Mark Forrest

It's been a while since Mrs F and I did anything about our plan to ride the Trans Cambrian Way. Previously, we'd got as far as the Elan Valley visitor centre before getting distracted by other things and/or rained off. With the forecast suggesting the weather might be OK, an early start saw us arrive there by 8:30, before the Bank Holiday crowds. From the visitor centre car park, straight into a climb and an encounter with one of Britain's most dangerous animals. We reached the Strava segment called "Puke Hill", which tells you all you need to know about how steep it is. Down the other side along the edge of Caban-coch Reservoir and on to the Claerwen Byway, which was wetter than ever, causing a few tense moments for Mrs F on her eeb. After riding/paddling/wading along the byway we got to the Claerwen Dam and the climb up to reach the byway than runs along the northern shore of the reservoir. By this point the weather was failing to live up to the forecasted level of niceness - instead we were treated to constant drizzle and a headwind. I'd planned two route options an (ambitious) 47 mile loop or a 30 mile out and back; due to the weather we chose the latter and turned around just before a river crossing. I'm glad we did as the trail we'd ridden to reach that point was much more fun in the opposite direction. Back at the van we realised how filthy we were, us and the bikes covered in slate slurry. Great ride, not even disappointed that we didn't do the longer ride. It was a shame the weather wasn't a bit better - but you could say that for most days this summer. 30 miles, 2400' elevation and another 16 miles of TCW ticked off the to do list.

I thought you'd already done the research for your guide to GWR loco identification? Apparently not a fan of Prairie tanks though?

A slippery slope; you'll soon be a full time kettle modeller

I'd say it's from manufacturers looking recoup their product development and manufacturing costs and maybe even make a little money; and who can blame them? How well we resist this pressure to buy the latest and best yet version of a particular model is (of course) an entirely personal choice - I'm not suggesting anyone is forced into making a purchase. Social media does however provide an unprecedented opportunity for manufacturers to market their products, thus creating the demand (or, to look at it another way, pressure on modellers to buy them). As others have said though, our models are discretionary spending - think carefully about whether they are really worth getting in debt for.

In the Ganger's Tale, the track standards are described as Universal Track. The turnouts were built using EM gauge templates, redrawn to 00 gauge. They follow prototype practice (i.e. an A switch and a 1:5 common crossing) whereas I think contemporary 00 templates tended to describe turnouts by radius. Gauge was (presumably) standard 16.5mm of 00, check gauge was set at 15mm. Back to back measurements are set at between 14mm and 14.7mm depending on flange width. So not quite the EM minus two of 00-SF but definitely appears that steps were taken to improve running qualities over standard 00 of the time.

I believe it was intended to be operated from the front as one of the drawings show point operating "levers" at the front - not sure how practical that is though given the need to get around the back to swap locos and brake vans around on trains. My Dad's version was operated from the rear, which meant it could only be set up in the garage or at shows.

That's interesting and something that I'd not considered. Looking back at those last few months of MR there is plenty of content that wouldn't be out of place in an early MRJ - some of it would still hold its own now, 40 years later. My Dad was certainly one of those who ditched buying MR in favour of MRJ when it started up, I inherited his collection MRJs starting from issue 0.

When I first started Googling for info on the articles I was reminded that there are mountain bike trails at Bringewood, today we popped over there for a ride. Here's the view from Bringewood looking in roughly the direction of Leinthall Earls. This evening; further playing with Templot. I've increased the size of the scan of the plan from The Surveyor's Tale to fit the 3300x600 space I have available. I've stayed with the A5 and B6 turnouts suggested. The loop is approximately 1m long. The minimum radius is greater than 1m with one exception; the turnout in the quarry sidings - as drawn this is down to 890mm radius. The quarry sidings also end up quite short; perhaps why Iain seems to have changed this to a tandem turnout by the time the reader gets to The Ganger's Tale. I couldn't get the turnout in the fiddle yard to work so think I would need to stick with the sector plate idea.

So far, this is the only photo that I've found of my Dad's layout; with young me at the controls and a 2251 on a B set. I think the Airfix thatched cottage was later replaced with a scratch built structure. One of the buildings from the layout survives; this weighbridge hut stood at the entrance to the goods yard.

Yes, I'd be interested to see the photos of your layout. I need to find the time to have a rummage through my Dad's photos to see if there are any of his version of it.

Yes, Iain had put a fair amount of thought into the lengths of the headshunt and loop. The fiddle yard kickback 40", loop 33" and headshunt 10". I think I need to start with these fixed lengths (as a minimum) then fit point work around them rather than the opposite way around (which is how I'd done the plan in Templot).

I've never had much interest in modelling passenger trains, but the idea of a mixed train does appeal a lot (as does the added entertainment value of attempting to shunt it too). I think I might even have a suitable coach kit stashed away that might be ideal.

If it was Iain's influence, shouldn't that be Buckjumpers for goalposts? In my quest to buy each of the articles from the series I've ended up with a few other issues from around this time, as I bought a job lot to get hold of a couple I couldn't find elsewhere. It's been interesting to read other articles from around that time and see how things were developing. I think I'm missing "The Engineer's Tale" which I'm guessing must be in the April '83 issue?

Excellent show (as always). Thoroughly enjoyed spending a good few hours there today catching up with friends, watching layouts and indulging in a little bit of retail therapy. Thanks to all the organisers, exhibitors and traders.

A fair point (excuse the pun). I thought I'd try the tandem turnout in place of the two A5 as in The Ganger's Tale it is suggested the the original plan was changed to use a tandem; I think it should be an A5/A6 asymmetric tandem.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm pondering - if I build this (which is looking increasingly likely) am I building something inspired by the original concept or am I looking to recreate the layout my Dad built (which was similar but not identical to the layout that Rice built for the articles).

Here it is...

I started to have a bit of a play in Templot to see what might be possible. Rice's original plan in The Surveyor's Tale was 10' long. The longest wall in my railway room is 11', so I've tried to ease the radius of the curves. The turnouts have also been increased from A5 and B6 to B6 and B7 respectively. I'm not sure if easing the curves takes away something of the original design. I've also replaced the majority of the fiddle yard point work with a sector plate, which looks like it could work, but requires a bit more tweaking of the plan.

So far I've managed to get my hands on the following: Part 1: The Surveyor's Tale - February 1983 Part 2: The Contractor's Tale - March 1983 Part 3: The Ganger's Tale - May 1983 Part 4: The Ganger's Tale continued (Track Laying) - June 1983 Part 5: Linesman's Tale - July 1983 The baseboard construction in The Contractor's Tale is a bit of an eye opener. Admittedly Rice was working with the materials he had to hand, but it's a long way from the lightweight plywood baseboards we've all become familiar with. I recall the baseboards that my Dad built being of similar "sturdy" construction and the size and weight of these causing a few issues.

The February 1983 issue of Model Railways was waiting for me when got home from work tonight and I've just read part 1 of The Bringewood Tales. It's particularly interesting to compare the design to the later version of Leinthall Earls in Light Railway Layout Designs. I think I've found copies of the majority of the other magazines with articles from the series and ordered them. The temptation to follow in my Dad's footsteps and build a version of this layout is very strong. It would be interesting to see what could be done with what is currently available, while maintaining the spirit of Iain's original design. I'm not sure the £5 per week over 3 months budget would go very far these days!

Here you go... https://www.scalefour.org/shows/shows.html https://emgs.org/shows-exhibitions/?date1=upcoming

In 00 (and EM), you can add Markits (Romford) wheels to your options, these have the advantage of being self quartering. High Level Kits are very well thought out and carefully designed, they come with excellent instructions and have the option to include compensation designed in. Of those that you list, the 57xx is probably the most obvious starting point. Motor and gears depends on how you want it to run. That said though, depending on your level of soldering experience personally I'd suggest starting with something simpler, maybe an etched brass wagon kit. Word of warning though, once you add the price of the chassis, wheels, motor and a few bits and bobs, if cost is a consideration, you might be better off looking for a RTR Bachmann pannier that's DCC ready or have a look on Bachmann Spares website to see if they have a modern RTR chassis. To some extent it really just depends if you get your kicks building or running your models. That wouldn't necessarily prevent you going P4 at some point as replacement wheelsets are available from either Alan Gibson or Ultrascale. When it comes to detailing, again it's a matter of how much time and effort you want to put in. If you are interested in trying P4, I'd suggest considering joining the Scalefour Society; the society often has a stand at shows and there is the Scaleforum event in September. Much of the S4 Soc web forum is viewable to non-members if you want to have look around. The EM Gauge society also support modellers working in P4 as well as (obviously) EM. There is ExpoEM Summer in Wakefield in a couple of weeks, a great opportunity to speak to modellers who are exhibiting and demonstrating - as well as several of the suppliers you mention being present. Probably more food for thought than answers to questions, but I hope that helps.

That's interesting. I know the version my Dad built used 00 SMP track and copper clad point work. I recall that his flexi-chas equipped Romford wheeled steam locos always ran beautifully - whereas my Lima diesels were less happy with his track standards. I've ordered a copy of Model Railways with the first installment in the series of articles, so will see what that says on track standards.

Thanks for taking the time to do that, much appreciated. I was never sure how closely my Dad had followed Iain's plan, but that looks exactly how I remember his layout.

Around 40 years ago, my Dad built a layout following a series of articles titled Bringewood Tales written by Iain Rice in Model Railways magazine. If I remember correctly, the last article in the series was never published, but Dad's layout was completed, appeared at a few local shows and whet my appetite for finescale modelling. From memory, the track plan of the layout was similar to Rice's Butley Mills, although the scenario had more in common with his Leinthall Earls design in his Light Railway designs book. For nostalgic reasons (although who knows, it might turn into a layout project one day) I'm keen to read the articles that were published. From a bit of Googling it looks like it was around 1983, but does anyone know specifically which editions of the magazine I should be searching for? Did anyone else build a layout inspired by these articles?