Shouldn’t you be going to wales soon…?

Indeed you should.  Check this out!

Snowdon Mountain Railway – took the early bird train thinking we might get early morning misty conditions, but oh no!  Only 30 mins at the top was nowhere near enough!  Cafe nice but quite small really.

 

Welsh Highland Railway

 

The new plaque added to commemorate the ‘completion’ of the ‘40’ mile railway.

 

This poor shot of the Statfold mallet at Meillionen (due to early evening light issues) was to be my only experience of the mallet moving.  The next day I found her at Dinas about to be loaded later onto a trailer and thence back home to have her axleboxes attended to.



Other shots at Beddgelert Forest halt.



In the works the green (ex black 143) NGG16 comes along as does the new service carriage (previously a semi-open!).

 

The scenery really is superb – and the weather too!

 

138 starts the hard journey back to Caernarfon…



The osprey nest (3 eggs have been laid) and the new lamp room at Beddgelert – a nice heritage feature.

Ffestiniog Railway

 

Carriages



The underframe for the new super barn 121 and parts of the heritage footbridge for Tan y Bwlch.  The ‘new’ other end obs ex 101 – now 123 – and on this occasion not being used as an obs!

A very special trip – riding the gravity train

Not many people get the chance to do this, so I was very grateful to have been invited.  What a ride!  The journey up behind Merddin was impressive as a starting point!



and when Merddin left us at Dduallt…the rollercoaster was an experience not to be forgotten!



We really went for it round Boston Lodge curve but still needed a little push from Moelwyn to get into Harbour Station.



Porthmadog Model Railway Show

A small affair this year but John Wooden was there with his excellent new layout in 009 and his mini train has to be seen to be believed.



Other notable notes



Linda returns in black (for now)



Harlech Castle was called into action to fight lineside fires (naughty Merddin!).

 
and of course there was a chance to sample the moose.

Llanberis Lake Railway



We enjoyed a trundle along the lake and this time managed to climb up to the Quarry Hospital where the views were superb.

Welsh Highland Heritage Railway



"The Coalition" rescued from Llechwedd and in shocking condition. 



Heritage carriages always interest me, here is probably the best interpretation of the original Pickering brake NWNGR livery – nice! and someone’s made a model of the mystery car!  http://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/Carriage_Mystery for info if you’re not aware of the mystery!



and a tidy little book due out soon…with a tidy price!

back from wales

Back from a 5 night stint in Wales, full report to follow, but for now enjoy this unusual view of Rhyd Ddu taken from a SMR train. I have a view of a SMR train from Rhyd Ddu too!

errrr…what?!

On my recent visit to site (aka Rhyd Ddu station), I inspected the changes that had been written but not really shown in pictures on the various WHR websites.

There has been a major change to the ‘bus turning area’ as shown below:

Firstly though the tamper shed is gone (!) and a new tarmac path has been created out of the NP car park…

This leads to a newly tarmaced bus lay-by…

and a newly erected shelter is prominent…

the path continues up towards the water tower and through a small gate…

and then across a new foot crossing and onto the platform.

This is a MAJOR change. 

Here a shot of Rhyd Ddu for comparison – you can see the white van parked on what was rough ground… This would need a new tarmac surafce, kerbs, the extra foot crossing, more gates, the shelter etc. adding and of course I’d have to leave the tamper shed out too.

Thus it has been decided to freeze the layout at 2010.  Now I might bend this somewhat to allow for other locos and stock to appear (e.g. the other NGG16 kit I have in stock) but this is generally the rule – 2010 it is. 

A hairy moment

Yesterday further progress was made on the extension. The modroc was painted brown and once dry covered in thick PVA and clumps of hairy underlay were added. Once dry they will be trimmed back and then painted with the usual LNER Doncaster green. A couple of random rocks were added from my box of spare pieces, these will be coloured too of course.

The hidden sidings board has also been cleared of track, rubbed down, bleached and now painted black to protect it from the damp induced mould it suffered this winter.

Lady in red…

Well here are the promised pictures of our ‘Lady in red’ aka WHR Beyer-Garratt NGG16 No. 138.

A few pointers to areas that have been changed from the kit to make the loco less SAR more WHR:

- Addition of custom plates courtesy of narrow planet
- Sun visors on side of cab left off, roof opening altered completely to create one larger opening rather than two smaller ones with curved covers
- Addition of extra detail to cab including gauges and all windows glazed
- Completely different arrangement of boiler fittings including safety valves on a small plinth.  There remains some additional small bore pipework to add. 
- Major changes to pipework runs and addition of extra ejector on firebox wrapper
- Steam pipe covers on smokebox sides and D handles
- WHR pattern lights on tank/bunker ends and sand fill level indicators
- Oil tank in bunker with vent, the top of which was made from a wheel bearing!
- Differences in cut outs of bunker/tank bottoms
- Washout plugs added to boiler in correct positions (markits)
- Mudhole door covers added using small LEDs (yes really) poked into holes and painted over – the little domes of the LEDs are the perfect size
- Differences to handrails including bend in driver’s side cab side handle
- Extra tank side rivets created with small wire poked into small holes.  The kit has a SAR pattern rivetted version of the tank/bunker and all those rivets were filed off to represent the welded tanks. 
- Markits wakefield lubricators (heavily modified) added to the running plates (not shown below), vac pipes different pattern to standard SAR.
- Silver boiler bands were applied using 1mm strips of 'bare-metal' wafer thin self adhesive foil.  This is made in the USA and is commonly used by car and truck modellers - www.bare-metal.com 

and the beast has been finished with etching primer, then 2 coats of Railmatch EARLY BR(M) crimson lake, lined in straw (acrylic) using a bowpen and size 0 sable brush, Floquil 'engine black' added to corners and tank backs etc.  Finally, 2 coats of Precision Paints Satin Varnish was applied to boiler/firebox and cab only. Smokebox area painted with Humbrol 'gunmetal' enamel and left unvarnished.

 

      

New leader

Following my trip on the final bit of the WHR recently, I have updated my table of NG railway ratings and, by 1 point, there is a new leader (mainly as the line gains a cafe (at harbour) that it had not before). 

Note: for those unfamiliar with this system my ratings take into account 17 factors from locos in steam and timetables through the year, parking, cafes/shops, publicity, views, carriage comfort, child friendliness etc.  The list is only for lines I have travelled on, so the following railways are not yet included…Brecon Mountain, West Lancs, Teifi Valley, Sittingbourne and Kemsley, South Tynedale, Seaton Tramway, Hollycombe Steam Collection, Isle of Man railways (all)

rank		TOTAL
1	Rh Eryri (WHR)	91	PREMIER
2	Ffestiniog	90
3	Talyllyn	76
4	Vale of Rheidol	63
5	Snowdon Mountain	63
6	Bure Valley	62
7	Welshpool and Llanfair	62
8	Llanberis Lake	60	1ST DIV
9	Fairbourne	56
10	WHR Porthmadog	56
11	Bala Lake	54
12	Bressingham	54
13	Kirklees	54
14	Launceston	52
15	Evesham country park	51
16	Rudyard Lake	48	2ND DIV
17	Corris	47
18	Great Orme	45
19	Wells and Wals	43
20	Amerton	43
21	Llechwedd	42
22	Leighton Buzzard	42
23	Lynton and Barnstaple	41
24	Golden Valley	27	3RD DIV
25	North Glos	27
26	Steeple Grange	21
27	Derbys Dales	11	NL

comments welcome…

138 progress

I had some wonderful images sent me last night from Dad showing 138's body lined out.  I'll post some shots here asap and explain some of the changes made to the base kit to accommodate the WHR changes to the SAR design - there are quite a few!

watch this space.

Laying the land

Last night I spent a little time laying a new cork base for the new track alignment and adding modroc to the scenic base (brushed with water).  I also tore into many little pieces the carpet underlay ready for application as grass asap.  That is once the ground has been painted a background muddy brown colour (in case of show through/damage) - soil isn't usually white!

Steady progress on this area and it is already clear that the new track alignment will be significantly better and actually closer to the reality of the prototype too. 

preparing the ground

Flat grass isn’t flat, so in preparation for the laying of modroc over the grassy part of the new extension I’ve created some random effects in filler. 

I’ve also stripped the hidden sidings board to allow it to be treated for the damp that has affected the board (bleach off the marks and seal) as well as an updated track plan to create more through roads and get rid of the farish points that caused problems at expoNG.  Peco replacements will then be ordered, although I’ve picked two up cheaply already. 

Moving on

 

The piece has been attached and an initial layer of filler added.  I have also stripped back the rails either side of the new piece to start thinking about the new alignment.  One clear issue is that the water tower base will foul the new alignment so this was removed too.

Another layer of filler will be required once this is dry and then I shall glue down the cork roadbed.

Extension

Today after mowing the back lawn and other various gardening jobs I found a couple of hours to work on the layout.  Thus the extension to the station board was attached.  The first photo shows the various brackets used to ensure strength. 2 L shaped ones at the sides, 3 smaller L’s along the top of the board and two long pieces across the underside joins.  Should be good enough!

Then I erected the board next door, clamped it together to the new extension and drilled the 10mm holes for the M10 bolts.  Finally I removed the ply top from the front couple of inches of the extension as this needs to sit lower down.  I then cut a piece of plywood to sit at the lower level (just like the adjacent board).  In the shots you can see a clamp being used whilst a piece of 2x1 is glued at 90 degrees to this new piece.  When dry it will be attached to the board which might be tomorrow. Then filler will be used to create the slope between the lower and rail level sections.

You might note that a couple of trees have suffered during transport from expoNG – no problem to correct though!

This now means that all is clear to sort out the alignment of the track here (which will of course include removing some track already laid.  It should be worth all this though as the extension is expected to help running considerably. 

Of course I’ll need to extend the hidden sidings too by the same amount, but I will wait and do this later prior to complete erection of the layout again.

Some progress going on

You may have noticed some images of a nearly completed 138 in red livery from expoNG.  Well the red was hastily selected in a murky halfords in the days preceding the exhibition.  It turned out to be way too scarlet and in your face.  We have now selected a better shade via railmatch and this is being applied.  Photos to appear here soon.

In other news, I added small plasticard spacers to the bodies of Harlech and Criccieth Castles, drilled suitable holes, tapped them and added 14BA screws.  After a little playing with pickups they run well.  However one step got broken in the process and I will need to build another somehow…

I have also sourced enough vac pipes and have started the long process of adding these to the ends of all the carriages.  A spot of superglue and attention that all is square and the effect is good. 

On corridor connections, I am talking with Roger Keen regarding close coupling systems and may have something to report soon.  If not, then I do at least want to represent the general look of the end of the carriages, perhaps using a plasticard addition.

009 FR crests are now also available via EDM models, hopefully improving delivery times.

Update

I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find time for modelling due to my new job and the extent of the travelling involved.  There is time to read, but not to act.  So good planning is necessary to get the layout up to the required standard for Sparsholt next year. 

At the moment, the time I do have is being used to add vac pipes to carriages/wagons and to complete the detailing on Rob’s Romanian ballast wagon.  I’m also figuring out a way to attach the new farish 08 chassis (with RT models jackshaft extension) to the harlech and cricieth bodies that I’ve already made up.  Some packing, tapped holes and off we go hopefully…

The summer will be spent working on the layout to improve running, with the hidden sidings being upgraded to run with entirely peco points (the older farish ones caused no end of fouling problems at expoNG) and the Waunfawr end of the station will be extended to allow the alignment to be improved.  The water towers will have proper supports soldered together from brass I section/tube/wire and new cloth bags will be added (the plastic ones ended up being taken off as they were not elastic enough to let the trains pass underneath without deflecting the whole tower!

Then when winter comes again I will concentrate on stock again.

Dad has promised to complete 138, 87 and K1 for sparsholt and in return I’m doing some work for him.  Merddin should also appear as there is little to do there.  There is no prospect of Lyd or Taliesin appearing.  They will have to wait for a future show.  Russell looks unlikely too, if we are realistic.

However this would give us:

1. 143
2. 138
3. 87
4. K1
5. Castell Caernarfon
6. Vale of Ffestiniog
7. Upnor Castle
8. Cricieth Castle
9. Harlech Castle
10. Merddin Emrys
11. Gelert
12. (Russell in brass?)

When should I start the countdown clock?

Tonight tonight

Tonight I discovered that the 3mm wheels I use for bogie pivots actually come in 2 different sorts. The difference us almost imperceptible but it makes all the difference. By checking the whr stock and swapping the bigger ones for these smaller pivots and by a little reaming of the bogie pivot holes I have managed to remove the need for the spacing washer and therefore have cured the ride height problem I had.

I also added extra pickups to Gelert which should improve running hopefully.

Next stage

Here we can see more progress on the etched carriage.

The first shot shows me (with some help from small fingers) bending over pieces using the jaws if my small vice to keep it all square.

The second shot shows the battery boxes and sides soldered up. Some cleaning with a file and fibreglass brush was done but it's not really a visible area so I don't spend too long. Also visible is the flux I use.

The third shot shows the use of a cocktail stick to position captive nuts for soldering.

And the fourth shot shows the use if a 10bz taper tap to remove any solder that got into the thread. Mist if the time at least a little has done so. Some people gave clever methods of avoiding this included oiled screws but I find tapping just as easy.

The final shot shows a useful jig for using later to ensure the sides and ends are joined square - a simple piece of wood checked to be exactly 90 degrees to the board and then glued down.

Bits and where they go

So here is a better photo of the kit to be built (2043).

Starting from top left we have doors, which have side and top folds which are a little fragile so I keep them on the fret until they’re needed.  Next to them are the fallplates which I have yet to use on any carr (I may do in the future though) and these are therefore filed away.  Next to them are the ends, which are likely to bend if you cut them from the fret so I bend them off the fret, cutting only to free bits of fret to be bent off.  On the far top right are the battery box covers – these have useful tabs on top (don’t file them off) and will be soldered to the underside of the floor.

In the middle row we have the side and then the buffer beams.  Next to them are the lovely steps (gotta love the etching) and then the pieces that sit inside the ends of the carriage keeping a captive nut and allowing the body to be screwed to the floor.  I have removed the side wings as mentioned in the last post.

and finally at the bottom is the floor.  The sides bend up (half etched side on the inside of the fold) and help to keep the sides nice and straight.

The roof needs to be soldered to the tops of the sides and ends and rolled from brass sheet (or a beer can if you prefer).

Etched in my mind

Here's the story of an etched carriage kit.

This kit is a Worsley works scratch aid setup for the whr saloon 2043. This is being rebuilt as the first one was used for test painting and as it was not up to standard was sold.

So we start with the etches and cut them carefully from the fret using tin snips. Where the part is large enough and there is little risk if damage to the part from bending as the snips cut I cut close to the part removing most of the tab. However on smaller parts I suggest you cut to leave the tab or even cut leaving a bit of fret with the part and then bend the fret repeatedly to break the fret piece off.

Once the pieces are out you can clean up the tabs. I use a 2nd cut file and then finish with a boots nail file. This leaves a tidy finish.

I then drill the 2 bogie pivot holes out to take 10ba screws.

That is the general prep before any soldering begins.

On this kit we also have some more complex door pieces which require folding up later. Don't accidentally cut these off imagining them as tabs!

Worsley include end pieces that fit inside the body and are used to hold captive nuts securing the floor which is removable. The roof is fixed. These have 90 degree folds to make to the sides and back. Except that I find the tolerances to be far too close (get it wrong and one of your carriage sides will bow out at the bottom!) and so I cut off the side pieces and use the remaining piece as if it were a single angle just there to hold the nut. A hood soldered 90 degree joint between carriage end and side will not require these extra wings. I will show this in future images.

The next post will build up the general shape of the Carr.

showbusiness

Rhyd Ddu will next appear at Narrow Gauge South:

Saturday, 14 April 2012, 10.00am - 5.00pm

Sainsbury Building, Sparsholt College
Westley Lane
Sparsholt
Winchester
Hampshire
SO21 2NF

The show is billed as the south's leading small scale narrow gauge model railway exhibition. It is proudly presented by the Wessex Narrow Gauge Modellers and will be their 11th show.  It will be host to the 009 Society's Annual General Meeting too.

The last show (2010) was reported here:

http://fairlightworks.narrowplanet.co.uk/2010/04/narrow-gauge-south-2010-part-2/

Stowage

Thanks to some excellent tips on the NGRM forum and plenty of time to ponder whilst in a Canadian airport lounge I have devised a plan to stow the layout when in transit.

This will allow the use of a ford transit type van rather than the huge box van we used for expong. This means it's cheaper for exhibition organisers, easier to drive and unload plus I can hire one much more locally than the box van.

The idea is to create two storage racks out of mdf with pine runners allowing boards to be slid in and secured with bolts. The boards remain upright and separate hopefully avoiding unintentional Damage

Two of these racks will secure 6 of the boards (all the scenic ones) meaning that only the hidden sidings board (6 ft long) and the odd shaped corner (question Mark board) would be stored on their own. This plus legs, stock etc mean it will all fit in a LWB transit easily and possibly even in something smaller.

I will get on with constructing these as they will also serve as easy storage for when the layout is not erected in the garage, like now!