Bron Hebog

From Holiday - May 09

[more images are available via the link to my holiday May 09 album in picasa web albums]

BRON HEBOG

My recent holiday to Wales was great fun for many reasons:

• My first chance to ride on a scheduled passenger train from Rhyd Ddu to Beddgelert and vice versa
• A chance to see around Boston Lodge (always fun), see special AGM trains and the boat in action on the FR
• A chance to see the Baldwin and Buffet car, plus the new museum at the WHHR
• and...a chance to see the initial part of Bron Hebog at the Port model show.

and I was not disappointed on any of these fronts (apart from missing the gravity train due to very wet weather and it running 30mins late).

Bron Hebog is the successor to Dduallt, itself a seriously good 009 model. Like Rhyd Ddu, it portrays the WHR in its modern form.

The part on show was basically of Beddgelert Station, but the whole layout is named 'Bron Hebog' to highlight the fact that the station area is just one part of a much larger model of the station, the Cwm Cloch reverse curves and Goat tunnel too.

It is of course not exactly fair to pass judgement on a half completed layout, but the parts on show were of a superb standard. Many photos were taken (a kind of industrial espionage?) which will help me immensely given the similarities of our projects.

Highlights for me were the correct scaling of the PBSSR bridge at the north end and the Goat cutting at the south end (compare that with the 7mm model of Beddgelert seen at Warley recently); the gently undulating and believable fields behind the station; the water tower and station shelters and of course, the stock.

...and it is stock where this project is much further on than I am, helped in part because some of it has run on Dduallt in the past (Russell, Upnor, Conwy etc) but almost all of the carriages have been scratchbuilt in plastic (I think the Romanian carr is a worsley brass kit) which is an amazing achievement given I know how long it takes to create one in plastic, let alone 20 or so! The detailing is also fabulous, with internals given the same qulaity treatment as externals.

There is clearly a long way to go, but this is looking like another iconic layout.

It is understood that it will be seen again at Warley in November alongside the FR and WHR stand. Can't wait.

Colin