Commission: Dawson Creek in 009…

This is exciting! I have loved building this commission and have been itching to share the finished result with you all since it left for its new home a week or two ago…

This is Dawson Creek. Not quite the Dawson Creek I sketched out last October, nearly a year ago now, but nevertheless inspired by and in tribute to that scheme.

The layout you see before you has been moved from Northern Canada’s Yukon to the banks of the river Tees…  as a result we’ve swapped desolation, pine trees and tin shacks for… well desolation and tin shacks…

The model features a river side wharf and a decaying narrow gauge tramway, built to serve the building of some industrial concern and now marginally profiting from its demise. The exact nature is somewhat opaque, much like the views across the marsh.

We’re visiting on a bright but bitterly cold winters day. The small ramshackle collection of buildings providing shelter from the harsh wind, held together by human ingenuity and a recycling spirit with no budget for paint let alone repair materials.

The small station and office used to see a regular workman’s train to connect with the passenger ferry that called at the wharf. Today its waiting room, sheltered by some old corrugated iron sees little patronage. The tired tin engine shed, some say recycled from an old Methodist chapel, still hosts a locomotive overnight but the driver who built the greenhouse sadly passed many years ago, today it lies empty.

The small black smith’s still operate out of the shack on the wharf, repairing old equipment whose owners can’t afford new…

Whilst in reality all of this crafted from a story and a sense of the place from years absorbing industrial and narrow gauge railway history. It is all very James Hilton!

Practically my usual cameo box has been constructed in ply because of the extra strength required due to the open ended presentation. The fiddle stick is hung from one end in a tres-Rice style. Structures cobbled together from Wills and Ratio kits in such a way to feel familiar, as if you’ve seen this place in an old photograph - but also, by a little coincidence a little ‘Rice-esque’ too - perhaps after spending 6 months reworking his cameo title rubbed off on this project.

It is interesting to see just how well 009 works in this ‘Lack’ shelf space - in a way I had conveniently forgotten for whilst HO and N have become a strong muse, my yearn for the narrow gauge never entirely subsides… 

I have a lovely feeling from this project, this whole commission. Working with Claire has been a pleasure and the result a collaboration of her story with my imagination. If you’d like to work with me on a project, large or small then get in touch to discuss your requirements and explore what is possible. In the meantime I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour, there is a video which details some of the methods and materials used; I’ll share that later in the week. 

Until next time, more soon…

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