Railcar

 Another one of the shutdown projects.

Bashed from a Dundas Models Bro Madog coach, cutting and shutting and swapping round parts the side pieces to create a centre doored railcar with driving compartments at both end. Populated with Peco Modelscene figures (The drivers/conductors having been bashed from the porter figures) the passengers probably sit a little too high, but needed to be so to clear the Kato 109 chassis that provides power.

I had planned to go much further with detail, intending to mimic the small Drewry from the standard gauge WC&P and have a luggage roof rack, ladders up to it at each end and an external petrol tank but quickly realised it works better with less detail. A pair of Springside lamps were added to the ends just to help break up a very flat surface.

Best of all though, given the chassis, it's a really nice performer. A passenger service can finally be run!

Flat Wagon

Aa mention previously, a few weeks back was the annual shut down week at work. Having no plans for travel I'd decided to sit down and have a solid week at the model railway, mainly finishing off several smaller unfinished projects and also having a try at a few new ones.

First up was a part scratch-built flat wagon.

Inspiration from Mr Ford again, making a bespoke plasticard body to run on a Dundas Models 'Bro Madog' coach chassis. As always, making a slight twist on the original, I decided to cut and shut the chassis down to 85mm. Thanks to the moulded reinforcing strips on the underside, it was much easier to get a nice square join.

Body construction was very simple, essentially making an upturned tray with the deck scribed to represent planking. A little extra time was taken to roughen up the top by dragging a sharp knife lightly back and forth across the width to give a wood grain effect. It's not too noticeable after painting, but when the light catches it just right it's a good effect.

I'm certainly getting more confidence with painting a passable wood effect at this point. I should really learn how to paint some other texture. Bricks or stone are probably the next great challenge!

Even in it's reduced length, the wagon is still the longest item of rolling stock to date. It does however fit in much better size wise with the other items currently running.

Another one to log on the stock list!

Bakewell Model Railway Show 2024

Or as I like to call it: 'My Local'. Being the nearest show to me it's one that I always make a point of visiting and have been doing so since my secondary school days. A very short drive away, a nice location, always a good selection and variety of layouts and a good range of second hand stalls that always see me picking up a few odds and ends at prices roughly half their rrp (Mainly the Wills details parts!) It's very hard to go wrong here!

As always, what follows isn't a full selection of the layouts that attended. Another point of it being a local show is that it's easy to get distracted by familiar faces you haven't seen in a while, hence why this is a much shorter exhibition post than the norm.

Also, apologies in advance for lack of credits to layout builders/operators for not including names. A web search of exhibition details has not brought up any credits, and of course, not all layout owners/operators advertise online. Much to the shock and horror of my younger 'teched up' generation, I lament the demise the paper exhibition guide.

Lockdown Quarry (009/00) - Tim Oakes. Some readers may remember this from the Wirksworth show last October, but it's worth a mention again for the small standard gauge extension to the 009 portion of the layout, allowing trains to shuttle to and from the quarry when desired.

Matlock Riverside (N) - Based upon the current setup of the preserved line at nearby Peak Rail. Not the best photograph of what was quite a nicely sized layout, but the building of a curved viaduct over the river was certainly worth a closer look.

Avyn-A-Llyn (009) - Dave & Andy Bailey. It was really nice to be able to see this in person after somehow missing it completely at the 009 Society 50th anniversary Exhibition at Statfold last year. Back when I was first introduced to the scale back in the early 2000s this was one of the layouts I vividly remember poring over the pictures on the society website. Roughly 20 years later and it still holds up incredibly well. Many people were commenting on the cork bark used for the cliff face, proving that sometimes the 'old school' methods can outshine more modern alternatives.

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Not an exhibiting layout, but worth a small mention was this layout for sale built from the Scalescenes boxfile layout kits. The idea of a centre traverser for a fiddle yard between both is a great idea. And at £100 for a fully wired up layout and boat, seemed like a steal to me!

Barden (0). Midland modelling in a large scale, with a good sense of humour to boot!

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Northern Junction (00). In a moment of pure insanity, I didn't actually get a photograph of the actual layout, I was to preoccupied by the fiddle yard aligning solution! Just simple tab pieces that slot between the rails across the traverser/baseboard join, with the edges thinned slightly to allow wheel flanges to run across. Brilliantly simple, though I'd be interested to see if it was a viable option for smaller track gauges.

Cas-Ny-Hawin (009) William Plant. I save this one till last as this was by far my favourite layout at the show. Based on the Mid Sodor Railway from the Rev. Awdry's book "Duke the Lost Engine", though like Awdry's own model's, no trains with faces here! I came back to this one three or four times during my visit cause it was that nice to watch, and I'll always argue that no matter how complex, how intricate a layout can become, there's always part of us that just likes to watch trains go by. Also, bit of an odd comment, but it needs saying: A really nicely built case for the layout too! A lot of effect carpentry and painting wise to achieve that finish!

It's certainly got me thinking about what I want in a layout again. I can hear the old Railway Modeller article for Roy Link's Dolgoch station layout plan beckoning...

Overall, a very enjoyable morning once again for this show, and it was nice to see the place looking the busiest I've seen it in a good while. Hopefully it returns again next year.

And as a final note, it seems rubber ducks were invading certain layouts, providing a good source of amusement!

Blogiversary!

 One whole year.

Well, not quite. The actual anniversary is tomorrow but this is the closest Monday there is. 

I'll admit, I fully expected it to only last a couple of months before I either gave up through lack of time or interest. Yet here we are, one whole years worth of posting on a weekly basis (Bar a short break at Christmas!) 

Honestly, as I slowly chug along in my own little modelling world it doesn't feel like I've achieved much. But looking back at the last year I realise just how much I've progressed in modelling terms, but also in actually documenting how I do it. So what would I like to see out of the next year? Well finishing 'Corri-Llyn' is certainly high on the list...

Especially since plans for another layout seem to be making leaps and bounds, I've been quite busy during my annual shut down week. Expect individual posts on items seen here soon!