Gopher

Dance Hall Days- Wang Chung

Kidwelly Castle on shed, complete with Cathedrals Express head board. In my world there is an engine swap at Dewchurch. The engine is being prepped to take over the Cathedrals Express on it's final leg to Paddington. I have a similar arrangement for The Cornishman. These expresses mean that Dewchurch hosts Brits, Kings and Castles. Best not to question the reality of any of this😉

Time for an old joke - "How did you spend the money you received for Xmas " ? The answer is - Wine, women and a new loco, and I wasted the rest. Given the cost of the loco you can guess that the wine and the women were cheap. First Hornby loco I have bought in a few years. My recent experience of Hornby locos has not been great. My older Hornby locos run very well, my more recent Hornby purchases had an annoying habit of derailing. A problem I could not fix, so I sold them. Anyway this little loco runs like a dream. Very quiet, smooth and sure footed. Nicely detailed. I don't even have to invoke rule 1 (too much), as they were visitors to the Welsh Marches (I have a DVD showing one at Ross on Wye albeit a black one). This particular loco was based at Oswestry initially, but seemed to spend most of its life on the Cambrian coast. I liked the unlined green livery, and the fact it was a Western Region loco. Needs a sound decoder, crew, lamps and coal, and also some weathering. Here it is waiting for a sound decoder. There is room in the tender for a round speaker, below the circuit board. I hope to fit a small megabass speaker. This will probably require removal of the tender weight, or possibly might have to sit in the coal space in the tender (which would require some surgery to the tender). It will join my Bachmann Ivatt 2mt Mickey Mouse on local passenger work.

Bachmann Class 37 about to leave the Goods yard with a short goods train. The station pilot (Jinty) is busy shunting.

the sun and the rain Forgive the sins of your daughter And she will pray for you I'm breaking the frame Each day's the same You should be...

Close to the Edge - Yes

Parcels platform which also serves as an end loading dock on occasion

Yes just bought one this morning from Hereford Model Centre

Normally within the next 12 to 24 months

I weathered my new Accurascale 21t mineral wagons, and not totally happy with the results. I have gone too heavy with the weathering (not unusual for me). So to my eye they look like wagons from the 1970s, rather than the late 1950s, early 60s (when they would have only been in service for a few years) So what to do ? First of all I tried to remove some of the paint on one wagon using thinners. Total c*** up. So re-weathered the panels I had applied the thinners to. Looked even worse. I rummaged through my paint collection and found some BR early wagon grey. In for a penny in for a pound - I closed my eyes (well not really), and touched up the panels by applying thin coats of the paint. Results below. I think I got away with it. the wagons look more like the photos I've seen from the late 50s/early 60s. The doors always took a hammering and were often the first bits of the wagon to chip and rust. I think I have a sheet of BR wagon transfers somewhere , so will add new numbers to the wagons where my enthusiastic weathering has obliterated the originals. I must teach myself the art of light weathering 😄

Canal Street - dead end

Graham I hope you make it to the Hereford Model Centre during your visit. - I popped in last Saturday, so many things to tempt me. I also hope you manage to get a job in 2024. CR Mk III looks amazing and @Harlequin's plan is a true work of art. I'm looking forward to you building it. Best Wishes Clive

Black Furs - Judie Tzuke

Hook Norton Manor arrives at Platform 1 with a parcels train

My next weathering project, and something to read whilst the paint is drying. Good old Santa. Not sure Dewchurch needs a block train of 21t mineral wagons (no coal concentration depot, or power station), but what the hell. I already have three 21t and quite a few 16t mineral wagons. Should look good behind a single head code Class 37, or a 72xx tank engine. So the dodgy justification is that there is a power station located on a branch line. The branch is only accessible for trains running from Dewchurch. So loaded trains have to work into Dewchurch, engine swaps ends, and off it trundles to the power station branch. Vice versa for the empties. I love rule 1😄

Strange Land - Clannad

The A4 heads through Harewood Halt

Work stained Clun Castle at the coal stage

Swords of a Thousand men - Tenpole Tudor

Thanks John, best of luck with the modelling over the Xmas period Best Wishes Clive

Merry Xmas Lez, and a happy and healthy New Year. We've got three of the critters, for some reason they are not interested in the Xmas tree, thank goodness. Two of them are quite old (15 and 16), so have a "been there, done it, got the T shirt", attitude Best Wishes Clive

Thanks Rob, very kind of you to say so. Clive

The EE Type 3s sneak into a rather crowded loco yard. Thanks to all who visit the Dewchurch 3 thread. Thanks for the comments, suggestions/advice, and the "likes". I wish you all a Merry Xmas and a healthy and happy New Year. There are numerous occasions where I'm convinced the world has gone mad. The pages of RM Web, provide escapism, humour and inspiration. I am so grateful that our wonderful creative hobby helps me escape to my own little world. Very Best Wishes Clive

The A4 Guillemot heads back to the Eastern Region, with a rake of ex LMS coaches. So Rule 1 very much in operation.

The EE Type 3s (Class 37) race each other towards Dewchurch. The Bachmann loco on the right is in the lead. I have replaced the sugar cube speaker with a tablet speaker in this loco. Made a huge difference to the quality of the sound. The Accurascale loco has better speakers, so the sound is better (to my ears). Both are great models, and run very well