Pannier at Pont-y-dulais...

Reading Chris Mear's blog over the weekend, he has been scheming about a shed micro layout inspired by the seaside, but his comments about Panniers reminded me about my plans for the Bala Branch, the Ruabon Brook micro layout and the fact that three were 'finished' in my stock box...

So this morning I dug one of them out, 5774, an earlier Churchward cab version of this long lived design - pictured here heavily weathered but still with top-feed - under the filth is the late crest, which really should be an early crest for the prototype in this condition - it didn't receive a late crest until it received a non-top feed fitted boiler.

Anyhow, it seems strangely at home on Pont-y-dulais with 16t and larger minerals shuttling back and forth - and the greenery sets off the weathered finish nicely. Chris talks about the idea of a sound scape, which is probably the only missing part of the layout here, and one I did ponder in the past but didn't get much further than a quick Google for ambient sounds.

The aging Bachmann model, which owes part of it's tooling to the earlier Palitoy / Mainline / Replica model, still captures the look of the prototype - I wonder how long before Bachmann (or one of their competitors) re-visit the prototype for a 21st century model rather than one based on 30+ year old design. 

However, that does prove that get the basic shape right and your eye scoots over the coarser detail. I also hope that in this case, the subtle weathering and colouring based upon Martin Welch's techniques also bring the model to life, and then sat on a complete scene like Pont-y-dulais, which hopefully then sets emotions off in your mind. Anyhow, an enjoyable hour or so of play, photos and blogging. Until next time, more soon...