cornish trains jez

Hi Pete, Some nice van bodies coming on there. I bought a couple of these lovely kits a long while back. They have since collected dust in a "bits and bobs" box. You've inspired me to rescue them, clean them up and get them back into traffic. Best regards, Jeremy

That would be great! Let me know the dates nearer the time and I'll definitely be there.

Hi Pete, Some very neat woodwork there. Looking forward to seeing some more progress! Best regards, Jeremy

Thanks mate! I'll have to pop in there next time I'm in Cornwall. Maybe they will let me have a sneaky copy!! Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Mickey, The Royal is the next building on my agenda. Just need to make another trip to Par and kindly obtain the permission from the owners to do a bit of measuring. It will be my biggest card building project to date! Hopefully it will turn out alright! Although I may have a bash at building the footbridge first. Best regards, Jeremy

Thanks Pete! It seems to be coming together a bit more now. Glad you like the domino duff. I plan to renumber this one to 47076 "City of Truro". Very appropriately named for Cornwall!! Best regards, Jeremy

Good afternoon, This will be the second blog for me in a week!! Not bad going !! Just thought I would update on the progress of the station building. I have now strengthened the structure with some extra card along the centre of the building which has now made it a little more sturdy. I have also made the doors from artists paper. As these doors are panelled, I first cut out the panelled areas and then glued a second sheet of artists paper behind to represent this, and they have now been positioned into place. I have studied numerous photos online and come to the conclusion that the doors were painted red towards the end of the 80's so this is my chosen colour. Although I may need to tone it down a bit as it has dried a little like "post office red"!! The windows have all been fitted made from a sheet of transparent plastic, scribed using a template for each window drawn onto a sheet of A4, and white paint added to the grooves to represent the frames. The station roof still needs redoing as it is too small. Here are a few progress pics. Hopefully, it is looking a bit more like Par and not some derelict structure as per the photos in my last entry!! Station building with FGW liveried class 57 passing through. View from the bridge with a selection of appropriate stock from the 80's era. View towards the bridge with class 108 just leaving and BR blue liveried class 47 passing through with mail vans. As always, any comments are welcome. Best regards, Jeremy

Thanks mate! The building does look a little basic at present, think I'll take you're advice and give those weathering powders a bash. Never used them before but the results on your moorswater layout looked great! Thanks also for the offer of pictures, I'll keep you posted on that. I'll let you know how I get on. Oh, by the way, have you got JV's Cornish Railways book now? Best regards, Jeremy

Good afternoon all, Not much progress has taken place over the last few weeks but I have managed to get the stone papers cut out and attached to the cardboard base structure. Thank you Pete and Tom for your tips on how to produce the stonework in my last entry, I used a good photo of the station itself and then cut part of the stonework from the photo, and copied and pasted it several times to get a strip of stone work. Then this was printed onto good quality paper and I carefully measured and cut out the door and window apertures before attaching each section to the card structure using PVA glue. I feel the end result has given a fair representation of the stonework. It all looks a bit bare at present and there is still plenty to do on the model and hopefully I can spend a few evenings this week getting the doors and windows sorted ready to be glued into position. Anyway, here are a few progress shots of the building with a temporary roof, which I will have to redo as it is slightly too wide. D'oh!! Any comments very welcome. Best regards, Jeremy

That looks truly fantastic Pete! It's always these little details that really make a difference. I had to look twice at that last photo with the class 37 as it looks so realistic. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Chris, That's looking nice. I was thinking of attempting to build some of these myself. I've got several close up pictures of some ground signals at Par station, so if you think they would be of use, feel free to PM me and I'll e-mail them to you. Best regards, Jeremy

That's looking really good mate!

Thank you.

I don't think she'll want to do that again!

Hi Pete, Thank you for your comments. Think I'll get all the structure ready and then create my own "wall paper" on the computer. Another trip to Par then!!! I have no problems with that! Best regards, Jeremy

I agree, I think taking a photo and then editing on the computer will be my best bet. Noch do some nice papers but the stone one is just a little too dark. Thank you for the links to the Ropley pages.

Hi Mickey, Thank you for your kind comments. I think I am going to have to do a "make do" job with the colour of stone work as there doesn't seem to be very many options on the market. I think all the doors at this station were painted red in the 80's but I can't be sure. Will need to research that. Best regards, Jeremy

Good afternoon, Having had the day off work today, I have managed to finish the basic construction of the station building for Par. When I was down in Cornwall last week, I dragged my fiancee down to Par to measure the station building so as to make the most accurate model possible. I checked permission with the station staff first. So permission granted, and a half hour later (with a very embarrassed wife to be!!) I had my measurements. The main structure is made of 1mm thick card which I collected in my previous job and has been sitting in a box for the last 8 years. I knew it would come in handy one day! I'm still not sure how I am going to represent the stone work as I am struggling to find stone/brick papers with this colour stone printed on. Any ideas would be most welcome. There is still plenty of work to do but here are a few pictures of the progress made over the last week and today. I've also included a few prototype shots. As always, any comments and tips for the rest of the model greatly appreciated. Rear view. Prototype rear view. Side view. Prototype side view. Front view. Prototype front view. Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Pete, That Nikon 50mm lens takes some nice sharp shots, which is one thing I struggle with with my camera. Great layout, I love seeing the updated pictures and the nicely weathered stock. Great job! Best regards, Jeremy

That looks great Tom! Best regards, Jeremy

Hi Pete, I agree with the other guys, the super glue theory sounds like a good plan. Or you could get some real china clay powder and glue some deposits over the furry areas to simulate spilt china clay. From the pictures you have posted though, the layout still looks absolutely amazing and is coming together very nicely! Best regards, Jeremy