Albion Yard

2014, Year of the Shelfie ..

Posted on December 30, 2014 by bawdsey

‘Shelfie’
Shelf layout constructed by one person

2014 the year of the Shelfie, and a note to say thank you for taking the time to read this blog over the year. Its been quite a busy year, right the way through as far as modelling projects go, the biggest was working with my two good friends Paul Lunn, and Chris Walsh of Activity Media to produce the last in the series of the Right Track DVD series No19 Layout planning and Design.

This has resulted in my building a ‘Shelfie’, and learning a good deal more about how I can make an entertaining and captivating visual display. Paul Lunn did a huge amount of work behind the scenes, not just on his own contribution to the DVD material, but in formulating the core structure of the joint work. Without his efforts and those of Chris Walsh and Wendy in the filming and production of the DVD, it wouldn’t have happened. It was always going to be interesting to see the thoughts of those that have seen the DVD’s, and we decided to do something different in addition to sending the DVD’s out to the traditional media for review. The blogging community is definitely growing, you can see some links on the right hand side of this blog. When you visit another blog you’ll find similar links, some will be friends of the author, but pretty much all of them will have content of interest to the author even though they may have never met or corresponded with the blog/webpage writer or owner. I looked at my blogroll list and chose a number of writers whom I felt would give a fair write up of the DVD and asked them to review and comment accordingly. Specifically I asked them to free with critical comments on it, if they thought it was shite I wanted them to say so, and the reasons why. We, myself, Paul and Chris, were extremely pleased to see the reviews coming back posted on the respective blogs and websites, with very positive reviews. Using the blog format allowed the reviewers to write their thoughts in their own style and volume, its possible that other manufacturers may well take a similar approach too. So long as you trust the author to evaluate the product objectively, even if they don’t like the product, it has a lot going for it. Activity Media www.model-railway-dvd is closing in the new year as Chris retires. He and Wendy will get to put their feet up so if you want one of their DVD’s then get one now before its too late!

The reviewers then, all of whom are linked on the right hand side.

Adrian Marks basilicafields.wordpress.com

Geoff Forster radnorailways.blogspot.

Phil Parker mremag.com/news/

Tom Foster tfmodelling.wordpress.

Ian Robinson iainrobinsonmodels.

Neil Rushby rushbys-railways.blogspot.

Tim Hale timhalesblog.blogspot.co.uk

I’d like to extend my thanks to them for taking the time to view and comment on the DVD, please have a look at their respective blogs, if you like reading this one, you’ll find something of interest on all of them, that’s guaranteed!

So whats coming next year? Well the ‘Severn and Dean’ project will start, I’ve had a good bit of feedback both on line and in conversations with offers of practical help from people who can really make a difference as to how I approach, and hopefully succeed with this extensive project. I’m awaiting confirmation of an exhibition for Bawdsey which will announced once it’s in the bag officially, and the terminus station for the Severn and Dean project ‘Mitcheldean’ will also be shown as ‘work in progress’ at a show I’m really excited about.

There may be a few changes regarding the blog too, which I hope will keep people reading, and coming back. Whats been very interesting this year is the numbers, roughly 54,000 views, after search engines, the top three referrers are fellow bloggers, in at No4 is facebook, and No5 is a group website. They are widely spread too from 79 countries, the majority being UK then followed by USA/Can closely followed by OZ/NZed and Europe. There are two pages/posts which have rated highly in the stats, this being of particular interest as that where I want the blog to develop. More on that next year.

Just to close, thank you again for taking the time to read what I’ve put up over the year, it is great to get feedback, and see the numbers continue to grow. Also please take time to read some of the blogs and web pages on the links, there’s some really good stuff on them from the world over, techniques, discussion, images, and negligible froth and foam. Tell them I sent you.

Have a good 2015, I plan to!

Posted in 2014, blog, blogger, blogging, Branch Line, British Rail, critic, DCC, dcc sound, DVD, film, hobbies, Hornby, Kalmbach, Layout, magazine, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, n gauge, Narrow Gauge, Nevard, OO Gauge, Photography, Railex, research, review, selfie, shelfie, social media, train set, Uncategorized | Tagged blog, DVD, Exhibition, HO, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, media, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, nevard, OO, photography, publishing, Railway Modeller, train set | 4 Comments

Seasons Greetings

Posted on December 23, 2014 by bawdsey

Just a quick note to wish all you readers the seasons greetings as we head towards the end of the year. The picture above is Albion Yard with the first fall of the winter, a good number of you will note the influence of George Iliffe-Stokes. For those not familiar with his work, Malcolm Mitchell has an pictorial appreciation of George on his web site and it’s worth looking at.
www.swindonworks.george-iliffe-stokes

George’s work looked at now still holds that difficult to define and capture ‘atmosphere’. I can recall avidly reading my fathers copies of the modelling magazines of the time and being in awe of the skill of Georges work. At a time when many magazines were showing Bilteezi and Superquick townscapes on billiard table flat baseboards, to see a train that wasn’t ready to run, travelling through a winter landscape was inspiring. Seeing these images now they still have that instant appeal to me, the simplicity of the scene and its detailing all pull together to make a picture with much more impact than it’s individual components. If my Severn and Dean goes ahead I want to be able to capture that same sense of ‘place’, in the English countryside. If I ever get anywhere near that simplicity and effectiveness I’ll be very satisfied, it’s a good and positive target to aim for.

Having followed Malcom Mitchells postings on facebook, Malcolm-Mitchells-A-Shop he recently provided a link to his son, Tom’s music. Among the tracks was this particularly appropriate track for this time of year, which Tom has kindly allowed me to link through this post.

Happy Christmas and Seasons Greetings

Paul M-P

PS if like me you’re working, or a loved one is, make it a good one!

http://www.swindonworks.co.uk/
http://tommitchellmusic.weebly.com/

Posted in blog, christmas, hobbies, Hornby, Layout, life, media, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, music, Nevard, OO Gauge, Photography, research, Uncategorized, Western Region | Tagged 2014, christmas, Exhibition, fairy tale of new york, Forest of Dean, George Iliffe-Stokes, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, life, malcolm mitchell, mitchell, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, music, nevard, new york, OO, photography, pogues, Railway Modeller, soundcloud, the pogues, tom mitchell | 5 Comments

Finescale Review No.2

Posted on December 20, 2014 by bawdsey

In this issue there’s a wide range of subjects covered:

Inset and paved trackwork, Brian Harrup modelling in P87, finescale HO.
Tyne Dock Hoppers, Pete Hill, etched and whitemetal kits assembled largely with superglue.
Working with whitemetal, David Brandreth shows soldering techniques for this material
The Country Drewery, Tim Shackleton weathers a 7mm Drewery using a variety of mediums
Swinging the Gates, Nigel Cliffe shows his level crossing gate mechanism
GE/LNER F5 Fank in S7 John A Gardner modifies the Connoisseur kit

The editorial thanks the subscribers and purchasers of issue one for their support and expresses surprise that it was accepted so readily. That another quality finescale magazine has been welcomed by modelers in addition to the well established Model Railway Journal, comes as no surprise at all. The printing quality is excellent, the layout reads well and the balance of articles is, I think, working really well. Like most MRJ’s I can see me reading everything, even though its not of direct relevance to my modelling. All I need now is the obligatory glass of red, or mug of tea, (its the internet law to state you are having one or the other), to settle down to read it.

http://www.greystarpublications.com/fsr/

Posted in blog, magazine, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, OO Gauge, social media, Uncategorized | Tagged blog, HO, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, media, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, OO, Railex, Railway Modeller | 7 Comments

Hornby. Hitting the right notes in 2015?

Posted on December 16, 2014 by bawdsey

Are Hornby hitting the right notes

Well it’s very nearly a year since the last foam filled festival of angst and fundamentalist fervor. In one sleeps time will Hornby hit the right notes with, (allegedly), two new steam engine projects, a passenger coach, (singular), and a host of new liveries across the range from Railroad to high spec tooling models? Will they generate a wordless Wednesday?, sometimes it’d be nice to think that could happen, but within five minutes it’ll likely be the endless, ‘my wallets in danger’, I’ll be watching this one’, to Why aren’t they doing a blooyellowred one? That might make a change of course from the current tempestuous, I want one, I want one, I can’t get one. (Don’t forget to write it in capitals on their facetube link, they need plenty more ‘Twenty Yard Hardmen’ in there. Shouting. A lot.) At Warley, Hornby made a surprise announcement of LMS horseboxes and LMS Period 3 suburban stock, North Eastern Region hopper wagons, A class 71, and an Adams radial tank, with hard copy models and test pieces (excepting the 71) on show. This of course has followed the furore of the cheek of Hornby to announce a Great Western King class locomotive in September.

LMS Horse box

(Please excuse the image quality snapped using a mobile phone)

In this era of ‘social media’ it appears to be the done thing to have your say, it’s your right, or the law or something. Historically, ~~or perhaps histerically~~ Hornby have always kept their cards close to their chest regarding what they are announcing. Hence the surprise relating to some of their above announcements. Apparently Hornby doing what they’ve done for years, i.e. keeping quiet and then telling people what they are doing, are now ‘spoilers’ for other manufacturers. Well I say other ‘manufacturers’ but DJM would currently be far better employed writing romantic novels, their listings being more akin to The Pulitzer Prize ‘Best Fiction’ nominations. The manufacturers model prototypes are always worth studying closely, assuming the manufacturer puts images of them out, some don’t even up date their own website with images of their own products, or announcements about packaging… Bachmann seem well ahead of the game here. When you see a pre production model from them, you get a very good idea of how the finished product will look.

Bachmann 64XX
Pre Production model

The LMS Twins were a case in point, The Hattons model manufactured by Dapol is chunky, no other way to describe it and the pre production models were the same when shown at a forum members day. The Bachmann pre production model had far more finesse to it, the group of modellers I associate with all waited to compare the Bachmann model when released, and then subsequently bought it over the Hattons/Dapol model. The Kernow 02’s also are exhibiting the same chunkiness around the cab, and general bodywork, with very noticeable thick cab sides. Compare the Kernow images 02 ( K2101O2SteamLocomotive ) to an equivalent Hornby M7 tank and you’ll see what I mean, the Hornby model has a finesse to it that the Kernow/Hattons/Dapol models don’t capture. I think the indications of the quality of the end product from these prototypes is maybe overlooked, or is it the majority of the Ready to Run market purchasers being less discerning/bothered about detail and quality issues? Some of electricnoses pigeons are coming home to roost. The FTG models SPA freight wagon has a design fault in that the couplings are too short resulting in buffer locking and an inability to couple like for like wagons without modifying them. It seems odd that the manufacturer hasn’t acknowledged the issue, they are surely aware of it having subsequently posted on the same page of the net that the problem is discussed, and presumably is still supplying inherently faulty products.

At Warley, Rapido www.rapidotrains were showing their pre production models of the APT-E, and as an addition to the UK product, they were showing their ‘home’ market products, which are second to none in terms of fidelity. To those unfamiliar with Rapido this was an easy way to show their companies capability, and quality. Interestingly just over a year ago they were in the UK and brought two pre-production models with them albionyard.the-canadians-are-coming/ At Crewe, Jason and Dan were very engaging and a year later we have them back in the UK with a UK product to show. The Canadian models which were prototypes are now, (within the year), available and are of very high quality. Compare that to the UK market, what a difference.

Rapido HO GMD-1

Rapido HO 52’6″ Gondola

What this shows is that there are manufacturers out there who listen and get on with it. Hornby over the past couple of years maybe haven’t done so well in that respect, with no disrespect to Simon Kohler, hornbysimonsays who has always been polite and professional when dealing with Hornby matters, but I see a change in Hornby in how they are interacting with people. Their use of Facebook with the GWR King saga was very, very, clever indeed, and I think we’ll see more of that to come. I think not only will we see the quality and availability of models change from Hornby, I have a strong feeling we are seeing the beginning of a business model change too. And, if I’m right, some of that will be partly to them listening to what people are saying. There may be an element of being careful for what you’ve asked for. You may get it, but at someone else’s cost.

I’ve still got a fiver on this being one of this years announcements in a few hours time. Remember where you read it first, over a year ago …
https://albionyard.hornby-2015-predicitons

Posted in Bachmann, Branch Line, British Rail, christmas, DCC, dcc sound, djm, Eastern Region, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, Layout, LNER, magazine, media, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, n gauge, Nevard, OO Gauge, Rapido Trains, research, Scottish Region, social media, Southern Region, Western Region, wordless wednesday | Tagged Bachmann, Branch Line, djm, HO, Hobby, Hornby, hornby 2015, life, media, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, OO, Railway Modeller, Rapido | 29 Comments

Who Pays the Piper

Posted on December 6, 2014 by bawdsey

What to aim for?

An interesting debate has broken out, and been locked, (no change there then) in a small corner of the interweb. It all kicked off because some one asked an event organiser if their show was a commercial show or not. The difference being that most of the UK’s model railway hobby exhibitons/shows are organised by a club or society to generate funds for the organisation. Some clubs are set up as charities or companies and have full accounts, committees, and others have nothing formal at all. As a generalisation its fair to say the annual exhibition can have a huge impact on the club and its financial viability, sometimes helping it to survive and pay for premises and equipment, and other times taking the club to breaking point or worse if the show bombs for a particular year. There are a large number of shows in the UK ranging from Warley, the biggest, and a commercial venture, to the village hall run by a very small club of a handful of members. Warley whilst a commercial show, is run by a Ltd company from Warley club using their members. The following debate was interesting, there are a good number of foamers piling in too, especially those who clearly haven’t been on the exhibition circuit, (not referring to either organiser) and know very little about it.
Read this thread next to put it into context. Warning, it is twenty minutes of your life you won’t get back.

http://sevenoaks-model-rail-show/

These two shows David’s ‘Railex’ and Harrys ‘Sevenoaks’ are at the opposite ends of the show spectrum. If you want a football analogy, Railex (a club show), is up there pretty much always at the top of the Premier league season in, season out, and Harry’s is (currently) conference (but a commercial show). However if Harry managed 900 footfall on his first single day show last year, he did something very well or got lucky. I’m inclined to believe it was the former, he did well. Lets face it conference teams do go up as well as down, same too for the premier league. I suspect if tied to another event like a beer festival then that could have helped very well, as would being in a densely populated urban location (South London, good lad!) City and town locations charge a commercial rate for their venues, there have been any number of comments in the modelling community, about how we no longer see the inner city shows we used to. In simple terms its the shopping centre retail park effect. Why pay a premium for an in town location when you can get a gym hall cheaper and easier to access? Easy to access is critical for success, for both exhibitors and visitors. If you run a multi day show you need to get exhibitors located in easy distance from the venue, so on day two, they can actually get there.

I understand why David (Railex) asked if it were a commercial show, and if so where (in general terms) the income went, which isn’t unreasonable. I view exhibiting at shows and accepting the invite under who its for? (do I support their aims?), where it is?, and what expenses they are paying. Every show I have attended either as exhibitor or operator, in effect I have made a financial loss. I accept that because I support the aims of the organiser, and obviously I get a good deal of enjoyment out of it as I actually want to attend. There are some exhibitions that have taken the piss with the exhibitor/trader generosity/co-operation, people don’t go back, and word gets round among exhibitors and traders through the jungle telegraph too. Things like having your truck locked in a car park that no one has the key to at break down, or Vietnamese boat people style cramped accommodation, being ignored by the organiser through the show, incorrect or insufficient space allowed for the layout/stand are the types of things that get noticed.

I think whomever said if you paid people even the NMW national-minimum-wage-rates , the viability of shows would change significantly, and that is true. Harry mentioned he paid petrol and subsistence, perhaps if there were clarification if that includes van/car hire and overnight accommodation for those travelling longer distances, (though perhaps he’s not had that to deal with yet). It appears that the exhibitors for Harrys show are local, for David at Railex that isn’t the case. When I did Railex from the east midlands, he had accommodation+van hire+fuel for me, and 3 x petrol for my operators whom are (literally) spread across the country. Again my team doesn’t take the piss with requesting expenses, in effect rounding down fuel and not charging a mileage rate. For example if one of my operators charged using annual mileage HMRC 40p/mile rate, there would be an extra £94 for him alone, rather than £20 for fuel. If I were to charge at the cheaper annual mileage rate at HMRC/25p rate for my three oppos you’d still be looking at around £160 that we don’t actually currently ask for. I use the HMRC rate as reasonable if you’re going to give all exhibitors the same T&C’s. https://www.gov.mileage-and-fuel-allowances
The above of course doesn’t take into account travel time, set up, exhibition appearance, and break down, travel home, which are all show ‘duties’. If exhibitors charged NMW for that, only those with the deepest pockets could pay, but likely wouldn’t.

Albion Yard. No photoshop, this is what the exhibition visitor got to see.

I’ve been asked by some exhibition managers to attend with either Albion Yard, or Bawdsey. Often I get a where are you from? and then a discussion in my hearing that this one will do, he doesn’t have far to come, and then an offer to attend a lower league show. I’m always polite but they often take a step back when I say they likely can’t afford us. This is because we aren’t a charity, and as mentioned in para one, there are very different quality shows across the exhibition circuit. I don’t want to be treking around with a layout to shows I wouldn’t attend as a visitor, arranging leave is a problem too for two of us who work in the aviation industry, not everyone has weekends free. And no, I’m not going to use local enthusiasts to the show to operate my train set, unless I personally know and trust them. That’s part of the enjoyment of a show for the exhibitor, taking a layout and team out, it is part social too. The team is a key part of the layout, they know how it operates, and can assist with repairs in the event of failures, and can engage the visitor, knowing about the layout and what it represents, rather than saying ‘dunno, its not mine’. The team if its a good one help with efficient set up and break down, that helps the organiser too making the show run with less hassle.

A question perhaps to be asked is for a commercial show, why shouldn’t exhibitors get better T&C’s than they do now?, a nominal appearance fee for example, the same for any layout regardless of size, to acknowledge the effort the owner/team has made. It has to be the same, to prevent the ‘size’ argument kicking off, ladies, look away now. If its for a club/society which puts something back into the hobby then I, and others may take a different view regarding full expenses and ‘appearance fees’. Even though a club/soc. exhibition is providing capital/funds for their organisation, that helps sustain and grow the hobby. For example it means there is a club that a newbie of any age can join and progress in the hobby from. That doesn’t detract from a commercial show bringing people in too, or giving them direction to progress in, but even allowing for charitable donations etc, a commercial show is there to make profit for the organiser to put in their pocket. The commercial show needs the clubs/exhibitors who provide the layouts (with whatever T&C’s), to have a show. Without those layouts the commercial organiser would have to make or buy in layouts and staff, to actually have a show. I have no problem with commercial shows at all, but I don’t work for my employer for free whom are making a profit, why should an exhibitor provide their effort without payment from a commercial organiser?

So, he who pays the piper calls the tune. Perhaps the pipers are realising the pay packet, from some organisers, is empty.

http://www.railex.org.uk/ Aylesbury

http://www.modelrailwayexhibition.com/ Sevenoaks
Out of courtesy I’ve let both the managers know of this posting.

NB: Now you’ve read this too thats about 40 minutes of your life you won’t get back! The easyJet vs BA argument example in the forum thread isn’t relevant to this debate apart from in a simple sentence that they were different. (I was there)

Posted in blog, blogger, blogging, critic, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, Exhibition, hobbies, Layout, life, magazine, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Railex, social media, Uncategorized | Tagged Bachmann, Branch Line, club, commercial, Exhibition, harry denford, HO, Hobby, Hornby, humour, Layout, life, media, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, OO, Railex, Railway Modeller, the london theatre | 6 Comments

Severn & Dean

Posted on November 14, 2014 by bawdsey

You’ll note a new page on the blog, this is to cover the larger layout project, the post below is the first page entry. Today’s been an interesting day having the privilege of watching Chris Nevard http://nevardmedia take pictures of Bawdsey http://bawdsey and Wharfedale Road for forthcoming magazine articles. It made a change to dig out Bawdsey and run it for pleasure over the past day or two before the more serious photography of today. It is a nice layout to operate and can be very absorbing, but still doesn’t have that total immersion that I can imagine the likes of operating Buckingham and Yaxbury http://www.s-scale.org.uk give.

This page will ( I hope) cover some of the steps as I try to capture the Forest of Dean on a larger scale in terms of layout size, than I have done previously. Some entries may have appeared on other parts of the blog, this being the ‘project page’, but will all have a common theme, a link to the ‘Severn and Dean’ scheme.

Equipment Portraits No.1

Taking a leaf out of Trevor Marshalls excellent blog http://themodelrailwayshow. I’ll put up a few pictures of the motive power and stock that’ll run on the Severn and Dean system. I’ve often been asked what I’ve done to items and this seems as good a way as any to show them. This isn’t a ‘look what I’ve got’ post or page, judging by postings on various fora I’ll very much be in the ‘poor relation’ category! The motive power I’ve selected are all taken from images of the Forest of Dean from the mid 1950’s through to close of steam, so the engine will have been seen in the Forest area. Depending on original images the option of early or late crest BR logo is sometimes difficult to determine, and there are one or two ‘it’s my trainset’ locomotives included. Those however do have a logical ‘what if’ possibility.

‘Large’ Pannier
97xx 9711

So the first one up is British Rail (BR), Western Region (WR), ‘large’ 97xx pannier 9711. The origin is a OO Bachmann model, a simple number change, rear cab doors opened, etched details of lamp brackets, fire irons and bucket. Shawplan laser cut glazing added. Weathering is a mix of high quality artists pastels and Tamiya acrylic military colours airbrushed. Mig pigments are also used for detailing and for washes. The idea being to get an well used ‘in use’ look, without the shocking state stock and locos reached at the end of British Rails steam era.

BR/WR 97xx 9711

The modifications I do are rarely difficult or time consuming, I’m a believer that a little and often approach can give big leaps forward in any project and some of these modifications appear here https://albionyard.wordpress.com/fifteen-minute-heroes/ Screw couplings and three/instanter link are my preference, as these are the most realistic looking. For practical purposes I use couplings which are slightly over scale, but compared to Kadee or UK tension lock couplings the visual improvement is huge. It does give me operating restrictions though, curve radii is pretty much a minimum of 36 inches, so careful planning of layouts is required. This means that sometimes I can’t do things I’d like, but that comes with the choice and territory of prototype couplings.

Part one of the project is under way, I’ve been offered and accepted an exhibition slot next year for ‘something’. Better take my own advice and get on with some modelling ….

Posted in Branch Line, Chris Nevard, DCC, dcc sound, Forest of Dean, Great Western, history, hobbies, Hornby, Layout, life, magazine, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, Nevard, OO Gauge, Photography, research, shelfie, Uncategorized, Western Region | Tagged Bachmann, Branch Line, Exhibition, Forest of Dean, HO, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, nevard, OO, photography, Railway Modeller | Leave a comment

Destination Anywhere

Posted on November 10, 2014 by bawdsey

Severn & Dean

Well, its more destination ‘AnyRail’, than anywhere actually, https://www.anyrail.com and that’s where some of the schematic plan above has come from. More of that later ..

I’m at one of those stages where you have a number of ideas/projects all running under consideration simultaneously. This is a good and bad thing.

Good because it reminds us we’re alive and if you’re male, can multitask. Or alternatively and more realistically (if male), can think about different things sequentially.

Bad as it arguably lacks focus and can be the catalyst for a period of stagnation and aimless meandering from subject matter to subject matter. You’ll then need to join a forum and start a thread saying, ‘My mojo has gone, what can I do to get it back?’ Fear not you’ll soon have a number of replies saying ‘me too’, so that’ll help, bet you’re glad you asked …

Chris Mears, judging by this post has found himself at a similar cross roads to me and has written an interesting piece on his blog princestreet..what-he-said/ I’ve found myself in a similar place. I have Albion Yard, and Wharfedale Road ‘available’ for me to play with, and in real terms ‘complete’. Both of them OO/4mm scale, and my own work.

I have Bawdsey http://bawdsey. too, EM gauge/4mm scale built by Chris Matthewman, that too is complete, in effect being a ‘classic’ layout in the true sense and built by a real craftsman.

Bawdsey 4mm/ EM gauge

I did have ideas of an extension to it, http://bawdsey.the-future-bawdsey-ferry/ but time and other projects have taken priority and realistically it’s not going to happen. The layout is a delight to operate though in its current form. I find myself questioning why break something that’s fixed? So that brings me back to OO/4mm scale, and where I want to go with it. I’ve done single/solo projects in OO/EM and N gauge and helped on others in different scales too, 4mm/OO is, boiling it down to the basics, where I’m at. It makes the most sense to use this scale, I find it comfortable to work with, and can find the challenges within it that are extant in other scales. I’ve also invested time and effort in 4mm/OO stock, so its a good launch point.

This brings us back to the plan at the top. I wrote recently about having operated ‘Buckingham’ and having been taken by the concept of trains ‘going somewhere and doing something’. I have a garage that could be used for a system layout and that’s where I feel I’m headed now. Anyrail has been useful with its Peco Code75 point templates and flexi track components included in the software. I’ve started with the first draft above, to get to know the software and how to get what I want from it, which is not necessarily the best out of it. The locations in the ‘Severn and Dean’ schematic plan above, are copies or pastiches of real Forest of Dean track layouts. The concept being to give the right operational feel to the layout, and to, in part, replicate the challenges of operating the railways in the Forest. It’ll run the perimeter of the garage and be semi portable, formed of individual ‘shelfies’ or I-layouts*, at a height to make them view realistically rather than from an aircrew perspective. A good friend suggested it had something of the Mindheim about it, http://www.lancemindheim (in a good way I hasten to add), and there are similarities right enough. This will be a branchline layout of an linear format, in shelf units, and made, by me. It’s prototype freelancing too, taking real elements and making a ‘mashup’ as the kids would say, of a railway that people would recognize.

The Fleet

Part of the concept is to push my boundaries again. I’ve built layouts by myself to specification, and others with no real plan, Albion Yard for example which turned out as perhaps my best so far. With Albion Yard I’ve got a good selection of motive power, and even for such a system as I’m thinking of only need a couple more locomotives to get a representative mix. These include 57xx panniers with no top feed, these are in progress at the moment, a high tank 45xx, and a couple of the 64/54xx variety which will come in the new year with Bachmann’s imminent release. The choice that I have yet to make is whether to go DCC Sound or stay with traditional DC. The downside of the DCC option is cost. More controllers, and sound ‘inserts’ costing around £100 per loco. For the group above that’s an outlay of around £800, and a further £500 for the known additions to come of two small panniers and a 45xx. That’s a lot of money just on sound de-coders which only add a bit of play value rather than any significant operational advantage. Almost certainly if I pull the trigger on this project, I’ll part fund it by getting rid of other projects which are in stock which will soften the financial blow, but it does mean commitment too, something us modellers with wide fields of interest like myself, will find a bigger challenge than the actual project!

Perhaps its time to take a leaf out of Eugene (Gene) Deimling’s blog and ethos and borrow a strap line from Nike, and ‘Just do it’ http://myp48.wordpress.com-just-do-it/ I’ve already started ‘Doing it’ I think, I can stand in the garage and visualise the space and baseboard shapes in my head, the design has evolved from the header image. Reading books on how the Severn and Wye and Forest of Dean operated, I’m getting a feeling for how much more stock is required, mostly its freight, mineral wagons in particular. Probably about another 20 – 30 wagons, another £2-300 pounds on discount prices if I buy RTR. The Airfix kit is looking a promising option to cost effectively build up the wagon numbers. I’ll make the descision based on cost vs time available, fortunately they can be built quickly and look almost identical to the RTR counterparts. Passenger stock is pretty much catered for, a couple of Great Western B sets, some BR Mk1 suburbans, and three Autotrailers will cover what I need. For a newer twist I may add a British Rail diesel Railcar as well.

So, what next? The northern end of the line as depicted will change, I know that already, and am thinking of trying to integrate the DVD project layout into the scheme. I’m quite encouraged by the amount of thought this potential ‘railway’ project is taking, it’s quite a different feel to previous projects, it feels like it has more ‘purpose’. We shall see …

*I-Layout Mr Nevards description of one of my eye level presented Shelfie layouts

Posted in DCC, dcc sound, Forest of Dean, Great Western, Hornby, Kalmbach, Layout, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Nevard, OO Gauge, research, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged anyrail, Branch Line, dean, Forest of Dean, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, OO, peco, plan, Railway Modeller, severn, track plan, western | 11 Comments

Age shall not weary them.

Posted on November 9, 2014 by bawdsey

Posted in history, life, menin gate, remembrance, the great war, Uncategorized, world war one, ypres | 2 Comments

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY No.2

Posted on November 5, 2014 by bawdsey

Wharfedale Road (click pic for biggun)

Posted in blog, blogging, canon, hobbies, Kalmbach, life, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Nevard, OO Gauge, Photography, social media, wordless wednesday | Tagged Bachmann, Branch Line, Canon, HO, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, media, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, nevard, OO, photography, Railway Modeller, wordless wednesday | Leave a comment

Progress?

Posted on October 24, 2014 by bawdsey

Anyone recognise this? Hold the front page, it’s a kit. That’s right ‘A Kit’. I know, I know, smelling salts all round, breath in using the paper bag, Three, Two, One, and you’re back in the room ..

Not only that, its a bit ‘last year’ too, since this kit was produced in the 80’s Hornby have since produced a very good Ready to Run model of it. The Kit is by Ratio, one of the UK’s oldest existing model railway kit producers. I can remember in my dads ‘to do’ kit pile, (nothings new is it?), there were Ratio Kits. Of the time, 1950’s and early 60’s they were made of wood. Now for the UK that’s an unusual material for kits, as it means they’ve been made from trees. As plastics became easier to obtain and no doubt more cost effective, and accurate, wood, fell by the wayside. With laser cutting however it is seeing a bit of a resurgence particularly in building kits. So why have I got this kit out, if I can buy a working painted one off the shelf?

Well one thing that is often commented on is the lack of supply of new product, and that can be a source of frustration, especially if the item is from that sole source. Since this kit was introduced, as mentioned above, Hornby have made a very good RTR version of the same vehicle. However with this kit you can cut all the corners of the supply chain. It does mean you have to build it of course. Of its time, it was one of the most technically advanced and detailed kits, and to some it was a challenge. I was thinking of this as I opened the box, (yes, guilty, I’m a ‘box opener’), and revisited the model. I bought one of the first releases, working in the trade at the time, and yes it was definitely advanced. Retrospectively that was firmly in relation to what had gone before, and those contemporary to the time. Looking at it now, its just a well thought out detailed model, including etched components. Todays plastic modeller would just think, ‘this is alright’, rather than, ‘kinell! I’ll never get that together!’

So, I’ve got the shell together and the beauty is it all fits, its not effortless, but its in the minimal additional work category. I’ve got a page of 15 minute hero’s on the blog, http://albionyard/fifteen/ and whilst this isn’t one, it is a set of 15 minuters that can be added sequentially, each time frame adding something of value to the build. One frustration with poor kits is wasted thinking time or fiddling with bits that should ‘work’, this kit has obviously been well thought out and designed to avoid those pitfalls. And I’m enjoying the build, I won’t use the word ‘fun’, I’m beginning to get old fart grumpy when I see ‘fun’, ‘its supposed to be fun’, ‘have fun’ ‘join in the fun’, ‘here’s a really annoying clown, have fun’ etc etc. No, I’m just enjoying my time building this kit, and that’s quite enough Disneyesque, glee filled ‘fun’ for me thanks. And one bit of smug satisfaction that comes from this, is the kit is cheaper than the RTR equivalent, and it’ll make something that is as good too if you take some time with it.

So ..

Progress can be measured in a number of ways in our hobby, and we can often see it in the blogging community. Julias 2mm http://modelopolis.blogspot.co.uk/ is to me particularly interesting at the moment. The challenge she is looking at is capturing ‘atmosphere’. Now we’re all likely able to make something according to the book, with varying degrees of success. This captures my imagination as she’s looking to capture something ‘intangible’. Atmosphere is a variable too. In modelling it’s often based on the viewers knowledge, life experiences and perhaps artistic faculties too. A Turner painting isn’t an accurate picture by any means, but it will have something that a clinical line drawing or illustration won’t. It has life, in terms of the artistic expression that’s gone into it, and Julia’s project fascinates me in a similar way. Will it capture something more than just the technical modelling she’s undoubtedly capable of? I do hope so.

On blogging I’d like to encourage any visitors to dip into the blogs shown on the blog roll on the right hand side, particularly if this field is new to you. Some of the blog writers featured I know and socialise with, most of them however, I’ve never met or have done so in a limited capacity for only a few minutes. As a rule though they all do something that’s not box opening, or glee filled fun. They are seriously enjoying their hobby and for me that’s what makes them worth reading. Not only that, but there are some equally good links from their sites to other sites, where there is plenty of hands on work in progress across the range of the hobby.

Progress for me?

Guilty verdict …

Posted in blog, blogger, blogging, Branch Line, canon, DCC, dcc sound, Exhibition, hobbies, Hornby, Kalmbach, Layout, life, media, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Nevard, OO Gauge, research, social media, Uncategorized, Wales, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged Art, artistic, atmosphere, blog, Exhibition, HO, Hobby, Hornby, Layout, life, model rail, Model Railroad, Model Railway, nevard, OO, photography, progress, Railway Modeller, Tony Koester | 7 Comments

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