Chris Chewter

I’ve been under the weather again ( see what I did there) and have finished off some more wagons and coaches. Wagons are fairly straight forward. However for some reason, you pay through the nose for BR grey wagons. I managed to get some Oxford Rail private owner wagons at the exhibition at Milton Keynes for less than a tenner each. Firstly these were attacked with a glass fibre brush before spraying to remove the owners text. They were then masked and sprayed with Railmatch BR grey from a rattle can. Some Modelmaster BR private owner wagon decals were purchased and applied. This was after I realised the decals I applied were for 20t minerals. I’m not sure anyone would notice but the ones in the photo below were changed for the correct P numbers. Because the wagons had been sprayed and decals applied, they were weathered very gently using the same technique above. And hey presto, some BR grey planked wagons and a BR departmental black spoil wagon. I love how the glass fibre brush has distressed the planks!

One of the things I noticed after the last exhibition is that a bit of variety keeps the operators sane. When it’s the same pannier and Mk1 coach formation all day, it gets a bit boring. So I’ve been building up my wagon selection. However getting BR wagons for a good price is a bit of a challenge. Looking through the various books I’ve got on the Fairford branch, I noted there were a lot of examples of planked open wagons. I managed to find some Oxford Rail private owners wagons at the Great Electric Train Show for about a tenner each. I snapped them up and set about respraying them. Firstly the old advertisement text had to go, so they were rubbed down with a glass fibre brush. The important bits masked and the wagons sprayed in BR grey and departmental black. I had a set of number decals from an old Parkside wagon kit which’ll do for the grey wagons, and some Modelmaster departmental yellow decals for the departmental wagon. To make sure they’ve cured, I’m going to let them dry overnight before weathering them tomorrow.

In case your interested in how the weathering is done, you’ll need the following: Black weathering powder Dark earth weathering Smoke grey weathering powder T-cut A box of cotton buds Matt varnish I suggest you also have paper and disposable gloves to work on plus brushes to apply weathering powder. Firstly you’ve got to get your wagon dirty. Dip your cotton bud in the t-cut and then dip your cotton bud in some black powder. You then wipe the blackened cotton bud all over the wagon to get it nice and dirty. Believe it or not, that right hand wagon was brown! Take a clean cotton bud and wipe off the black stuff from your blackened wagon. Once the cotton bud is dirty switch to a new clean one. You’ll go through loads of them for a single wagon! Keep rubbing off the black in vertical swipes until you have the effect you’re after. If the black won’t shift, then dip the cotton bud back in the t-cut and use it to loosen the black layer, but do that very sparingly or it’ll strip too much black off. Now that’s not bad, and you could stop there, but if you’ve ever been below the sole bar in a wagon, you’ll soon realise everything is dirty brown lower down. To do this get your earth brown powder and a brush. You then waft it around the chassis. Then using the brush, brush upwards to blend the brown into the wagon, or you’ll end up with a brown strip. The ends of wagons got even dirtier, so waft brown all over the wagon ends. Again, you could stop here, but if you are going to handle the wagon, gently spray over with Matt varnish. I like to powder weather the roofs after they’ve received a light spray of Matt varnish, as it gives a bit of stickiness for the powder to grip to, and leave a bit of texture. Take the smoke grey and brush it lightly onto the roof in the direction it might take if rain was to run off the roof. Et voila. Weathered wagons. And not an airbrush in sight! Nice!

Another weekend and another batch of wagons. Again destined for Carterton, they’ve been trialled on Tetbury for effect. Firstly, a couple of western Fruit vans, and an Oxford Rail planked wagon. Also, to increase the variety of vans, three general vans have been weathered up. I think they’ll do the job!

Oxrail 2023 is coming For 2023, we'll be back at Cherwell School, Marston Ferry Road, Oxford, OX2 7EE on Sunday 17th September between 10:30 and 16:00. The team have been working hard already, and booked layouts are: Abbots Morton A OO layout representing one of the proposed lines from Broom Junction to Worcester. Billton Goods A 3mm layout portraying a typical LNWR/LMS goods depot in the 1950s Bossington A OO layout of a small GWR terminus built back in the 1950s Carterton A OO representation of this wayside halt on the Fairford branch line. City Basin Goods An N gauge layout representing a goods and marshalling yard Cynon Valley A modular layout inspired by a wartime evacuation to Mountain Ash in Wales constructed in N gauge East Quay A OO finescale representation of a great western quay side. Edrom Built in N, this layout represents Edrom station on the Berwickshire line between Duns and Chirnside in the Scottish Borders. Exebridge Built in 3mm scale, this layout represents a small West Country cross country railway line based around the River Exe. Freshwater 2mm scale layout of the terminus of the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway on the Isle of Wight. Hook Basin A model of British 18 inch rural tramway set in North Oxfordshire. Kruzweg A Swiss metre gauge layout in HOm Lindon Road This small layout represents a fictional Southern Region branch line through station located in the River Medway area. Memory Lane A Hornby Dublo 3 rail layout showing model railways of times gone by. Randolphs Yard A small shunting yard in OO Stonewaite and Bainrigg Railway Set in the 1930’s, this 0-16.5, 7mm narrow gauge layout depicting a narrow gauge line originally built in the 1870’s to transport stone from Bainrigg Quarry to the canal wharf at Stonethwaite on the outskirts of a large Yorkshire town. Trifoulou Z scale metre gauge Tetsudo-Sankei Japanese Z scale layout William Street Yard A small marshalling yard set somewhere just off the GWR main line between Reading and Didcot between 1947 and 1953 in OO As always, please note that layouts and attractions are subject to availability and last-minute changes may occur. As part of the exhibition, the Oxford and District Model Railway Club shall also be running a tombola raffle. The usual selection of traders will also be available for you to purchase supplies for your next project, plus representation of clubs and organisations in the area. More information can be found on the Oxford and District Model Railway Clubs website at: https://www.oxfordmrc.org.uk/exhibitions/

If you weren't able to make Oxrail 2022 last month, one of the club members have put together a video of the layouts on show: I also took the opportunity to run a camera around to show some of the layouts, which can be watched in the link below. Enjoy and hopefully see you at Oxrail 2023. More information can be found at: https://www.oxfordmrc.org.uk/exhibitions/

Had a busy afternoon weathering up wagons. First up was a pair of Dapol/Rails iron minks. These were given a wash of dilute black and rubbed off with cotton buds. The roof is smoke grey weathering powder mixed with t-cut to turn it into a light paste, and then rubbed off with cotton buds. Why t-cut? Well it seems to increase the working time over mixing with water, and has a longer working time than diluted paints. The under frame is then given a waft of earth brown powder and fixed with a light spray of Matt varnish. I also worked through a few conflats and containers using a similar technique, although the containers sides and roofs are only treated with diluted black. A bit of extra weight was hidden inside the containers to aid running, as the conflats are very light! They will probably end up being run on Carterton, but Tetbury makes a great environment to make sure I’ve got the weathering correct!

Looking around the usual Instagram and Facebook posts, I found a great shot of a Modelu figure stood on a brake van. It was so good, I decided that one would look at home on one of the brake vans in the collection. I’ve also been working on a Collett Goods for Carterton. However it came with a ROD tender. After a spot of shopping on the Bachmann Spares website, a new tender was sourced and resprayed. You wouldn’t know it was once Great Western green! Another loco that seems to suit Tetbury workings!

Something slightly different. I’ve been helping the Oxford and District MRC with their Oxrail2022 exhibition. One of the jobs I was asked to do, was pull the exhibition programme together. I was talking with the exhibition manager when he requested I used one of my Tetbury photos on the front cover of the programme. I was happy to oblige!

And then it was over… A fantastic day at Edward Feild school in Kidlington for what turned out to be a very enjoyable exhibition. Now to get ready for 2023!

Well the tables are all set out ready for our exhibition tomorrow. All we need to do is welcome our traders and layouts tomorrow morning. If you are in the area, then please do come along for an excellent day of model railways.

Don’t forget that Oxrail 2022 is nearly here! Held at Edward Feild School, Bicester Road, Kidlington on Sunday 16th October between 10:30 and 16:00. £6 for adults and free entry for children.

I tried to photograph the manors through the display cabinets at the Great Electric Train Show on display on the Accurascale stand. They’re not the best images as there was a bit of glare on the glass, but they might be useful to someone…

Leader on display at the Great Electric Train Show exhibition earlier today.

Sometimes it’s good to run something a little different. The Dapol Mogul has come out for a run on the layout. I know Moguls didn’t run on the line, but it does fit in nicely and gives a bit of variety.

Well Carterton has survived it’s first outing at the Oxford Bus Museum. A slight panic to start with. Despite clipping back all loose wires, one had worked loose. I had forgotten my soldering iron, so one was borrowed and the offending wire put back on. However things still weren’t working. It turned out that despite the dress rehearsal, one of the link cables were playing up. That was bodged to allow the layout to work for the day, although a proper fix is still required. Another club member, Rob, was press-ganged into operating the layout with me during the day, and a rotation of three trains were run through the day. The Oxford Bus Museum provided a steady supply of tea to keep us going thoroughly the day, and at some point a slice of delicious cake turned up. One of the great things of modelling a real location is hearing people’s stories of the line and their memories. Although keeping a schedule running whilst listening to peoples recollections can take a bit of multitasking. Its fascinating hearing about the stations history, and sharing some of this history to people who don’t know about the branch. I had planned for some loco issues. A few ran fast, and the drawbar on one of the Collett goods tenders had dropped off, however we had enough panniers to keep us going. The locos need a go through to check they are all programmed to run smoothly and not take off like a rocket! All too soon, the layout had to be disassembled and put into the van for transport. It’s protective panels reaffixed for its return journey back into storage. So what did I learn? Always take a second operator. Carry a soldering iron. A craft knife is always useful, but it’s not useful if it’s sat on your workbench at home! So what’s next. Well the cable needs looking at, and the locos need reprogramming, but to keep a mixture of trains rolling through the landscape, a few more wagons wouldn’t go amiss. Would I do it again? Without a doubt yes. Despite the issues, once running, it all ran ok and it was a very enjoyable time.

Layouts all set up and ready to entertain!

The Oxford Bus Museums Model Day is all ready to go. If you are in the area and want to take a look at some model layouts and buses, then come along and take a look.

I do enjoy a spot of figure painting, and whilst I’m no expert at it, I saw one of Dan Evasons cameos on Instagram and thought a trio of sisters on a trip on the platform might look good. So I painted up a set. And, with a bit of tacky wax, tried them out. Perhaps they’re off to visit their aunt in Cirencester, or a trip to the shops in Swindon? I also decided to add in a postman loading the van using one of the new Modelu postmen figures. You could just imagine him listening into the ‘discussion’ by the car!

Sometimes it’s the small victories! Some simple end panels for the fiddle yards probably doesn’t seem much. After all, it’s a sheet of plywood and 8 holes, but it’ll hopefully stop the track ends from getting bent in transit!

Just to let people know, if you’re local to Oxford, the Oxford Bus Museum is holding a model bus and train day on the 25th September. Carterton has been invited to attend. More details can be found at https://www.oxfordbusmuseum.org/heritage-bus-rides At the moment, the layout is being moved for testing and cleaning before the actual event. Board 1 is at a club members house, and board 2 is still in storage. Hopefully everything works when it’s connected together for its dress rehearsal!

I thought I’d post something a little different. I’ve edited a video of the layout which is here for people to enjoy:

The Oxford and District Model Railway Club have been invited to provide layouts for the Oxford Bus Museum's Model Railway and Model Bus day on Sunday 25th September 2022 Layouts include: Oldstead Gate by Oxford and District Model Railway Club Carterton by Chris Chewter Bossington by Oxford and District Model Railway Club Kreuzweg by Oliver Browne Details can be found on the Oxford Bus Museum site at https://www.oxfordbusmuseum.org/heritage-bus-rides Details how to get to the event can be found on the Oxford Bus Museum website at https://www.oxfordbusmuseum.org/

Back from holidays, and I thought I'd post up a couple of photos of 4680. Firstly 4680 is sat beside the recognisable goods shed at Tetbury. I presume the driver is having a smoke, but I'll be honest, he does look like he's drinking from an espresso mug! Also, I couldn't resist posing that fella oiling something that doesn't really need oiling!