Index | New Stuff | Arne Wharf | Catcott | Combwich | Cement Quay | Contact New Stuff Arne Wharf Catcott Combwich Cement Quay Exhibitions & Events Vintage Photos My Railway Blog! The S&DJR After Closure Modern Traction Images Steam Traction Images Vintage Traction Images I've been playing on and off with model railways since 1978, though like many people, I get bored from time to time and venture off into other hobbies like messing about with old cars etc (then get fed up because it all costs too much). Railways, whether model making or photographing the real thing, always come bouncing back! So now over 30 years down the line (excuse pun there), I guess this crazy hobby is in the blood? Combwich took far too long to get to the current stage, what you see here started in 1980. Over the years various bits of it have been replaced and modified, I think now it has reached its final stage. The track, baseboards, signalbox and station buildings are the only original bits dating back to the early stages. Most of the other bits like landscape were revamped fully from 2000 onwards after 15 years storage. The wharf and river were recent additions too. Cement Quay & Arne Wharf and now Catcott Burtle have taken far less time, months rather than years. These days I have less patience and get bored quickly, so keeping the layouts small is the way to go if ever they are to get to some stage of completion. However saying this, a large simple roundy roundy does appeal - as I imagine stiing back with a pint of something nice watching a long freight train winding around the room ..... All four layouts are portable, the three most recent being very much so. The odd time I do a show I'm generally a one man band, so things need to be simple with the minimum amount of hassle. Combwich is 'portable' but not in the same sense as the other two. It does make it out onto the road from time to time but needs a van and a posse! By contrast, Cement Quay & Arne Wharf can be simply popped into the back of the car with the rear seat down. Catcott Burtle is the latest project, now reaching a stage of completion, it is again portraying the Somerset Levels and based on a small part of the former S&DJR. The real Catcott was simply a crossing between Edington Burtle and Shapwick. My interpretation is that the crossing also became a halt with siding. Watch out for Catcott Burtle at the Beaconsfield Exhibition on Sat 4th October 2008. The layout won't be quite finished, but it will certainly be at a good stage of near completion. See you there! 'On the Road'.......... Catcott - Beaconsfield Oct '08. Cement Quay - Astolat Jan '09. Catcott Burtle -Railex May 09. Cement Quay - High Wycombe 7 Nov' 09. Catcott- Egham MRS - Jan '10. Note to exhibition managers. Sadly due to far too many commitments for my own good, I can only consider shows local to SW London/Surrey. Private Collections Sadly these are private, requests for access will be ingnored. Recommended Links Hornby Magazine Forum RMweb Forum Modern Locomotives Illustrated 009 Narrow Gauge - Graham's Images Carl Arendt's Micro Layouts Dorset Reichsbahn Group Enginewood - Tim Maddocks Hornby Magazine Model Rail Forum RailExpo County Gate Rushby's Railways - micro genius! There's More to Model Railways - Ian Holmes Voie Libre PMP's Model Railway Modelling Mark Burgess Building & Operating Your Model Railway Forum All photographic images* on this website are © 1981-2008 Chris Nevard. This Web Site and any of its contents may not be copied, translated or distributed in any manner (electronic, web or printed) without the prior written consent of Chris Nevard. Contact. We actively seek out copyright violations in print and on the Internet and will use full legal force to deal with any Copyright infringements. * Photographic images are defined as GIF & JPEG format image files.