Rushby's Railways

The end; loss, sadness, joy and beauty.

2011-09-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

I was born in 1960 and as a result I only have a few vague memories of working steam on British Railways; being held up to see over the wall at York sheds, lineside from a holiday caravan at Filey and a glimpsed view of a black five from our train heading to Penmaenmawr in'67. For some time after 1968 much of what the railways did and looked like was indistinguishable from the end of steam, apart from doing it with diesels. It's this era where my memory starts to have more substance and fewer holes. It's these memories that drive Morfa slowly onwards.

However I have become unreasonably interested of late in the last couple of years of steam. It's been a bit of a slow burn that emanated from this slim softback I've had for a good few years.

It has some fabulous images within, it's the sort of title that turns up for a couple of quid on the shelves of second hand books at preserved railways and is well worth the price of a pint. (note:- not an open invite to discuss beer price structures and regional variations) As well as the images it has short pieces by each of the contributing photographers, each a young man in the late sixties. I think it was the descriptions of the scrapes, friendships, youthful folly, exuberance and the sense of being carefree that chimed with my own experiences of being a similar age ten years later on. Even though my particular bag at the time was climbing and walking in the mountains, many themes seemed shared. Recently I was given a stack of Steam World magazines, in the 2007 issues there was a four part series by Ian Krause documenting his time with a camera in '67. Magazine and book led to an interweb trawl for further words and pictures. I've come up with this autobiographical account by Paul Riley and this tribute by Ian Krause that are well worth a read.

Countdown to Corris 4

2011-08-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

After much frenzied model making I can post the fourth and final episode in the countdown series. My Latin American tramway is sufficiently advanced to be able to take decent photos that give a fair impression of what the finished item will look like. More importantly it's now at the stage where I wouldn't feel too embarrassed at it going on public display. there are a few jobs to tackle tomorrow, and many for after the show, but I can rest tonight as all looks to be under control.

Just to remind everyone that the tramway will make its public début this coming weekend at the Corris Model Railway & Toy Exhibition. Corris School 10:30 - 5:00 Sat, Sun and Mon, 27th, 28th & 29th August.

Countdown to Corris - 3

2011-08-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well the in time completion of the Latin American tramway is going to be a bit of a knicker gripper, so I thought that I pop up some photos of a very tasty model that I know will be at Corris on the August bank holiday weekend, and every other day the railway is open for that matter. It's located in the station and museum at Corris, well worth a visit in its own right

It's the 009 model of the Corris Railway itself featuring scenes along the line; Pantperthog, Maespoeth, Corris and Aberllefenni. The model is static at the moment, but non the worse for that. I'm afraid that my photos don't do the even though I removed the glass from the case, you really have to see it to appreciate it.

The good book

2011-07-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

At the end of last month I heard through the grapevine of the death of P D Hancock, one of the pioneers of 4mm scale narrow gauge modelling. I've always enjoyed his writing in the Railway Modeller and his book Narrow Gauge Adventure - The Story of the Craig and Mertonford Railway was often borrowed from the library when I used to live in York. In part prompted by the sad news, and in part due to a chance find on my friend Nicks bookstall, I find myself with my very own copy. The last week or two have been spent reading it a bit at a time, and what a joy it's been. Quite apart from the lovely models within, the book works so well because it's so well written. There's nothing forced about the prose, it's a gentle explanation of how the model came about; it's easy to imagine being in the presence of P D Hancock himself as he speaks about his creation. Don't take my word for it, find yourself a copy, you won't be disappointed.

Countdown to Corris - 2

2011-06-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like I'm back on track with something fresh for the Corris Exhibition. The push button pizza Chwarel Bach is booked to appear over the August bank holiday weekend, and as space is limited I've decided to go with an idea for an even smaller circular layout again with audience participation in mind. I'm well into the build of a Koppel overhead electric loco, and the accompanying board and track are complete aand awaiting scenery to be plonked on top. To give a rough and ready idea of progress an an insight into the future here's a mock up of how the layout should look.

Countdown to Corris - 1

2011-04-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well, instead of building the Krauss I've built this.

Quite what a Crochat railcar will do on my Latin America inspired tramway I don't know, but I like the look of it and it does sit well with my colonial carriages.

Latin Tangent

2011-03-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

Oh dear and it was all going so well; Morfa trundling steadily onwards leavened by the odd stock building escapade for the Ganllwyd Tram and then the notion that it'd be good to have a different micro layout for the Corris Model Railway and Toy Exhibition this August bank holiday. Fatally I decided to give in to some vague Cuban/Latin American leanings and started searching on the net. I started with Bolivia, then onto Cuba and ended up at Haiti. Just look at this gorgeous tramway. I've made a start on finishing off some carriages and an old Roco 0-6-0 body is being forcibly mated to Kato underparts, the aim being to get the bug out of the system promptly.

Zoom

2011-01-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

As a man modelling the diesel and electric era, post steam, pre tops, there's much inspiration to be had in the Bradford Barton photo album series of books. Some of my favourite shots are those where the aparent length of the train is visciously forshortened by the use of a telephoto lens. I strted to wonder if it would be possible to recreate this effect using a model after noticing that one image I'd taken with a very mild dose of telephoto had echoes of the real thing. After a bit of experimentation I hit on a formula, train on a curve, rail level camera, stood well back, max tele dialled in, crop the result tight to the train. Seems to work each time, here's one of my latest taken on Morfa. It's worth clicking on the photo to get the full effect with a larger sized image.

It'll be interesting to see if it works as well once the scenery is in place. There are a couple of snags however, one is that the camera does need to be a good way in front of the train; this shot (with minimal cropping) had the camera a good ten/twelve feet away from the train. The other is that I'm not sure that this style would suit all subjects. I could see it looking a bit weird with pre group or narrow gauge models, a clash of styles rather than any technical incompatibility.

Fashion

2011-01-03T03:30:00.000-08:00

Though my railway tastes are pretty wide ranging I've tended to stick to buying model railway magazines rather than those dealing exclusively with the real thing. I have picked up the odd issue when there's been a feature on a particular interest of mine. Until recently I had never considered Modern railways as being worth a glance. Last year i found two large cardboard boxes of old railway magazines at the local skips. I sorted through and put the old copies of Modern Railway magazines to one side while I trawled through Steam Railway and Railway World looking for anything Cambrian. I finally got round to Modern Railways and what an absolute treasure trove those copies from the sixties and seventies are. Because their style of coverage is current news reportage, rather thn looking back, they tend to cover the mundane as well as the memorable.

One feature that took my eye from this 1972 issue describes the new ships for British Rail's Sealink cross channel services. There's much detail in the report but it's the illustrations that caught my eye. Here's one of the obviously posed publicity photographs; just look at the characters.

In the foreground we have long haired specky bloke chatting up the crumpet (I believe that's the correct 70's terminology), just behind the guy with the shades and tash similarly tries his luck with the blonde. they could easily be extras from Life on Mars. It's the period details like this that the other railway magazines seem to miss out, because of their focus on the railway. I wonder if today's Railway Magazine will fascinate in the same way forty years from now.

Making Tracks.

2010-12-07T02:41:00.000-08:00

I've had a burst of enthusiasm and activity, the track on Morfa has been extended in two directions. As I build all the track from ply sleepers, individual plastic chairs and rail it takes some time to make little progress; at max chat I achieve about half a length a day. The one bonus, and it's a biggie, is that I ballast at the same time I lay the track. Here are a couple of photos showing something of what is involved.

Though it's a long winded process there's pleasure in the rythym of construction and I'm really happy with the look of the finished length.

This is the Night Mail crossing the border ....

2010-11-29T06:34:00.000-08:00

I've been playing with the camera this morning. The layout room is rather gloomy at this time of year, for part of its length Morfa is tucked along the back wall, and the result of trying some supplementary lighting brought out this 'night time' shot. My imaginary Pwllheli - York mails would cross the border in the night hours, just not the border the well known prose reffers to.

Cheaper by the dozen

2010-10-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

On the workbench at the moment are the beginnings of a batch of small saloons. I've sourced six inexpensive German promotional tram models from e-bay, by dicing and slicing I can get two carriages out of each body. Here's what the donor and the donated parts look like.

Normally I dislike batch building, but there are advantages to be had. Here I'm progressing a couple of bodies to a relatively complete state. This allows me to cut out multiples of some of the added components, making templates for the awkward shapes like the vestibule end screens. I have ideas to vary the individual models, the most noticeable will be to have some to a UK style and the others to a more colonial pattern.

Sublime to the ridiculous.

2010-10-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I headed off to Porthmadog to shop and to take a look at the Ffestiniog's vintage themed operations. I was struck that when it turns it's mind away from being a modern commercial enterprise to a guardian of history then it does a pretty fair job of it. Shame thinks I that this thought isn't uppermost more often.

It's a source of regret that their other operation, the WHR (Caernarfon) seems to have lost the heritage component of their DNA. On my way from Porthmadog to visit a friend in Cwm y Glo, curiosity drove me to take a peak at the effective southern terminus of the WHR, Pont Croesor. It's a beautiful location with what has to be one of the best approaches to Snowdonia spread out in front of one, but man what an ugly wart of a station.

The wetter the better.

2010-09-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month I had a very pleasant couple of days at the Llanfair garden railway show. I don't think it's any coincidence that it happens at the same time as the Welshpool and Llanfair railways gala weekend. I managed to get to the station at Llanfair a couple of times each day and many of the faces appeared at both events. I took several photos on each day and whilst reviewing them at home I came to the conclusion that the better ones were taken when the weather was at its worst. Here's my favourite taken at the height of Sunday's deluge.

Something for the weekend sir?

2010-08-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

The August bank holiday weekend that is. Once again the annual Corris Model Railway and Toy Exhibition will be with us on the 28th, 29th and 30th of this month. For the second year running it will be held in the school in Corris, just across the car park from the Corris Railway station. Opening times are from 10:30 until 5:00 each day; by my reckoning there will be up to sixteen layouts or displays and seven trade stands present over the weekend though some may change over the three days. I'll be there for the whole of the weekend with Chwarel Bach, do say hello.

Make the most of the weekend and combine a visit to the exhibition with a trip on the Corris Railway itself. A journey along the line includes a tour round the operational hub of the line at Maespoeth. I may be biased but I believe the Corris to be one of the most quietly beautiful lines in Britain, certainly you won't find a friendlier welcome anywhere.

Also available in blue.

2010-08-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

The ballast has now been sealed with dilute PVA, and while I was at it the scenery has had a work over too with the addition of more ground cover and trees that better break up the regularity of the circle. Killing two birds with one stone here's a photo of the second Fowler almost complete on an upgraded section of the layout.

Both the loco and vans won't be with me for long, the vans are already on e-bay, the loco will follow once works plates and safety valves are fitted.

Do as I say, not as I do .....

2010-07-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, I believe I've been the victim of a 'good' idea I had a year ago. When putting Chwarel Bach together it seemed like a good idea to ballast with a polyfiller, sand and powder paint mix. It certainly gave a quick result. The first time I used the layout in anger at the Corris model railway show all worked remarkably well. Since then it's sat upstairs in my playroom, pressed into service from time to time as a test track or somewhere to let completed engines run in by lapping the circuit. A creeping and increasing deterioration in the running quality began to make itself felt. After spending a lot of time looking at both loco mechanisms and the track I came to the conclusion that the problem was caused by the ballast. It seems that as well as the usual amount of airborne dust, the pollyfiller is also contributing to a fine layer that inhibits efficient collection of current from the rails. There may be issues with a fine layer creeping into the gap between fishplate and rail further contributing to the embuggerment. I think cleaning followed by sealing the surface of the ballast with dilute PVA is the way to go; meantime have a pretty picture of my latest loco to emerge from the paintshop on the offending length.

The return of the chipboard monster

2010-07-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a chance trip up the Cambrian Coast a couple of weeks ago I find myself with renewed levels of enthusiasm for Morfa and have consequently been attacking pine and chipboard with vigour. I'm pleased to say that as of today the baseboard decks are complete, the box beam trackbed is in place and the backscene fixed where necessary.

Of course there's still a long way to go but I'm almost at the stage where the bits I like least, butchering wood, are over.

Custom Etched Plates

2010-05-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's the little details that make all the difference. My pugbash looked pleasant enough in plain green, but nothing special. Once the lining was applied it started to look a bit tastier, but the final icing on the cake was fitting a pair of works plates.

I'd sourced the plates (they come in sets of three) from a fellow member of Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling Online. I'm now hugely pleased to say that Narrow Planet custom etched nameplates are now available to all through their new website. You'll see that name as well as works plates are offered; it's a venture that deserves to do well.

Double Vision

2010-05-20T04:27:00.000-07:00

I've not spent that much time at the workbench, sunshine and a full list of outdoor jobs has got in the way. However a spot of steady progress has brought both locos up to the state shown in the photo.

On my workbench.

2010-05-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Taking shape on my workbench is a Fowler 0-4-2. It's based on the drawings and photos in NG&IRMR issue 10. The prototype was an eighteen and seven eighths gauge loco built in 1891 for Figueros Co, Spain. My model assumes that a two foot three inch gauge example was built and fitted with tram plates for road side operation. This expedient fantasy means allows the use of 009 standards and yet another of the superb running yet stupefyingly cheap Kato mechanisms to be deployed. It's seen here in the company of my Pugbash just to give some idea of size and proportion.

Actually I'm building two, one for me and one (with an all weather cab) to sell on e-bay.

Ffesterbahn Ffollies

2010-05-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a few quirky little numbers spotted at Harbour Station as part of the may bank holiday Ffestiniog ffestivities. Enjoy.

Lined Out

2010-04-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

The lining out went remarkably well. I'd not been looking forward to it, but the Modelmaster waterslide transfers turned out to be one of the best fivers I've spent in a long while. I found it surprisingly easy to get a good finish and an accurate register at the joins. Once dry I wafted over with a blast of Testors Dulcote, and fixed the builders plates in place with Araldite. Job done I think, though I will have to provide a crew so that it doesn't look weird when circling round Chwarel Bach.

Colour

2010-04-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

"... and the winner in the most bilious livery category goes to ...."

It won't look quite so green when I've finished, well I hope it won't.

I found that the hardest decision was what colour paint to slap on. With my so called finescale EM models it's easy as I just copy photos of the real thing, but what do I do when confronted with a fictitious loco that will run on a fictitious line purporting to be owned by a fictitious company? As I have a notion that the new layout will be set before the war to end all wars, I sought for something that would hint at Victorian opulence or Edwardian sophistication. My late father in law came to the rescue, one of his old books contained a selection of colour paintings of British locomotives, the majority showing the glory of pre-grouping colour. In the end it was the North Eastern livery that appealed to me most, hence the vibrant green. Once the lining is applied I'll tone down the loco, trying for a cared for but hard worked look.

Bashing the Pug

2010-03-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

I'd like to think of myself as having a calm and rational head, even when provoked. Sometimes this image doesn't reflect reality. I hugely enjoy the internet forum ngrm-online it's an absolute goldmine for anyone interested in modelling narrow gauge railways, and I can not recommend it too highly. A few weeks ago the pros and cons of 'pugbashing' became the focus of debate; pugbashing being models hacked out of the old Kitmaster/Airfix/Dapol kit.Amongst all the comments were a couple of rather negative posts that questioned the value of this particular strand of model making. Having done a few bashes in my youth I thought the best response was to give it a go again and see if something worthwhile could result.

Having two and a half pug kits and three Kato mechanisms I took the tram loco route. So far I have the basic loco pretty well finished and in primer, I leave you to judge whether it's thumbs up or down for the model, but I'm happy with it. Loads of fun has been had, the mechanism runs like a dream and I'm planning a small layout that will use this loco and some other items I've got on the stocks.

Journey Through the Past.

2010-03-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my good friend Martin, I've finally got hold of a copy of Model Railway News featuring the gorgeous Ynys Gwyntog. Though built more than forty five years ago I reckon it could still hold it's own in the company of some of today's top models. Though the models in themselves are crisp and tidy rather than outstanding (there's a debate to be had that show stopping excellence could get in the way of reality) I've not seen the composition bettered to this day. The creator of this slice of loveliness is Cyril Burch, a nom de plume I believe for Jack Shortland, the editor of MRN.

If you fancy a first hand look at Ynys Gwyntog, and I urge you to do so, then it's the September '64 edition to look out for. The article refers to others in the series, March and May '63 for coaches with July '63 for signals; it also alludes to planning and track laying also being covered previously, but without specific dates. I will be keeping my eyes peeled.

Morfa Moving Again

2010-02-21T01:06:00.000-08:00

Progress on Morfa comes in fits and starts. As the plain track is handbuilt from individual components these fits and starts happen in slow motion, however thinking that little has been achieved ignores the power of small increments gradually stacking up. A milestone has been reached now that the head of steel has progressed of the original 17x8 board and onto the extension. There's two more yards, in actual lengths that's four half yards, to go before I need to build the remaining section of baseboard to close the gap and allow the circuit to be completed.

With each fresh half yard of track, I celebrate by running a train up to the end. Though there's a worthy reason, to test my work, it's really just for the fun of it. Though the achievement is small, the motivation I get is disproportionately large.

Size Matters?

2010-02-17T09:44:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been on an e-bay facilitated nostalgia trip. Outgunned by those willing to pay silly money for Egger Bahn, I turned my attentions to the Airfix kit. Here are three of the objects of my desire, all rather mundane and still on the market thanks to Dapol. I set myself a spending limit of a fiver for each piece including postage, and though I could buy Dapol for about that price, I get the benefit of the glorious box art. What surprised me was the way the packaging grew over the years. Whether it's for the psychological effect of getting more for your money or to increase shelf presence I don't know; but it does show that the seeds of over packaging were sown a long while ago. I may not be typical, but looking at the three examples here it's the earliest and smallest that I find most attractive.

Not just the trains.

2010-01-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life brings surprises, occasionally that's a very good thing. Most of the railway books I enjoy tend to be at the more specialised end of the market zeroing in on a particular line, station, locomotive class or aspect of model making. Earlier this week at the library I found a publication that well and truly bucks this trend.

Though it looks like one of those books aimed at the casual interest, the sort that misguided but well meaning aunts buy for birthdays, I've found it to be hugely inspiring. Though it's scope is broad the quality of the photos is stunning, each one bristling with interest and atmosphere, some happen to be beautiful works of art too. The straight record shot that most of us modellers are used to is all well and good; clarity, correct focus and exposure help define details which we can incorporate in search of greater realism. Looking through the book it shows us what all too often is still missing, that intangible atmosphere that railways have. How do we get hold of it, and reduce it to a form we can render to scale in 3-D. I'm not sure I know the answer, but the first step must be to recognise its prescence.

The book's by Paul Atterbury, publisher David and Charles, ISBN 13 978-0-7153-2876-7. Do try to find a copy.

No I won't.

2009-11-21T16:02:00.000-08:00

Here's something I've been working on today, inspired by yesterdays jaunt and no I won't be building it. Click on the image to get a full sized view.

Chipboard Monster

2009-11-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

I've been looking back through the blog and it appears that I've not made mention of my big trainset. I've either been very lucky or very good but the fate has smiled upon me in the shape of a large playroom which I'm free to fill with toys. In it I'm building a model of Morfa Mawddach, the junction of the Cambrian Coast and Dolgellau lines. Actually I'm building a part fact, part fiction version of the station; I might at some time be persuaded to divulge the back story but for now all you need to know is that I can cherry pick the bits I like and conveniently ignore those I don't.

At the moment the baseboards are about 75% complete, some track has been laid at the site of Morfa station, the stock (the same as used on Shell Island) doesn't require much in the way of augmentation, some structures are finished and some are under way. Don't expect much in the way of updates, as the layout is deliberately long term in nature, but I might show how I've tackled some of the aspects from time to time.

Coming soon ......

2009-09-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

.... Machynlleth's first Railway Collectors Fair and Swapmeet.

Organised by my friend and fellow enthusiast Nick who tells me that there are still a few pitches available. He can be contacted on 01654 761424 or by e-mail nick@railwaystuff.co.uk

Inspiration

2009-09-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to this blog I've become ridiculously interested in the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowden Railway, in particular the projected line from Beddgelert past Llyn Gwynant and on to Betws y Coed. Though I've yet to do anything concrete it hasn't stopped me from taking a very plesant detour on my way north through Gwynedd to visit a friend to take these photos of the locality.

Abergwynant, also appearing at .....

2009-09-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

In response to Rogers request for an overall view of the layout I can do no better than direct you to an earlier outing on the internet here. Abergwynant features a short way down the page, but do spend some time browsing the other contributions there's much that is of interest, I particularly like the last layout a dual gauge German affair.

Abergwynant

2009-09-12T10:06:00.001-07:00

After Shell Island, I sort of repeated the Cambrian Coast theme with Abergwynant. The fiction became ever more dubious in an attempt to justify the retention of a short section of the line from Morfa Mawddach to Dolgellau as far as the quarries at Abergwynant. The layout was pretty successful in the aim to be ultra portable though once the lighting gantry was added it became obvious that it wouldn't be possible to take it on jaunts using public transport. It's now in the safe keeping of my friend Martin Jones who makes sure it gets a far more frequent airing than I ever would.

This isn't the last you'll hear about Abergwynant ......

Corris Model Railway and Toy Exhibition 2009

2009-08-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

Held over the August bank holiday weekend, this year the Corris Exhibition moves to a new venue at Corris School, just across the car park from the Corris Railway and Museum. In total fourteen layouts will be on display, backed up by demonstrations, trade stands, craft sales, refreshments and the Corris Railway Society Stand.

The exhibition opens daily from 10:30am until 5:00pm on Saturday 29th, Sunday 30th & Monday 31st of August.

I'll be bringing two of my layouts Chwarel Bach (009 'push-button pizza') and the ,so new the paints still wet, Isle of Avalon Tramway (EM). Make a day of it, come and say hello at the exhibition, take a ride down the beautiful Dulas Valley on the train and perhaps visit the Craft Centre too.

Hello world .....

2009-07-30T05:25:00.000-07:00

.... meet the Isle of Avalon Tramway, my latest EM gauge microbe.

Scenes from an exhibition.

2009-07-27T01:13:00.001-07:00

I wasn't sure quite what to expect from the Tywyn show having no prior knowledge of what else would be there. If I'm honest I thought that it might be a little bigger than it was, though the constraints of the venue were to a large extent overcome by a careful and varied selection of layouts. Here's a few of them.

Shell Island at Tywyn

2009-07-21T10:39:00.001-07:00

Less than a week away, the Tywyn Model Railway Club's exhibition will be held in the Scout Hut, Neptune Road, Tywyn from 11:00 until 17:00. It's less than five minutes walk from both the Cambrian Coast and Talyllyn Wharf stations. For those unfamiliar with Tywyn Neptune road runs all the way from the seafront past Wharf station, cross the coast road and into the town where it joins with Main Street; the scout hut is on the Wharf station to Main Street stretch.

I'll be taking Shell Island on one of it's few journeys from my playroom, but as I'm such an incurious chap I've no idea what else will be there, though my 'informant' tells me that previous years shows have been well worth the effort of a visit.

The Return of Mojo

2009-07-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

It's obviously been a good year for growing as the varied shades of green have spread over most of the pizza. Actually I've gone from happy with the scenery here to a spell of disenchantment with some of the stock I'm putting together for The Isle of Avalon Tramway. I've been doing all the right things, and I'm fairly happy with my workmanship it's just that the result is a bit, well, pants. In an effort to try and get my head in the right place with it all, I spent this afternoon sorting out the pizza's camper/mess van. It was in bits with all the glazing out as I'd removed it so I could waft over some Testors Dullcote, to knock back the high gloss finish of the van body. So concurrent with sticking the glazing back in (5 minute Araldite) I've been tinkering with the chassis to engineer a proper fix. The resulting solution is a plasticard base plate glued into the body, resting on the original road chassis mounting lugs. This base plate has captive nuts front and back which the Kato mechanism is bolted to, obviously there's also a suitably shaped and sized cut out to clear the motor. Overall I'm rather happy with this as I seem to have my modelling mojo back. Hurrah.

Every Cloud.

2009-07-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

As the date for the Corris Model Railway Show draws ever closer (August bank holiday weekend if you want to plan ahead) I'm taking every possible opportunity to push the pizza towards acceptability if not completion. A terribly wet afternoon yesterday, meant fencing, undergrowth and a few trees appeared on the layout. I've also added chimney pots and ridge tiles to the cottage which is now ready to be bedded in, though this still remains undone.

The Dennis Allenden Fan Club

2009-06-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a trip to Bala, the pretty way, which just happens to pass the Bala Lake Railway at Llanuwchllyn. They serve excellent tea, scrumptious cakes and a fine selection of pre owned model railway magazines. I left with a handful of Model Railway News and it's sucessor Model Railways. I was particularly pleased as there were three articles by the late Denis Allenden. Quite apart from being a model making genius, way, way ahead of his time, he was quite simply the best writer to have ever written about our hobby. Even if you're not interested in the railways of France, try to get hold of some of his work; it's learned, witty and without a trace of being forced.

Time to Tidy

2009-06-27T02:35:00.001-07:00

My railway room/workshop is in a mess at the moment. It seems to be one of those things like hair turning grey or eye sight deteriorating that sneaks up unnoticed in stealthy increments. I find that once the chaos reaches a certain level it has a detrimental effect on my model making; with nothing turning out as I'd hoped. Just before the need to clean became apparent I managed to fit couplings to a pair of coaches that I converted from cheap continental horse trams some time ago. The couplings were folded up from Paul Windle etches, slightly modified to pivot, and only fitted with loops at one end. Whilst this coach was in bits I painted and fixed a pair of passengers in place. The clutter began to tell with a less than neat paint job, but as they're riding inside I reckon that this time I can get away with it.

How Green Was My Valley.

2009-06-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

It's a big hurrah as I've finished the basic scenery on Chwarel Bach, the posh name for the pizza. I've dusted off one of the lines passenger coaches for the occasion, though if you look closely it's obvious that there's some work still to be done in the coupling department. I'm looking forward to a bit of gentle pottering as I add detail and further structure to the layout. But for nowI'm happy to sit back and admire the scene bathed in the evening sun.

Blackpool Trams

2009-06-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

A while ago I considered trams to be a distinctly inferior species of train, however these days thanks to several visits to Blackpool I'm starting to appreciate their charm and variety. Though most will have an impression of Blackpool's system as a tourist amusement that shuttles along the prom from amusement park to candyfloss stall, there's far more to it than that. Though the southern section runs along the prom, the middle is more interurban in character on its own right of way before heading through the centre of Fleetwood down the middle of the road as most Victorian city systems did. Tucked away behind the prom are the car sheds, though not accesible to the public there are good uninterupted views from the street.

If your appitite has been whetted for a visit, I can thoroughly recommend 'The Gallery' bed and breakfast run by my friends Paul and Mimmo. It's boutique hotel in style and comfort, though at far less than boutique prices. It's close to both trams and Blackpool North station. Click on the picture above for full details.

Transport of Delight

2009-06-15T02:41:00.000-07:00

When my beard wasn't grey, I had an MGB. Though it used almost as much oil as petrol and had it's fair share of rust I was very fond of it. Part of it had to do with the comfort of the driving position and part the satisfying amount of torque the engine put out. I was delighted when a 4mm (ish) example was one of Cararama's first releases. I repainted the model to match my long gone motor; I believe that the colour was called sandglow, though I reckon it was closer to baby poo in tone. The wheels were a bit of a disapointment being printed wire spokes, not at all convincing. I attempted to represent the Rostyle wheels my car had by over painting the printing. Last week I noticed that the Cararama Capri had Rostyle wheels, though painted silver. Last night I prised the Capri's wheels free, repainted them and bunged them in the MGB. Result, it now looks like it should have done. The photo shows the model on its new rims with a set of my original attempts behind.

Wagon Train

2009-06-10T03:35:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed the wagons lurking on the high level line to the tip in the post below. I was rather pleased that after a week of fruitless on and off searching they turned up quite unexpectedly when I'd turned my attentions elsewhere. All three are Parkside kits and were built at the same time I started putting more effort into my EM gauge stock. I wanted to see if it were possible to get away from the chocolate box image that 009 had at the time and portray the sort of decrepitude I remember from poking about the quarries at Blaenau Ffestiniog and Penmaenmawr in the seventies. The wagons are a visual sucess but their extreme light weight means they are very sensitive to track imperfections, but this won't be a problem in their role of decorating the line to the tip.

A bit of background.

2009-06-10T03:23:00.000-07:00

I felt a bit arty yesterday morning so decided that it was time to get the paint out and start sloshing it about on the backscene. I find that I have to be in the right mood for model making or it all goes horribly wrong. The right mood for soldering is not the same as the right mood for painting. In my earlier years I never stopped to differentiate; maybe it wasn't so important then, maybe I'm fussier about the results now or perhaps my younger model making was universally iffy anyway. Anyway I'm rather pleased with the results with the sky and outline of distant hills increasing the depth of scene. I prefer hand painted backscenes over the current vogue for photo composites as carrying the same level of craftsmanship and artistic sensibility over from 3D to 2D and using similar materials somehow unifies the whole.

Preview ....

2009-06-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

Persuasive fellows these men of the cloth; I've been talked into both contributing a short piece on Shell Island towards a book and taking it to the Tywyn model railway show this year. Mind you given that to all intents and purposes they are professional speakers then shouldn't be too surprised. The Tywyn show is on the 25th of July this year; I'll post further details nearer the time. I believe that the book will be out later than this, certainly my copy won't be delivered until about the same time. By way of a preview for both here are a couple of shots of the layout.

High on a hill side.

2009-06-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

The last pieces of landmass went down at the weekend. A further line was laid on the shelf above the tunnel heading from the quarries off scene at the left to the tips at the right, behind this a continuation of the hillside was formed again from corrugated card covered with the plaster, sawdust and glue mix. I now plan to work from the stream upwards applying all sorts of stuff to try and transform what looks like desert into the lush greenery of Wales.

What a mess?

2009-05-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Not sure about this, but I think I'll go with it for the moment.

In fact I've spent an hour this afternoon engineering a better solution than just plonking the body on top of the Kato mechanism. I rather fancy some sort of works trailer to go with the mobile mess van.

Pizza The Scenery

2009-05-26T03:54:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty good at excuses for putting outdoor chores to one side and playing trains. Living in deepest mid Wales it's usually a case or rain starts play, but over the bank holiday weekend it's been too hot and sunny for one so delicate as me. Out came card, glue, sawdust and plaster and down went the basic landforms on the pizza. The landscape at the front of the layout was blocked in some weeks ago, but that to the rear is corrugated card. Having tried out both I think I prefer the card; once the ground mix (patching plaster, pva and sawdust) is slapped on then smoothed out with a cheap and nasty paintbrush all the angular edges disappear. It is less messy than hacking polystyrene about and glues take to it better. Anyway here's a few photos of the state of play.

Banger Blue

2009-05-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

With digital photography and a compact camera it's very cheap and easy to take reference photos of anything that catches the eye. I'm a bit of a sucker for items that exhibit decay so this old Austin in quiet repose down a backstreet in Porthmadog was a must.

Cowboy and an Indian

2009-05-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

I mentioned that some new 009 stock is being built, more accurately it's a mix of new build and a refurbishment of some old pieces. One of the projects that crosses over is a new build of a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Sharp Stewart tank on an old Fleischmann mechanism that I've tweaked and tuned. The body is mainly plasticard,though the boiler is a ballpoint pen, a union freebie I think. The chimney shows its origins as a length of brass tube, the dome was a whitemetal casting that I re-profiled. At the front of the engine is the part finished pillar cab, nickel silver wire uprights and the roof from a suitably curved tin can, appropriately for an Indian machine Rajah ground ginger. The dubious materials are concluded by the use of the boiler backhead from an old Airfix L&YR pug.

Though the chassis isn't right (inside frames, level cylinders and wrong slide bars) it does have the right wheel base, and the motor fits into the tanks with a little dimensional fudging. I can't claim anything approaching accuracy for this model, but that's not my target, I'll settle for capturing something of the character and proportion of the real thing.

Pizza Express

2009-05-22T07:42:00.001-07:00

Living in mid Wales is rather like being surrounded by one giant narrow gauge theme park; whichever direction I take from home I'll eventually stumble across one. My local line is the Corris, and though I'm a member of the society, up till now my support has been limited to helping with and exhibiting at their model show each August bank holiday. This year I'll be bringing a very small shunting layout, but so I can take a break from time to time I thought I'd put together a quick circular 009 layout to take as well. The idea is that the audience will be able to summon trains from the hidden storage under the slate tips with a push button, so even if I've gone for a personal needs break, sandwich or hunting for a bargain on one of the stalls, something should still move.

Here's the progress to date, the board, 2'x2' in a D shape is built, track laid, wired, tested, and some of the scenery roughed out. The small cottage was built from a set of my own plaster castings several years ago giving me a bit of a head start. The retaining wall, bridge and steps are new build, as is the railway bridge in the photo below. I'm building a few new pieces of stock, but the main thrust from now on will be to get the rest of the scenery blocked in, particularly the slate tips which will stretch down from where the wagons can be seen above.

Shell Island

2009-05-17T01:56:00.000-07:00

Shell Island is the first layout that I've been truly happy with, partly because I pushed my standards up a bit and partly because the 'less is more' penny finally dropped. Though I'd always built small layouts, the proportion of track to scenery was greater and the scenery itself didn't have the amount of 'quiet' areas that I managed here. I'd also started to get slightly better results from my camera of the time (Zenith E) with a set of home made extension rings, so the layout was designed with the camera in mind.

Foss Bank

2009-05-15T08:32:00.001-07:00

Following on from Trawden, a new layout was started, set alongside the river close to where I lived in York at the time, it bore the name Foss Bank. I had childhood memories of the idiosyncratic Derwent Valley light railway, and I wanted to capture some of the atmosphere of the route. Imagination came into play and conjured up the highly improbable Foss Valley Light Railway that connected with British Railways at Foss Bank. The rear half of what was a very simple layout represented the national rail network and the front track that snaked along the riverbank the FVLR.

Foss Bank sort of set me along the finescale route, still in OO but with SMP track and plastic based point kits. I'd started to attempt stock that was a little more refined and to scale dimensions than some of the previous models; here we see a rather basic conversion of the Hornby class 25 into something approaching a 24, remember this model, it'll crop up a bit later on. Again the buildings were scratchbuilt, but by now I'd settled on plasticard as the most suitable material.

At the far end of the layout, the Foss Valley offices are obviously inspired by those of the DVLR, as is the Drewery shunter. This as far as the FVLR was concerned was probably the high point of rolling stock construction being a Dapol (ex Airfix) kit body on top of a modified Mainline 03 chassis. I seem to remember that this was the first model that I flush glazed; it too is still in existence having been passed on to my friend Laurie when he started a layout based on a possible interchange with the Derwent Valley Light Railway.

Trawden

2009-05-15T05:25:00.001-07:00

Back in the introduction I said that model railways has been a life long interest, which though true does gloss over those few years in my late teens and very early twenties when no active model making took place as most of my free time was spent either in the pub or the great outdoors, climbing and walking in the hills. Fortunately for my liver the urge to go out to the pub every night waned once I settled down and started paying a mortgage. Having disposed of most of my earlier models, I started afresh in 00 and having the twin ills of financial responsibilities and small wage, economy was the watchword, hence my layout of the time, Trawden, was built on the cheap.

Both the locos featured here are the result of extreme economy; junk second hand models, stripped for their working under-gubbins and topped off with scratchbuilt plasticard bodies. The one in the photo above represents a battery electric loco and uses an old Triang motor bogie, that to the left a Sentinel shunter utilising a Lima chassis. Like my childhood creations photos rather than plans formed the guidance for construction, and the models could be better described as characterful rather than accurate.

Looking beyond the trains, the scenery and structures were again built by hand. The cotton mill that spanned the line beyond the level crossing was a mongel cross of imagination and memories of the Worth valley. The platform shelter has some Lancashire and Yorkshire features in a much shortened form so that it didn't dominate the platform and unbalance the layout. At the left of the view, the terrace house this side of the crossing was a pretty accurate scribed card model of my house at the time, though I edited away the ugly kitchen and bathroom extension that it had been blessed with sometime in the seventies. All in all I was rather pleased with Trawden in its early format as a 4'x1' micro layout, it appeared at a few exhibitions and made it into the pages of the Railway Modeller. I have to confess that I tried to extend it and it wasn't a success, the carefully planned visual balance was spoiled and operation became less railway like. The extension lasted for one show and was scrapped, thankfully no photos were taken.

Round the Bend

2009-05-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

My latest layout isn't the only pizza that I've built, nor does it push the boundaries of what's possible in four squre feet. Several years ago I used the same two by two footprint for a finescale OO gauge layout. Like my current narrow gauge project it was aimed at an exhibition audience; the similarities also encompassing punter push button operation. Obviously only short wheelbase stock was comfortable with the ten inch curves on the main line (the sidings being purely decorative) but even the six wheels of my 03 and 04 shunters made it round the corners. The limiting factor was actually the three link couplings, which to stop buffer locking had to be temporarily lengthened to four links. Anyway here are some photos and trackplan of the layout.

Though the layout is long gone there are a few remains. The buildings sit gathering dust on one of my playroom shelves waiting till I find a use for them, and somewhere I have the point and crossing formation though I seriously doubt I'll ever manage to recycle it into any layout.

Back to the future ................

2009-05-13T04:41:00.000-07:00

As a young boy I progressed from Hornby 0 gauge tinplate, via the usual sixties Triang in 00 to an interest in 009 no doubt brought about by family holidays to Wales an exposure to the Ffestiniog, Talyllyn, Rheidol and Llanberis Lake railways. The first narrow gauge layout was a Playcraft pre-formed expanded polystyrene foam effort with a loop of track that climbed over itself. All I have left, and possibly the earliest remaining piece of railway kit is this much butchered Decauville loco from the set.

It'll come as no surprise to those who know me that I wasn't one for keeping my toys in pristine condition; I'd take stuff apart to see how it worked, get the Humbrol out if I didn't fancy the colour it came in and feel quite happy cutting bits off or sticking bits on to better suit my purpose. Here we see a result of all this early practice, built to resemble a Neilson box tank, the chassis was a Bachmann n gauge USA dock tank, the body hacked from plasticard and was like most of my early work completed in an afternoon. The wagons are repaints of standard Eggerbahn items and reflect my enduring interest in rust and grime

A few years on and by my mid teens I'd learned a few more tricks. The loco still employs a commercial n gauge chassis, but has a body soldered up from brass sheet. The matching Corris Railway van is like earlier models built from plasticard. The building behind features walls of individually cast plaster blocks, and cut out paper slates overlaid onto a deliberately saggy thin card roof.

It's funny how things come full circle. Since Easter I've been building a 009 'pizza' layout to take to the Corris model railway show this August bank holiday and though there's some new build going on, it has been a rather pleasant exercise to track down all my old models, dust them off and indulge in a bit of repair and restoration. Here's a Kerr Stuart diesel, a scratchbuild on a Bachmann mechanism built a couple of years ago heading some of my old stock round the new pizza.

Looking Back

2009-05-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

When I look in the mirror I'm surprised to see a middle aged bloke staring back at me, it doesn't seem that long ago since I first started mucking about with my trainset. I've an idea that my parents were pleased that I'd found an absorbing and creative hobby, yet regretted the spilt pots of Humbrol on the carpet, the all pervading smell of glue and my inattention to homework. Despite the negatives, I was encouraged in a hobby that has turned out to be a life long interest. Looking at the grey beard, and the hair heading that way, I thought I'd try and make sense of the passing years by examining the models made and layouts built over the years.