Model Railway Layouts by Chris Nevard
Index | New Stuff | Arne Wharf | Catcott | Combwich | Cement Quay | Radstock Coal & Steam | Contact
If you buy the British Model Railway press, some of you may be familiar with my occasional ramblings and model railway photography featured in in Model Rail, Hornby Magazine, other magazines and books. This website is a chance to me to prove that I also mess about with the hobby in my spare time when not looking through a viewfinder or tapping on a keyboard. It's also really nice to have an escape in this world that doesn't need 'F functions' or digits - and if you get it all wrong 'CTRL Z' won't undo any mistakes!

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 sitting 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 three. 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 & Catcott Burtle can be simply popped into the back of the car with the rear seat down.

Catcott Burtle, a could have been scenario is heavily influenced by the BBC TV film Branchline Railway, with the layout's creator being taken in by the wild open feel of the area much dominated by willow, water and big skies.

Many spots where roads crossed the railway utilised manned level crossings rather than bridges, with each crossing having its own crossing keeper and railway cottage. Several of the cottages had no running water or electricity right up to closure in 1966, the water being delivered by train in milk churns!

Catcott, one of the many crossings on the line never was a halt or had sidings. In the parallel universe world here, imagine if to serve the local peat deposits things had been very different?
Collection Categories
A place for new stuff!
A place for new stuff!
Arne Wharf
Arne Wharf
Bits & Pieces
Bits & Pieces
Catcott Burtle
Catcott Burtle
Cement Quay
Cement Quay
Combwich
Combwich
Exhibitions & Events
Exhibitions & Events
Portfolio/Wallpapers
Portfolio/Wallpapers
Radstock Coal & Steam
Radstock Coal & Steam
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Most Recent Photo

Under the midday sun, a Collett class 0-6-0 No.3206 potters about shunting some Dogfish engineer's wagons onto the ballast screen siding at Cement Quay Old Wharf.
Top Photo

A detailed, repainted and weathered Hornby L&Y 0-4-0 'Pug'. 51202 was based at Radstock from the 1930's through to the early 1950's. The motor protrudes into the cab, so to disguise this, a cloth screen from painted tissue has been added. Screens like this were an occasional feature on the real thing.
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'On the Road'..........
  • Catcott Burtle - Astolat Jan '09.
  • Arne Wharf - Railex May 10.
  • *STOP PRESS* Combwich - High Wycombe 6 Nov' 10.
  • Catcott Burtle - High Wycombe Nov' 11.

  • 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

  • Recommended Links
  • Hornby Magazine Forum
  • RMweb Forum
  • Building & Operating Your Model Railway Forum
  • Carl Arendt's Micro Layouts
  • County Gate
  • Eastmoor - Random thoughts and ideas about railways of all sizes.
  • Enginewood - Tim Maddocks
  • Fred Lewis - Master of 7mm
  • Hornby Magazine
  • Jon Hale Art
  • Mark Burgess
  • Modeller's Warehouse - stockist of the telegraph wire used on this website
  • Model Rail Forum
  • Modern Locomotives Illustrated
  • OO9 Narrow Gauge - Graham's Images
  • Ninove Terminus - inspired work by Roderik Vanderkelen
  • P4 New Street
  • PH Designs Metal Etching Designs for the needs of the Modeller and the Professional
  • Phil Parker's Homepage
  • PMP's Model Railway Modelling
  • RailExpo
  • Rushby's Railways - micro genius!
  • NewS&Dblog
  • There's More to Model Railways - Ian Holmes
  • Treneglos: 40 plus years ago on the Atlantic Coast Express
  • Voie Libre
  • Welcome to SimplyScenery.com, Home of landscape modelling By Tony Hill
  • Wiveliscombe in Miniature

  • Private Collections
  • These are private, requests for access will be ingnored.

  • All photographic images* on this website are © 1981-2009 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.