Saturday 28 January 2012

Playing Trains

Looking across a typical Somerset Levels rhyne, 43216 trundles in to Combwich with an afternoon goods from Evercreech Junction. August 1959.

I enjoyed operating Combwich so much at last weekend's local show that I've set it all up in the guestroom for a week or so to simply play trains. OK, setting the layout up is nothing new, but I don't normally add the fiddle yard due to space, however the temporary repositioning of the spare bed within the room has allowed me to set up the layout in its full operational entirety at home for the first time in several years.

So now the fiddle yard is full of stock allowing me to play trains in a proper fashion just like those rare occasions when the layout is on the road. Unlike at an exhibition, the control panel is now on the front of the layout which allows me to enjoys the punters' view.

Above is not an angle I've tried before, but I think it works, hopefully capturing the feel of a summer's days looking across the North Somerset bog half a century or so ago.

Photographically, it was just taken with a 10 second exposure under the single domestic ceiling light, the single point light source not doing a bad job at replicating midday sun. The top of the hand-painted backscene finishes just above the trees on the left and the signal to the right, so a little Photoshop was used to fill in the sky above and the cover up the magnolia painted bedroom walls.

BIGGER VIEW http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6776855695/sizes/l/in/photostream/

4 comments:

  1. It's grey and foggy and wet outside the window with a hint of snow and it's Sunday and I've got to go and chop up more wood so this pic is on me desktop this week to bring a little warmth into my life. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Playing trains without an audience bores me rigid. I do like watching them go by though and can enjoy just running something along while I look at it from eye level. Often I just run the same thing back and forth and look at it from different angles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Neil - thank you - if it brings a little artificial sunshine into a these dull winter days a good thing! :-)

    Phil - I'm with you here, but for once this is such a novelty, and the 14 foot run give the new locos a good run. And I'm finding lots of new photographic angles too. I'm even thinking of adding another 4ft board between the fiddle yard and crossing. Maybe a private siding, dairy, grain, sand quarry or maybe a swing bridge over the Parrett - but that could be rather too ambitious

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/6645324843/in/set-72157628741249205

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would be very happy to be able to produce any of your layouts at a fraction of the standard you achieve, they are all so good, but I have to put Combwich as my No.1 Chris Nevard work of genius. It has that something, probably due to its size and the way you have used the space. It is a masterpiece.

    ReplyDelete

All posts will be approved before they go live, posts from spammers will be deleted and marked as spam.