Colour Footage

I was sent this a few days ago. It really is incredible - finding this sort of colour footage of the 1950s is rare enough, but this from the 20s showing a period which many modellers still represent is fantastic.


http://urbanpeek.com/2013/05/13/rare-color-footage-shows-what-london-looked-like-90-years-ago/

Kerr Stuart

Now I'm pondering whether to leave it in primer grey as per the WHR loco. This is the first time I've built the kit with most of the parts in the right order. It needs a lot of work and may be overdue for a re-hash. The bonnet halves in particular are a bit of a bitch to get lined up into some sort of acceptable order, and even after filling and sanding excessively the join is still visible.
Squeezing the Bachmann 0-6-0 IS possible with a few mods and  runs a treat. Now some works plates...

009 Kerr Stuart diesel

Well the roof is just sitting and there is much to do, but unlike the last time I combined these two items the length is just about as built, only the axleboxes are shifted to match the Bachmann wheels.
Whether it will come apart again is another question.

Kerr Stuart mock-up

I haven't abandoned the Hawk project, just put it to one side for a while. The 009 stud continues to be built though. This week the long awaited Kerr Stuart diesel on the Bachmann chassis takes shape. The Meridian kit is already compromised and I will no doubt introduce a few more, but this is the second version of this combination so I know, that in theory at least, that it should work.

Culm

Apart from the ancient take on the KESR the above took my eye and I returned several times during the afternoon. Culm - a simple four point plan (my favourite type) built by Dia Davis. Very well executed, but more than that unlike a lot of 4mm GWR layouts it had a certain atmosphere and life the reason for which I couldn't quite put my finger on - the unexplainable something.

Expo EM

 A visit yesterday to Expo EM at Bracknall. Not over-attended it has to be said, but then it's a specialist show. What was very noticeable was the lack of badly running layouts and finger-poking. If this was the only show I'd been to this year I would have said that the hobby had come on in leaps and bounds. However I know full well that this is not so, and other layouts in other shows (mine included) fail miserably in that respect. I can be done though.

One of the main reasons for going was to see Leslie Darbyshire's Maidstone Road. This has been under development since the late fifties and like that other long serving layout that always gets mentioned this single-minded approach pays dividends in the form of charm and character. An almost layer-like effect where you can see where things have be improved and where older items have been retained. No 4 at the top is, I believe the original scratch-built loco making it over half a century old. Don't tell be that your Bachmann 3F will have the same charm and still be running at exhibitions in 2063. Pure inspiration.

HO scale trees

I'm on the last leg of the tree thing for Svanda - six yesterday and possibly another six today which should be enough. It's like a Woodlands Scenics explosion in here with little bits of green everywhere.

Corris Railway

During the trip to Wales two weeks ago we managed to squeeze in a wild card and went to Corris. This I can wholeheartedly recommend, however don't expect the multinational feel of the Ffestiniog or the WHR the Corris Railway is cosy. A small band of volunteers beaver away to keep a fairly short length of line working on a fairly small budget. This gives it a very homely personal feel. And I would suggest that if you wanted to get involved or throw money, then look away from the glamour girls on the coast and move your thoughts inland.

Buildings worth modelling

Another in this occasional series, this time Hampshire (just). I've passed this filling station on the A36 countless times and always think I should stop and photograph it before it gets pulled down and 'modernised'. This Sunday en-route home from Salisbury I did just that.
I have to say that it is not only a delightful study in wiggly tin, but also a throw-back to a time when filling stations sold tyres and blokey stuff, not tall lattes and creme eggs. I think it has a certain Ahearn feel about it, which, being that it's not too far from Romsey, is not far from a likely connection.

Post Salisbury exhibition

Interesting weekend. Lovely friendly show with gallons of tea and great company. Most of the paying punters are of the 'family' type and the show is deliberately geared that way, aiming to draw in newbies and encourage lapsed modellers. This is quite refreshing from the rather pompous attitude that surrounds some exhibitions that I've attended.
At the end of the weekend we waved Unnycoombe off into the back of a VW Golf headed for Farnham with it's new owner. I hope he's happy with his new acquisition.

If people will insist on colluding to send flowers on people's birthdays to a model railway exhibition then they can only expect the consequences.

Salisbury model railway exhibition

Unnycoombe makes a rare appearance this weekend at the Salisbury exhibition. Do pop by and ask to see the shunt signal working...

Welshpool and Llanfair Railway

As is traditional on these occasions the return from the coast was broken at the W&L. All was quiet so half an hour was spent sitting on the step of the platform store in the sun with a cup of tea and a slice of cake. The W&L suffers a bit from being slightly away from all the other Welsh NG lines, but looks fairly prosperous all the same. Apart from three bikers who were doing the same we sat there alone though there was a tight black skirt in residence inside.

NGG 16 at Porthmadog

Back to reality after a weekend in N.Wales. The primary function was not railways, but as with all good intentions we ended up on three: The TR on Saturday morning, then after a visit to my good friend Charles we were dragged kicking and screaming onto the Corris. Sunday saw the same party potter up to Porthmadog for a ride on the (smaller) WHR and to sit in the sun at the end of the Cob watching the health and safety nightmare unfold at Harbour Stn.

Meridian Bagnall wagon kit

And now painted an weathered with the usual mix of Humbrol acrylics. The only addition to make is a Greenwich coupling on the other end of each.
It's easy to forget how long this kit has been around as I still think of it as new. But then I remember that I wrote a review of it in 009 News in the late 90s so not that new after all.

Bagwags

I knocked up these two beauties yesterday for a forthcoming project. Both from the Meridian Models 'Bagwag' kit. Always a favouite as it just falls together, though the prototype's construction always puzzles me with the lack of full-length end stantions. This is also the first time that I've built the braked version.