Tales from a club in lockdown
Although club meetings have been suspended members have been busy at home building models and developing their layouts.
The planned exhibitions that we were going to attend have been postponed so the events diary has been moved to the bottom of this page. In the mean time have a look at what we have been doing by staying at home and staying safe.
Don't forget to keep checking in on this page to catch up with the latest updates!!
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15th April 2021
Having moved back into his enlarged railway room Andy has set about extending his layout. (Pic 1) 
Mike has been adding buildings to the club mini N Gauge layout "Muchwyring" (pics 2 & 3) He has also been exercising some of his stock on Tiverton Junction (pics 4, 5. 6 & video)

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1st April 2021
Mike has been adding self made transfers to his stock. Chris R has been building a Ratio signal box (for about the last 6 weeks!) and has added interior details from LCut Creative.  Balcony hand rails still need to be added to finish the model

18th March 2021
Andy has been doing some night time running on his layout and Mike has been scratch building signals for his and the club mini N Gauge model

11th March 2021
Simon has upgraded his Lima class 20 with new wheels and some weathering. In addition he has added a driver and detail to the cab end.    Mike has been adding detail to his N Gauge layout.

4th March 2021
The Tiverleigh story continues with this short film clip (part 17) from Andy.  
Plus a bonus clip this week from Mike as he takes his Q Kits LMS 10000 for a trip around Tiverton Junction.

25th Feb 2021
This week we see more progress around the station on Baytree Road. A group of hikers are making their way onto the platform to catch the arriving DMU on route to Taunton.

18th Feb 2021
Mike has been working on the club N Gauge mini layout  by adding an engine shed. He has built and painted this Ratio kit. He is also preparing to paint the two 3d print based 5.5mm scale or 1/55 coaches we see in the third picture. Members continue to meet up on line with a Zoom session every Tuesday evening at 7pm. This generally goes on for about 80 mins or so and allows members to share progress on their layouts and model building.

11th Feb 2021
Very little modelling going on this week so we go back in time and take a look at the real thing on the West Somerset Railway

15th June 2012

28th September 2005

14th June 2009

30th May 2010

14th June 2009

14th June 2009

4th Feb 2021
Baytree Road update
Added a bit of colour to the layout over the last week or so. Built up a base layer of standard flock powders in brown and green having first painted the area with acrylics. Once dry I brushed on a 50 50 mix of PVA and water and then added static grass by sprinkling over the whole area using a tea strainer. I used Woodland Scenics 2mm  Medium Green (FS614) for this.  Instead of using the electrical process I teased the scatter with a brush to create the desired effect. Small bushes were added (Woodland Scenics Underbrush (FC135) and fixed in place using diluted PVA via a syringe.
Once all this was dry I set about fitting a couple of lengths of post and wire fencing. I used 4 hole 4ft posts  available from Scale Model Scenery for this. I painted them with concrete enamel whilst they were still on the fret and then planted them at 24mm intervals along the road side. Its a good idea to push a small 0.4mm dill bit through each hole to open them out as the paint can make threading the wire quite difficult otherwise.
I have had a small reel of silver wire in my spares box for 10 years plus and have no idea where it came from so I can make no recommendations for this part of the process other than suggesting transformer wire. Sufficient to say that by shear luck this wire turned out to be perfect for the job being both robust enough to poke easily through the holes in the posts and tight enough to not loose too much tension once the work was complete. I finished each run with 3 turns around the last post to secure the line before cutting off.
Chris Rix

Its a good idea to have several tea strainers loaded with different colour flocks to help blend in the various shades

Base coat of acrylic followed by standard flock powder held in place with PVA

This shows the finished job having added static grass which was teased out with a small brush

Post and wire fencing added to complete the scene

Post and wire fencing is particularly effective when used on undulating roads and paths

28th Jan 2021
Mike has scratch built a Southern Railway Third Class Brake Corridor coach (BTK) for his 3mm TT Gauge layout and this week we show you the process and progress in pictures

21st Jan 2021
Chris R has upgraded his Hornby HST set with magnetic couplings from West Hill Wagon Works. These are great for fixed rakes where you do not need hands free uncoupling. The pack comes with enough couplings for 8 coaches 1 power and 1 trailer car. These replace the rather large tension lock coupling that Hornby have seen fit to include on an otherwise very reasonable model of the Mk3 coach. A close coupling version is also available. Having removed the bogie remove the the clip that holds the tension lock coupling in place and fit the magnetic one. Note that they are marked A and B. Face this mark downwards so its easily seen (looking under the coach) when setting up your train.

The bogies should just pull out of the chassis but if they resist then you will need to remove the body and poke them out with a screwdriver. The X-Acto number 18 blade is ideal for this. Slide the blades under the 4 clips and gently pull the body off the chassis

The couplings for the non NEM pockets on the coaches are shown on the bottom right of this picture

You can see the difference this upgrade makes

The power and trailer cars have NEM pockets so the upgrade here is plug and play

The couplings self centre and although this picture shows them not quite aligned they still stay together under load

All coupled up and ready to go

14th Jan 2021
Mike has produced a scratch built model of the Adams G6 0-6-0 steam locomotive. These were based on the LSWR so well suited for his TT gauge model of Okehampton

7th Jan 2021
Last week I covered fitting drivers in the Kernow D600 Warship. (See workshop page)  Having completed that I set about fitting Kadee couplings.  Pretty straight forward I thought since it comes with NEM pockets...plug and play.. and it is of sorts.

The pockets droop a bit which makes not a shot of difference when using the supplied tension lock couplings, but Kadee's are a little more fussy. If it is too low it effects the coupling height and causes the dropper pin to snag the track.

So off with the pocket for a quick examination.. As there seemed to be quite a lot of vertical play I added a small M2.5 washer under the securing screw to firm this up (see photo) but not before loosing the stabilising spring when removing the aforesaid screw...
A quick search around on the floor recovered it and I quickly restored it to its rightful place, under the plastic pocket assembly.
It carries an important funtion as it has the effect of damping sideways movement and ensures the coupling pocket remains central.

Now, my modification did improve the height and after adjusting the dropper pin using Kadee pliers I managed to stop it snagging the track. I think this is the best I can do, it is still not perfect as you will see from the photo's but it is an improvement. Just be careful when removing the mounting screw as although the loco comes with an exploded diagram of parts as far as I can see the little spring is not
mentioned.... Do not loose it!
Chris Rix

You can just make out the silver washer under the black securing screw. The elusive spring sits under the whole assembly.

Improved alignment when comparing against the Kadee height checking block

Still a bit of a droop on the coupling pocket but an improvement all the same

31st Dec 2020
Bought a D600 Warship from Kernow Models?  Want to fit a couple of drivers?  Then head on over to the Workshop page to see how  you can do it.....

24th Dec 2020
CVMRC would like to wish all our members and Internet followers a very Happy Christmas

17th Dec 2020
British Rail class D16 was an early mainline diesel electric locomotive built in the late post war 1940's. Mike has built a model depicting loco number 10000 in OO Gauge

10th Dec 2020
This week we are showing some trackside and night shots from Mikes TT Gauge layout

3rd Dec 2020
Chris R has fitted an ESU micro 8 pin decoder with Next18 interface to his Hornby 08 shunter. This sound enabled decoder was from Legomanbiffo. You will see from the pictures that the connection to the decoder board is via a ribbon cable. This can be reduced in length by folding it over on itself thus aiding installation in a tight space. Other floating wires have been attached to the chassis using Uhu White Tack. The sugar cube speaker supplied is mounted in the front of the loco behind the radiator grill.

The decoder and speaker as supplied

Mounted on the chassis and plugged into the 8 pin socket

Ribbon cable has now been folded and loose wires bundled and attached with White Tack

Suger Cube speaker fitted to the front of the loco after cutting a hole in the body panel. The radiator panel simply clips on over this and is acoustically transparent

A stay alive power pack was also fitted along with a driver

The power pack fits neatly in the cab and the connecting wires were sleeved and routed through a hole drilled above the loco control panel.

26th Nov 2020
We start this week with the fourth and final part of the Tiverleigh story (for now)

A couple of "night" shots taken by Mike of his Okehampton TT 3mm scale layout plus a trackside view taken from Andy's Tiverleigh layout

To compliment the photo's from last week Philip has sent in images of the three coaches he has repainted

Nov 20th 2020
Philip has sent in a couple of pictures of his  O Gauge SNCF Pacific (4-6-2) loco... He has repainted the coaches seen here to match the livery of the locomotive....

We all enjoyed parts 1 and 2 of Tiverleigh from Andy so here is part 3 to marvel at.....

Finally here are 3 more shots of Mikes TT 3mm scale layout based on Okehampton.....

Nov 16th 2020
Andy has posted the second instalment of his Tiverleigh trilogy... turn up your sound and listen to those blue era diesels! You can nearly smell the fumes!

Mike has continued "greening" up his TT layout, has made a very nice job of the Ratio signal box kit to go on the club N gauge mini layout and has started to refurbish his Triang TT coaches using elbow grease with a little help from some "Pledge" polish!

Nov 10th 2020
Mike has been working hard on his TT gauge layout and these latest pictures are a testament to his progress

Andy's layout "Bickerton" is in storage at the moment... Below are some pictures celebrating the quality of this layout... 

Nov 5th 2020
Observant readers will have noticed the lack of updates on this page over the last couple of months... members have however still been busy creating models and layouts during this time so we kick off with a video from Andy featuring his layout "Tiverleigh" which is currently in storage to make way for building work and a larger layout room.

Although the regular club house meetings are still not taking place some members have been catching up via a Zoom online meeting on Tuesday nights. About 6 or so members chat away and show examples of what they have been modelling.
Below in pics 1 and 2 are some OO gauge Mk1 coaches that Andy has added lights to. Pic 3. shows the scenic progress on Mikes layout which is based in his shed.

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Andy has fitted a DCC sound decoder and speaker in his 08 shunter. In addition he has also fitted lights. Look at all those wires!! You can see the 08 in operation in the video below. Pic 3 is of a building on Andy's layout "Bickerton"  See if you can spot it on the video.

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Mike has been adding some scenic detail to his layout, seen here in pic 1.   Pictures 2 & 3 show two very nice Metcalfe card models made by Martin C.

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The recent sunny weather has encouraged Andy to get out and do some gardening. Here we see the result (pic 1 ) with a very tidy station plot complete with useful potting shed.
Not content with turning his hand to gardening Andy has also found time to detail, renumber and lightly weather his class 101 (pic 2 ).
In pic 3 we see Mikes progress with his scratch built goods shed.

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Chris R has fitted a plug and play decoder obtained from Hattons to his Bachmann 08 shunter. Even though the 8 pin direct (NEM652) decoder was small the circuit board containing the decoder socket had to be unscrewed from the chassis and allowed to float in order to get the body back on.  Pic 1 shows the decoder position with the addition of some insulation tape to stop any short circuits. The model then received some weathering to give it an authentic look. Fitting a driver into the cab will be for another time as, unlike some larger loco's, the lack of one is not too obvious....

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Andy has uploaded this video showing his work on the club's layout "Lambourn".  Taking the boards home to rewire this iconic model railway he is making the best use of the time available during the lockdown to bring the electrics into the 21st century. This included a design and build project to replace the ageing control panel.

More weathering examples, this time from club member Simon.  The pictures below show off a particularly grimy 08 Shunter in BR blue.

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Pictures 1, 2 & 3 show the model that Martin W has been working on. It is for his new layout "Nettlewell" which  is an imaginary Isle of Wight terminus, based very loosely on Cowes. We look forward to seeing more pictures of what I am sure will be a stunning layout.

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In picture 1. below we see a model of Dulverton station in development as part of Jose's layout. This has been a long term project but progress has been made more recently as the lockdown has created more modelling time.
Picture 2. shows a model of Woody Bay Station building. Jose has repainted this model by Bachmann to make it look more weathered and is planning an oo9 layout for it to sit on.
Picture 3. shows a corner of John B's layout where he has cleverly built in a station terminus. Corners on layouts are never an easy area to fill but this scene works well as the photo shows.

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This BR green Heljan Hymek has been weathered by Chris R and a DCC sound module fitted to finish the project.

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Mike has been building an engine shed for his layout (pic 1) and a Class 33 loco with a scratch built chassis (pics 2 & 3)

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Andy's latest project has been to add led lighting to his Bachmann Class 20 loco. Pic 1 shows the new wires soldered to the base of the 21 pin DCC socket. Pic 2 & 3 show the loco in action.

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Chris R has been busy with his airbrush and weathered a small fleet of oil tankers. The process involves a mix of Precision Paints P977 Rusty Rails, P991 Track Colour and P981 Dirty Black. Eack tanker is given a light coat which is allowed to dry for a few hours. This is then partly removed using cotton buds and a cotton cloth to give the effect you see in the photographs.

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Mike has been busy building a new layout. Pic 1 shows the main board with pic 2 and 3 some of the buildings all of which are scratch built. Pic 4, 5 and 6 show developments on his N Gauge layout

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Andy has been adding detail to his layout below with a builders yard in pics 1, 2 & 3 and a water wheel in pic 5. Pics 6 to 9 show the various stages of tree building.

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All events and exhibitions are postponed until further notice

Open Days at the CVMRC Layout Display Centre
The Old Well Garden Centre EX15 3ES
Featuring Tiverton Junction*

2020

Due to ongoing concerns regarding the Covid-19 Virus and to avoid cross infection it has been decided to suspend public access to the Old Well Clubroom until further notice. Normal service will be resumed as soon as the situation improves.
Thank you for your support thus far.



***The Tiverton Junction layout is a work in progress***

OUR LAYOUTS ON TOUR 

2020

Jan 12th Sun :- Wallingford at Weston-super-Mare Railway Show
(Cancelled)
July 25th Sat :- Filisur Station at Barnstaple Model Railway Show



2021
June 12th & 13th Sat & Sun :- Lambourn at Mendip 2021