The wagon formerly known as Pipe

Another Parkside kit that may be ready for the Wigan exhibition. This is their 12T BR Pipe wagon, initially one of 800 built to convey pipe traffic from the huge Stanton and Staveley steelworks in Derbyshire but with the decline in those duties, often seen in general use carrying crates, cases and machinery. This one is ready for weathering and those short Bachmann couplings, if the Guru can source any as we are running low. Why can't the r-t-r manufacturers organise a decent supply of spares?

Fish to go..

The movement of fish traffic by rail declined dramatically in the early 1960s and many dedicated vehicles such as this 6 wheel van, LMS diagram 2115, one of a batch introduced in 1949, were consequently consigned to other duties.

Himself has skilfully assembled a plastic kit of this type, on this occasion from the Chivers stable. It will run as an example of those transferred to departmental use as stores vans in their olive livery. Maybe one day it will pass through New Mills behind that breakdown crane we keep promising! We do have concerns about it's ability to ride..or not.. our fiddle yard exit curves, so watch this space. In the meantime it is ready for transfers and weathering and then off to the Guru for a set of Bachmann short couplings.

LMSR CCT x 2

Two new Parkside kits are ready for transfers and weathering. Both have received their BR maroon livery but sadly this finish will be lost under that early 1960s grime!

Vehicle Diagram 2026 is another superb moulding from that manufacturer.This was the final LMS design from 1938 with a further build of 75 by BR. .

Diagram 1929 is a Wolverton build dating back to the mid-1930s.The narrow side windows echoed Gresley practice.With end doors both vehicles were classified as either motor car vans or CCTs but the side doors obviously favoured mail and parcels traffic

Mad Max

There are three forms of weathering. Firstly you get the commercial option where models in an eastern workshop are subjected to a 'brief encounter' with a spray gun of sorts that emits a monotone hue, usually along the nether regions and already speeding past the next loco before the paint has hit it. At the other extreme we are often encouraged by the model press to give everything the 'Barry' treatment. coating the plastic with a variety of expensive treatments, powders, dust etc until the item in question would not look out of place on a Mad Max film set. Scale up this 'crud' from 4mm and you get rust flakes the size of large pizzas! Fortunately there is the middle ground where a few exponents recognise that first and foremost weathering is principally about giving the model a working patina that suggests a living model rather than something straight out of the box, whether it be recently ex-works or close to the scrapyard.

However, all is not lost for the Mad Max fans! I encountered the Network Rail RHTT leaf basher set at Wendover this afternoon (a rare daytime loco-hauled and pushed trip on the MET these day) and the only thing missing was Mel Gibson hanging from the roof! The locos and wagons were lost in a fog of excreta that would satify the most Die Hard heavy weather fan!

Plated up

Our ex LNER 20T Plate Wagon has now received its transfers, Model Master decals that should fit this Parkside kit but need 'editing' to fit. However this excellent model (Parkside PC16) makes up for that slight hiccup. Now its off for some appropriate weathering and the fitting of a set of small Bachman couplings.

DP2

Photo: Steve Gibbons

No excuse for another shot of DP2. Phill Hutching's super model of this awesome one-off heads north through New Mills. With Bachmann releasing AL5s and the LMS Twins and Heljan offering early modern image types such as Lion, Kestrel and DP2, previous ready-to-run and kit versions are being superseded. Some dating back nearly 50 years, these earlier incarnations offered 00 modellers the only opportunity to add types such as these to their fleet. OK they were often quite crude and mechanically no match for today's products, but they do ooze charm and certainly command a special place on our layout. I guess the Bachmann LMR electrics will make the biggest impact on New Mills but it will be a sad day when we retire out Trix and Lilliput versions!

Clubroom move

Cooper Hire MRC has relocated to new premises. Our new clubroom provides enough space to permanently erect two or three of our layouts which will be pretty useful as we prepare for the Wigan Show next month and a busy programme of exhibitions for New Mills, Bron Hebog and Merioneth Town during 2012. Room too for a number of workbenches plus storage so watch out for a burst of modelling activity from Himself, Guru and the Artistic Director.

We've been Nevard....

All change for Low Level and trains to the Exhibition Centre

Ace layout photographer Chris Nevard has spent a day with us photographing New Mills in it's 'back to the sixties' guise for the February edition of Model Rail. We have been invited to back to Model Rail Scotland in February, see http://www.modelrail-scotland.co.uk/ for full details, and, as a major supporter of this excellent show, Model Rail will feature our WCML layout in the late steam / early diesel and electric era ahead of that exhibition.
The results of Chris's work are quite stunning as we have come to expect. Unfortunately the images are embargoed until publication but look out for spine tingling studies of Duchesses hauling the Caledonian, Princesses on the front of the Mid Day Scot,  Black 5s, 8Fs, Clans and Britannias on Anglo Scottish services and inevitably those early blue electrics and Class 40s. Chris's colour work is fabulous but his digital b/w studies really do take you back to the period when monotone was the norm and Trains Illustrated and then Railway World featured the wonderfully atmospheric work of pioneering railway photographers such as Colin Gifford. Their work was labelled the 'New Approach' and captured the decline of steam in a style that mirrored  the poignancy and social relevance of contemporary British films such as Saturday Night and Sunday morning. But I digress ....just look forward to the February issue of Model Rail!

Not fair..

Suggestions have been made on our sister Bron Hebog website that Himself has not applied himself as rigorously as some expect in recent weeks to our modelling programme . This is most unfair as the photos below bear out. He has recently completed another faithful restoration of one of Phill Hutchings WCML colour light bracket signals on New Mills. Constructed over 20 years ago they are iconic features of our layout so its great to see them back in good order.

Wigan.....without pier

Photo courtesy of Ben Brookbank

Certainly without peer, 64242 City of Glasgow speeds through Wigan North Western in charge of the southbound Caledonian during the summer of 1957, the year this titled express service was inaugurated.
I must move on from this Wigan theme but I just couldn't resist this scene which we will replicate, albeit further south, on New Mills at the Wigan Show in December http://www.wiganfrm.org.uk/

All change

Photo courtesy of Ron Turriff

A wonderfully evocative view of Wigan North Western station in the early 1960s around the period we are currently exhibiting New Mills. The LNWR provenance still features on the nameboard to distinguish this main line station from the L&Y Wigan Wallgate station,  served by Rochdale, Bolton to Southport and Liverpool trains at that time and still open today, and the GC who had also served the town. Their station, Wigan Central, continued to support a passenger service to Irlam and Manchester Central until 1964.
Mail sacks are being unloaded from the Cravens set, probably on a local service from St Helens (?) , a Black 5 rumbles through on a southbound van train and the obligatory short-trousered spotter, possibly with Dad, takes all the numbers. The duffel bag with bottle of Tizer and sandwiches must be parked further down the platform!
Magic.
The Wigan Finescale Exhibition is on 10th & 11th September, for full details go to http://www.wiganfrm.org.uk/exhibition.html

Next stop Preston..

Photo courtesy of Phil Brown

Well actually no, it will be Wigan for New Mills but we couldn't resist this lovely snap of a rather worn Black 5 pulling away from Wigan with a northbound passenger train in the mid 1960s. First coach is a Thompson vehicle so possibly a cross-country service originating from the East? Although our New Mills layout captures the WCML south of Crewe we do reflect this fascinating period on the former LNWR main line when steam played out it's final swansong, grimy but unbowed! The exhibition is on December 10th & 11th with full details at http://www.wiganfrm.org.uk/exhibition.html