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JamFjord

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  1. JamFjord

    A lineage

    By JamFjord,


    research
    In the last blog I said I wasn't going to write anything for a couple of weeks whilst I was deep in the planning stage and starting to acquire materials, but I couldn't resist posting this...
     
    An exciting delivery arrived yesterday. Well, exciting to me anyway. The final piece in a puzzle; completing a picture that should help me to understand 'The Art of Compromise' as a layout, as a trackplan and as an idea.
     
    A couple of weeks ago I’d already found myself a copy of Railway Modeller from October 2018, with Chris Ford's article detailing his interpretation of 'The Art of Compromise' - the layout that has become my project for the next year. Yesterday's delivery brought a copy of RM from October 1978, with the feature by Roy C Link that inspired Chris to create the layout. 
     

     
    I felt a charge of excitement course through me as I held the copy for the first time, and flicked through its pages, enjoying a bit of nostalgia for the publication that I consumed voraciously as a kid (albeit a few years after 1978). Having read Chris’ article first, seeing the piece by Roy before me in its double-page glory felt a little like discovering some long-lost historical document.
     

     

     

     

     
    I’ve included some photos of Chris Ford’s 2018 article as well for context, as this has already been a huge help in understanding how I can best preserve the essence of ‘The Art of Compromise’, whilst also putting my own stamp on it. Well, that’s what I hope to achieve, anyway.
     

     

     

     
    In addition to the two magazines, I also got a copy of Chris’ book ‘Modelling the Great Western Branch Lines’, as well as ‘Great Western Branch Line Termini Volume 1’ by Paul Karau and ‘Industrial Locomotives & Railways of Wales’ by Gordon Edgar. A copy of ‘Great Western Branch Lines: Rural Wales Volume 2’ by Michael Welch is on the way too.
     

     
    That lot should keep me going for a while…
     
  2. JamFjord

    A tall tale

    By JamFjord,


    planning
    As part of my submission to BRM for the ‘Great Model Railway Giveaway’ contest, I knew that my first step would be to develop a story for the layout to tell. 
     
    Although Roy Link's 1978 trackplan is loosely based on Fairford in Gloucestershire, Chris Ford’s version of ‘The Art of Compromise’ suggests a Welsh location, so I wondered whether perhaps there was scope to bring in some kind of industrial theme applicable to rural Mid Wales.
     
    As we all know, every railway needs a reason to exist; in many places that reason was freight more so than passengers, and rural Wales was no exception with many small lines built to transport out the products of local industries.
     
    ‘The Art of Compromise’ already has a small general goods yard so I started mulling a few potential options. Should the goods facilities become something less generalised and more focused on a specific type of freight? Maybe there's a quarry nearby? Or could the setting be a particularly productive agricultural area? Or a timber yard with a sawmill perhaps?
     
    The last proposal really caught my interest, and I remembered that I already have most of the kits I'd need for a small sawmill and light industrial scene based around forestry. After pondering that idea for a while longer, I came up with a fictional scenario as a new theme for the layout, to suit the October 1978 setting I proposed in my previous blog post.
     
     
    The area modelled depicts a small former GWR branch line halt, one of the first stops a few miles along from a main line junction, perhaps somewhere in Powys or Clwyd near the border with England.
     
    As a fairly minor route with little passenger traffic, the line was inevitably slated for closure in 1963 as a result of the Beeching cuts, which would have effectively isolated the local saw mill and timber yard from the railway network.
     
    And although most of the line did indeed close, a group of local volunteers took inspiration from Talyllyn, Gwili, Middleton and countless other fledgling railway preservation groups at the time, working with the support of the sawmill owners to turn the short line into a combined heritage and industrial light railway.
     
    These days, a decade and a half later, the heritage railway keeps a small number of rescued and restored locomotives busy and paid for by hauling timber up to the main line junction's exchange siding throughout the week, then running short trips for tourists and enthusiasts at the weekend.
     
     
    This scenario would allow for a wide range of rolling stock to be employed and could, I think, present some interesting modelling opportunities.
     
    It’s a story full of holes, of course, but I’m hoping it strikes the right balance between plausible and fun.
     
    Thank you for reading and bye for now.
     
  3. JamFjord

    A bit of background

    By JamFjord,


    planning
    With house move plans back to square one, and while illness continues to knock us for six in this house, I thought I’d share a bit more of the background for my plans to remodel ‘The Art Of Compromise’ over the next few months.
     
    When Chris Ford built the layout, his approach was to set creative limitations to work within; firstly to “use the same 12 inch width, but reorganise the plan of buildings for a better fit.” Fine; I’m ok with that - I’ll be doing quite a bit of reorganising of the buildings myself. 
     
    The second of Chris’ self-imposed rules was to "where possible, use only modelling items from the 1978-1988 period." Whilst I can appreciate the appeal and integrity of doing so, that particular creative limitation doesn't really resonate with me, so I would adopt something that I hope at least honours the spirit of Chris' initial build; I’ll be setting the layout in October 1978. 
     
    In addition to the date being a nod to Roy Link’s original plan, it would also allow the layout season to be modelled as autumn, which is something I've wanted to do for a while and a season that doesn't seem to be often represented.
     
    This will bring its own challenges, of course; most of the seasonal modelling supplies available seem to be geared towards spring or summer, and of course, the existing back scene that Howard and Phil carefully fitted to the backboard is definitely not set in autumn. 
     
    Nevertheless, the approach taken by Chris to set creative constraints is an idea I can get behind. I hope that doing so will remove the temptation to keep adding shiny new ideas into the plan, and reduce the chance of ‘scope creep’ stalling my progress with remodelling this layout. 
     
    Thanks as always for dropping by - cheers and bye for now.
  4. JamFjord

    A couple of weeks in limbo

    By JamFjord,


    planning
    So, as predicted in a previous post, this blog has been pretty quiet for a couple of weeks - unfortunately not entirely due to working on this layout in the background, as everyone in this family seems to have been struck down with some perpetually annoying virus over the past fortnight, in addition to which we've finally had some progress on us moving house, which sparked a panic about the amount of clearing out we need to do before that happens! So, with that in mind, now is not the ideal time to be building baseboards or casework, so some of the preliminary work on renewing this layout probably needs to wait for a little while (but hopefully not too long!) 
     
    Neverthless, as a friend helpfully pointed out, there's nothing to stop me building something - anything - to be added to the layout later on. Good shout. So while stuck in woodwork limbo that's what I'll do. The research has been continuing, of course, and more books have arrived to help with that. One idea I'm quite keen on is to add a small industrial-style engine shed for the privately-owned shunter. I'm not 100% sure there's space yet, so anything that can fit will need to be based on a very, very compact prototype. Lots of examples to consider as I got all four volumes of 'Industrial Railway Locomotive Sheds' by Adrian Booth. 
     

     
    My plan for the layout includes some additional buidlings, and I picked up BRM & Metcalfe's Small Cottage kit at Doncaster, and inspired by Phil's article 'How to transform a simple card kit cottage', I'm going to attempt something similar but appropriate to the location. 
     

     
    I'm also considering whether to scratch-build a small chapel in a similar style, based loosely on Rug Chapel and Eglwys Llanbadrig. 
     
    I'll also be needing more models of trees on the layout, so I've been out taking naked photos of their real-life counterparts.
     

    Purely for reasons of anatomical correctness, you understand. 
  5. JamFjord
    Last Sunday, I found myself with a few hours to spare, so I jumped in the car and headed to Wales. I’ve been planning a more organised recce around a series of locations in Powys and the Welsh Marches, to knock off a number of the places I’ve identified as possible prototypical examples for 'The Art of Compromise'. However, Sunday’s trip was just to take a few photos, get a feel for the potential setting and judge whether I’m on the right track (no pun intended, but I’m keeping it). I took a few photos of things that caught my attention - here are some of them. They aren't particularly good photos, but that isn't the point.
     

     

     

     

    Close-knit tangled vegetation at the edge of the forest.
     

    The wooded hillsides and the buildings here both offer good reference, I think.
     

    A very poor shot through the car windscreen, but I love the shapes of these pine trees. Nature is often far more extravagant that we seem comfortable representing in model form.
     

    I took a few reference shots at Llynclys South (the Cambrian Heritage Railways' line in Shropshire). 
     

    Close detail on a hedgerow that should be fun to model.
     

    A shot of the soil I saw around this area, to help me make sure that I get the paint base coat colour right on any new bits of scenery I create.
     
    Books and stuff
    I also had a flick through the books that arrived (see previous post ‘A lineage’) and thought I'd share a few pages that caught my eye.
     

    Chris Ford's ‘Modelling the Great Western Branch Lines’ (above left) and ‘Great Western Branch Line Termini Volume 1’ by Paul Karau (above right) which profiles Fairford in detail, the prototypical basis of Roy Link's 'The Art of Compromise' design.
     

    Michael Welch's ‘Great Western Branch Lines Volume 2: Rural Wales’ (above left) and ‘Industrial Locomotives & Railways of Wales’ by Gordon Edgar (above right). Rather than Fairford's Gloucestershire, the setting of Chris Ford's TAOC build is Wales, which I will be carrying through as I remodel the layout.
     
    All four of these books are packed with good stuff, I've just shared a taste of what's there.

    The latest issue of BRM also arrived, with plenty more motivating pics and articles. I’ve been particularly inspired by Kathy Millatt’s ‘Port Dinorwic’ layout, having followed its creation over a series of live streams on Kathy’s YouTube channel, so it was good to see it captured so beautifully by World of Railways’ Phil Parker. I have a lot to learn from Kathy and from this layout in particular, much of which I feel could be applied to ‘The Art of Compromise’.

     


    Finally, going through my haul of leaflets and cards from the Doncaster show, I found the ‘Introduction to Industrial Modelling’ leaflet I picked up from the Planet Industrials stand. 

     
    On top of the useful tips included, there are some lovely photos by Alan Sewell. James Hilton from PI has been sharing a few of Alan’s photos on his blog, Paxton Road, which is appreciated - Alan seems to have done an incredible job capturing a pivotal era in industrial railways and I haven’t had much luck finding his photography (and detailed notes) elsewhere. Perhaps a book of Alan’s work might be on the horizon?
     
    What’s missing from that photo though? A Planet Industrials mug, I reckon. Here’s hoping we see those added to Light Railway Stores soon (pretty please @cornelius and @James Hilton). 
     
    Thanks as always for reading and bye for now.
     
  6. JamFjord

    An unexpected email

    By JamFjord,


    planning
    Monday morning and a new email popped up, with some news that I'm still not sure I believe; my submission for the first 'Great Model Railway Giveaway' had been picked and I could have the layout if I still wanted it - and could still pick it up from BRM's Festival of British Railway Modelling in Doncaster. Yes please! Part of me still thinks it's all a hugely elaborate hoax, but I'm going to Doncaster anyway - I'm being a little facetious, perhaps, but I'm still not sure I'll truly believe I won the layout until it's in the car. After that, I expect the scale of what I've taken on will properly sink in. 
     
    So, to put some context around what I mean by scale, I've got big plans for this layout and lots to learn to make them happen. I've already been on a very steep learning curve over the past few months, catching up with years of missed developments in model railways. I started my modelling journey young, but I've had a long break. I was obsessed with railways as a kid, both model and full size, but once teen peer pressure and hormones started to take effect, music and entanglements took over and I drifted away. Three decades later the dust started to settle and I remembered how much I used to enjoy creating models. Much the same story as many others re-entering the hobby, it seems. 
     
    So I started this blog to share progress on my first full layout project in a long time, from start to finish, with my hoped-for successes and undoubted failures along the way, getting back up and dusting myself off then getting back on with it again. And having fun - it is a hobby, after all. Hopefully at the very least it might be interesting or entertaining... even better, just perhaps, the end result could be something I will be proud of, maybe even worthy of a few pics in BRM and an invitation to a show. I'll be sharing some details soon on what I plan to do with 'The Art of Compromise', but until then, thanks for reading and bye for now.
  7. JamFjord

    A journey begins

    By JamFjord,


    planning
    So it's here! Got back from Doncaster fairly late on Sunday and had chance for a short gawp at 'The Art of Compromise' before bed. Yesterday was mostly taken up with lots of measuring and photographing the layout from every possible angle, working out how it is constructed under the surface and how to start putting my plan into action.
     
    Having the opportunity for a closer look has revealed some nice details that I hadn't spotted earlier, a young boy spotting trains from the railings next to the bridge, an oil drum mounted on a wooden frame by the coal staith, various goods stored next to the goods shed, common-bond brickwork to the bridge, and tiny, barely visible signs and notices.
     


     
    I was also happy to discover that both my Bachmann Class 08 and newly acquired pre-owned 64xx look equally at home on the layout. That should be a clue for you... 🙂
     
    Next update in a little while, maybe a week or two, whilst I go deep into the planning and start buying the materials I need. Until then, cheers and bye for now.
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