Sarn (Montgomeryshire) and Nantcwmdu (South Wales) plus Montgomery Town in 7mm

[corneliuslundie]

Faithful readers, you must have been wondering if Sarn had received a visit from Dr Beeching.

I have not been inactive but there has not been a lot to show until recently.

First, experiments with ballast. Following some experiments in ballasting flat bottomed track for Nantcwndu (of which more below), I tried the same kind of approach for Sarn but it was again too coarse. I therefore obtained some wood ash from a friend and tried that after sieving it. The result was better but it contained too many white particles and was still a bit too coarse. I have now obtained a finer sieve and intend to try again. I shall have to pick out any white pieces which get through the sieve. 

 

In the meantime Sarn has slowly been gaining goods rolling stock. The first to be completed was this PO coal wagon, based on a photo in the last of Keith Turton’s series on PO wagons but using HMRS transfers which are not all quite accurate for the wagon. Breeze was apparently a major Shrewsbury coal merchant who did business many of the Severn Valley towns. In due course he will be competing at Sarn with the local colliery at Hanwood, though the livery of that wagon is grey with black ironwork which is challenging my painting skills.

 

 

Also recently arrived on a goods train from Manchester is a Cheshire Lines Committee van, I  bought the etched kit some time ago from London Road Models, and was warned about it when I mentioned to someone on the company stand at a recent exhibition that I was about to start it, to receive the reply “The best of luck”. The kit is actually pretty old and is not of LRM origin. The instructions do not seem to be for the same fret as that in the package and the doors are too small. I was also fooled by the photo I found which showed a wooden underframe and the drawing in the instructions which showed the lower fold of the solebars to be inward. Only too late did I discover that the kit is for a steel framed vehicle (there were both) and the flange should have been outward. The only way ahead was to remove the flange to make room for the W irons and pretend that the van has flitched somebars, as there are no washer plates. I was also fooled by the lower than prototype height of the doors and didn’t fold the lower rail upwards, so that the vehicle ended up with dimples where there should have been bolt heads. That was cured by adding 15 thou squares of plastic sheet. Other things like the need to fill the holes in the ends where the (not-needed) end stanchions would fit, the non-existent parts for the door stops (I added four but forgot about the others) and bits on the etch which are mentioned in the instructions but not needed, I think next time I shall scratch build. But the end result looks quite respectable – from this side. For some inexplicable reason on the other side the transfers lifted around the edges after I had added the matt varnish which is intended to prevent such things. Unfortunately I have no more transfers in that style and no need for more transfers for LNER constituent companies.

 

 

I have also realised that I had hitherto made no provision for timber traffic on the standard gauge – rather a serious omission since apart from occasional sheep fairs there was little else. A search through my stock boxes revealed three different GWR bogie bolsters of different Diagrams and sources, which have had their wheels changed to EM and suitable couplings added. They all need stanchions adding, some being in the box with them but others not, and all need weathering. Also added to the fleet was a pair of GWR Mites – cast metal kits and permanently coupled. Again wheels and couplings have been changed, though for some reason about 30 years ago I never finished adding the transfers – one letter G still had the paper covering it. The final additions are the two ex Cambrian Railways single bolsters seen previously on this thread. These have been painted and are being lettered though I need to find out suitable numbers. Once they are suitably attired these wagons will make their bow here, though technically they should have had their brakes updated by 1926 as both levers are the same end.

And there had been some progress on the layout, though very slow. I have erected fences in a few places, but, more important, I have been hedge laying. The hedges either side of the lane are complete, as I hope the photos will show. I am now working on the hedge which marks the nearside boundary of railway territory, which is about 3 ft long and has within it post and wire fencing, as per the standard Cambrian Railways specification. But this is a slow process even when I do any work, as it takes a good evening and a half to make up enough little plants out of twisted millinery wire, five, six or seven strands a time, for a foot of hedge. And I have to admit that there have been frequent occasions when I have not felt like twisting bits of wire and have done something else instead. But another foot of hedge has just been added so I have taken some photos of the process and result. Once the Milliput has set I need to add the wires to the latest section of fence, then paint the whole lot with light brown paint and sprinkle with brown texture material. Once that lot has set the next stage is to sprinkle lots more scatter material and spray the whole lot with w mix of PVA and water. That way the hedge retains a fair number of leaves but there are also some on the ground each side, as can be seen in the view of the lane. Once this hedge is complete there is a similar length of hedge to go in marking the rear boundary of the railway site.

My “model” for this work is the delightful picture someone posted of a French village lane with a woman walking towards the viewer.

 

 

 

One thing I am looking for is a suitable photo of winter/spring woodland to insert behind the hedge on the right hand side as a backdrop to the trees which need to be built and planted between the hedge and the side of the layout. There are hundreds of photos of winter woodland on the internet but most do not extend to the tops of the trees – the very part I most need. I have now found a few possibilities and shall be printing them out and trying them. The result should be in the next update. Then I just need to make the trees themselves, though this needs a supply of suitable pieces of dead bracken for the stems. A trip to the Stiperstones is called for when the weather is better.

Meanwhile, as mentioned above I have been experimenting with a way of laying flat bottom track for Nantcwmdu. This was suggested to me by Trevor Hughes, a member of our club whose layout “Crows Nest Wharf” based on the Snailbeach District Railways used the technique. The aim is to give a strong track when there are no real visible rail fixings. The track base is a thin layer of ply on which are timber sleepers laid in the usual way. But every fourth sleeper there is a gap in the base and the sleeper in the space is copperclad. The rail is soldered to these sleepers so that she solder is entirely under the rail (well, that is the aim). A timber sleeper is then cut into three pieces and used to cover the copperclad sleeper so that hopefully all the sleepers look similar.

My first attempt almost worked, though the ply base was not quite the same thickness as the copperclad. For the real thing I shall therefore use copperclad sleepers under the timber ones, since I seem to have a plentiful supply with no immediate use for them.

I tried two different methods of ballasting, as can be seen, Neither was completely successful, which is what led me to the experiment with ash mentioned above.

And the heads of the non-existent rail spikes are represented by little squares of plastic.

 

 

I hope to have some more photos of the hedges soon, though don't hold your breath. To end this time, here is a photo looking up the lane. It is really too demanding of our camera but I hope it gives an idea. It will be much better when the right hand side is occupied by woodland. And the cottage in the foreground has just been plonked in place as I need to do some work on the garden. The other thing missing from the view is the raised point indicator based on the one which use to be at Kerry until some time after the Second World War.

 

 

As ChrisN would say, thank you for listening.

 

Jonathan

[ChrisN]

Jonathan,

Very interesting and very clever.  You have actually done quite a bit, some of which I shall be copying, (the hedging).  Do you not have Cambrian timber trucks, or am I getting confused?

[corneliuslundie]

I have two Mid Wales Railway timber trucks, with dumb buffers, which can just about creep into Nantcwmdu (1912) though are far too early for Sarn.

I also have two Cambrian timber trucks which are currently being repainted in GWR livery for use on Sarn. Technically they are too early as they have both brake levers the same end, but I am going to turn a blind eye to that. The numbers are guesses although "tanatvalley" pointed me to a photo on page 30 of Cambrian Railway Album 2 which gives a clue.

I spent some time lettering yesterday, and need to add some matt varnish (which I hope will protect the lettering rather than lift it!) One problem is that the Twin Mites need the lettering "10 Tons of Pair" and that is not on the HMRS transfer sheet  - or any other that I can find, for that matter, At least the small timber trucks do not seem to need the Tate weights as there is very little room.

Jonathan

[corneliuslundie]

Cwmdu Courier & Treharris Times

 

2 March 1912

 

Great Progress on Nantcwmdu Railway

 

First track laid

Opening next year predicted

On one of the wettest mornings of the year so far, a celebration took place yesterday to mark the laying of the first length of rail on the line from near Treharris to Nantcwmdu. Mrs Urena Williams, wife of one of the directors of the company, ceremonially drove in the last spike amid the cheers of the amassed (admittedly rather small) crowd. Pointing out that the event was taking place on the festival of the Patron Saint of Wales, she commended the contractor to bear in mind St David’s words and to take care of the little things.

Mr J Lloyd David, the Managing Director of the contracting company, predicted that the first trains would be running well within two years. There had been considerable problems obtaining land, and obtaining a sufficient workforce had been made extremely difficult as many of the gentlemen best suited to the construction work were occupied in building a railway in a valley in Mid Wales. However, he was now confident that rapid progress would be made.

 

 

The track was being laid using a new principle previously used successfully on the Snailbeach District Railways, and he was confident that it would be superior to any other railway in the area.

A spokesman for the Ocean Coal Company, which is developing a large mine near Nantcwmdu, said that they would be very glad when the new line was open as already coal was being raised but could not be transported except by means of a rough track into the Aberdare valley. As soon as the new line was ready his company had nearly forty wagons ready to carry the coal to Cardiff and beyond.

The proprietor of the Nantcwmdu Coal Company agreed, saying that he had a number of wagons approaching completion which would be available as soon as the line opened.

The Rhymney Railway has confirmed to our Editor that it has seven new carriages under construction to provide a service in the valley. These will be of the most modern and commodious design with six wheels each and having electric lighting and upholstered seats throughout. However, it is understood that, as is its normal custom, the Great Western Railway will be using elderly carriages cast off from a line elsewhere.

 

[This is my first attempt at building track along the lines of the sample I showed a while ago, with two layers of sleepers so that the rail can be soldered every three or four sleepers. The first view is before the rail was soldered in place, the second after. It still needs the upper sleepers trimmed to fit and attached on top of the PCB sleepers, and the solder will need some tidying up. I also have to add the cosmetic fishplates. This section represents five 27 ft rail lengths, with the rail nicked at the appropriate points. As the Peco rail comes in 2 ft lengths that is the longest stretch I can do at one go.

My first attempt to prepare the rail by tinning the underside of the rail at the required points ended in disaster with solder up the side of the rail. I shall have to clean up these two pieces of rail and use them where one side is not readily visible.

 

The track which has been laid is part of the run-around loop opposite the station platform. The station building, based on Bedlinog, has been largely complete for a couple of years, and the good shed, also based on Bedlinog has also been part constructed for some time. At the left hand end of this board there will be a road overbridge. The station building is hard up against this with the rail entrance at the upper level and a platform entrance at the lower level. The road with the goods shed will run behind the platform, with the rest of the yard off to the right.

Beyond the road bridge there will be a crossover connecting the platform road to the main line which drops down toward the Pontypool Road to Neath line somewhere near Treharris. The platform road will continue through a gate and then rise to serve the coal mines, off stage. The town will run along the back at high level with a chapel sideways on almost opposite the station building, and probably another low relief one at the back of the board.

I hope to show more progress soon. And I really must get back to hedge laying on Sarn.]

[ChrisN]

Jonathan,

Good to hear an update and see progress.  Glad too to hear that the local mines have enough wagons, I assume the contractor for the line has built those as well.

[Poggy1165]

The CLC van might be a version of the old R&E/Brassmasters product. Although I thought Brassmasters themselves had recently reintroduced it.

 

If no one offers you some spare CL transfers - and there must be many hundred lying around in drawers - you can always put NE on the other side, as the ex-GC vans were practically identical. Indeed, were you modelling after 1930, when the CL stock was split up, you could even put LMS on there! 

Edited March 6, 2017 by Poggy1165

[Penrhos1920]

Meanwhile, as mentioned above I have been experimenting with a way of laying flat bottom track for Nantcwmdu. This was suggested to me by Trevor Hughes, a member of our club whose layout “Crows Nest Wharf” based on the Snailbeach District Railways used the technique. The aim is to give a strong track when there are no real visible rail fixings. The track base is a thin layer of ply on which are timber sleepers laid in the usual way. But every fourth sleeper there is a gap in the base and the sleeper in the space is copperclad. The rail is soldered to these sleepers so that she solder is entirely under the rail (well, that is the aim). A timber sleeper is then cut into three pieces and used to cover the copperclad sleeper so that hopefully all the sleepers look similar.

My first attempt almost worked, though the ply base was not quite the same thickness as the copperclad. For the real thing I shall therefore use copperclad sleepers under the timber ones, since I seem to have a plentiful supply with no immediate use for them.

I tried two different methods of ballasting, as can be seen, Neither was completely successful, which is what led me to the experiment with ash mentioned above.

And the heads of the non-existent rail spikes are represented by little squares of plastic.

 

 

Jonathan

Have you tried the American way of building track? Where they use timber or ply ties with occasional copperclad ones and spikes. They double gap the copperclad so that the gaps are adjacent to the rails and invisible.

[Penlan]

Corneliuslundie, well I have to admit I would have avoided the gap in the copperclad being in the middle of the sleeper, on the assumption that was going to remain there.  I would have put it (very) close to one of the rails.

Long ago, 85A Models did some pointwork where all the copperclad was milled away bar an area just wider than the base of bullhead rails.    I still have some points built with these sleepers, I also have a few plain track sleepers too, though no where near enough to satisfy your needs.

 

If you have a miller, then I suggest you look at milling away the copperclad between the rails across the centre and to the ends.   If you get a piece of board, 36mm wide (9' sleepers) and as long as you want, the milling will be a simple exercise, then just cut into 3mm (9") wide strips.

 

Suggested in all good faith... 

Edited March 7, 2017 by Penlan

[Simond]

I found that using a big cutting disc in my Proxxon minidrill, and keeping the axis of the drill perpendicular to that of the sleeper, I could remove a very broad, shallow area of copper, with ill-defined edges, and leave a rough surface, which was far less obvious than the transverse groove once painted.

 

Of course, the transverse groove can be filled with epoxy, which can be smeared over the sleeper between the soldered rail joints, this too can look "timber-like" once painted.

 

Another alternative is to attack the sleepers at the hidden side of the nearer rail, once laid, with a Stanley knife. This is probably going to be deeply frustrating, as finding the two places where it still shorts will take simply ages, but it's quick & unobtrusive otherwise.

 

Best

Simon

[Edwardian]

Cwmdu Courier & Treharris Times

 

2 March 1912

 

Great Progress on Nantcwmdu Railway

 

First track laid

Opening next year predicted

On one of the wettest mornings of the year so far, a celebration took place yesterday to mark the laying of the first length of rail on the line from near Treharris to Nantcwmdu. Mrs Urena Williams, wife of one of the directors of the company, ceremonially drove in the last spike amid the cheers of the amassed (admittedly rather small) crowd. Pointing out that the event was taking place on the festival of the Patron Saint of Wales, she commended the contractor to bear in mind St David’s words and to take care of the little things.

Mr J Lloyd David, the Managing Director of the contracting company, predicted that the first trains would be running well within two years. There had been considerable problems obtaining land, and obtaining a sufficient workforce had been made extremely difficult as many of the gentlemen best suited to the construction work were occupied in building a railway in a valley in Mid Wales. However, he was now confident that rapid progress would be made.

 

PICT0106 edited.JPG

PICT0109 edited.JPG

 

The track was being laid using a new principle previously used successfully on the Snailbeach District Railways, and he was confident that it would be superior to any other railway in the area.

A spokesman for the Ocean Coal Company, which is developing a large mine near Nantcwmdu, said that they would be very glad when the new line was open as already coal was being raised but could not be transported except by means of a rough track into the Aberdare valley. As soon as the new line was ready his company had nearly forty wagons ready to carry the coal to Cardiff and beyond.

The proprietor of the Nantcwmdu Coal Company agreed, saying that he had a number of wagons approaching completion which would be available as soon as the line opened.

The Rhymney Railway has confirmed to our Editor that it has seven new carriages under construction to provide a service in the valley. These will be of the most modern and commodious design with six wheels each and having electric lighting and upholstered seats throughout. However, it is understood that, as is its normal custom, the Great Western Railway will be using elderly carriages cast off from a line elsewhere.

 

[This is my first attempt at building track along the lines of the sample I showed a while ago, with two layers of sleepers so that the rail can be soldered every three or four sleepers. The first view is before the rail was soldered in place, the second after. It still needs the upper sleepers trimmed to fit and attached on top of the PCB sleepers, and the solder will need some tidying up. I also have to add the cosmetic fishplates. This section represents five 27 ft rail lengths, with the rail nicked at the appropriate points. As the Peco rail comes in 2 ft lengths that is the longest stretch I can do at one go.

My first attempt to prepare the rail by tinning the underside of the rail at the required points ended in disaster with solder up the side of the rail. I shall have to clean up these two pieces of rail and use them where one side is not readily visible.

 

The track which has been laid is part of the run-around loop opposite the station platform. The station building, based on Bedlinog, has been largely complete for a couple of years, and the good shed, also based on Bedlinog has also been part constructed for some time. At the left hand end of this board there will be a road overbridge. The station building is hard up against this with the rail entrance at the upper level and a platform entrance at the lower level. The road with the goods shed will run behind the platform, with the rest of the yard off to the right.

Beyond the road bridge there will be a crossover connecting the platform road to the main line which drops down toward the Pontypool Road to Neath line somewhere near Treharris. The platform road will continue through a gate and then rise to serve the coal mines, off stage. The town will run along the back at high level with a chapel sideways on almost opposite the station building, and probably another low relief one at the back of the board.

I hope to show more progress soon. And I really must get back to hedge laying on Sarn.]

 

Three cheers for laying the first track!

 

Must be a good feeling, and I like the technique.

[corneliuslundie]

No worries about the copperclad sleepers. If you look back at my sample a few pages ago you will see that they have an overlay of timber to bring them up to the same height as the rest of the sleepers (which have a second layer underneath). This is what was done on my friend's NG Snailbeach layout. It enables the soldering to be hidden completely. I have now done this on the first length of track. Some paint needs to be added to weather the sleepers, but when I have done that I shall post another photo, though adding ballast is still a long way off. And I now need to buy or scrounge some more copperclad. Another reason for hiding it is that it is too wide.

Jonathan

Edited March 9, 2017 by corneliuslundie

[CKPR]

Regarding the gap on cooper clad sleepers, this can be filled with 'Greenstuff' filler and then sanded - much less messy than using epoxy !

[corneliuslundie]

It has been rather too long since the last update, though I have been progressing slowly with Sarn for much of the time. Anyway here are a few photos to show the state of play.

The major task has been fence/hedge laying. The quickset hedge which has a post and wire fence running through it now runs from the front to the back of the layout both sides of the lane and along the nearer side of the goods yard. Still to be done is the fence + hedge along the back of the yard and some hedging along the back of the layout to disguise the transition to the backscene. This is a slow process, at least eight plants being required per inch, and preferably more. Indeed, just behind the dead tree (from a kit acquired many, many years ago) there is a distinctly thin patch which I am slowly filling with ivy.

The former level crossing keeper's cottage on the left hand side (now one assumes the residence of the yard foreman) now has fences delineating its property and an attempt at a path and rough grass. 

Behind it I have added a small warehouse. It disguises the triangular piece of wood which strengthens the corner, and is completely freelance, but seems to fit with the narrow gauge line as somewhere to store sawn timber and the like before it is transported away by the main line.

I have also added three pieces of backscene, using photos taken in the area. They are not completely successful and are rather wrinkled. but I am happy with them for now. I now need to find suitable scenes to fill the gaps. It would have been better to print them on card, but that is a lesson learned too late. A particular issue is the place where the narrow gauge line disappears off scene, as it is not possible to put a building or tree in place to disguise it. Any ideas will be welcome.

I hope that the photos show up my attempts to plant celandines below the hedges in places. I noticed this spring that they are abundant for a few weeks in April, the period in which Sarn is meant to be set. There is also quite a lot of long dead grass, notably where the former level crossing gates now mark the end of the line and against the wall of the grounds of the "big" house.

The half timbered house has still not been fixed in place, though it too has garden fences. This is a job for the near future, along with the rest of the hedges.

One problem I have still not solved is how to disguise the opening where the rodding for the turnoouts appear from under the scenery. I am thinking of cutting back the bank and inserting a small retaining wall, planting a small shed in the space created, but others may have better ideas.

Much of the track still needs ballasting. I have been experimenting with real wood ash, though it needs careful sieving and white particles removing.

The gunpowder van still needs its red crosses on the doors, though it has at least had a coat of gloss varnish on them in preparation. And the Hanwood wagon still needs painting (and then lettering but that is the easy bit). And I really need to get the kit for the ex-Cambrian 2-4-0T off the shelf and make a start on it, along with completing repairs to the Dean Goods.

 

There has been less progress on Nantcwmdu. I did make another Rhymney Railway open wagon as I realised that there was one for which I had a drawing but no model. This was done rather hurriedly to be completed in time for a talk I was giving to the WRRC in Cardiff. I shall say a bit more about it next time. I also have a few wagon kits which I want to complete reasonably soon to give balance to the wagon fleet.

And I have laid a little more track using the method described previously. At the moment I am slowly in the process of adding the imitation heads of the spikes, using 20 and 30 thou squares of plasticard. But since the two lengths I have laid need 400 pieces fixed, it is another slow process, to rival hedge making.

 

Anyway, please don't wait for the next update with baited breath as I shall be abroad for the whole of June and it is therefore unlikely to appear until July.

Thanks for reading this far.

Jonathan]

Edited May 8, 2017 by corneliuslundie

[Edwardian]

Good to see this further progress, Jonathan.

 

I am most impressed with the hedge-laying.  As Castle Aching is intended to be set a month later, in May, I have taken careful note of your hedge-laying in post 101.  There is the structure and then it is a case of how much growth to add, depending upon time of year and part of the country.  Below is a hedge laid the previous winter in Cambridgeshire showing the growth by May.  

 

Anyway, I am most impressed with the foliation to date!

 

Turning to your question of a view blocker, I have taken the liberty of re-posting your plan view, with the addition of an arrow, which I think marks the spot.  The ledge beside the NG track is to be occupied by a standard gauge line, which is, presumably a siding, which I assume that you cannot shorten in order to accommodate a tree or small structure.

 

If so, the only option that occurs is to build a low relief extension to your small warehouse, to run along the left-hand backscene and to extend over the NG track, ending in a blind wall behind the standard gauge buffers.  The site is hardly constrained for space, however, so why one would build over the line is unclear, unless, of course, one was loading from above via a chute.  

 

Some minor lines added engine sheds through which sidings and traffic ran, so this is another option.  

[Simond]

Jonathan,

 

I too am much impressed with your hedge-laying.

 

Builidng on Edwardian's comment regarding your view blocker, it looks like it will need to be a man-made edifice, rather than anything natural.  Would a retaining wall be appropriate?  Or, could you somehow wangle in the king-post of a large derrick, wood-for-the-unloading-of?

 

best

Simon

[ChrisN]

I too am amazed by your hedging.  Well done, it looks superb.

 

Would a structure on the platform not hide the end of the narrow gauge line, or would it be visible from other angles?

[corneliuslundie]

I am afraid it is nearly three months since the last update, and I was only abroad for one.

Anyway, some progress.

First rolling stock. Although the wagon for the local colliery is still in a state of undress, I have at last finished the gunpowder van so that the quarry up the narrow gauge line can have deliveries. It was the red crosses which defeated me for some time.

 

Meanwhile, the timber works at the back of the layout has been busy. Also produced. though not photographed, are a couuple of timber wagon loads, with more in progress.

 

I have also been making wagon loads of pit props for the club layout. Two completed so far. Made from toothpicks, about 350 pieces per load.

Meanwhile I have at last completed the hedge laying at the front of the layout, complete with muddy gateway which has long lost its gate. This hedge is not a railway boundary so has no fence inside it and is a slightly different colour; also more straggly.

 

Also some progress on Nantcwmdu, though most of ther work on these still incomplete buildings was done 1200 miles away and five years ago.

 

The observant among you will notice that I have absentmindedly started putting the roof on the station building without inserting the doors and windows. Do!!! It will be fun getting in those on the upper floor. The silly thing is that they were lying beside the building while I was adding the roof.

Both buildings are based on those at Bedlinog, though I have moved the signal box from its proper place to the glazed room at the front of the station building. To the left of the station building will be a road bridge, with the entrance to the building at first floor level, as at Bedlinog. The goods shed will be served by a line running behind it a scale 2 ft 6 in above the lines at the front.

I have the interior fittings for the signal box, but am still undecided quite how to arrange them.

 

And back to a club layout - though a different layout from the one the pitprops are destined for. There was a rather large patch of waste space just in the station throat, already rather overgrown with weeds. We decided that something was needed to fill it, and I volunteered to build a small structure incorporating a staff loo, mess room and lamp room.

 

I am afraid that despite a couple of attempts it is a bit out of focus. However, i hope you can see that the loo is on the left, with a notice saying it is for staff use only, the centre room is a disused mess room - hence the sapling growing by the door - and the right hand room is the lamp room with a sign saying "NO SMOKING   NO NAKED LIGHTS. Just for fun one sign is headed British Railways Board and the other Railway Executive, though i don't suppose anyone at an exhibition will notice.

Once a couple more small jobs for the club are out of the way, I intend starting on the hedge running along the back of the railway yard on Sarn; also another go at finding a suitable blocker for the narrow gauge exit. I had been hoping that the pile of timber on the front platform would to the job but it doesn't except when looking at a scale 5 ft from the ground. Then also some ballasting of the yard is needed. And I really must pluck up courage and start on the ex-Cambrian 2-4-0T kit which I have now had for a year. In the meantime, as therapy, I shall almost certainly build the two Mousa Models Midland Railway three plank opens I acquired in the Spring.

Jonathan

Edited August 2, 2017 by corneliuslundie

[corneliuslundie]

Sheep may safely graze

The local sheep are very grateful that I have finally completed all the hedges at both the front and the rear of the yard. I have also given the larger sheep in the front two fields the livery of the Kerry Hill breed, while the smaller ones at the back are, according to their owner, Improved Welsh Mountain - hardier than Kerry Hill but smaller (in this case HO).

I decided that I just had to complete the hedges, so set myself a target of at least 10 bushes a day. I think on average there is one "laid" bush plus eight upright(ish) ones per 1.5 cm.

When this was just about driving me mad, I also fished out two coal wagons for completion - see below - and made up a kit for an LMS end door open wagon. In retrospect I am not sure why I bought it or what it would have been doing in Sarn, but it is now allocated to export of the large amount of sawn timber produced by the sawmill in the corner and which can be seen lying around in every spare space.

Eventually, I installed the Berriew cottage at the front right hand, complete with fence (but so far no gate) and an abundant supply of flowering daffodils (an old toothbrush painted GCR green gloss oil based paint - because I had it - and then dipped in yellow acrylic). Some daffodils have also come up around the farmhouse at the back of the scene.

Sarn has also acquired five new structures.

The most important (even though it is actually disused) is the signal behind the Berriew cottage. This is based on a photos in the history of the Kerry branch but with a bit of imagination added. The original indicated which way the points were set at the station entrance - platform or yard. The model should really be capable of indicating three routes into the yard but thanks to the application (intentional) of a certain amount of superglue no-one will be changing its indication any time soon.

The second, also vital for those who have to work in the yard is the "Ty Bach" next to the hedge not far from the erstwhile crossing cottage.

On the back siding there is now a loading gauge, which caused me some grief as the instructions were sketchy to say the least and the join between post and top decidedly fragile - I knocked the top off once while vacuuming up the excess scenic material. The livery is probably correct thanks to an RMWeb poster, as "Great Western Way" is decidedly hazy about the subject and the guidance given there does not tie up with the majority of the photos I have found of loading gauges.

And on the loading back there are two additions (forgetting for the moment the considerable output of the sawmill): an old van body set on a base of old sleepers, and a GWR yard crane. Again, the instructions were sketchy and I ended up with two bits left over, one not being mentioned at all on the instruction sheet and the other because I failed to fit it early enough, though if it were there you would probably not be able to see it. It still needs its chain (supplied but bright brass, in need of blackening) and a hook (not supplied). I shall also leave a sling hanging from the hook as one would have been necessary for shifting the timber. The mid grey seems to be the consensus for the livery.

The loading gauge and crane are ancient Mike's Models. The "Ty Bach" and van body are from a pack of unknown provenance but possibly Wills or similar.

Still to be done, and a considerable challenge is the woodland behind the Berriew cottage. I have the appropriate book and am experimenting but it may be some time before I produce bare winter trees of acceptable quality.

Also, though I have ballasted most of the track except the point blade areas (other for some reason than an inch at the end of the back siding). Despite that I seem to have gummed up all the points with paint or whatever and shall need to clear them before I ballast these areas. Most of the ballast is wood ash suitable sieved and with any white or black bits removed.

There also needs to be a ground frame to control the two points at the station throat. To that end the contractor has cut back the bank behind this area, erected small retaining walls and constructed a timber platform. On this I shall shortly be constructing a three lever ground frame, facing sideways (one lever for each point and the third for the disused signal). A question: what colour should the latter lever be, assuming that it has not officially been taken out of use?

In reality this platform covers the out of scale point operating equipment.

And then there is the very unsatisfactory backscene to sort out.

Anyway, thank you for coming all the way to Mid Wales on this early April Sunday afternoon. I am sorry that you had to walk from Abermule but there has never been a Sunday service to either Sarn or Kerry. Please feel to wander round.

 

 

Nantcwmdu

Progress is easy to report here. One the layout itself, none. Two ancient coal wagons completed and lettered for the Nantcwmdu Coal Co (correct spelling this time). The goods shed for Nantcwmdu is now complete except for the station name which needs to be mounted on the back wall. This was started when I was in Kosova. Also started at that time and with only a little progress since is the station building. Perhaps the next time you venture up this valley it will be complete.

 

Motive power

Tanat Valley of this parish has kindly given me a set of etched brass frames for ex-Cambrian 2-4-0T No 1196 which is designed to take brass hornblocks. The rear ones have been fixed in place and the two frames joined by means of EMGS insulated spacers. A very talented local friend has offered to machine for me the 2-1.5mm bushes needed for the front axle. Than I shall have no excuse whatsover with getting it built.

 

As Chris says, if you have been listening, thanks. I hope it does not rain too hard on you on the way back to Abermule.

Jonathan

Edited November 19, 2017 by corneliuslundie

[corneliuslundie]

Not a good day.

My wife and I have both been under the weather for about ten days with coughs that will not go away, so we had already cancelled our booking at the Welsh speaking day we were supposed to attend today.

I therefore thought after lunch that I would try to sort out the clogged up points on Sarn. The one leading to the goods yard was quickly cleared, and the left hand part of the three way point ditto. However, the part of the three way point nearest the station throat was much more stubborn. I cleared away all the crud I could, only to find that the straight point blade had come adrift from the stretcher. Not a problem; I can resolder it later. But then while I was trying this point linkage something came adrift between the lever (behind the house at the back) and the point. Despite this, however, the point will still lot move so at least part of the problem is that I have managed to glue the rodding near the point to something fixed. And of course it is all under the scenery.

So it will be necessary to dig a hole through the field in front of the house, reconnect the broken point and free up the operating rod at the point where it is “stuck”.

Enough for one day, I thought. I need to plan this carefully. But as I was feeling rather tired from lack of sleep in recent nights, I decided to have a nap. Real disaster. As I was undressing to get into bed I got my foot caught in a trouser leg and fell. No problem, normally, but I managed to make contact with the ancient door catch with my ear, ending up with a nice slice through it and copious blood.

The result: a trip by ambulance to Shrewsbury where a very expert medic inserted stitches in the cartilage and flesh, an appointment with an ENT specialist at Telford (actually Wellington, which at least still has a proper ex-GWR station) next Thursday, and for a couple of days a bandage which makes me look like a refugee from a scalping party.

Anyway, plenty of time to think about point rodding problems while waiting around. I realise now that I was optimistic in not allowing access to the point operating mechanisms, even though they all worked perfectly six months ago. I therefore think I shall cut back the bank permanently, not just the little bit I had already done but enough to give space for a proper covered ground frame. A suitable retaining wall will hide most of the void. Hopefully, this will give sufficient access to sort everything out. In the space I will put a ground frame hut based on a Duttons design. I am sure I can find a suitable prototype somewhere on the Cambrian. But it will be made removable in case of future problems. I’ll report on progress as it happens.

Jonathan

[NCB]

Nasty! Hope you're recovering OK. Ears are capable of producing copious amounts of blood.

 

Came to a conclusion a long time ago that anything hidden is almost certainly destined to cause trouble!

 

Cheers

Nigel

[corneliuslundie]

Thanks, Nigel and to all the "Friendly/Supportives". Yes, plenty of blood, though mercifully I managed to keep it off the carpet or I would have been in the doghouse rather than receiving sympathy!.

In retrospect I should have arranged access to the point rodding. In the past I always have, but this is the first time i have attempted any real "rolling countryside" scenery.

Never too old to learn.

Jonathan

[corneliuslundie]

At last, something to show for my efforts.

One of my last posts was all about the disaster when I managed to gum up the works under the scenery on Sarn that the point rodding was immovable. I decided that the only solution was to cut away the offending scenery an do something else there.

The best solution seemed to be to cut back the embankment and put a three sided retaining wall enclosing a space for a covered ground frame. But is was also necessary to retain access to the point rodding, so the floor of this new area has to be raised to clear it and I also decided that it would be wise to make it removeable.

So about three months ago I carried out the first stage of the retaining walls. Since then progress has been glacial for a number of reasons.

I decided that the prototype for the covered ground frame needed to be an ex-Cambrian building. Fortunately the Cambrian and particularly the Mid Wales Railway had lots of small signal boxes and covered ground frames supplied to a standard design by Duttons. These were 10 ft by 8 ft and some were on brick bases, some were platform mounted and some were on timber bases. Come the Abermule crash many were extended to house the block instruments when they were moved from the station buildings. These extensions were normally cantilevered out so you had a 14 ft wide box on a 10 ft base (at least one was cantilevered both sides). Of course as a ground frame, not housing block instruments, this box would not have been extended.

Fortunately, I have access to the so far unpublished Mike Lloyd drawings of two of these boxes (Plug: the book of his structure drawings should be out in 2019 if I have my way). There are also quite a few photos in various books, including one in colour in the recent book on the Mid Wales Railway.

Being the 1930s it had to be in GWR colours; Stone nos 2 and 3, as defined in the book by the Great Western Study Group. One of these colours is not available in paint and I couldn’t get a small tin of the other so I mixed up acrylics to match the samples in the above book.

There also needed to be something to cover an upward projecting bit of the point rodding at the right hand side, so I added a small coal bin. Please ignore the fact that the ground frame building has no chimney!

So here you have it. Already, unfortunately, some of the windows are coming away from the walls, but I shall have to put up with that. And don’t look too careful at the rear handrail of the steps, as the whole thing was a nightmare to assemble and seems to have distorted since it was completed.

In the meantime I have also done a little bit more on the loco for Sarn (1196) and some work on two long outstanding wagons – a kit for a GWR Hydra (not sure why I need one!) and a scratch built Rhymney Railway Iron Mink. If readers live long enough they may see these two completed.

I have also been sorting out the first baseboard for the Nantcwmdu layout, in particular the platform structure, the ramp up to the good shed and some warping in the baseboard surface. And I also finished adding the fake spike heads to the sleepers – an awful lot of them.

A next job is to add the trees to the right of the road at the right hand side of the layout. I had hoped to buy some wire tree kits from Model Scenery Supplies, but they have been unavailable (currently possibly available at the end of March), so I may resort to heather twigs.

Thank you for wading through this and for your patience.

Jonathan

PS If you are wondering why the steps come down to a block of stone it is because I miscalculated the length. And that surface area as a whole still needs some scenic treatment.

Also the light coloured area is a recess so that the railway staff can get down to the ground floor door, but has not yet been painted either.

Edited March 12, 2018 by corneliuslundie

[corneliuslundie]

It really is time for an update.

Not a lot has happened on Sarn, though I have now taken delivery of two dozen tree kits from Model Scenery Supplies - essentially precut and partly formed millinery wire. I use to be able to buy millinery wire locally but the shop closed. So I shall shortly be producing a wood to go on the right hand side of the layout between the road and the backscene. Most of the trees will be bare as it is early Spring, but some will be beeches still with their brown leaves from the autumn. Hopefully there will be photos before the year is out.

Related to Sarn, I now have a working chassis for No 1196, the ex-Cambrian 2-4-0T. Split frames and compensation. So far no coupling rods but they will be the next stage. then the body.

Also, I have repaired the tender chassis for the Dean Goods - again split frame pickup and compensated. One of the centre hornguides had come adrift after I had added all the brake shoes and rodding, so it was rather a fiddly job.  It really needs a replacement cab as I damaged the moulding while carving around the cab interior to make room for the motor. But so far I have not found one at any of the shows I have managed to attend - not many this year.

Quite a bit of track laying has been done on Nantcwmdu, in particular the platform road and loop line, the pointwork at the entrance to the goods yard and the various goods yard roads. As explained previously, I am using flat bottomed rail so the track has two layers of sleepers for about three-quarters of the sleepers, the others being single payer PCB with the rail soldered to them. The upper layer of sleepers is timber, as will be the infill pieces to hide the soldered joints. Fiddly, but it looks pretty good. Still several hundred little squares of plastic to add to represent the heads of the spikes. The two boards were then taken down to allow the room to be turned into a bedroom for a visitor.

Since then I have been looking through my rather too large collection of goods vehicles. About 15 have been placed on the disposal list, some after completion, painting or lettering, and another 30 or so have been identified as unfinished - usually incomplete painting or zero or incomplete lettering. A few still had OO wheels, including the first ever wagon I scratch built, a GWR Loriot. So a big programme is underway to finish them all off before I start assembling any of the kits awaiting attention. I hate to admit it but some of them have been in their present state for well over quarter of a century. It has actually been difficult even for some of the GWR wagons to find out just how they should be lettered.

So hopefully there will be some photos of a selection of those before too long as well.

And there should shortly be another loco for Nantcwmdu as a friend has offered to assemble the C J Lester kit for a Rhymney Railway I class 0-6-0ST for me. I have had it so long that Sharman wheels and Portescap motors were both the latest thing when I acquired the parts needed to complete the kit.

In the meantime, at Newtown Model Railway Society we have begun planning a new layout. After a number of OO layouts over the years, with gradually improving quality, we have decided try to 7 mm finescale. And we wanted something of local interest. Someone suggested a layout based on the Bishop's Castle Railway as it would have been if its main line had been completed to join the Cambrian near Montgomery station (which was several miles from Montgomery). Initially we thought that a through station sited where the line would have crossed the road east from Montgomery would have been an interesting project, We were going to base it on two of the other stations which had similar main buildings. But then we received scans of the plans from one of the Acts of Parliament for the company. To our great surprise they included a short, steeply inclined, branch off the main line to a terminal station just below Montgomery castle. So a change of plan and Montgomery Town it is to be, with the castle featuring on the backscene - which will have to be quite high and detachable as the castle is at the top of a cliff.

Another result of this is that we have forged links with the Bishop's Castle Railway Society and members, including me, have been roped in to operate the S gauge layout Lydham Heath, built by Barry Norman but now owned by the Society, at local exhibitions. We did so at the Craven Arms club's show at Ludlow Racecourse earlier this year and will be repeating the exercise at the club's second show at the same venue in August. In addition, it will be coming to our own show in Welshpool in late October.

Anyway, hopefully it will not be so long until the next post.

Jonathan

[corneliuslundie]

Time for an update. I have not been idle over the summer but there is really very little to show for it.

On Sarn, very little has happened since I completed the ground frame. I have acquired a dozen or so tree kits, and recently tried to buy some Artex to enable me to make them into respectable bare trees. However, my local builders’ merchant sells it only in 25 kg bags, whereas I feel that a 2.5 kg pot will be more than sufficient both for my mini-forest and for the next club layout. So stalemate for the moment until I find another builders’ merchant.

I have decided that I need to repaint in lighter colours, especially the stone, the warehouse which sits at the rear of the layout but as it is fixed in place that may be interesting. And I have done nothing to complete the backscene. More photos of local scenes in early spring are needed. There is still also a need for more lambs in the fields. Judging by local fields there should be more lambs than sheep but manufacturers of 4 mm sheep don’t seem to agree.

On Nantcwmdu some modifications to one board and track laying have taken place but the boards are currently stacked against the wall and there has been no progress on buildings.

Part of the reason for this apparent standstill is that I decided that I really must complete all the goods rolling stock I have started over the years. And I finished that job today, with the exception of the RR Motor Car Van, which is going to take a long time, and a couple of locos which need some work.

There are also numerous carriages to complete, but they will also need lining out, something which fills me with even more terror than white metal soldering.

In fact yesterday, when I counted the wagons and brown vehicles receiving paint on their buffers as a final stage of completion, there were 41. All are now back in the drawers where they live, with EM wheels, Sprat & Winkle couplings, painted, lettered and weathered. Some of them had been waiting 30 years or more, as demonstrated by the fact that they still had OO wheels and 3-link couplings. As part of this there has been a cull, and 14 wagons were sold at the last Expo EM North with a few due to appear on the second hand stall at our local show (27^th October, Welshpool, and a bit special this year).

Those with good memories will have noticed that there has been no mention of ex-Cambrian No. 1196. The chassis is a runner, though it needs coupling rods. However, there were none with the chassis fret. Do I try to use those from another chassis fret from another manufacturer which I happen to have, or do I try to make some? I need to decide pretty soon. Then it is learning how to solder white metal.

I mentioned that I have been tweaking a couple of locos. One is an Airfix Dean Goods which has had new chassis for both loco and tender, and a motor in the loco. It is a runner but not perfect, and when I coupled up the tender and connected the electrical connections to the tender it got much worse, so some experimentation is needed.

The other I bought second hand at Expo EM North earlier this month. It is a cast kit of a GWR pannier tank of the Dean 1854 class. It is numbered 1875 which was built in 1890-91 and given pannier tanks n 1913. It is therefore fine for Sarn with an axle loading of around 15 tons, but slightly too modern for Nantcwmdu. However, one of the class was given pannier tanks as early a 1909 and several received them in 1911 so a renumbering would deal with that issue. More immediate is the problem that the chassis will run on its own but not when the body is added. It is definitely not a short-circuit so I think some part of the casting is fouling the armature. There is plenty of scope for cutting away spare metal inside the body, which is what I intend to try. I will report on progress. It will also need appropriate couplings, and I shall have to replace the coal in the bunker, as I have managed to loosen it while handling the loco body. Oddly, the chassis runs happily on rectified AC but not on pure DC from the Pentroller.

I mentioned the RR Motor Car Van above. One reason progress on this had stalled is that I had lost the axlebox/spring castings (in fact all the castings) some time ago. I had resigned myself to having to create replacements, but as they are carriage type with J hangers this was a problem. However, I decided to look through the box of unmade wagon kits a few weeks ago (not being tempted to make them, honest!) and right at the bottom I found the castings along with other missing bits from the kit, a drawing and the instructions (for what they are worth). So this vehicle may now one day get completed, though there is a long way to go.

And I also have another project. For the new 7 mm/ft club Bishop’s Castle Railway layout I have the components for two private owner wagons. It has taken ages to find a source of brake gear castings, but I was successful at the GOG Telford show where I was helping on the HMRS stand. I also bought a Minerva Iron Mink which will be repainted in Bishop’s Castle Railway livery. The PO wagons will be lettered for local firms, though livery detail is a bit sparse and I shall have to visit a suitable library and look up Kelly’s Directory for the period to find the names since in two cases part of the wagon is obscured in the only photo I can find.

Thank you for following the thread.

Jonathan

[corneliuslundie]

A quick further update.

The pannier tank was suffering from bent footsteps which were fouling the coupling rods. Now fixed and running fine. Proper coal in the bunker, too.

The Dean Goods tender was suffering from a mistake I made while re-assembling it after fixing the detached axlebox. I put the centre axle in from the wrong side so the equalisation beam was neatly shorting between the two sides, as the axle now had the insulated cut on the wrong side. Now fixed, the electrical connections between loco and tender sorted. But in doing so i managed to destroy the bar connecting the brake gear at the rear of the tender (plastic so as to be insulated) so a fiddly job to replace it and then a bit of black paint  to touch things up, such as the lurid green wires connecting loco and tender.

And I shall not be using the coupling rods from the spare fret for 1196 as the wheelbase is 1 mm different from that on the loco. I haven't checked yet which is correct.

So ever onward and upward.

Jonathan