South Wales Valleys in the 50s

[The Johnster]

Progress on the E147s has been much faster than I expected, and they are now at the stage where the 4 main assemblies are complete and undercoated, that is bodyshells, interiord, underframes, and bogies.  I loosely fitted it all together last night and test-pushed the set up and down the layout to establish that running is fine even on my R3 fy curve and that ride height is correct.  Later today, dismantling and starting to paint; they might be in service by next weekend or even mid week with a following wind!  I will permanently couple them as close as I can with regard to the R3; the E147s were not permanently bar-coupled like earlier B sets but did have smaller buffers on the 'inside' ends of the coaches, with screw couplings and standard electrical connections, so they could be used as individual vehicles if needed, and I believe they were towards the end of steam in Devon and Cornwall.  They will therefore joint the loaded and  empty minerals and the Hornby Collett suburbans as permanent residents in the fy.

 

If anyone disputes their use at Tondu, I can only refer you to Mr Foren of this very parish as ever was, who confirmed their presence to me earlier, a lot earlier, in this very thread as ever was.  I've made what I think with hindsight what may be a mistake, or at least a missed opportunity, in not fixing the door handles, stops, and grabrails before assembling the bodyshell.  I've had a minor issue with the bogies in that the cast whitemetal cosmetic sides have recesses behind the axleboxes to take the protruding bearings from the brass frame, and these do not align properly.  If it looks obvious when the coaches are painted that the wheels are not fully in alignment with the axleboxes, I will replace these bogies with what are now becoming my go to for this sort of thing, Stafford Road Works 3D prints from Shapeways, which have printed NEM sockets.  Otherwise I'll live with the anomaly and save the money. 

 

I'll probably paint them in BR crimson livery, a fairly safe bet for my nominal 1948-58 period.

[The Johnster]

On 28/11/2018 at 06:06, chrisf said:

I've got news for you.  The new Hugh Longworth book has as complete a list of B set allocations as I have ever seen.  It raises a few eyebrows, such as a Barry No. 1, but it also lists three Tondu allocations.  I would have expected any B sets out of Tondu to be Newport Division but as we know the GWR/WR moved in mysterious ways.

 

For the record, all three Tondu sets were E147s:

 

6741+6743 Tondu No. 1, later Dowlais No.1

6745+6746 Tondu No. 2

6748+6749 Tondu No. 3, later Dowlais No.2 

 

No dates are given other than when the coaches were built and withdrawn, so be careful.  Certainly towards the end the sets used on Nelson - Cae Harris were pairs of brake seconds and you will know better than I how long first class accommodation lasted on the Llynfi/Garw/Ogmore Valleys network.

 

Chris

 

This is the post from ChrisF that started all this E147 business off.  There were certainlay E147 B sets at Tondu, but the question of first class accommodation is less obvious or certain to the confused and inconclusive corridors and trapdoors that allow access to the ruins of what was once my brain.  As auto trains could be expected to be used on any of the remaining passenger routes, Porthcawl, Nantymoel, and Abergwynfi/Blaengwinfi after the start of the South Wales regular interval timetable in the Autumn of 1953, one might assume that there was no first class accommodation on any such services following that date.  Regular interval working was never incepted on the Tondu branches in steam days, but was a feature of the post 1963 Bridgend-Treherbert, later Bridgend-Cwmmer Afan class 121 Bubble Car service.  However, it was the increase in auto working that brought the allocation of auto fitted 4575s and auto trailers to Tondu for the start of the Autumn 1953 timetable. 

 

So, were there auto services at Tondu prior to this?  Apparently not, though the Gilfach Goch service, closed in 1930 but reinstated during the war for workmen's trains to the ROF factory at Tremains (this employed 40,000 workers, mostly from the Tondu valleys but also from Neath, Port Talbot, and Treherbert, an intense 3 shift operation), required a reversal at Hendreforgan and would have been greatly facilitated by auto working.  One imagines that managerial/officer staff on these trains were probably provided wtih first class compartments; such distinctions were important in those days!  The Garw branch also closed to passenger traffic before the introduction of the 1953 auto trains, in 1952

 

Next question, was first class accommodation provided after September of 1953, when any train on any branch remaining open could be expected to be a fully second class (as it was called after 1956 time) auto working.  It might have been on loco hauled stock involved in the traffic to Tremains, no longer concerened with the Royal Ordnance but a busy industrial estated that still had it's own platform and employed a large number of local people, including presumably some of their white collared first class demanding brethren.

 

I've decided that I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, and that what happened was that first class was routinely provided on Tondu Valleys passenger trains until September 1953 and that it continued to be provided on Tremains services for another decade until Tremains platform was closed and removed.  I've also decided that the 3 E147 B sets mentioned by Chris were at Tondu until at least September 1953 and probably later than this.  This is what I decided happened and I'm proceeding on that basis!

 

This is at variance with the information provided in the John Hodges/Stuart Davies books, which only mention third class accommodation in the various sets allocated to Tondu.  They do not give coach numbers or mention B sets or two coach formations at all, but state that there were 12 coaching stock sets prior to the 1953 auto introductions at Tondu, numbered 410 to 421, in 3, 4, and one 5 coach formations.  Two types of vehicle are indentified, as VT (van third, which I would call a brake third) and T, (all third); there is no mention of 2 coach sets, composites (brake or otherwise) or first class coaches. 

 

I am not sure I am convinced of this.  My opinion, no more than that and I have no hard facts to back it up, is that the 5 coach set was the corridor stock for the Porthcawl-Cardiff commuter service, which definitely had first class accommodation!  It ran in a 2 day cycle with an identical formation from Ebbw Jc.  This is described as VT/T/T/T/VT, set no. 416, gangways and toilets not being mentioned.  It is also stated in Hodges/Davies that sets 417-21 were withdrawn (which may really mean transferred) in September 1953, as the new auto stock had rendered them surplus to requirements.

 

OTOH, there are no photos in the Hodges/Davies books or any others that I have seen that show first class accommodation or B sets on Tondu based passenger working apart from the Porthcaw commuter, for any period.  The majority of photos in the H/D books are from the post 1958 period, however, so a skewed impression of passenger provision may be a result.  Whatever; Tondu set no.2 will be a regular feature of Cwmdimbath operations soon!

 

Edited February 14, 2021 by The Johnster

[The Johnster]

Hodges/Davies on another page gives the formation of the Porthcawl 'residential' sets (there were 2, working day about, allox Ebbw Jc not Tondu but one set stabled overnight at TDU) as VTK/TK/CK/TK/VTK, the K indicating corridor stock, gangwayed of course and with toilets, which sort of holes that part of my theory below the waterline and floods enough watertight compartments to sink it.  The working is of further interest in that it was the reason for the allocation of 20% of the Collett 1938 31xx large prairie class; Tondu had 3100 and Ebbw Jc 3104.  These were the 'ultimate' large prairie, no.4 boiler and 5'3" driving wheels, bit of a beast for getting away from main line stops quickly to stay out of the way of the fast stuff!  The 'residential' used the long vanished double sided bay platform 5 at Cardiff General, the ghost of which can be traced by the gap in the canopy on the down side main line platforms.

 

I have plans to build 3100 one day, as there is a photo of her at Abergwynfi so she did penetrate the mountain fastnesses on occasion, the principle being that if it appeared at Abergwynfi it would have shown up at Cwmdimbath.  An old Airfix 61xx mech is being kept in running order for the project, which may well involve a modified Hornby 5205 bodyshell with the running plate raised.

 

More work to the E147 set later to fine tune the running and position of the permanent couplings between the coaches.  I'm not happy with the Comet bogies and will probably replace them with Bachmann or Stafford Road 3D.  The same bogies on the A43 Cyclops built for me by Iain D are fine, but these are too wide; you should not be able to see them if you are looking vertically down from overhead, but the steps and axleboxes protrude, but they'll have to do 'for now'.

Edited February 14, 2021 by The Johnster

[The Johnster]

Another Hodges/Davies revelation reveals that the punt I took on removing the top feed and associated pipework from 5707 was incorrect; there are several photos of this loco in the boods clearly showing a top feed.  So, I trawled through all the photos looking for a pannier without a top feed during my 1948-58 timeframe.  First suspect is 9660, a long term TDU denizen, but this loco did not apparently have a topfeedless boiler during my time span; post 1958 shots of it with ferret and dartboard emblem show no top feed, so the loco, built in 1947, must have had a heavy general involving a boiler from the pool at around the end of my period. 

 

3680 is another one, photo of it in 1951 with a shunter's truck at Ogmore Yard, but very little information on RailUK Database to suggest it was at TDU for more than a month in early 1951.  Then we came up trumps with a 57xx low cab loco that will mean an easy renumber for 5707; 5797 spent several years at TDU in the early 50s.  A photo of it on a passenger train at Ogmore Vale shows an unusual position for the top front lamp bracket, on the upper portion of the smokebox door, a nice little variation.  So, 5707's number plates will be removed and stored in case a 'Bay 57xx comes up at a good price, and the current loco changed to 5797.  Simples, as the meerkat says...

 

THP and I spend a good bit of time here campaigning for RTR panniers without top feeds, on the basis that it is easier to retrofit them than to remove them, but this research shows that topfeed boilers on panniers were very much the rule rather than the exception in the 50s.  Presumably by that time enough topfeed boilers had been introduced to the pool to enable it to be most likely that, for any given pannier post 1950 when the last 8750s were built, a topfeed boiler was the next available from the pool at Swindon when the loco was ready for it. 

 

The pool was instituted because it takes about 3 weeks to overhaul a loco but 5 to overhaul a boiler, so a loco would not leave the works with the same boiler it arrived with in order to prevent bays being blocked with boilerless locos at the main works for up to 2 week when they could be in traffic earning revenue.  I would, if pressed, suggest that during most of the BR steam period more than 85 or even 90% of 57xx or 8750 had topfeed boilers at any given time.  AFAIK, the other classes that this type of boiler was fitted to, 2721 and 1854, always carried topfeedless boilers (cue someone's photo of a 2721 with two topfeeds).

 

 

[The Johnster]

E147s are now running successfully on Pressed Steel 9' bogies 'donated' by old Mainline Siphon Gs, and have successfully completed running trials.  This has solved all the problems arising from the use of the Comet bogies; width, ride height, and buffer locking between the coaches, and although the distance between the coaches is further than I'd like, they are still clearly a B set.  I've numbered them but not yet put the 'Guard' and first class compartments' '1's on.  Next job is the door furniture, and then glazing, and the first class and no smoking labels, and a bit of touching up and they'll be in service.  I will retire my K's E116 B set, incorrect for South Wales anyway. 

 

So what was the problem with the Comet bogies?  The fold up frames were fine and ran well enough when the bearings had been put in and wheelsets (Hornby) fitted, but the cosmetic whitemetal castings that I glued (I reckon soldering irons anywhere near whitemetal is asking for trouble) to them were not only poorly fitting with regard to the recesses that go over the bearings, but were a bit misshapen, bent both vertically and horizantally.  Straightening the horizontal bananas was fairly easy but the vertical displacement less so, as the relief on this type of bogie strengthens it in the vertical plane.  As I've mentioned, the ones on my A43 are fine, but these refused to sit neatly on the brass foldup sideframes and were just too wide, by about 1,5mm each side, and with the coaches at the correct ride height fouled on the solebars on curves.  I guess the casting moulds are a bit old and tired, and I am in no position to take the moral high ground in that respect being pretty old and tired myself...

 

If I order any more Comets, I'll price up the parts as separate items and not bother with the bogies in future, only buying the complete kits if that is cheaper.  I am not a fan of whitemetal cast cosmetic sideframes anyway; the appearance is less subtle and fine than a good plastic tooling in my view, though the weight is good for keeping the centre of gravity low.  The coaches ride well without extra ballasting on the old Mainline bogies, though.  But my Comet shopping list is complete for now; the next kit is due to be a Roxey Clifton Downs driving trailer, W 3338 W, xfer TDU in 1953 having been withdrawn in '49 and reinstated, and there until 1955.  If the bogies for this give any trouble, I'll use Stafford Roads'.

 

The siphons will return to service when Bachmann have pressed steel bogies in stock, April/May, or I source Hornby bogies, or I  renumber them to run with 7' Colletts or Americans, which are avaialble as 3D prints from Stafford Road Works/Shapeways.  Stafford do a range of GW bogies including several Deans, fishbellies, Americans, and both 7' and 9' Colletts, but not Pressed Steels.  Photo when finished.

Edited February 16, 2021 by The Johnster

[The Johnster]

9487, soon to be renumbered with Railtec tranfers as 8497, runs in with the E147s; the trailing coach needs a bit of touching up before I allow a photograph of it to go into general circulation.  This job and attaching the lamp brackets (I've already drilled the holes for these this evening) is all that is needed for the project to be considered finished.  I'd reckoned on 2months to do this and have managed it in less than 3 weeks from the start, including some problems!  I am pleased with myself for this racing progress, but a bit annoyed with myself for doing things in the wrong order.  I am convinced I was right to start off by making a rigid bodyshell by working from the roof down, but next time I'll do the door handles and grabrails first; fitting them around already fitted windows was awkward and troublesome. 

 

Also, there was the bogiegate scandal, solved by stealing pressed steel bogies from old Mainline Siphons.  I will avoid cast whitemetal bogie sides after this debacle, which cost me several days of faffing about to no avail.  The old Mainline  plastic bogies look better and do not protrude beyond the solebars like the Comet ones did once the sides were on, which was a shame because the Comets were superb runners and I had some faff with the Mainlines in getting the ride height right.  Wilfred ride height right; wasn't he an actor in the 50s and 60s?

 

I have since become aware that there is some debate about the roof profile on these coaches, as apparently the Comet aluminium roof is to an LNER profile.  I've decided to live with it, but have to say the roofs look too highly curved (if that makes sense) in the photo.  They look fine in reality though, and I'm happy enough with the coaches as they are.

 

Comet supplied separate window frames with these kits, and I succumbed to the temptation to model some in varying degrees of open-ness, which may have been in retrospect me being a bit too clever for my own good, as it led to problems when I was drilling out the holes for the grabrails and the doorknobs; I'll try to remember to bear this in mind next time.  If there is a next time; my Comet shopping list is all ticked off for the foreseable.  I'm going to have a bit of a rest from this quite intensed sort of modelling for a few weeks, and in any case the wallet needs a period of convalesence from the double whammy of the E147s and the Bachmann 94xx, close on the heels of an opportunistic Hornby 5101.

 

Next project on the list is W 3338 W, a Clifton Downs driving trailer.  This is an interesting coach, withdrawn from service in 1949 but reinstated in 1953 and transferred from Queen Street to Tondu for the start of auto services in connection with the introduction of the 1953 Autumn timetable, which introduced regular interval services on the Cardiff Valleys routes and extended auto working in South Wales.  Accompanying W 3338 W were a pair of TVR gangwayed trailers; there were 3 of these pairs and all went to Tondu over the next 4 years, ostenstibly for the Porthcawl branch.  They are very attractive coaches and I intend to one day attempt to scratch build a set.  Also accompanying these trailers for the 1953 Autumn timetable were an A10 and a Diagram N, all gas lit coaches. 

 

I believe this was because the Porthcawl branch was a very slow speed service and the other branches were not exactly ever going to give the ECML a run for it's money either, but electrically lit trailers began to appear in 1954, so things couldn't have been that bad!  Not quite Tondu workings but related were the Glyncorrwg miner's workman's, which lasted until 1960 and were always gas lit, a Cordon visiting Cwmmer Corrwg once a week to service them.  Rule 1 states that one must visit Cwmdimbath weekly as well...

[Iain.d]

Looking good there, The Johnster.

 

What you might be able to do is buy Comet etches for the bogies (without overlays) and then cut the plastic side frames off the old Mainline bogies and glue those onto the brass, so you get the good running of the bogie and the crispness of the plastic moulding. I’ve done that on many a bogie.

 

kind regards,

 

 Iain 

[The Johnster]

Thanks Iain; praise from the praiseworthy!  I’d thought of cutting the plastic sideframes off to glue to the brass fold up Comet as cosmetics, but the old Mainline bogies run well enough with Bachmann wheels snd I am happy with this aspect, so it feels like unnecessary work.  It would probably be worth it for the free running on the longer trains of a main line layout. 

[The Johnster]

Roxey, of course, do a kit for the Clifton Downs trailer.  This particular coach, W 3338 W, had a non-standard lining to it’s BR crimson livery, which will be fun...

 

I am going to look at the possibility of converting my K’s whitemetal A31s to Diagram N, but doubt this will be feasible and in any case will not be easy!  The ends, guard’s compartment, and much of the underframes are pretty similar, but anything more than very basic cut’n’shutting on the sides will result in a mess; the doors are in different positions for a start.  It may be best to defer this one for a future scratch build as well, or hope that Dapol will put their 0 gauge ex Lionheart model through a 00 shrink ray!

[The Johnster]

30 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

Roxey, of course, do a kit for the Clifton Downs trailer.  This particular coach, W 3338 W, had a non-standard lining to it’s BR crimson livery, which will be fun...

 

I am going to look at the possibility of converting my K’s whitemetal A31s to Diagram N, but doubt this will be feasible and in any case will not be easy!  The ends, guard’s compartment, and much of the underframes are pretty similar, but anything more than very basic cut’n’shutting on the sides will result in a mess; the doors are in different positions for a start.  It may be best to defer this one for a future scratch build as well, or hope that Dapol will put their 0 gauge ex Lionheart model through a 00 shrink ray!

This idea will absolutely definitely not fly.  If you were to specifically design a saloon auto trailer to be as unconvertable into a Diagram N as possible, you'd come up with something pretty close to an A31.  Back to the drawing board, Johnster...

[The Johnster]

 

 

 

8497 (the transfers arrived yesterday morning from Railtec, tx Steve and Royal Mail for excellent service) stands in the platform waiting for departure time with the E147s, now regarded as complete and in revenue service.  This is a fully authentic Tondu train. 

 

I must do something about the loading gauge...

[Darwinian]

They look the business Johnster, nice work.

[The Johnster]

Well designed by Comet to cope with half-ar*ed building by Johnster, who then indulged in some shameful bodging to correct his mistake in not doing the door furniture first and to fit Mainline plastic bogies.  But thank you anyway, Darwinian!  I'm happy with the overall appearance; they don't look too shabby alongside my Hornby 57' Collett suburbans.

[The Johnster]

 

Busiest time of the day at Cwmdimbath, 12.50 lunchtime, 3 locos in steam.  6642 stands over on the colliery exchange road and will be there for a while with a loaded coal working.  5524 is running in with the 12.50 auto arrival from Bridgend (A43 and A44), due back out at 13.00, just time for brimming the tanks.  10 minutes is actually a generous turn around; autos at Clarence Road were allowed 2.  Standing on the loop is 4144 with the stock for the 13.30 Tremains workmen’s, already run around and waiting to shunt to the platform road as soon as the Bridgend auto is clear.  As soon as the Tremains leaves, 6642 will be able to draw her train out on to the platform road and run around it ready for departure, but by that time an express goods will have been accepted in to the section and 6642 will not be away to Ogmore Jc yard at Tondu until 13.55, after the goods arrives to perform a run around and depart at 14.40, following the arrival of another auto. 
 

The Starter is drooping a bit and needs seeing to. 

Dai Davies Club, the Steward at the non political, whose premises, a war surplus Nissen hut,are just out of shot , has left his new Morris Minor van outside after picking up some crates from the brewery; he is in the habit of drinking the profits and the van has been there for several days; just as well, he’s in no fit state!  The Nissen visible is a smaller one used as a storeroom.  

[The Johnster]

 

It's later in the day now, about 15.40, and though there has been a shower the sun has come out and there is a warmish glow to everthing.  2721 has turned up with the afternoon pickup, and the shower has resulted in her crew deploying the weather sheet (actually, a permanent fixture on this loco).  Forest No.1 has brought up a bogie bolster that had delivered some machinery and an empty sand wagon, the sand having been needed for the new pithead baths and canteen under construction down there.  There is incoming traffic as well, a shocvan containing some delicate weighing equipment for the weighbridge, and the ancient pannier has just positioned it at the stores platform where the mine's engineer will examine the contents, and is drawing her raft of vans and a conflat prior to making her train up for the return run to Tondu Goods. 

 

She has been drafted in at short notice due to the pickup's booked loco being half-inched to haul a passenger train of auto trailers to Abergwynfi after the auto loco had failed, and has herself been pinched from an Ogmore Yard pilot duty, the reason for her being the 'wrong way round'.  Forest No.1 has stood on the NCB shed road and her crew are taking the opportunity for a cuppa.  This must be some time in early 1950, as 2761 was withdrawn at the end of March of that year, so it is perhaps a bit surprising that so much of the stock is in BR livery.

 

A passenger is due at 16.00 from Bridgend, and the signalman is getting anxious that the shunting will not be completed in time for it to be given a clear run in; he may well have to check it or even hold it at the outer home.  Glynogwr has already accepted it from Blackmill, which has Ogmore Vale traffic to consider as well, and the pressure is on!  They have to draw the vans and conflat out of the NCB exchange road, the loco must run around, the incoming general merchandise traffic placed on the goods siding, the train set back on to the van which is at the town end of the station, and the train drawn forward into the loop to allow the passenger access to the platform road.

 

It's not a model railway, it's a real one, only small and 70 odd years ago...

[ianathompson]

3 hours ago, The Johnster said:

It's not a model railway, it's a real one, only small 

 

Totally agree.

This is what we should be trying to achieve.

 

Ian T

 

[The Johnster]

Thanks Ian.  Not sure that we should all be trying to achieve this; there is nowt wrong with just playing trains if that’s what floats your boat, but my aim is to replicate as far as possible the running of my small railway as it might have been in reality, one of several branches in a single line network radiating from Tondu, a village just north of Bridgend.  The timetable has to ‘dovetail’ these services to keep them out of each others’ way, and the coal traffic in this area was pretty intense, with many collieries needing several clearances a day to enable operation on the limited spaces of the very narrow valley floors. 
 

Cwmdimbath has a junction with the Blackmill-Hendreforgan line at Glynogwr, but that line closed in 1930; there is still a signal box and private sidings here though.  The junction is at Blackmill, where the branch trails in to the Nantymoel line, the Blaengarw branch trails in at Brynmenyn, then the Llanharan branch at Ogmore Jc; we are at the edge of the Tondu complex now.  The Cwmdimbath WTT has to take all this into account; I operate to real time at realistic speeds and as the whole network is affected by late running on any of the branches, timekeeping is particularly important. 
 

The challenge, as on a real railway of this sort, is to perform the shunting realistically before the next arrival is accepted from Glynogwr. If it’s all going too smoothly I can throw various spaniards into the works; the rule is that I can condense time at slack periods but no movements are allowed while the Cwmdimbath Time clock is stopped (I am allowed to make up trains in the fiddle yard or put them away on their shelves, though).  The (imagined) outer home and advanced starter are a bit of a cheat to extend station limits to enable movements on to the running line while trains are in the section, but wagons are not to be left there once a train has been accepted from Glynogwr.  
 

The afternoon pickup has less time to shunt than the morning one, and there is always a feeling of ‘game on’ with it especially if there is traffic for the colliery, and Cwmdimbath’s signalmen’s afternoon shifts will be a little less fraught when that pithead baths/canteen block is finished (but of course it never will be; it generates far too much fun!).

Edited May 11, 2021 by The Johnster

[Nick Gough]

Nice background story.

[The Johnster]

Probably the most important feature, Nick!

[Nick Gough]

3 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

 I can throw various spaniards into the works; 

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Our chief weapon is surprise!

Surprise and an almost fanatical devotion to Swindon!

[The Johnster]

Auto de fe working?  Gives a new dimension to firebox design!

[ianathompson]

6 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Thanks Ian.  Not sure that we should all be trying to achieve this; there is nowt wrong with just playing trains if that’s what floats your boat, but my aim is to replicate as far as possible the running of my small railway as it might have been in reality,

 

Perhaps this is something that appeals more to ex railwaymen, albeit that in my case it formed my second career.

 

My own layout, as you might be aware, occupies a parallel universe that is entirely fictional.

Those operating the system, however, face a similar set of constraints to those working at Cwmdimbath.

 

My own preference is to simulate such events using dice throws and situation tables.

Late running connections and the occasional spanner in the works, such as a bust air hose, all complicate matters.

Control's ineptitude in overloading goods trains and miscalculating shunting times doesn't help either, even though I am that very same person as well!

 

Perhaps having experienced it from the inside we could not enjoy a simple "day" where everything went smoothly!

 

 

Ian T

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, ianathompson said:

 

Perhaps this is something that appeals more to ex railwaymen, albeit that in my case it formed my second career.

 

My own layout, as you might be aware, occupies a parallel universe that is entirely fictional.

Those operating the system, however, face a similar set of constraints to those working at Cwmdimbath.

 

My own preference is to simulate such events using dice throws and situation tables.

Late running connections and the occasional spanner in the works, such as a bust air hose, all complicate matters.

Control's ineptitude in overloading goods trains and miscalculating shunting times doesn't help either, even though I am that very same person as well!

 

Perhaps having experienced it from the inside we could not enjoy a simple "day" where everything went smoothly!

 

 

Ian T

There probably is a link between former railwaymen preferring layouts based on operation, with former spotters' layouts focussed on running lots of trains.  Certainly on most (relatively simple, 1-2 operator) layouts, you just drive the trains.  On complex ones, the multiple operators work signallers controlling points and signals, while the "driver" does relatively little except control the train speed.

 

But most don't tell a story like @The Johnsterdoes!

[ianathompson]

13 hours ago, Northmoor said:

On complex ones, the multiple operators work signallers controlling points and signals, while the "driver" does relatively little except control the train speed.

 Not necessarily!

My own layout is a complex system of over a dozen stations.

It is worked by a one man band.

 

Ian T

[The Johnster]

My new HM6000 app based controller (story in DC section of Control and Wiring) has untethered me from my operating position, which has drawn attention to the tumbleweed wasteland at the north end of the layout where there should be a thriving (well, by South Wales Valleys standards) mining village.  I have made a start of this in the area between the northern end of the platform and Nant Lechyd, Lechyd Terrace, a row of 1850s cottages built for the foundry workers long before the railway turned up on the scene, but it is time to give some thought to the rest of the village.

 

Space here is very restricted and the corner of the baseboard where the goods yard pagoda storage lockup stands is hard against the bedroom wall, so nothing can be placed there without looking silly.  There is some room to the east, towards the end of Lechyd Terrace, though, and plenty to the West (plenty meaning about 25 yards before the mountain hems everthing in.  I have placed a plank here, which will eventually be worked up into a street.  The area behind the goods yard fence will have to be open, but there may be the suggestion of a square; benches, war memorial, a tree or two. 

 

I'd intended to make a start on West Street (an accommodation name that may well change in future), using Rue d'Etropal of this very parish as ever is's 3D shop and house low relief fronts, with his 4mm-2mm scale tapering terraced houses to draw the line away to a vanishing point, but the cost is going to be far too high.  This is not Simon's fault, everything on Shapeways has skyrocketed since Brexit, and their postage rates and times were nothing to write home about before!  I've made a start by ordering a low relief laser cut shop from Scale Model Scenery, the whole thing about a third of the price of the shop front part from Simon and Shapeways (3D production for model railways is so tied to Shapeways that Brexit will be a very severe setback for it, and there's not apparently much that can be done).  I've specced the shop as a General Store which will serve as the village Post Office, and it will be the corner of West Street. 

 

Plan is to have a cafe next door; no Valleys village can be without an Italian owned caff with an esspresso machine!  Then a pub and we will be at the corner of the forced perspective section of West Street, which I am still for the present planning to bite the bullett and use Simon's 3D vanishing point street print for.  The railway meets the wall at about 45 degrees at this end and the perspective should work out that the tapered print part looks as if it aligns parallel to the railway, so is heading more or less due north.  The real valley fits this at this point, before becoming much steeper and trailing out into the plateau at about 1,700' above sea level in a more northeasterly direction.  A tributary stream and valley, Cwm Ffasg, comes in from the west and I assume this to be just downstream of the bridge that takes the railway over Nant Lechyd at the other end of the platform. 

 

The colliery access road crosses the railway a hundred yards or so south of this, so must originate as a left turn from West Street; this will have to be suggested rather than modelled.

 

I am giving some thought as well to moving the scenic break south a bit, as the latest rationalisation of the fiddle yard throat has given a possibility of about 40 feet more scenic area.  The break, a simple matt black card sheet, has moved to the new location and been angled away from the viewer side more, and it is possible to move the colliery access road overbridge closer to it and 'scenify' the short stretch of the branch and the NCB exchange siding.  This would give the opportunity to extend the 'stub' siding by about a scale 50 feet, and that means it could revert to it's original 2016/7 role as a Remploy loading dock, terminating in the embankment for the overbridge. 

 

On which I still refuse to have a bus.

 

Appropos of which, a Western Welsh ECW bodied Leyland Tiger has turned up, courtesy of Original Omnibus.  Bit of working up might be done to it; the chrome headlights should have black bodies, the windows need to be more flush, the tail lights could benefit from having Modelu red lenses, the 'Penarth' destination blind is not suitable, or particularly well represented being a simple surface print that should be recessed behind a glass panel, and I'd like to get inside to have a go at the interior as well.  It is far too shiny and needs a bit of matt varnish to tone things down, but it does look like the buses I remember from my childhood.  I'll go very easy on the weathering; Western Welsh always kept their buses looking very smart even if the passengers did not always bother to make the effort(!), as did all our local operators.  I need to pick out the depot allocation diamond symbols in blue to represent a Bridgend based bus, which will be much easier on a matt surface, they are currently, correctly, yellow for a Cardiff based vehicle.  Bit of research might even turn up correct numbers for the number plates.  I want it parked awating departure time, with a driver in the cab and the conductor outside chatting to him, both smoking fags.  Pretty sure Modelu can provide something suitable!  Route is 122B Pontyclun via Hendreforgan and Tonyrefail, extended to Cardiff on Saturdays.

 

I'll post a photo when I've finished it.