Lazy River..........

Over the past few weeks I've been busy working on the river scene, a variety of trees, shrubs and bushes have been made from seamoss, horsehair, lichen and even some decent looking twigs. Various textures and colours of foliage were applied to them and then everything was loosely planted in place.  Rather than make things up as I've gone along I've been out and about out looking at the sort of scene that I wished to model, many photos being taken for reference and a few rough sketches made for good measure.  I also spent a fair amount of time taking photos of the model from all manner of different angles as I composed the scene, moving things around in the process until I was happy with the composition, only then did I secure everything in place. 

The real River Lugg rises high on Beacon Fell which would be roughly behind the tallest tree which blocks the view of the scenic exit.  At this point the river is both narrow and shallow but its level can change quickly during periods of high rainfall when trees, branches and even the odd fence post have been known to be swept away downstream.  Due to the river passing through agricultural land, run off from the surrounding fields gives the water a muddy brown colour which I have tried to capture on the model.  As a bonus, under certain lighting conditions and with the feed store removed I've been pleased to see reflections of the rail bridge deck and a couple of trees on the surface of the river,

Whilst far from perfect I think I've managed to block the view of the scenic exit from all angles, you certainly can't see it from the operating position and its only from helicopter views that it becomes more noticeable.  The tree which masks the lane as it crosses the river and merges into the back scene caused a few problems as regards shadows but with much trial and error I've been able to eliminate all but one, however an extra spot lamp changes will cure that.

The cottage is yet to receive its rainwater goods and bargeboards, the stone trough needs putting on some supports and then a stack pipe and tap will be fitted behind it against the wall.  The little Fergie tractor is the Oxford Diecast model, its being refined and hopefully improved with some extra detail.  Though there is detailed cast kit for this tractor I get a lot of satisfaction from taking cheap basic models and upgrading them. So far I've cut the one piece front axle in two and made a pair of stub axles as per the prototype, they've been glued in place to give a touch of lock which always looks better than wheels modelled in the straight ahead position  The steering wheel has been reduced in thickness and the paintwork has been toned down, I'm currently attempting to model the missing three point hitch and at the moment I'm on the Mk.2 version.

Llangunllo is not only a model railway but a 3D canvass on which I'm trying to model numerous sights and scenes from my past, in fact I would say doing the latter is now more important than running the trains, which just goes to show how my interests have changed as I've grown older.  I first came across a Ferguson tractor such as this one during one of the many holidays that we spent at my grandparents down in Somerset in the mid fifties.  By then we had moved north to Cheshire but returned each year to spend a fortnights holiday with them at their delightful stone cottage which was but two doors away from the local farm.  When we had said our goodbyes the previous summer farmer Lambert was still using a team of horses to work his land but when we returned a year later he was the proud owner of a little Fergie and several other implements to use with it including a Massey Ferguson hay baler, which must have been the most impressive piece of modern machinery that I had ever set my eyes on at that time, the mighty Combine Harvester still being nothing more than a dream in those days.

Anyway getting back on track here are a couple of photos of trains, its rather pleasing to catch a glimpse of the trains as they pass between the trees, behind the buildings and over the bridge.


4560 was captured a couple of weeks ago when she made a rare appearance on the pick up goods, judging by the short train there wasn't much to pick up but that was very much the case in 1964 on the Presteign branch, when the now preserved 1420 would make the trip up to the terminus with a similar train which by that time was being 'run as required'.

Finally on a typical dull Welsh morning 1455 was caught shunting a rake of empty milk tanks down to the dairy.