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Chris Nevard

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Blog Entries posted by Chris Nevard

  1. Chris Nevard
    111116_polbrock_IMG_1930_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
     
    The Armchair & Pedant is now in place to hide the right hand exit to the fiddle yard on Polbrock. Of course it still needs a proper sign, but my printer inks have dried up, so until I waste yet more time on cleaning the printer heads and taking out a mortgage to replace the inks it won't be happening for a bit unless I get a print done in the local Boots or Happysnappy next time I'm down in town. The sign on the right hand end of the building is a left over from Brewhouse Quay, and by the way it displays the imaginary 'Marriott Dent & Foster Brewery'
     
    I've cheated with the backdrop here, it is part of the 4 foot long image file created for the backscene which has yet to be printed, and it has been super imposed behind the layout to see how it looks. I'm sure this will probably upset some 3 day old Daily Mail reading Rover 400 (with 'support stocking grey interior of course') driving ex-pats living in Normandy, in that I should be messing about with a computer to appraise what the backscene will look like in advance of physically producing a hard copy, for you I have a special unadulterated photo here with just a sheet of pale blue/grey card behind the layout like you'd like to see in a finescale mag (sorry it's not in B&W)..
     
    What is probably a rather dangerous level crossing will be protected with a warning sign in due course, and probably just behind the loco will be an old shed or platelayer's hut and maybe some more shrubbery to hide the transition between 3D modelling and the 2D backscene.
     
    Realistically this is probably about as far as I'm going to get with Polbrock before The Warley Show this coming weekend where it will be used as a prop to photograph some of the OO gauge new releases. Once that crazy weekend of modelrailwaymania is over, I'll be able to get this little layout to a stage of proper completion.
  2. Chris Nevard

    Moonlight Express

    By Chris Nevard,

    nevard_111120_warely_IMG_1980_MOON_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Under a crisp full moon, 44560 passes Kimble North Signalbox with the late service.
     
    Captured at The Warley Show last weekend; the sodium light is unsuitable for serious photography, so rather than battle with the mixed sodium and daylight, a little Photoshoppery was used which primarily involved removing the ceiling of the NEC and replacing it with a Mediterranean sky. I also decided to de-saturate and colourize much of the image to replicate moonlight. Cheating? Well of course, and what fun it was too. Of course the other option would be to simply turn the photo into black and white, but I hope you'll agree this is a little more fun!
    Here's a bigger version http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6396462497/sizes/o/in/photostream/
    A different version http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6396461731/sizes/o/in/photostream/
    The shot straight out of the raw conversion http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6398987609/sizes/o/in/photostream/

  3. Chris Nevard

    Penguins & Pillboxes

    By Chris Nevard,

    111119_polbrock_IMG_1960-web, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Mr & Mrs Penguin ponder on whether they should go in to The Pedant & Armchair public house next to the halt at Polbrock.
     
    Deep down in the mystical country of Kernow all sorts of strange creatures are know to exist, everything from druids and dragons through to the well known but elusive Beast of Bodmin Moor.
     
    The Pedant & Armchair public house was known to attract all sorts of strange creatures, many with thick unfashionable NHS glasses and rucksacks who were interested in trains, Star Trek and the inner workings of personal computers. Mr & Mrs Penguin where no exception having travelled all the way from the southern tip of Argentina to sample the delights of the Penguin Porter sold exclusively at this pub whilst enjoying a discussion about mother boards or the delights of travelling behind a Brush Type 4 in a British Rail Mk2F carriage.
     
    In reality this is Polbrock my latest tiny micro, it's not even in Cornwall but on my dining room table 25 miles south of the smoke. My wife collects miniature penguins, with this duo being rather interesting; the left hand one is Murano glass and is well under an inch high, the one to the right was carved from wood by an ex-prisoner of war somewhere around Stafford well over 60 years ago. I'll find out more because it's an interesting tale, with this probably being the only ever photograph taken of this delightful little chap who will almost certainly have outlived his creator.
     
    Whilst on the theme of WW2, you'll notice the pillbox that has appeared since the last update, it being the well known Wills kit that appears on every OO gauge club layout in the UK. I'm not sure such a structure would be so close to housing, but it fulfills the need to place something on on the far side of the line are part of the necessary scenic block. And anyway it's been kicking about in my kits-to-be-done box for 5 years so was well overdue.
     
    To please Daily Mail and metallic-support-stocking-beige Rover owners, this little scene has been shot against a sheet of pale blue card rather than having a backscene Photoshopped in. I'm possibly starting to favour the idea of a curved pale blue backscene maybe with a simple water colour over a home-grown photographic one - the jury is still out.

    Find out more about Polbrock here.

  4. Chris Nevard
    111112_polbrock_IMG_1894_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Polbrock - late summer 1971 and the contractors are slowly clearing the line from a railhead 4 miles to the west of here. By May 1972 the rails had finally gone for good.
    Bigger version of the above photo here.

  5. Chris Nevard
    Earlier today a much awaited Beattie Well Tank commissioned by Kernow Model Rail from Dapol was handed to me by the postman. This is the main reason for my current 'micro' taking the name of Polbrock, it being built to justify this delightful purchase which rarely ventured outside Cornwall.
     
    This isn't a review, that's been well and truly covered in the popular press and on various railway forums, so this more of a punter's appraisal, and the first thing to make an impression was just how great the packaging is, a proper foam inlaid box complete with a ribbon inside! I normally chuck the packaging, but won't be doing so in this case. The little loco is tiny indeed, after seeing close-up photographs in the various reviews for some reason I thought it a little bigger, but of course the real thing was only pint sized, it spending most of its life on the lightly laid Wadebridge to Wenford Bridge line pottering about mostly with mixed goods and china clay wagons.
     
    Looking at the photo above which I've lit to highlight the fine detail, shows that this is really no toy with a plethora of separate mouldings all factory applied, leaving just some vacuum pipes and route disks for the owner to place should he or she so desire. In my case I'll add these along with some working screw couplings topped off with a little weathering and probably some replacement real coal.
     
    This loco as already mentioned is a special commission by Kernow Model Rail, and from what I can gather as with Model Rail's recent Sentinel also commissioned from Dapol selling really well. I do hope though that the majority of purchasers are modellers who intend to run these locos and not funny collectors who will simply keep them in boxes under their beds away from Mother who will almost certainly disapprove of their flamboyant purchase.
    If you'd like to see a few more snaps of 30587 like the shot above, follow this link HERE.

  6. Chris Nevard
    111109_polbrock_IMG_1809_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Hopefully a little scene a tad like that from the excellent Railway Bylines? Here we picture an EWS class 08 trundling through Polbrock with coal for the nearby china clay works. Passenger trains haven't stopped here since 1967, and despite lack of use the ex-GWR corrugated iron 'Pagoda' looks in fine form considering its age. It would also appear to be in Southern Region colours, a result of frequent regional boundary changes.
     
    Enough twaddle; it is of course the latest micro-project, today seeing a flurry of static grass activity whilst trying out a new budget static grass tool. The layout could still do with a good vacuum to remove the excess fibres but I think the result speaks for itself which is a bargain at £25 plus a little extra for postage. You now have no excuse to use dyed sawdust anymore - well for grass anyway.
     
    There's quite a bit more to do on the little layout, for starters I need to fabricate two buildings to go in the far distance to act as a scenic barrier to the fiddle yard by the level crossing 'Helland Bridge style' (that sounds sort of Chinese take-away). The building in shot is my Cornish engine house which is temporarily standing in for this snap. Things like telegraph poles need to be added along with an open to the elements ground frame (do any of you fine folk know of a suitable supplier?). The photo here was shot in the garden against a big blue board for the sky, there will be a built in curved photo-back scene eventually depicting a hazy Cornish landscape.
     
    Whilst I won't have the layout finished, I will be able to take it along to The Warley Show at the NEC to use as a OO gauge photo prop on the Model Rail stand. See you there.
    A bigger version of the above photo here.
    Find the budget grass tool here.

  7. Chris Nevard
    I've had a rather busy week out snapping other people's model railways and taking care of the airwaves for a minority satellite TV sports channel. I have however shoe-horned a little time to carry on with the 'Cornish Project' which now has a name in the form of 'Polbrock' which is one of the places the Bodmin to Wadebridge line passed through. I'm not going to be too specific on the history, that way I'll hopefully avoid being nobbled by all the 'model railway experts' who've never even pinned a length of set track to an old door.
     
    As you can see from the snap, the track is now down and wired up. The scenic basics are now taking shape, the not too obvious curved perimeter will allow for the curved backscene to fit between the edge of the layout and the diorama box the tiny little layout will sit inside when finished.
     
    The backscene has been created, well electronically anyway from various bits of West Country photographic imagery, and is now a 4ft x 1ft 300 dots per inch PDF ready for the local printers to print off onto a suitable material as with Catcottt Burtle. No Peco-Disneyesque 3 inch high backscene here, time really has moved on with the advent of the home computer, high street repro houses and commercial printers that will print anything on to anything for a few sovs.
     
    Since the above snap was taken the siding has been ballasted and the scenic sub base built up with tissue paper dipped in PVA coated in coloured plaster.
     
    Jobs still to do...
    Ballast the though line
    Complete the fiddle/staging yards
    Finish the diorama box with backscene and lighting
    Ground colour
    Scratch-build 2 buildings for the scenic break behind the camera (pub/old barn)
    Scenics

  8. Chris Nevard
    Operator's cake, this hospitality rapidly becoming the trademark of Wycrail, with the cakes becoming more luxurious year on year!
    
    Wycrail is always a shining jewel in the toy chuff chuff calendar, it being a wray of virtual sunshine the weekend after the clocks change plunging us into dismal, miserable darkness for 5 months. I gather it's to do with farmers in the very north of the British Isles, though why they cannot just set their clocks an hour later than everybody else for the winter months I have no idea, especially seeing most of them are being subsidised by the UK tax payer. In the UK we've always been rather too obsessed with the minority and underdog at the expense of everybody else, well almost, the almost pointless Channel 5 stills needs to be replaced with 'Channel Rail' for us nutters with minority hobbies. Best stop, I'll get in to trouble and have my trainset trampled all over by a flock of irate sheep, hardy men in kilts and Channel 5 employees!
    

    Ian Mellors' 91000 'R. A. Riddles' powers through Catcott Burtle with a secret test train on a sunny late-summer morning.
    
    With my morning grump over; Wycrail was great fun with a good crowd around Catcott Burtle for most of the day, even during those silly moments put on especially to wind up enthusiasts from Tonbridge Wells featuring Ian Mellors' facinating 'could have been' creation of a Riddles 91XXX 2-8-2 (that's it above by the way). His stunning loco had on-board sound which even works with DC. Clever chap that Ian, and you can find out more about all of his smart stuff here. Rumour had it 'R.A. Riddles' will be appearing in the popular press soon as well - top man! I'm waiting now for some person who lives in a bungalow or who shares a bed with mother to tell me that such big locos would never have run along the former S&DJR - I wonder if they've ever heard the sound of a raspberry?
    

    Cheers 'anonymous benefactor'!
     
    Beer? Yup, correct! Halfway through the morning a really top chap (who wishes to remain anonymous) took me to one side and handed by a couple of bottles of ale from the Loose Cannon Brewery in Abingdon. They're a thank you for all my silly BLOG postings apparently, silly fool, there's far better stuff to read on the interweb I'm sure. Still, thank you kind sir - I will enjoy these very much!!! It's also great to know that the smell of boiling hops and malt now floats over Abingdon again now that Old Speckled Hen has become an ex-pat living in Suffolk after running off with somebody called Greene King.
     

    A visitor in the form of Ian McKechnie's ex-GWR Collett 0-6-0 No 3218 is captured plodding through Catcott Burtle with an afternoon empty return milk trains destined for the dairy at Bason Bridge.
    
     Finally I must thank Ian Mellors and Ian McKechnie who kindly gave up their Saturdays to play trains on my trainset. And before I go, I must point you in the direction of Ian McKechnie's website featuring his photography of the real SDJR in the mid-1960's, without it, Catcott Burtle would not be the layout it is - www.3218.co.uk/
  9. Chris Nevard
    nevard_110101_catcott_IMG_1728_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
     
    It's Wycrail this weekend, so Catcott Burtle has been set up for the last week or two sufficiently high off the ground to hopefully avoid the various scenic details being chomped on again by the cat who has a taste for white metal, brass and plastic card.
     
    The happy snappy above is of Catcott, the ficticious (maybe more 'faction') scenario depicting a mixed train off the Bridgwater Branch which regularly featured such trains. It's unlikely that an ex-GWR wheeled coach would have been used in this service, but I hope you'll agree it looks the part. The Morris 8 Series E, suitably grottied up adds a little depth to the shot. I'm guessing it's the photographer's car.
     
    Another dose of the pedants; the other day I received 'one of those armchair' emails that pops through from time to time with some chap taking great delight in telling me that I've got it all wrong because Catcott never had a halt and sidings. He'd even been on Google Earth to point other bits out that are different to the actual location. Well I know that of course, and because my parallel universe version is so different it's pretty obvious that this is a bit of fiction! This hobby is full of people with little imagination sadly, who only see things as black or white. I do wish they'd spend their time more contructively and actually do some model making rather than stating the obvious and wasting internet bandwidth. I consol myself in that he's probably a traffic warden with aspirations of being a lion tamer - he'll almost certainly have a squeeky voice and definately share a bed with 'mother' despite being 64 years of age.
     
    If you're the pedant, because I'm sure you read this blog and because I'm not known to suffer fools too well, here's what Catcott Burtle is all about (again):
     
    'Catcott Burtle, a could have been scenario which is heavily influenced by the BBC TV film Branchline Railway, and having been taken in by the wild open feel of the area much dominated by willow, water and big skies. Many roads in the area crossed the railway via manned level crossings rather than bridges, with each crossing having its own crossing keeper and railway cottage. Several of the cottages had no running water or electricity right up to closure in 1966, the water being delivered by rail in milk churns! Catcott, one of the many crossings on the line never was a halt or had sidings. In the parallel universe world here, imagine if to serve the local peat deposits things had been very different?'
    Find out more about Wycrail here

  10. Chris Nevard

    Damage!

    By Chris Nevard,

    nevard_090820_elford_4z05_66546_DSC_5501_web, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Damaged cross members on the 4Z05 empty Drax - Daw Mill coal train captured at Elford Loop on Thursday 20 August 2009.
     
    Right, now I have your attention; that cat hasn't had a rampage by the way, however here's something I've never seen modelled, probably because it would be quite tricky trying to get the effect with moulded plastic - more of that in a minute. I'm no expert on coal hoppers and loading, but this looks like damage that could have happened during the loading? Most of the wagons in the train had this damage so presumably it's quite normal.
     
    If one wanted to model this interesting feature, it might be possible to remove the centres of the partitions and replace with some suitably distressed aluminium take-away container maybe?
     

  11. Chris Nevard

    Demolition!

    By Chris Nevard,

    nevard_110101_catcott_IMG_1739_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Catcott Crossing, September 1966. It's just 6 months after closure and the demolition contractors have already started to dismantle the railway. Most of the railway buildings on 'The Branch' survived the demolition men, with many of then ending up in private hands, unlike the Bath to Bournemouth line which ended up losing well over half its stations to the swinging iron ball.
     
    It's interesting now as to whether the same thing happened again whether such woeful vandalism would be tolerated - for starters there are few people who would turn down the chance of owning an old railway station these days, certainly there would be far more money in such than a pile of stone rubble. But of course in the 1960's everybody hated anything old, we wanted new and modern, after all it was the space age! Now 40-50 years on we see old buildings that avoided the developers' mallets outliving some of the appalling tat the defined much of 1960's and 1970's Britain.
     
    I was only looking through a book of immediate post-war photographs of my home town the other day, and noticed just how much vandalism took place in the late 1960's, certainly down by the river and the main railway station. The book displayed some beautiful medieval architecture, the sort of architecture, which had it survived to the present day would easily place my town alongside the beautiful cities of York and Bath. Sadly now, due to likely backhanders at local government level a generation and a half ago my town will never achieve such status, but I'm sure it ensured a comfortable retirement for the already fat cats who passed the schemes. One can however take joy in the fact that many of these semi-legal abominations are now being demolished, it's just a shame that the individuals who instigated these urban re-developments are have mostly passed way and cannot see their demise.
  12. Chris Nevard
    nevard_111016_catcott_IMG_1527_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    The excellent Wycrail in High Wycombe is in just under 3 weeks on Saturday 5 November, and this year I've been invited to take Catcott Burtle along for the day.
     
    'CB' is all ready to go, so there's no midnight oil to burn, which will make a nice break fom the norm, but I do need to finish repairing an ex-LSWR lattice signal post that one of the cats chewed the top off. I don't know why, white metal and brass hardly makes a tasty snack even for cats I wouldn't have thought, but I'm no cat so what do I know? Still, I've managed to get the signal into the right shape again and it now works, it just needs the replacement finial fitting in place, ably supplied by the excellent Wizard Models at the recent Scaleforum.
     
    'What's with the class 121 bubble car?' you might ask, well I imagine most are fed up seeing the usual steam trains in photos of the layout, so I dug out this conversion of a Lima 2 car unit I performed back in the early 1980's when the real thing was still running (actually it still is on the Colne Valley Railway). W55033 portrayed, was a regular on the Bridport branch in the line's latter years and was probably my reason for choosing that number seeing we lived in the area for a short time in the 1970's.
     
    It actually looks the part, but of course the Highbridge - Evercreech line shut in March 1966, but imagine if the line had remained open to Glastonbury to serve the Clarks shoe factory and to transport revellers to Glastonbury Festival in June?
    Find out more about Wycrail
    Find out more about Catcott Burtle

  13. Chris Nevard
    nevard_111011_CatcottB_IMG_1462_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    It's not generally known, but following on the success of the Ealing Comedy, 'The Titfield Thunderbolt', the iconic Ealing Studios shot a sequel called 'The Return of the Titfield Thunderbolt' in the summer of 1956. The film was released the following summer, but was a complete flop due to the total Americanization of the cast, so sadly the movie has been lost in the mists of time but does occasionally make a secret appearance as a projected 16mm colour print at Lodge meetings in the area.
     
    The film which was shot on the Highbridge Branch of the former S&DJR and used a Sentinel vertical boilered engine borrowed from the Marriott, Foster & Dent Brewery in Bath. The ex GWR 4 wheeled passenger carriage was loaned from British Railways Pontypridd Permanent Way Department and was hastily repainted in BR Carmine for the film. Sadly the carriage caught fire during a take when the on-board still producing 'Mallingford Magical Moonshine' blew up near West Pennard a couple of weeks after this shot was taken.
     
    Ivan Locksmith, as always was around to capture unusual workings on the former S&DJR, and as usual he has posed his latest car in shot, much like his good friend Ivo peters.
     
    If you believe any of the above, you'll believe anything! Catcott Burtle will be at Wycrail on Saturday the 5th of November, so though it best to dig the old girl out for an up and under. And for people that think photography is all Photoshop these days, only the puff of exhaust blowing in the strong south-westerly is.
     
    Here is a bigger version of the above photo http://www.flickr.co...57612020895249/
  14. Chris Nevard

    Sweet Bridge

    By Chris Nevard,

    111008_cornish_int_IMG_1410_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    A very kind Mr Sweet mailed me this rather nice bridge casting for the Cornish project last week. I'm sure you'll agree that it is a wonderful piece of work, with nice deep rendering which would be quite tricky to achieve by scratchbuilding.
     
    When it arrived, I expected it to be resin or plaster, but much to my surprise it is fibreglass! The stone being moulded into the gel coat. The joy being that it is very tough and very light - ideal for a portable layout.
     
    The shot above shows it in primer in preparation for dry brushed top coats of various pale greys, beige, browns, creams and so on. Real stone is a fascinating mix of subtle different colours and shades, and certainly nothing like the painting-by-numbers approach often used which feature large blocks of solid colour - that approach suits engines and carriages just fine, but not hacked up materials straight from the ground which will have been exposed to the elements for decades.
     
    I'd be very interested to know more about this stone effect beauty, because fibreglass is not a material we normally associate with toy chuff chuffs, it being more a material of yachts, dingies, kit-cars and the aeroplane industry.
  15. Chris Nevard
    111007_cornish_int_IMG_1430_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Track laying on the Cornish thing using C+L components; note the folded etched brass chairs where strengthening copper clad sleepers are required. They are a test product from Pete Harvey Designs www.phd-design.co.uk/ of this 'ere parish.

    Normally one would simply solder the rail to the sleeper top, then have to cut in half the C+L plastic chairs and glue - quite a fiddly task. All that's needed here will be a good splosh of liquid flux and a dab with a loaded soldering iron. The brass also takes care of the gap between the sleeper top and the bottom of the rail. Once painted, ballasted and weathered, they'll blend in just fine - especially seeing in real life they're a lot smaller than seen here.
  16. Chris Nevard

    Micro progress

    By Chris Nevard,

    111002_cornish_int_IMG_1427_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    The little GWR/LSWR-Cornish-esque 2'10" x 12" micro continues to take shape. Not bad I guess seeing it was only a twinkle Sunday before last - but it is only dinky winky so no great challenge.
     
    Yesterday you saw the GWR 'pagoda' and platform manifest, and the afternoon before saw a little track construction using C+L components. Note the lower level siding and catchpoint, something that's nearly always missed from sidings joining main running lines on models.
     
    Here we see much of the whole caboodle from roughly where the level crossing will be. Note the bridge marking the boundary to the fiddle yard on the left hand side; the rather delightful structure being courtesy of 'GWRrob' on RM web. Currently it's halfway through the paintshop and it sitting in primer ready for the dry-brush top coats. I hope you'll agree that it's got some lovely stone rendering, but it might surprise you (it did me) that it's made from fiberglass, the moulded gel-coat representing the stonework suggesting a 1960's kit maybe? Tell me if you know more.....
  17. Chris Nevard
    111002_cornish_int_IMG_1420_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Cornish Interlude (working title) update
     
    What better that to move the workbench outside when the weather is as good as it has been! No need to hoover up after either!
     
    This weekend saw the repaint and weather of a Bachmann Scenecraft GWR 'Pagoda'. The weekend also saw the construction of a short platform from foam board, embossed plastic card and Das modelling clay. Note the faded BR Southern Region colours, this to display ongoing region changes between the SR & WR.
  18. Chris Nevard

    Books

    By Chris Nevard,

    110928_cornish_int_IMG_1342_02_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Cornish Interlude (working title) update.
     
    Railways enthusiasts generally love books, and I am no exception, needing little excuse to buy another for the collection. They are never idle purchases, they get looked at over and over again to inspire my model making. I think this is why I have far too many ideas, the purchase of a new book inevitably resulting in the back of an envelope sketch for some kind of mini or not so mini layout or simply to help capture that all important atmosphere.
     
    You'll note in the bigger version of the above snap a strong Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway bias with many of the books, which as many will know is my favourite line, I'm unsure why, having no real connection with the area other than frequent short breaks in Georgian Bath which was the northern terminus of the line. I imagine it must be the wonderful photography and colour film by Ivo Peters that did it - I'm not alone here.
     
    I also like gritty moody black and white photography of real working steam, that will be the reason for the 2 Colin Gifford books, firstly the hugely iconic 'Decline of Steam' and his later book Steam Finale North. Many years ago I asked a second hand book seller to keep an eye out for a copy of Decline of Steam, and much to my surprise, 11 years later he got in touch with a copy - now, that's service! No it's not for sale by the way....
     
    In case you think the latest Cornish project has stalled, quite the contrary, it is underneath all the books which are holding in the foam core trackbed firmly in place on top of the plywood base whilst the glue sets in preparation for tracklaying.
  19. Chris Nevard
    110927_cornish-interlude_IMG_1336_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    3 hours work with glue, hammer, saw, blood, less fingers, and we have a baseboard in a box.
     
    This is probably the average time most armchair modellers sit online before lunch pontificating about flanges, why they've lost interest in the hobby, why they don't have enough time to actually do anything, why 66134 has not been released in S gauge, why aren't model railway magazines free and how much Photoshop does that Mr Nevard use on model chuff chuff pics (very little). Actually I don't really dislike armchair modellers, in fact "some of my best friends are armchair modellers", they're just an easy target like people with caravans, lager drinkers, Nissan Micra owners, shell suits and trainspotters with adenoidal voices. In fact, I'd like to see a gallery of these armchairs to see who has the most impressive one. Does anyone have one with a high wing back in red velvet with an ornate gilt frame like on 'Big Bruvverrr'?
     
    Back to the trainset - The box is not fixed to the baseboard at this stage, that won't happen until after the track has been laid and the bulk of the scenic work done. Actually I might just screw it into place to allow future removal should I want to extend the layout. The backscene will be on flexible plastic and will sit inside, the natural curve of the plastic will ensure no sharp corners. The local printer will print my home-grown photographic backscene onto it.
     
    The track will be laid straight onto 5mm foam core (there is a plywood base underneath), it takes glue easily, it might (though I doubt) just sound-deaden a tad, lies flat and it easy to draw on. As long as the surface is waterproofed (primer) before ballasting with diluted PVA there won't be any problem with the card de-laminating away from the foam core having used it successfully with Brewhouse Quay and Catcott Burtle.
     
    Next, I'd better get some track laid I guess, I'll be using C+L components for that. Before I go and pour a well deserved beer, this is the inspiration for the exit on the right hand side http://homepage.ntlw...ics/helland.jpg
    Lost? Yesterday's introduction to this little project: http://nevardmedia.blogspot.com/2011/09/having-little-doodle.html
    Any thoughts on a name for this little layout?

  20. Chris Nevard

    Having a little doodle

    By Chris Nevard,

    cornish interlude 01_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    I like doodling and thinking of ideas for small layouts, small layouts appealing to me because they can cater for all the different type of railways I like. I don't think I could ever commit to just one big project, I'd probably get bored halfway through.
     
    Here we have a back of an envelope plan for a 3x1 foot (excluding fiddle yards) micro depicting a fictitious halt and crossing on the Wenford Bridge branch line. The forthcoming Kernow Model Rail commissioned Beattie Well Tank being the catalyst and now on order!
     
    The rear of the layout will be about 3 inches higher than the front which will be a gnat's todger lower than the rail height, the halt being set into the cutting on the far side. High 'Cornish hedges' will add a nice and easily achieved feature. The backscene will be photographic as with Catcott, (see here) this I'll shoot myself, and prepare for the local repro/printing house (I have just penned an article for the popular press on how to do such). I will probably use a flexible 1 foot high plastic base for this which will give me the all important curved corners rather than using 'Bendy MDF' as with Brewhouse Quay. The photographic image will be treated a little in Photoshop (with 'Paint daubs' as with Catcott) to get rid of the pure photographic look, it's important that the modelling takes centre stage rather than the backscene, but it's also important with such a small layout that it feels like it is part of a much bigger landscape.
     
    Bigger version of the above sketch:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6186238153/sizes/o/in/photostream/
  21. Chris Nevard

    Sunday Night Snaps

    By Chris Nevard,

    With work looming for many tomorrow, here's a little cheer up snapped earlier today in the car park at Scaleforum! Brewhouse Quay, not you you can tell was balanced on the roof of my car, it not being officially part of the show. The lovely little loco, an Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 is owned by Captain Kernow - oh lucky chap! Click on the photos below to enlarge.....



     



  22. Chris Nevard

    Grain Wagon

    By Chris Nevard,

    nevard_110920_grain_IMG_1294_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Currently on the workbench; a Dapol grain wagon. Breweries and maltsters need barley to turn into malt, so at least a couple of grain wagons will not look out of place on Brewhouse Quay and as part of a good train for my other layouts.
     
    At Model Rail Live last weekend, the fine folk at Kernow Model Rail Centre who had a stand at the show with all sorts of goodies, also had a bargain bucket to suit cheapskates like me who like to pick up models to have a fettle with. In there was the above - perfect!
     
    Research begun with a peruse of Paul Bartett's excellent wagon website, with the discovery of this rather useful page of unfitted grain wagons http://paulbartlett....c0988#h141fb379
     
    Comparing photographs on Paul's website, this older model has quite a few errors, the main one being that the underframe is completely wrong, especially when it comes to the brakes and associated gubbins. Some brass wire, strip plastic card, the spares box and a little time should be able to address this. The long vertical strips that run from the roof to the chassis do not bend in nearly enough where they join with the chassis, but they will have to stay, trying to rebuild that aspect would be a major headache. There are probably all sort of other faults, but until I complete my adenoidal voice training evening classes I'll have to pass on those for the time being.
     
    Despite its failings, this wagon does 'look like' a BR grain wagon, and the mouldings are nice and crisp so it should be possible to create something that 'captures the character' - so will be good enough for what I want it for - given the time I have to put into this project.
    Paul Bartlett's Wagon Website - book mark this!

  23. Chris Nevard

    Duffers day out!

    By Chris Nevard,

    Yesterday a few of us nutcases met up for a jolly tracking down full sized trains with cameras in the north Oxfordshire/Warwickshire area. Without rambling on too much about what a nice day we had hanging about on station platforms and railway bridges - here are the results. Oh yes, and we also bumped into fellow blogger Phil Parker.
    To the PHOTOS

    You might like to check out what fellow photographers Chris Perkins and Tony Callaghan captured on their cameras too.
  24. Chris Nevard
    Chain shunting a wagon at Brewhouse Quay onto the wagon turntable, the turntable then rotates and the wagon is pulled clear.
     
    A wagon with more drag would probably produce a better effect - something else to add to the pile of things to be done.
     
    In real life shunting like this would be done with rope with chain only on the the very ends, but sadly law of physics give fine thread too much memory to be practical for such a small model.
     
    Sorry, I have no idea how to embed a clip...
  25. Chris Nevard

    Thanks!

    By Chris Nevard,

    nevard_110918_MRL_DSC_3766_WEB, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.
     
    Thank you to all who popped by to say "Hi" at Model Rail Live over the weekend at Barrow Hill Round House whilst exhibiting Brewhouse Quay for it's inaugural outing. I've never been to a show quite like this with indoor and out door exhibits. This made an unusual mix to appeal to fans of all railways whether miniature or full sized. It also made a great day out for families with the addition of train rides and even face painting for the little ones.
     
    I was surprised and indeed chuffed to meet for real so many readers of this blog, which now makes me realise that people actually do read it - I must be more careful before commenting on people with beige cars who live in bungalows in future. I also hope after my excessive postings about this little 4x2 foot trainset weren't too much of a disappointment for those who saw it for real.
     
    Thank you also to the rest of the Model Rail team right next door who were handed the controller and three link coupling hook from time to time to allow me to escape for the obligatory chips with curry sauce and the all important tea! I have never seen a more terrified look than when I handed the operational tools of 'BQ' over to Chris Leigh and said "you'll be fine!".
     
    Thank you to the Barrow Hill posse who made us very welcome, which even extended to an impromptu pub crawl of Chesterfield's bright-night spots, the highlight observing the antics of 'yoof' taking part in a never ending carnival of hen and stag parties from the safety of an Indian restaurant in the town centre.
     
    Before I go, yes, the chain capstan/wagon turntable shunting worked a dream after a little practice - Mr Tele-Rail recording the process as proof! Trick? File a couple of tiny notches onto the turntable rails near the perimeter to stop the wagon rolling off!
     
    Brewhouse Quay will be shown next at Railex in May 2012 and Wycrail in November 2012. I might pop it into the boot of the car for a rebel car park showing at Scaleforum this coming weekend - I won't tell the organisers if you don't - hush hush....
    Be sure to check out George Dent's BLOG post on Model Rail Live.

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