Chris Nevard

Does it work? ..... damn, can't find my coat......

I use a Gaugemaster hand held feedback unit. With good mechanisms, well laid and clean track there is no reason why DC shouldn't be as good as DCC. I think DCC might help with a low grade mechanism - I feed back controller will help in this respect too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alp5njFTJZs The new Bachmann S&DJR 7F 2-8-0 performing some test runs on Catcott Burtle. Any jerkyness seen will be the YouTube processing and compression. In real life I'm very impressed by the smooth running qualities - sadly not seen here on YouTube. For my original review and some nice stills, follow this LINK.

Thank you for all the kind comments, scenic as most know is my favourite bit. I'm looking forward to seeing Lower Peak Wharf and might have to grab a few snaps if there's time. I recall a nice little featurette some time ago in the Toddler(?) and being reather impressed!

nevard_110103_catcott-reeds_IMG_8878_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia. When somebody mentions hemp, especially if they look a tad thin, speak rather slowly in a warbling manner, have their hair platted, wear colourful home knits as well as knitting their own wall paper, we tend to associated it with something smoked that will generate a mind altering experience. Yeah-man! For most people who are not so much into ‘vegetable rights and peace’ as coined by Neil off the early 1980’s BBC comedy ‘The Young Ones’, they will know it is the key ingredient of another kind of joint and one which is serviced by a plumber to stop leaks. Us modelrailway nutters have a third use for it, and one that is mainly artistic. The fibrous nature of the stuff which looks oddly like the hair of a hippy is perfect for replicating anything from miniature thatch through to fields of barley at Pendon, and in my case reeds when coloured. The above is part the canal side reburbishment of Catcott Burtle currently taking place for the Astotolat Model Railway Show in Guildford on Saturday 15 January 2011.

This all looks good and solid. Like the concept of high but narrow. I bet you're popular with all that expanded foam about

Low relief buildings backing onto the station platform with big signs depicting one or of all of these: Argos, Lidl, Iceland, Halfords. Never Waitrose, Sainsburys, Harrods, Hattons, Harvey Nics or John Lewis sadly.

I believe the number will just be printed on the actual production model, so you can have any number you like with the purchase of an etched plate B)

I won't say that it han't crossed my mind. I've a brewery and a coal mine to finish first, then who knows? A street scene diorama using Arititec kits and some ready to run trams ought be be quite easy.

Loco had only been out of the box 20 mins when I took this snap

Just before the Xmas holiday I started to lay the track on Brewhouse Quay. The delay in getting the snaps here being due to that increasingly shocking excercise of actually interacting with people face to face (cue the H&S Executive for another new directive no doubt) rather than keyboard, eating all the wrong foods, drinking too much beer in foreign climes and probably in due course getting a dose of lurgy due to all public places being heated to suit the staff rather than the heavilly dressed public. Initially the plan was to use ready made track, but after messing about with Xtrakcad it came apparent that I would not be able to shoe-horn in the track plan that I wanted into the small area. And anyway, with nearly all the buildings being ready to plant I needed some challenge having not built my own track since Catcott Burtle in 2007. The track as you'll see is traditional copper clad construction, but rather than using the more usual code 75 bullhead rail I'm aiming for that light railway/industrial look by using code 55 marketed by C+L Finescale for OO/HO. Code 55 is about as light a code as one can go in OO realistically to avoid ready to run wheel flanges bouncing along the sleeper tops. Seen here are the first few inches with rail laid, and those with keen eyes might just notice the destressed copper clad scratched to represent timber. Sleeper gapping to avoid a short circuit is just to the rear of the nearest rail so to avoid an unsightly groove when seen from the front of the layout. When soldering the rail to copper clad sleepers, to avoid that tell-tail look often seen with blobs of solder on the side of the rail which would spoil that flat-bottomed look, I'm pre coating the sleepers with a thin coat of solder and then 'sweating' pre-fluxed rail onto the sleeper surface. Whether I add cosmetic rail spikes remains to be seen, for much of it only the rail tops will be seen protruding out of fine ballast or cobbles and some of the less recent ready to run offerings may just brush the spikes. Such can always be added at a later stage when the layout is nearely complete. The baseboard top is plywood, but seen here is what looks like a foamboard base - correct! To make track laying easier due to the fixed high backscene that that surrounds 3 of the 4 sides, I'm using a removeable sub baseboard which will then be permanently fixed into place once the more tricky aspects of tracklaying have taken place. In due course, ballasting with diluted PVA could cause the foamboard to delaminate, so to avoid the possiblity of that happening, as long as the whole lot is painted prior to ballasting this will not be an issue. As with other projects I generally use a blend of Halfords red primer, grey primer and matt black. One could of course use Railmatch 'Sleeper Grime', but Halfords bonds to the metal better, dries quicker and can be bought from around the corner. Below: to illustrate the future, looking back to 2007 here is primed track using Halfords on Catcott Burtle ready for ballasting. This example is of course C&L bullhead with chairs.

Here's a spare shot of the new Bachmann SDJR 7F 2-8-0 left over from the other day, and whilst it wasn't taken specifically for the cab detail, it does demonstrate how nice the detail is from a normal viewing angle. I make no apologies for the car which is from a Sprinsgide white metal kit, it's simply there because I like it. The only enhancement is the puff of smoke, again because I like it. The crew are stood on the platfom behind the loco Click to enlarge. Version without the inset http://www.nevardmed.../p68544026.html

nevard_101226_munich-tram_IMG_8832_web, originally uploaded by nevardmedia. For a change we decided to escape the Christmas mayhem and head to Munich for a few days, not really for any cultural experience but unashamedly to sup a few beers in the various beer halls all over this beautiful city. And anyway, most things are shut over the Christmas period and let's face it, it's way too cold to do much else so I don't feel the slightest bit guilty in this respect! Of course one needs to get around, and I was most impressed with the 47 mile tram network and how the Germans don't let a dusting of that cold white stuff cripple everything. Every city should have a tram network, they're quiet, they get you from A to B very quickly and they don't leave everything under a cloud smelly smog every time they move. I won't drone on any more, there are lots sites that will cover green issues and more of what I've touched above, and anyway whilst Munich is a fabulous place, I haven't had a proper cuppa for days so I'm off to have one now.... Here are the rest of my snaps Munich Trams

Hi 66c - sadly your link does not work. No actually prototype, just various back of envelope sketches which were rather limited by the layout of the brewery buildings and the small space whilst trying to keep some kind of theatre that would work visually, photographically and give some kind of operating interest that might have a span of more then 30 seconds. Brian Harrap's excellent Quai:87 did make me think a bit more about track (sshhh, don't tell anyone, but you'll be able to his layout in print early next year).

Bigger view? Click on the photos above and below for a bigger version! B) Bachmann's much anticipated SDJR 7F 2-8-0 has finally arrived at Nevard Towers from Hattons in Liverpool, and what a beauty she is too. I'll refrain from commenting in detail too much, because there are many merry souls who get out even less than me who'll no doubt keep the forums bulging over the next couple of months with stuff about the loco that you cannot see. To me Bachmann have captured the look of this iconic heavy freight loco supremely well having gazed at photographs of the real thing for 30 plus years. In that period I've often thought about building a kit of one of these, but like many there is now little need. As a nice surprise, Bachmann have added the familiar Whitaker token exchange apparatus to either side of the tender – this was missing from the pre-production model seen back in the summer at their press and trade open day. Thoughtfully they have included what looks like a couple of spares of this in with the detail pack; these might make their way on to another one of my engines in due course. So the loco can negotiate set track bends, the tender to loco gap is rather too wide for my requirements, but unlike Hornby this can be easily remedied by drilling an extra hole through the metal 'drawbar'. Toy train buffs from Tonbridge Wells will note that I have added the steam heating pipe below the front buffer beam - that is actually not required having examined photos after hurriedly adding the detail pack! I have yet to run the loco due to lack of time, though I imagine it will be a little notchy as is frequently the norm with Bachmann steam outline locomotives; hopefully though a good running-in session will reduce this to a minimum with choice of controller as usual having an equally significant effect. Whilst the loco undeniably looks stunning in its shiny black, in due course this little gem will go under the airbrush and dry-brush to add a little well needed ‘work-a-day’ patina. This hopefully will make it more in keeping with a freight locomotive as seen in the last decade of steam. A couple of years ago, if somebody had posted this release on April Fools’ Day we’d have dismissed them as barking mad! But the last 18 months have seen everything change in this respect with all sorts of weird and wonderful unexpected prototypes appearing ready to run. So, roll on that Johnson 1P 0-4-4 with condensing apparatus next I guess? W I D E S C R E E N version of the top photo!

Code 124 seems all very solid and grown up compared to code 75? No more kitchen scissors (not that you would of)!

Rules are for breaking B)

Beautiful delicate intricate work!

Chaps, Thank you again for more much needed wiring advice! Signaller - I love that pointcrossingthingamyjig- quality work! Jim, many thanks for the diagram - nice and clear and perfect for someone with a wiring phobia. Rail-wise I've made start with some of the plain sections, with code 55 (C&L version for 4mm) looking spot on for my needs. I'm pre applying a smear of solder to the sleeper tops and then sweating the pre C&L Red Flux'd rail on top thus avoiding any blobs on the rail sides. I'll post some snaps later.

Hi Jan, Thank you for taking time to post this, it's pretty well what I'm building too. I've started to lay the copper clad as from this afternoon. The scary bit is still a little way off

K_point_wiring_01, originally uploaded by nevardmedia. Brewhouse Quay update.....The materials have arrived, so I'm looking at the most complex bit of track well in advance to plan the wiring and where isolating breaks will need to be cut into the rails and how power will be fed to various sections. Slitting the sections will probably be easier after laying due to the fine nature of code 55. Point operation will be via manual miniature yard levers as in Nigel Burkin's feature in the April 2010 edition of Model Rail. Polarity switching will be under the baseboard, again as per Nigel's feature. Whilst I'm not new to building my own track, I've never been bold enough to try something like this. Construction doesn't bother me, but the wiring does as little, so any thoughts from people that find this aspect interesting feel free to feed back.I've uploaded the multi-layered Photoshop PSD file here to allow the blue isolating section bits to be added or hidden should anyone want to illustrate any ideas - credit due course the final write up goes without saying! I need to consider check rails too not shown here. http://www.nevard.com/zzz/K_point_wiring_01.psd A wider view of the full trackplan can be seen here. Brewhouse Quay