SolRail 2022

I'd been invited to show Tredethy Wharf at SolRail 2022, this is the Working Model Railway Exhibition held in November each year. After dragging the layout out of storage, our house is undergoing some major renovations so the layout was hiding behind stacks of furniture. I set it up in our living room, which had just had a new level floor laid but was still a building site. There were a few things that needed fixing especially one turnout that was not working. Eventually after a little tinkering it sprang into life. All rolling stock was checked and the the whole layout packed and ready to go.

The organising committee had agreed to a have mini Scalefour element as part of the show naming it as Scaleforum Cumberland. This was in one of the side rooms where there was tables laid out for three demonstrators plus room for three small layouts, Tredethy Wharf being one of them. Set up went well during the Friday evening prior to the show  and I managed to have a cheeky meander around the show. It looked like it was to be a exhibition with a good cross section of the hobby and I left with anticipation for the coming two days.

All ready for the next two days

Saturday morning, my trusted helper, Nick Cook, arrived early to find me setting up the rolling stock. All looked good until I tried that pesky turnout that I fixed the day before. Unfortunately it is the preferred turnout used for shunting the wharf sidings. This dramatically reduced our operating to just running trains through the layout. That is until I tested the turnout during the afternoon and it worked...So we did get some shunting of wagons on Saturday, but we were not as fortunate on the Sunday.

The main surprise for me was being awarded The Jim Harkness Memorial Shield. The shield is in memory of the Workington Transport Heritage Trust's Health and Safety Officer who died of cancer in 2009. It is presented to a layout or display which the judge from the organising committee feels is the most deserving.

The Jim Harkness Trophy being proudly displayed

Talk about being gobsmacked and a tad embarrassed but on reflection quite proud that someone within the hobby thought my little effort was deserving of the award.

A couple of Videos of Tredethy Wharf

I'd forgotten about these two videos that were taken at the Immingham show back in 2019. Just thought it might be worth posting links to these videos on YouTube.

Class 08 shunter on a full chine clay trains

Class 08 shunter on an empty clay train

Little people

A good friend, and a fellow Tredethy Wharf operator, offered to paint a few figures for my Gricer Train. I gratefully posted half a dozen Dart Casting figures off to him.

I've got to admit that I was suitably embarrassed in the speed these figures were returned. Within a couple of weeks they promptly appeared in our post box. He even fashioned a camera on the young woman to make the figure more appropriate.

I've not put paint on a brush for many months and to have these returned so quickly was an excellent kick up the proverbial. Along with little people for the Gricer, I also require a number of footplate figures along with guards. Out came the tray, and figure painting has commenced...

With all that is going on currently with the COVID-19 lockdown, the distractions of playing golf has been removed. I now have no excuse not to get more figures painted.

Brake Vans - A Gricer train (1)

Another task I need to address is a Brake Van Special to run on Tredethy Wharf. Roger Cox has been more than generous in allowing me to borrow his Gricer train for a number of exhibitions. Even though I'm extremely grateful to him, I think it's about time I created one myself. So, I've purchased a number of figures which need painting to populate the brake vans. As far as brake vans are concerned, only a Southern Railway Queen Mary has been finished and populated with figures. I have seen a photo of a Queen Mary brake van at Wadebridge - but cannot recall exactly where? I have also come across the photo below of a Queen Mary at Dunmere.

Don't know if it would have been a candidate for a Gricer train, though surely it could have been used at some point.

 

On the Bachmann model above I've used MJT components for the bogies and side frames, this combination has produced a very free running and stable van.

The two Brake Vans above have been in a part converted/upgraded state for over 12 months, just need to get some mojo back to get them completed.

Only require 3 or 4 more Brake Vans and 30 or so painted figures... 

A Beattie Well Tank (Part 1)

Two years ago a member of the local Scalefour group took on the challenge of building a chassis for a Perseverance kit of a Beattie Well Tank for me. I collected it around March last year but unfortunately it was pointed out that the boiler was not a good fit between the splashers. Even though I am now retired, this problem, along with last year's distractions of house extension building work; holidays to Vietnam and Sweden; short caravan breaks in the UK; being seduced into playing more golf (resulting in winning a few competitions); and taking Tredethy Wharf to three shows - I've not progressed the kit any further. Oh the excuses, excuses and more excuses - or was it just plain procrastination? This year I think it has to be a priority that I make progress on this Perseverance kit to get it running on Tredethy Wharf.

Current state of play

The above photo shows the boiler is not fixed in place as there is still a gap between the boiler and splashers. Not knowing which part of the kit needs correcting has possibly been the main reason why I've not continued the build.

Then Eureka! While going through back copies of magazines, I found a drawing of a Beattie Well Tank in a 1985 Railway Modeller drawn by Ian Beattie. The wheel base measurements were accurate which made me believe that the drawing had been reproduced correctly and in proportion. Assuming the boiler had been drawn correctly, it indicated that the kits boiler is 0.1mm under size. I don't think I can complain too much about that, therefore, I can fit the boiler and work on the splashers to fill the gap. At last I'll be able to 'persevere' (pun intended) with this kit and move the build on...

Well... New Year...New start...

2019 was not a very productive year for my modelling projects, either model railways or wargaming. Back to my school report: "If Ian puts as much effort into his studies as he does on the rugby field he would achieve good results". For Rugby read Golf. Golf did take over much of my time last year which enabled me to win three competitions plus some good finishes in others. Think I should change the strapline on the blog header from  "an attempt to get out of the armchair" to "an attempt to to spend less time on the golf course". I feel that I can make better use of my time so plan to become more focused on modelling projects while at home.

So outline plans for 2020:

1. Complete the Beattie Well Tank
2. Create my own Grizer train
3. Build better support structure for Tredethy Wharf
4. Complete minor modifications to Tredethy Wharf
5. Make a start on the next project (more about that later)
6. Investigate DCC mainly for the next project but may also be for Tredethy Wharf

At the moment I've been honoured with invites for Tredethy Wharf to two shows during 2020:

1. Scalefour North, Wakefield (28th & 29th March)
2. Helston, Cornwall (25th & 26th April)

This does mean that for the next couple of months I must get my head down to some serious modelling before the better weather kicks in and I'll be tempted to spend more time out in the fresh air on the Golf Course!

Rethink on layout transportation

Well... less than 12 weeks before the layout’s next outing and I've decided to dismantle the two end boards. This task has been on the "to do" list since returning from Scaleforum 2018 when it came back with a few trees damaged due to problems fitting the layout in my car. For the short trip to the subsequent Immingham show I was able to borrow a neighbour’s trailer. Not wishing to push my luck with the neighbour, I've decided it's about time I adapted the layout to be able to transport all of Tredethy Wharf safely in the car.

My plan is to complete two layout transportation objectives before the Caistor Show in October.

1. I need to reduce the space needed to transport the end boards which will then create the space required for all of the layout to fit in my car much easier.
2. Build a transport box for each scenic section. One box should be strong enough to stand on (more about why later).

Stage one of the reconstruction is to take off the scenic break ends of the end/fiddle boards. These will be reused and adapted so they can be bolted on to the boards and still act as supports for the lighting pellet.