Downsized Diorama

Before restarting work on my 'Beck Bridge' diorama I had completed one of my 'microramas' as an O9 scene incorporating a wooden barrier and some experimental treatment of the grass at the edges of the ballast to look as if it had been weed-killed, a technique I then reused on the larger scene.

Something never quite felt right about this scene, it never gelled in the same way previous efforts had and I wondered what could be done with it to bring some life to it. Eventually I opted to rework the scene in a smaller scale with new details as a base to display items of my 009 stock.

I removed the wooden railing and larger plants and carried out a little reconstruction of the surfacing, filling in the post holes and also scraping back some of the grass to be replaced with basic ground cover. New grass was planted along the edges of the track over the yellowy grass used before, I think there is less chance of weedkiller on this line! The ballast was also coloured using weathering powders to tone it down a little.

Various items were prepared and painted to add 4mm scale detail to the scene. These are mostly slightly modified proprietary items, the fence being Ratio, oil drum Modelscene, the box Knightwing and the sleepers Peco. The WD bogie is a much modified Parkside example that came my way as a 'freebie'. It has had a fair bit of reconstruction using Evergreen 1.5mm channel section and 5 thou styrene using photos on Dave Enefer's website as a reference.

Detail positions were carefully considered, I didn't want to impede the view of the chosen locomotives and stock, in this case 'Isla' and the Penrhyn quarryman's coach.

I am much happier with the revised micro diorama, but that is not a reflection on the change in scale, more a realisation that the original was pitched wrongly....

Colin

PS, whilst I think about it, I know that technically the diorama hasn't changed down in size, but the scale has.... 

PPS, it now represents a bigger area so it is in fact actually bigger. I think...

All-terrain Ice Cream

 A couple of years ago whilst wandering around Whitby I discovered this Land Rover ice cream van, and thinking it quite unusual, took a couple of pictures for reference.

I hadn't appreciated at the time that this was a (reasonably) common Land Rover use (not thinking to Google it!). Whilst in Norfolk earlier this month I found a couple more examples actually using their all-terrain ability and travelling along the beaches bringing ice cream to the bathers.

The first was in Hemsby.

The second literally followed us along the beach in Scratby, first appearing almost mirage-like on the horizon before eventually catching us up. Of course we had to stop him and buy one (or four).

This is actually quite a new one compared to the others, with very swish alloy wheels. Somewhere I have a set of those from a Cararama model.... The old Airfix plastic kit might be a good starting point for a 1/43rd model as it ought to be easier to cut about than a die cast model.

Colin

Norfolk Wanderings 2 - Wells Harbour

On our return journey from the East Norfolk coast we diverted via Wells-next-the-Sea to visit the Wells Harbour Railway.

When I first travelled on this line, more years ago than I can remember, I travelled behind the steam locomotive 'Edmund Hannay', which we later had in the 'Rails to the Sands' exhibition in Cleethorpes sat opposite my own 'Shifting Sands'.

Nowadays three internal combustion locomotives hold fort, all built by Alan Keef, and I had wondered why they needed so many. On seeing it operate, it becomes very clear, as the service intensity of every 15 mins would be quite intense for one locomotive every day of the week, so having back-up and maintenance cover are essential.

Here is 'Howard' on one of the minuscule turntables (sized for the old steam locomotive) at Pinewoods.

The unusual coupling system employed between locomotive and train:

Here seen ready to depart from the town end, taken from the sea defences:

More pictures can be found on Flickr.

Colin

Norfolk Wanderings 1 - The Bure Valley

A week in Norfolk has enabled me to re-acquaint myself with a couple of the county's miniature railway delights. On Thursday 1st August we travelled on the Bure Valley from Wroxham to Aylsham and return. Outbound we had ZB 'Spitfire' and return ZB 'Blickling Hall'

The last time I travelled on the line (in 2008) I had the privilege of a footplate ride on number 8. 11 years on and now named 'John of Gaunt' it was in the workshop under overhaul, with cylinder modifications and cab rebuild are in progress. Plenty of inspiration here for that "one day" workshop scene!

'Blickling Hall' was our locomotive for the return trip from Aylsham to Wroxham, being turned here before departure. To the left is the new running/inspection shed being built off the turntable. The Lister (no.5) and the L&M tank were hiding in here. The latter is the one BVR locomotive I now need for haulage...

Note the bogie in the foreground - there is a close-up view in my Flickr collection.

Newest "locomotive" on the BVR is the 'Picnic Puffer', heading an ex-German exhibition carriage in the bay platform and available for kids to explore. This would make an interesting concept in model form!

The rest of the collection are here on Flickr.

Colin