What a splendid day it was.

As an early birthday present a 'footplate experience' at the Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway was organised by my daughter and very good friend Nick Cook. This all took place at the end of the Easter holiday period.

Though I'd cottoned on to what was happening towards the end of last year I didn't realise that:
1) Nick and his family were going to be in Cornwall the same week as ourselves.
2) Nick had booked himself on the same day's driver's experience.

During the week there was much subterfuge in keeping myself away from the Cook family. It had been planned to be a total surprise for me that Nick was taking part in the day. My daughter and son had great fun in communicating with the Cooks, even meeting up with them during the week without me knowing. On the Thursday unbeknown to myself we were all on the Camel Trail. Apparently we passed each other on at least two occasions either on our bikes or while one group had stopped for a bite to eat. I was later informed that during the day my son was not texting a girl but texting the Cooks to keep them informed of our whereabouts. This was all to keep me in the dark until the Friday morning when Nick walked into Bodmin Station to my exclamation of 'What the **** are you doing here...!' to which he replied 'You didn't think I'd miss out on this day did you?' I've been told the look on my face was a gem!

After all the introductions we were soon taken to our steed for the day, a GWR Pannier tank number 4612. It just needed a top up of good Welsh coal before we were on the footplate for the first instructions. The experience of being on the footplate during the 1:37 climb from Bodmin Parkway to Bodmin General was awesome! Let alone with my hand on the regulator; shovelling coal into the firebox, plus keeping an eye on the pressure gauge; coupling & uncoupling the loco from the coaches during the tunarounds; pulling points at Bodmin General and Parkway; topping the side tanks up with water; along with listening to the driver and fireman passing on their knowledge. At the end of the day we had great pleasure in giving a modicum of help in disposing of the loco.  I even got chance to have a very quick visit to the signal box. Much was learnt, and excellent memories made...

It all went far too quickly for us novices. The crew and staff at Bodmin were brilliant - very friendly and accommodating to us and our entourages. My heart-felt thanks must go to all who had a hand in organising the day. I don't think it is surprising that in most of the photos both Nick and I are grinning from ear to ear. I just want to do it again...

As a memento of the day both Nick and I walked away (after giving a small donation) with a genuine GWR standard 2 bolt chair, I wonder if the boss will allow me to collect a few switch chairs...just as a discussion point (no pun intended) with our cottage guests?  :-))

Last year was a bad year for the train set

2015 turned out to be a year for wargaming. The fact that is was 200 years since The Battle of Waterloo enticed us to put on three ofthe four main battles that took place during the 100 days of the Waterloo campaign; Quatra Bra; Wavre; and the big one Waterloo. It took us most of the year to paint and collect enough figures for these games and especially for Waterloo but eventually we mustered well over 2,500 figures for game. More can be seen here.

2015 also saw us go though the procedure of gaining conservation planning consent for new windows along with planning further internal changes. With Waterloo out of the way it has been on with the internal building projects. This has entailed just about gutting our little house and putting it back together. We started by ripping out the existing stairs, kitchen, bathroom. Demolishing internal walls upstairs to create a new bathroom upstairs along with a slightly smaller single bedroom than making good with new starircase. We then carried on downstairs with solving some damp issues, a new kitchen and utility room, then installing pocket doors between dining and sitting area. Only two rooms have not been affected, both being bedrooms and both having to store, along with the "Man Cave", all our furniture and belongings. So again access to the layout has been severally restricted during this time. It has been interesting to say the least but hopefully we are in the final straight. All the plastering should be finished this week, a log stove will be installed at the end of the month in the sitting room area and then it's on with decorating and new flooring.

I'm so sorry that it's more excuses why this blog has become stagnated but I'm working towards mid May to get everything finished. Once finished the boss has promised I can spend as much time as I need in the 'Man Cave' getting the layout ready for the 2017 Lincoln show.

More posts will follow in May.

PS. To answer the question posed last April. I have managed to dyed some of the rope material and carefully coloured the rope on the first wagon that ropes were applied too and it looks good. So the answer is a resounding YES, ropes will be added to the other clay wagons. Photos to follow...

Louth Malt Kiln

During last year, the Malt Kiln in Louth was demolished and the local museum held a small exhibition charting the the site's history. I paid the museum a visit while the exhibtion was on and thought I should share a few pics.

Along with much information pinned to display boards about the Kiln and the Malting process there was a superb scale model of the Malt Kiln built by an ex-employee. The model was opened out to show the internal structure of the Kiln along with supporting information about each area.

I took a few photos of the model before I walked around the table recording the video below.

One of the photographs, on display, showed part of the orginal malt kiln that was burnt down during the second world war along with another very grainy photo of showing more of the original kiln.

I'd be happy to send the still photographs of the model to anyone who is interested in building a model of Louth Station that would include all or part of the Malt Kiln.

Are tarpaulin ropes worth the effort?

Will adding tarpaulin ropes to my clay wagons be worth the effort? Hmmm...

Last Thursday I entertained the members of the local Scalefour Group who thankfully gave my clay wagons the thumbs up. When I mentioned that I'd been debating whether to add ropes to the tarpaulins there was a couple of playful comments of 'Oh go on, give it a go', 'You've got to finish them'.

Next evening my first thought was where were the ropes tied off on the wagon. After spending a pleasant hour or two browsing though my library of books trying to find decent photos of clay wagons with tarpaulins, I eventually remembered Mr Russell's book on "GWR Freight wagons and loads..." and Bingo...

Many moons ago I'd purchased some scale rope from a wargaming show which I thought would be a good starting point for roping down loads. The question was how to represent the hooks? I thought they're too small to be created with wire especially after the rope is attached. So I've glued the rope to the approximate locations on the wagon and added a small knot of rope to represent some bulk around the hook.

Door End

Fixed End

I thought, 'so far so good' until I added the roped wagon to the rest of the wagons to see what the effect was. It then became a game of spot the wagon with the ropes...

Spot the wagon that has ropes...

So will I be adding rope to the other wagons? When applying the two foot rule, probably not, as it looks like the rope colour is lost against the background colour of these clay wagons. On darker backgrounds of wagon loads/containers or even bauxite coloured clay wagons I think they might look effective so I've not totally given up on the idea.

End of year report 2014

I recently received a gentle(!) nudge on the progress with Tredethy Wharf... so thought I'd create an end of year post as a round up of what little I've achieved this year.

To say the least it's been a dismal year for modelling and I'm starting to wonder how the guys who produce quality layouts in quick succession do it. With all that my wife and I have had around our necks this year; work, renovating the cottage next door, fostering, attempting to downsize (as we've decided to stay put and not move into a larger house) by clearing space in house and Man Cave, plus the normal life stuff, I've been seriously thinking of scrapping the whole project and waiting for retirement to make a fresh start. Many nights on the way home from work I've thought "Yep nothing much to do tonight so I'll crack on with a bit of modelling for once" only to get home and something gets in the way. All very frustrating.

What's not helped recently is my wife having fractured her knee cap and damaged cartilage after a fall. This has added another job to my list, that is me being her "man slave" as she's been on crutches for the last couple of months. Thankfully she's on the mend, down to one crutch and starting to weight bear. She's going to be off work until mid January but hopefully I'll get some free time for modelling soon... Well, we've heard that one before but I can but hope...

I've felt what little I have achieved this year has not been worth mentioning in individual postings on this blog. There have been a few little projects started but non completed and little progress on Tredethy Wharf, however, as an end of year round up here goes...

• Converted a few Bachmann wagons to P4 (a very easy task), still need to weather and renumber some of them and/or add detail to them.
  
• Laid down a few more lengths of Cornish Hedge on Tredethy Wharf but not applied any paint or foliage.
• Tested a couple of methods for the hard standing area around Tredethy Wharf sidings, but not decided on the best method or the paint/texture finish.
• Applied transfers to the first eight clay wagons and tentatively used an airbrush for the first time (with a spray can as propellant) dusting them with a thin coating of white acrylic to represent clay deposits/dust.
• Started cutting out the sides for the Farm Cottage that is required for a scenic break at one end of Tredethy Wharf.
  
• After the purchase of a lathe at Scalefour North... (a bit of an impulse buy to say the least)... In the last couple of months I've managed to receive one tutorial off a local S4 member but still trying to find time to do the 'set' exercise of turning a few washers.
• One of the S4 guys has kindly lent me a spare compressor for use with my old airbrush. Though all connections fit and it's ready to use I've not, as yet, found time to fully get to grips with it. 

Apart from the above it's been a very lean year for my hobbies, especially as on the wargaming front I've only had a couple of games. Oh... I've managad to paint one battalion of a German WWII Luftwaffe Field Division but still need to finish off the bases on those...

Headmaster's Report
Ian must try harder in 2015 and stop coming up with so many lame excuses.

Scaleforum 2014

Better late than never...

Scaleforum was an excellent show, with a superb spread of P4 layouts from the very small (Manston Brewery Ltd and Llanastr) to small (Wheal Elizabeth) to the very large (Epsom & Epsom Town and Calcutta Sidings) with a good spread in the middle (Knutsford East Junction, Lowburn Park, Midland Sidings, Sandford & Banwell) not forgetting the unusual (Axalp in P87 scale). Trade support was, as usual, excellent. Unfortunately I was not of a mind to splash out on many purchases as I've plenty to be getting on with, but I did fill my pockets with a few items, oh.. and a couple of books or three... don't tell the misses Pike...

A few of my snapshots of the layouts below;

Knutsford East Junction

Knutsford East Junction

I believe this was Knutsford East last show. I'd seen it a few times at previous shows but at this show I took time to appreciate it more. Taking in the train movements quality of track and stock along with the smaller details of the layout.

Llanastr

My first sight of this iconic layout. A small piece of P4 history.

Lowburn Park

Lowburn Park

I found Lowburn Park an interesting layout set in the Newcastle area in the period 1905-1910 with the unique electric locos of the NER. A nice mix of shunting wagons in the exchange sidings along with through passenger and goods workings complemented by buildings and scenery that seems to capture the area and period well.

Manston Brewery Ltd

Manston Brewery Ltd

I have one word for Manston Brewery Ltd.. Exquisite..

Midland Sidings

Midland Sidings

Midland Sidings

Midland Sidings was one layout I kept gravitating to regularly over the weekend. I think with this layout, it was the operation of the exchange sidings and impressive backdrop of buildings that captivated me. It was also one of two layouts that used Dingham couplings. The debate is still out as to which autocouplings I should use. Seeing them at Scalforum has given me thoughts about trialling them on a few wagons for my Tredethy Wharf layout.

Sandford and Banwell

Sandford and Banwell

Sandford and Banwell

Over the course of the weekend I kept regularly going back to Sandford and Branwell. This was to admire the quality of track, buildings, stock and ground cover. I thought all aspects were excellent and to a standard that I hope to achieve. While studying the layout I overheard a few comments from onlookers that it looked too clean. Yes it may look very clean but I didn't have a problem with it. From a personal perspective, if I can create a layout that looks as good as this and with stock that ran as faultlessly as I witnessed I'd be overjoyed.

Wheal Elizabeth

I've always enjoyed seeing Wheal Elizabeth and hope to again, I suppose it's not surprised considering it's a Cornish China Clay Dries. Unfortunately, yet again, I didn't get to see the Beattie Well Tank in operation.. there is always the next time...

The few photos I took of Epsom Town, Calcutta Sidings and Axalp are of very poor so not worth posting. That said Espom and Calcutta layouts were impresive due to their size - both over 50 feet long. Axalp was a mind blowing layout, with its mixture of track gauges within the same length of track, some triple gauge, it must be a nightmare to operate. It takes track building to a different level... awesome!

In the demonstration area I was able to sit down in front of Ray Hodson while he was showing techniques and equipment required for resistance soldering. I found it very informative and he was able to reduce my apprehension about this method. Hope to give this a go on some brass etches in the next couple of months. I probably didn't spend enough time in the demonstration area taking in all the advice that was on hand. Must make better use of this facility next year.

Overall I'm in awe of the skill, dedication and effort put in by everyone involved in building all the layouts that were on show at Scaleforum. All very inspiring, and I'm already looking forward to Scaleforum 2015.

Calmer times ahead

Well it's been a while...but hopefully over the coming months I'll be able to get back to working on Tredethy Wharf and finishing the first batch of clay wagons.

We both had no idea how much time turning next door into a holiday cottage would take up. But, at last, Spireview Cottage is finished and we have had resaonable success over the last couple of months with lettings. It's been a surprise how many enquires we have had considering, at the moment, we're only on one web site. Being new to this holiday letting malarky we weve been caught out with the amount of time involved in taking bookings also cleaning the cottage after guests have departed. As the weeks have passed we're gradually becoming more organised. There are still tasks to start and/or complete with marketing but we are both starting to allow ourselves some hobby time. Yipeee...

If anyone is curious about the cottage, more information can be found on the Owners Direct website. We have also created a Facebook page. If anyone would be willing to spread the word via likes and/or shares... we would be very grateful.