Canada Post

Posted on October 15, 2012 by bawdsey

Well, its not a post about Canada Post but its a post about Canada. I’ve spent a bit of time on and off in Canada and its one of my favourite countries. Canada has always been deeply etched into the fabric of the family. After the second world war many Canadians as well as Kiwi’s and Ozzies either stayed to learn medicine or came across to learn, and thats where the connection was first made. Our parents knew many expats who went overseas, as well as colonials who came to learn and stay. My brother and I used to get boxes of huge juicy Canadian apples sent from the Golden Horseshoe, regular books and calenders all showing the beautiful scenery of the rockies, Niagara on the Lake, The Falls etc etc. The thing that really got me going were the pictures of Canadian National or Canadian Pacific ‘F’ series diesels, observation cars all in the iconic 60’s and early 70’s liveries. One day I knew I was going to go there. Well, I did. In the early eighties to start, firstly a six month road trip, Greyhounding, hitching rides and working my way in the fruit farms below the Niagara escarpment. Later it was grabbing rides on delivery flights on the jumpseat of brand new BAe146’s, and then hitching my way from wherever I got dropped off back to Grimsby, (no, not the one that stinks of fish, the one in Ontario)

One thing that struck me about the Canucks is they have in many ways a similar sense of humour to the British. In toy train terms this can be no better exemplified than these offerings from Rapido, which may hold some lessons for our home grown talent …

Most of the time I spent in ‘The Near North’, so called because the landscape is just like the ‘True North’, only closer and a bit warmer. It does make a difference to how you think about life to a degree, the nearest town to us was 60km away, so if you forget that pack of screws when you’re in Wallmart, it’s a long way back. Small child was instructed, rather than advised, to not fall off the swings, or get bitten by anything or anyone she didn’t recognise.

Returning from the near north was a six hour drive, to stay in the Grimsby area, whilst there I found a hobby shop about ten minutes drive away. From the outside it just looks like a small roadside store, on the day I arrived it was closed, but a squint through the window had me spying a Rapido ‘Canadian’ box on the shelf. Clearly with one of those in stock they were likely to be a good bet for a serious shop. On the last day I managed to drop in for a few minutes, and for my credit cards sanity that was just as well. It is one of the best little hobby stores I’ve ever been to, with a wide range of quality products and a very welcoming attitude from Peter, the stores owner. I managed to not buy the Rapido (see above vids) ‘Canadian’ set he had in store, though I dearly would have liked to, it was just the sort of train that we used to see on the calendars and pictures sent across many years ago in my childhood. If you’re doing Canada on holiday especially going between Toronto and Niagara Falls then drop in, it’ll be well worth your trouble
http://www.justtraincrazy.ca/index.php
http://www.rapidotrains.com/canadian.html

DAWN AND MARRA, POPTASTIC!

Steve Jones on electricnose used to put the occaisional music review up, and I’m going to nick a leaf out of his book and briefly do the same here. Being a fan of live music we took time out to go to the 2012 Hamilton Festival of Friends. The B52’s were the headline act this year, but on the accoustic stage I saw a couple of girls that I think may just make the big time. They have a unique sound to them, the harmonies in their voices are almost unbelieveable, as clear as ice melt water etc etc, (I know I take the piss, seriously though, have a listen), they look cool, even I know that as a dad of one teenager and her apprentice, and these girls are serious musicians. The comparison between them and the dirge of this weeks X-Factor Rylan Clark, vote for me I’m not safe (and thats not even the crap singing), is chalk and cheese.

Many people say yeah, go and see so and so blah, blah, blah, but this band/duo/popular beat combo, or however you’d like to categorise them are different, in a good way. They write their own stuff which is definitely in the indie folk genre, which does sound a bit ‘Radio 2, Tuesday Evening’. However, watch their Facetube vid below of the Simon and Garfunkle ‘Cecilia’ cover, I’m led to believe it’s ‘awesome’ or ‘sick’ in yoof speak. What I do know is, it’s worth watching.

Cecilia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzX1YO5fq4I
The Album
http://dawnandmarra.com/music.cfm

If they get big, (I don’t mean in a pie eating kind of way), and I hope they do, remember you saw them on a train geek site first! Some of us actually know cool stuff when we see it and hear it …

Not Everyone
Works For Peanuts …

Posted in Airfix, Bachmann, Branch Line, brassmasters, British Rail, canada, canon, Chris Nevard, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, Forest of Dean, GNR, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, humour, Kalmbach, Layout, life, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, music, Narrow Gauge, OO Gauge, Photography, Railex, research, review, Scottish Region, Southern Region, travel, Uncategorized, Wales, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Goodbye ‘Northlander’

Posted on September 28, 2012 by bawdsey

By 7:15pm today the Northlander will have completed its last run, and the ‘Near North’ will have lost another community link to be replaced by bus services.

Image of 1805 courtesy of
http://www.flickr.com/sean marshall

Posted in 2012, Branch Line, canon, Layout, life, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Modelling, Nevard, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Model Rail 2012, Barrow Hill, Thank You!

Posted on September 26, 2012 by bawdsey

Heavy Freight in the Forest

Thank you to everyone who popped by over the weekend, we had a really good time at an event that was well organised and was very different to other exhibitions we’ve been to over the years. In terms of visitors we did have a couple of specials that turned up. One, courtesy of Simon Kohler at Hornby, who was genuinely pleased and surprised to see an H&M ‘Walkabout’ on the layout, a brilliant DC controller even though its now thirty years old whilst still giving excellent control. The 72XX whilst too big for Albion Yard in reality, impressed us with its capturing the appearance of these large engines. This is one of the test samples and it had got quite a few a miles under its belt, it got a few extra feet on Albion Yard too! Whilst outside my field of interest seeing this superb model crawling across the layout has sort of pushed it onto the want’s list whereas previously it wasn’t on my radar at all!
http://www.hornby.com/

The overall appearance of the layout drew many nice comments over the weekend with the backscene and trees being two items of particular interest. We noticed again a good number of returnees, which considering how crowded the venue was at times was really pleaseing. One thing that is noticeable is the number of girls and women who stop and spend a good amount of time looking at the layout. They tend to ask questions about scenery, particularly the trees and notice the ‘long view’ earlier than the male of the species!, and note the difference in the trees construction across the layout. The girls are a wonderful source of info about hair care products too and which are the best for stickiness and ‘hold’, useful for knowing which to use for scatter materials!

C&L Armatured Trees


Speaking to C&L today they will soon have the armatures for the trees back in stock, so if you’d like to make trees similar to these get in touch with Pete, the armatures may well be in a lighter color to aid painting and will be supplied as previously in a multipack format.
http://www.finescale.org.uk/

Two of the tasks I did prior to Model Rail was to add a further siding and make a train of Berry Wiggins Bitumen tankers, These ran to Whimsey in the Forest of Dean just north of Cinderford. I wanted to make one of these trains, to help set the scene, similar to Pete Kirmonds Anhydryte train used on Blea Moor. This is the new area of the layout, new cottages, the new siding is on the far right, and one of the Panniers is taking the Bitumen tanks away form the yard.

Berry Wiggins Bitumen Tankers Depart Cinderford

The prototype Berry Wiggins Bitumen tankers can be seen in these images:
http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Cinderford/Cinderford_Rail.html
The train is a rough representation of the tanks, comprised of a mix of Bachmann and Peco 14t tank weagons, the decals came from Model Masters, their sheet number 4826. http://www.modelmasterdecals.com/

I was asked by quite a few people what will happen to the layout after the September RM article and a recent t’interweb posting. The layout has a few more shows to do next year, and then I’ll decide how to dispose of it. Anyone who has contacted me directly will get a reply in the next week or so with more details. Fortunately this time on the way home I remembered to close the rear doors of the van properly …

Again many thanks for the interest in the layout over the weekend and it was a real pleasure to meet people and talk about this layout with them. One of the oddest in a nice was was being asked for my autograph! I’d have safely bet a significant amount of money that’d never happen in my lifetime, the young lad had got quite a collection of signatures on his magazine too, hopefully small things like that will encourage youngsters like him to take the hobby up in the future.

As a postscript, today Postman Pat put a parcel through the door, with a nice little kit for review in, more in the next day or two on that!

http://www.hornby.com/
http://www.finescale.org.uk/
http://www.modelmasterdecals.com/

Posted in Bachmann, book, Branch Line, Canon G10, Chris Nevard, DCC, decals, Eastern Region, Exhibition, Forest of Dean, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, Kalmbach, Layout, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, OO Gauge, Railex, Scottish Region, Southern Region, Uncategorized, Wales, waterslide, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Model Rail 2012 Barrow Hill

Posted on September 21, 2012 by bawdsey

Berry Wiggins Bitumen Tanks Leave Albion Yard

Today I’m packing the train set and setting up at Model Rail Live at Barrow Hill, Chesterfield. Theres a new train, see above image, based on Ben Ashworth and Ian Pope images of the Berry Wiggins Bitumen trains, I’ve re-lettered a selection of assorted tank wagons to make up one of these almost iconic trains of the Forest of Dean in its later years. The fiddle yard area has been changed, giving more operating potential to this small layout, which can have a surprisingly intensive operation even for one engine in steam! More improvements have been made in the main scenic area, and I’m hoping to be able to provide a further big change to that later in the autumn.

Anyway if you’re there, come and say hello, and thanks for taking the time to read the blog.

model rail live.co.uk

Not Everyone
Works For Peanuts …

Posted in 2012, 3f, Airfix, Bachmann, book, Branch Line, brassmasters, Canon G10, Chris Nevard, DCC, decals, Eastern Region, Forest of Dean, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, Industrial, Kalmbach, Layout, life, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, OO Gauge, paint, Railex, Scottish Region, Southern Region, Uncategorized, Wales, waterslide, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Model Rail Live II

Posted on September 15, 2012 by bawdsey

Here’s a bit of a clue as to the changes made since Railex and indeed the September Railway Modeller, they involve a significant change to the buildings, more track, a new train, in the literal sense, and more trees. Theres some interesting news on the subject of the Railway Modeller, it is now available for subscribers in a digital edition, which also includes access to the 2011 back issues. Hopefully over time that back catalogue will increase, as theres a wealth of quality articles over the years within the magazines 61 year history.

RAILWAY MODELLER
Go to: https://www.exacteditions.com/exact/checkAgency.do?titleId=21465

Fill in the form on the Exact Editions Website with your email address and your unique 6-digit customer number and choose a password. This number can be found on the front of the address sheet of your subscription copy of the magazine. If you have any problems or queries give them a call. Phone: 01297 21542 and ask for the Subscriptions Department.

On the subject of magazine longevity Model Rail celebrated their 15th year aniversary with their October issue, well done to them, its always worth looking at. With a week to go to Model Rail’s exhibition at Barrow Hill I’ve still got a few more bits and pieces to add, to finalise, (for this week anyway), the new appearance to the ‘long view’ over the entire length of the layout.

No pressure then …

model rail live.co.uk

Not Everyone
Works For Peanuts …

Posted in 3f, Airfix, Bachmann, Branch Line, British Rail, canon, Chris Nevard, DCC, dcc sound, decals, Eastern Region, Exhibition, Forest of Dean, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, Kalmbach, Layout, life, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, OO Gauge, Railex, Scottish Region, Southern Region, Wales, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Model Rail Live Update

Posted on September 8, 2012 by bawdsey

97XX 9711 Shunts Bitumen Tanks at Albion Yard

The layout doesn’t go to many shows and will only got to a couple of shows before its retirement in 2013. One up and coming show with a good mix of model and prototype interest is Model Rail Live at Barrow Hill, Chesterfield. When I wrote about the layout and its development in Septembers Railway Modeller albionyard.september/ I felt the layout was finished.

However, you know how it is, that unfinished business feeling crept up on me and now I’ve been doing a bit more to it. Part of it has changed noticably, and theres a final bit which is still in progress which will significantly change the operation of the layout.
And no, its not going DCC!

Have a look here for more details on Model Rail Live later this month.
model rail live.co.uk

Posted in 2012, Bachmann, British Rail, canon, Chris Nevard, DCC, decals, Eastern Region, Exhibition, Forest of Dean, Great Western, Hornby, Kalmbach, Layout, life, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Narrow Gauge, Nevard, OO Gauge, Photography, Railex, Scottish Region, Southern Region, Uncategorized, Wales, waterslide, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Parklife …

Posted on September 5, 2012 by bawdsey

PC84 GWR 10 Ton Goods Van Mink A  Dia/V12, V14 & V16
At Aylesbury Railex exhibiton in late May, Parkside released their latest 4mm scale kit. This is for the GWR Diagram V12/V14/V16 10T goods van. The prototype era spanned from 1907 to approximately 1960, and with such longevity is a useful addition to a 4mm modellers armoury.

The kit is complete apart from couplings, transfers and paint. To finish the model I used Precision Paints and transfers from the Modelmasters and Cambridge Custom Transfers ranges. Wheelsets provided in the standard kit are Romfords with pinpoint bearings, however customers can request Alan Gibson replacements when a small surcharge applies.
The kit is moulded in grey plastic, the examples I received were clean of ‘flash’ and with no significant mould lines evident. Detail is crisp and well defined to contemporary standards. Also included are two coupling mounts, the first is a traditional mount for tension lock couplings and the second a pedestal, for fitting NEM pockets. In a trial fit both Bachmann and Hornby couplings fitted perfectly.

The body is of typical van construction, with the two sides and ends making a box on the floor of the vehicle. For this review I added car wheel balance weights of 20 grams before fitting the roof. Instructions are simple and clear, identifying specific components well, and outlining areas where differences occur, the van ends for example.The chassis is rigid, there is sufficient room for anyone who wants to make compensated or sprung variants, though this means working that process by yourself, the kit catering solely for a rigid chassis. Components supplied allow for the modeler to make a vacuum brake fitted chassis, or a standard unfitted variant which we chose. Fit of all components is accurate and the chassis aligns itself between the ends and floor with no clearance issues. The brass axle bearings were a little tight on my sample when fitting into the axleboxes, so no adhesive was required.This kit is suitable for modellers across the whole range of experience, from beginner to expert.

This is a simple and well thought out kit. Build sequence is logical and total construction time was in the order of two hours. The most visible difference being the van ends. Options included allow the builder to make one of three diagrams,and the instructions assist in identifying the detail variations including with or without tie bars.Basic livery details are included with Lot numbers identified for the three variations as originally built and brief outlines of other variations to be aware of. The kit is priced on a par with contemporary ready to run wagons, and offers good value for money, for a well detailed, accurate and easy to build model.

http://www.parksidedundas.co.uk/

Posted in Airfix, Bachmann, British Rail, Canon G10, Chris Nevard, decals, Eastern Region, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, Layout, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, OO Gauge, paint, Railex, review, Scottish Region, Southern Region, Uncategorized, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Several Shades of Grey, Some Say, as Many as Fifty …

Posted on August 27, 2012 by bawdsey

In another ’15 minute hero’ heres how to get a better looking planked finish to a wooden floored wagon such as bogie bolsters or flat wagons. As you can see from the image below (Mainline Bogie Bolster), the ready to run wagons often come with a dark brown finish for plain wood. It’s like primary school art, trees are (Michael Caines acting is) wooden, so therefore, wood = brown.

Normally however, trees are shades of grey, some say, up to fifty, and also grey/brown mixes. Unfortunately this really shows up when you start to add color and weathering to your other models. It is also the wrong color for fresh wood, unless you’re considering a dark wood like mahogany. However, mahogany would be far too expensive to use for a vehicle that had the harsh life of freight stock, so it’s a good idea to change the color. The next few illustrations show how I do it quickly and easily.

Applying Regular Household Masking Tape

First thing is to remove the bogies and or any detail that can be easily damaged, like pipework or stantions. I’m using normal household masking tape here, if the shapes were more complex I’d use Tamiya masking tape for the edges and then back fill with paper or the masking tape above.

Ensure Sides Are Well Covered

Enclose Entire Wagon Chassis

Ensure that any area of the wagon you don’t want painted is covered. Using these car paint cans is a bit crude, the spray is wide enough to cover the whole model and then some! I’ve left enough tape at the ends to actually use as a handle to hold the wagon whilst spraying. Doing this speeds the job up and ensures complete coverage.

Halfords White PLASTIC Primer

This is the stuff, use white rather than grey as it will make varying the planking shades easier later on. Also make sure its the Plastic primer. There are still some agressive paints that are available that may damage the model, this Halfords stuff, has not damaged anything I’ve used it on.

So far …

Remove Masking Tape

Mist it on with several thin coats from about 30cm away. To accelerate the drying process I use an old hair dryer, this dries the paint and helps it shrink and grab hold of the surface. One aid to this is sanding the planking to start with, however I rarely find that’s neeeded. Don’t leave the masking tape on too long. On this sort of work I remove it pretty much immediately, the above was done within five minutes of spraying,

Painting Planks By Numbers

I use a variety of paint types, here I’m using Tamiya acrylics, but other planks were painted with Vallejo, and also Humbrol enamels, basically I use whats to hand and use black to add a tonal variation. I paint the planks individually even if using the same color. For the lightest color planks I use a strong wash over the white undercoat.

Pigment Wash Accentuates Planks & Textures

To accentuate the joins I’m using a MIG pigment wash, the density of the wash can be easily varied. The pigment is easily described as paint without the liquid, and I’ll put up a posting in the future on how I use them, they are a very valuable medium to use in the paint shop. This post https://albionyard.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/rust-dirt/ details the colors and mediums that are my primary work palet.

Painting Completed, Bogies Re-attached

There may be some thinking this is never fifteen minutes work. Well its not far off, probably a bit longer as I was snapping as I went. The initial mask and spray takes about five minutes, particularly if you accelerate the drying time. Then its up to you how much time you put in the next stage of varying shades and painting. Even if you only do a single shade of grey, the improvement is far better than the original deep brown fresh from the box.

Final Weathering, MIG Pigments and Winsor & Newton Pastells

This is the completed wagon, its been toned down with a dusting of light greys and browns from artists pastels and then ‘fixed’ using Vallejo acrylic matt varnish. All I need to do now is add some knackered stantions and chains and shackles waiting their next load.

Not Everyone
Works For Peanuts …

Posted in 3f, Airfix, Bachmann, Branch Line, brassmasters, British Rail, Canon G10, Chris Nevard, Eastern Region, Exhibition, GNR, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, Kalmbach, Layout, life, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, Narrow Gauge, OO Gauge, paint, Railex, Scottish Region, shades of grey, Southern Region, Uncategorized, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Albion Yard’s Trees

Posted on August 24, 2012 by bawdsey

C&L Armature Constructed Tree

One of the things the people seem to respond to most when they see the layout, are the trees. The core of these are made from plastic armatures from C&L finescale. At Railex, http://www.railex.org.uk/ Peter from C&L wasn’t sure if the tree armatures would be retained in the range, however having seen the Albion Yard trees and some correspondance from other modellers, there may be a run of armatures produced to test the water for the market.

If you are interested in using these armatures then contact Pete at C&L http://www.finescale.org.uk/ and let him know. The layout is currently up at home, being prepaired for Model Rail Live in September http://www.modelraillive.co.uk/page/?title=The+Event&pid=2  This will be the only opportunity to see Albion Yard in the remainder of the year, as the layout is not on the exhibition circuit.

Not Everyone
Works For Peanuts …

Posted in 2012, Airfix, Bachmann, Branch Line, British Rail, Canon G10, Chris Nevard, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, Exhibition, Forest of Dean, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, Ian Futers, Kalmbach, Layout, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, OO Gauge, Railex, Scottish Region, Southern Region, Uncategorized, Wales, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mags and Mountains …

Posted on August 17, 2012 by bawdsey

September 2012 Railway Modeller

September 2012 Railway Modeller

To date there’s not been much in this blog section regarding the build of Albion Yard and how its developed over the years. In this Septembers Railway Modeller the layout is featured in a break from the normal style of layout presentation article. The article is an interview where Steve Flint, the editor, and I sat down and talked about the layout and its development. It was all the more interesting to do as Steve hasn’t actually seen the layout first hand, but has seen it appear as a photo set in videos, various magazines including Railway Modeller, Model Railroader and MRJ. On its old fotopic site the layout galleries received over 200,000 views, which always pleasantly surprised me.

It’ll be interesting to hear if the style of article was of interest, feel free to post comments here or email the team at Railway Modeller. There are a couple more pieces in the pipeline about the layout, for a number of magazines. All of them will take a different view or aspect for discussion with new images, as its important for me that each piece if used says something new or different about the layout or any of its features.

One to consider

One book I’ve recently read is Kalmbachs Guide to modelling Mountain Railroad’s. Written by Tony Koester the title doesn’t quite match the book as it isn’t so much a guide, as a well laid out series of chapters as discussion points. If you’re looking for ‘how to make’ a high country or hilly layout this probably isn’t for you. What this book does is sets out the various considerations to make before deciding to build such a layout, comparing and contrasting advantages and disadvantages of the types of layout, scenery, gauge and scale, era, locomotives, rolling stock and operation.

The illustrations are both color and black and white, all well produced in the typical Kalmbach house style. Whilst written primarily for the North American market and layout styles, there is plenty of food for thought for other modellers. Many of the discussion points work equally well changing the prototype for a UK or European theme. Many of us want to build various prototypes and eras, much of the content translates to factors that affect any railway wherever its located, and I found that I was thinking much more about how I chose settings and prototype in the past and those I have in mind for the future. On the basis that it got me mentally reviewing those factors I feel it was good value for money, and book that I’m likely to return to in the future.

http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12462.html

Posted in Airfix, Bachmann, Branch Line, brassmasters, British Rail, canon, Chris Nevard, DCC, dcc sound, Eastern Region, Exhibition, Forest of Dean, Great Western, hobbies, Hornby, Ian Futers, Industrial, Kalmbach, Layout, life, LMS, LNER, Midland Region, Model Railroad, Model Railway, Model Railway Journal, Modelling, OO Gauge, Railex, Scottish Region, Southern Region, Uncategorized, Wales, Welsh Marches, Western Region | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment