Leicester, Nottingham and Derby were very much in my mind. There was supposed to be a city centre tram terminus and a depot outside the lesser , MR, station, serving a secondary group of tram routes , and this was allegedly what was being modelled. The town was called Blacklade, and the square outside the MR station in which the trams terminated was named after my initial misreading of the name of one of the stations on the North Shore line. The real station is Artarmon, but I quite liked my version.... When I needed a backstory and scenario for a small rundown terminus in an East Midlands county town , it was easy to blow the dust off the fiction. I seem to have mislaid the layout photo I was going to scan... (Which is why this post has been an awful long time in draft)

It is not every day that when I am asked what I have been doing that I am able to answer "weathering cows". I had that opportunity today so I grabbed it with both hands. My original plan included the possibility of a cattle dock. The time has come. The cattle dock is going in the original planned location at the back to the right. I want to make most of the features on the layout either scratch built, or made from less familiar kits, in the hope that it will look a little different. I therefore considered scratch building a cattle dock. I looked at how to make the fencing and came to the conclusion that an etch would be the best option. For the gates I thought plastic but it is difficult to fashion such things from scratch in N gauge. As for the platform there are many options but Peco platform edgings seemed like a good option. As I reviewed the options I realised that I was pretty much describing the Ratio cattle dock so this time I decided to swallow my pride and buy the kit. The kit goes together easily. I did however find the lights difficult to make. The posts are very delicate. I managed to snap 2, one while clipping off the sprue with clippers designed for the purpose, the other with a paint brush. I managed to fix them both with Mek Pak! Perhaps 2mm is bit beyond me these days with my aging eyes. The finished kit is shown below plonked on the layout in the intended position. I will have to fix it permanently to deal with the gap at the base. I used a slightly unusual configuration for the gate positions to ensure cattle could be loaded from both pens on this very short siding. It is weathered in a lime washed state complete with weathered Graham Farish cows. The photo tells me that I will also need to blend in the lime washed state to the track and hide the join between the steps and the platform.

So on we go with the CC65000 conversion. The "new" nose is now largely completed at one end of the V200 shell. A lot of filling and sanding required, but I think it's starting to take shape. Nothing to do with the bottle of Balvennie I opened yesterday..... Can anyone suggest a supplier of HO loco parts like buffer heads and air horns? I've scoured ebay but haven't found much that might suit? Thanks Ken

Not the most wildly exciting post, but the signal is now primed! A spot of tidying here and then the top coat. It looks like getting a finial before January isn't going to happen, so soon the next project starts. Much as I'd like to do the ABS guard van kit, I really need to get the three Parkside kits I have left over from an attempt at starting a model shop out of the way, to wit a BR 12T Tube, the inevitable BR sand wagon and an SR brake van. As Lady Provenance is delivering a spay gun on Wednesday I think the brake van will be first. I'm not terribly SR (except for Queen Mary brake vans, I need one of them) but have the paint so this will be eBayed too. The others fit in on the layout, which is nice. Anyhow, here's some pictures of a grey signal.

Having finished my Christmas Dinner duties, boxing day allowed me a little modelling time. I had bought some styrene I beam some time back to create armco barriers to protect the Linkspan headshunt from wayward vehicles. Having completed the French drain and ground plain I thought I could give it a go. There are several ready made armco type barriers on the market but you are always paying a premium for not trying to scratchbuild so I thought I would give it a go. Initially I tried sticking the cutout stanchions onto the barrier then using it to mark out where holes were to be hand drilled in the base layer. It (holes drilled for armco barrier stanchions) Unfortunately the stanchions didn't line up well with the holes so I pulled them all off the armco and stuck them directly in the holes. Armco has a curved end to it which I replicated with a pair of plyers. Before sticking on the armco I painted the stanchions creamy grey and the armco yellow as this seems to be the colour scheme of choice for all traffic management items in Dover. (first section stuck on with holes drilled for the next length) The first section to be complete was around the concrete apron protecting the headshunt from yard traffic. I then started putting armco on top of the embankment and down the side of the ramp using the same technique. Because of the springiness of the I beam I needed to use clothes pegs to help keep the armco in place until the glue had set. The end stanchion was pulled out first time around because of the tension in the bending I beam. I therefore replaced it with a much longer stanchion which held nicely (ramp armco held in place with clothes pegs) Whilst waiting for the glue to set I marked on the armco edges and holding bolts with a fine liner pen (armco joints and bolts marked on) A bit more armco at the end of the ramp and the vehicle barriers around the headshunt was completed. (armco on top of embankment) (completed headshunt vehicle protection) Next challenge will be crushing up some chalk to finish off the base of the white cliffs before adding some additional signage then other than some minor traffic management clutter I think this part of the layout is nearing completion. Thanks for reading (starting to come together)

There's no doubt that I have crossed some form of line. None what so ever... I give you, "Yet another persons home grown DCC generator" (thingie): What is it? It's effectively an alternative to the DCC++ Arduino and Motor shield solution for driving your DCC trains. It is all fresh code which has it's own selection of pro's and con's, but I am chuffed with the LCD giving a second by second summary of what is going on (as far as the Arduino can tell). The "Lnnnn" gives the value returned by the Motor Shield for the power/load passing through the H-Brigde, "Pn" says which track is on (0-none,1=Main, 2=Programming). "Fnn" tells you how many output bit buffers are free. "Tnnnn" indicates how many DCC packets are being transmitting per second. "Uxxxx" is the uptime of the Arduino since last restart. The right hand side gives a brief summary of what the currently active bit buffers are doing. In this case an engine with the DCC ID 473 is going forwards at speed 48. Obviously the Volt & Amp meter are self explanatory. All good fun, so far. Plenty of testing to do .. good excuse to play trains me thinks [Edit] A little film of it working here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9Cz8GeaqVTo8fu1E7 Jeff