James Hilton Posted August 28, 2018 Author Share Posted August 28, 2018 It seems that with the arrival of the summer holidays the railway has entered somewhat of a slumber, not a surprise really given the kids descending on us and demanding our attention. However, things have calmed down on occasion and allowed me to run a few trains in the garden... The first was an inspection - the owner had instructed the manager to organise for him to traverse the whole line and ascertain it's condition and need for future investment. He was joined by his Beagle, and the two men took a leisurely trip along the line, which hadn't been used for a few weeks as the quarry had it's annual summer holiday in August. More recently the steam engine has been running - and with good weather and careful use of steam and the burner I managed to get nearly 45 minutes running, shunting trucks back and forth down the line. Slate slabs to the mill from the quarry, cut slate to the wharf, coal and oil to the mill and mine respectively... The garden is beginning to green up after the July heat wave, and it's nice to play trains and watch the locomotive make it's gentle way along the tramway. The wharf area is in much need of crane and office building - two winter jobs, and other areas of the line need fencing or some 'sheep stops' installing. At least the locomotive now sports a whistle to warn the occasional animal and wandering walker from time to time. More soon... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted August 28, 2018 Author Share Posted August 28, 2018 I received an exciting packet this morning, the finishing touch to my 7/8ths live steam locomotive, works plates from Narrow Planet... These look superb, and are just the thing to finish off the model. The size is spot on, I opted for the smaller design, and ordered via the website which now offers a 7/8ths scale option. They were painted with Humbrol Matt 33 and when the paint was almost dry, this was buffed off leaving the lettering bright. They were cut out, the edges filed smooth and then sealed with dull-cote. Fitting to the cab side was with Superglue Gel - which has a longer setting time allowing you to adjust the placement a touch before they fix. The finished model is now exactly as I had hoped, with the whistle also fitted the only things left to look at are blackening up some of the metalwork required for the operation of the live steam locomotive. Future plans may include a canvas screen for the back of the cab, and some glazing for the cab windows. For now though, she is finished! More (but not on this locomotive) soon... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted September 3, 2018 Author Share Posted September 3, 2018 Last week I was lucky enough to host a pair of friends visiting the line, the weather stayed dry, if overcast, and we spent a happy few hours talking trains and driving them... Peter brought his Accucraft Decauville - a beautiful model, and size wise, perfect for the tramway. Alas this was yet to be fitted with R/C and as a manual model, and sprung, it proved a little lively for the inconsistent track work on the tramway. After a few 'spills' it ended up in the siding at the mill... Peter also brought his modified Swift Sixteen 'Tin Turtle' WDLR Simplex. He has opened the sides and modified the protected 'roof' to give a little extra headroom. This is 45mm gauge and so is placed on a piece of suitable track on the wharf. It makes an interesting size comparison with my own scratch built Simplex 40S. Finally I thought it might be useful to compare the height of the Decauville with my estate coach, showing again, how dinky this rolling stock I have created is! Small even by Decauville standards! It was lovely to play trains though and I hope to host more visitors in the future. More soon... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fillipe Posted September 16, 2018 Share Posted September 16, 2018 There is something very appealing about 7/8ths. If I didn't have so much invested in a nowhere near complete 16mm scale line, I think I could be tempted to the dark side! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 The 7/8ths scale Motor Rail G-series has progressed in the past week, between working on customer projects and helping my daughter with a 7/8ths wagon kit she has bought... Since the last photos on the blog quite a few parts have been added. The exhaust pipe was formed in styrene, heated to get the sharp bends, which were then smoothed with filler. This is loose at present, but will be secured by a bracket to the cab front. On some photos there is a also a ventilator or filter protruding through the bonnet, I have yet to decide on whether to fit this or not. In the cab I have added a few controls, made from scraps of styrene with the handles, beads raided from my daughters craft box. These are mounted a little higher than the prototype, so that the driver can be easily removed. I've still to add a clutch pedal, handbrake, and some detail to the seat/toolbox. On the chassis I have added the brake shoes and the tensioner assemblies, both glued to the removable motorised chassis. The small squares with a single bolt behind the buffer beams are glued to the outer chassis, with clearance behind. A fake gearbox is glued to the inner chassis frames. All these details are somewhat vague in photos and non-existent on the drawing so I've used a little artistic but engineering licence. The etched bonnet panels are due any day now, so once they've arrived I will add some half relief engine details and then it'll nearly be ready for painting. More soon... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted October 9, 2018 Author Share Posted October 9, 2018 At the weekend I took the opportunity to get the live steam engine out with my son, and we enjoyed some cold but calm weather, which was a good recipe for a decent amount of steam time and great plumes... Whilst 'warming up' I parked up on the wharf next to the new fuel tank... the discarded oil tank to the left of the locomotive giving a flavour of Sand Hutton. This area will hopefully mature over time... ...but it's looking pretty promising so far... The first train took the fuel up, along with the inspection car, the empty slate wagons are also on the wharf... ...later the slate waste wagon was taken up to the mill... ...and more fuel later in the session. Great fun, and these steam shots were enabled because my 6 year old was trusted to drive without my help this time - he did pretty well, a little jerky and fast, but controlled enough. For anyone who has visited the line, they'll know that's a pretty big achievement with the gradient, sharp corners and lack of buffers. More soon... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 The G-series has been an enjoyable build and things have moved along quite quickly alongside the commissions in smaller scales I've been working on lately... Pictured here with the small plate frame Simplex in 009 it shows how much presence the scale has... ...and here posed with the 40S I built last year, shows how small the prototype is! If you remember it has been built to test out a few ideas for the range of diesel locomotives I'm building in 2019 and 2020, and I'm really pleased with how it combines etched metal from 2D CAD, 3D printed parts from 3D CAD, laser cut styrene and acrylic from 2D CAD and some scratch built items in styrene as well. Truly multi-media. Once the etches arrived it was quite a quick finish, adding cab details including the handbrake and some levers on the back of the bonnet before adding a coat of primer. Since then I've applied two coats of enamel yellow, and begun to paint in the details, exhaust, rubber door seals, couplers and axle boxes. Here are a few shots of her posed outside, excuse the 'cameo' but I quite liked it! The driver, wearing his Oxford blue shirt, will be in the cab soon enough! The Fuchs oil drum and the oil tank have progressed since I last took photos, including the 'level' and tap adding to the large tank. The side on shot below shows the cab details, handbrake, levers, clutch pedal and such... I'm looking forward to adding a few more touches before sealing with dull-cote and applying a little weathering... scuffed metal, scratches, rust and a few oil leaks. More soon... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruston Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 I really like your G-series. I don't think I've ever seen one modelled before. There's only one smaller type of Motor Rail than the G and that's the 10HP. Do you have any plans to do that at all? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 I don't think so Dave, next up will be a Hudson Hunslet... I've begun to bring the G-series to life with a light weathering to reflect a battered but well loved and cared for locomotive... This means there are scratches and chipped paint on the edge of some panels, grease around the hinges and moving levers, worn paint on the cab floor and wear on the coupling faces... ...still to add is some exhaust staining on the roof. She had a trip up the railway this afternoon, and looked very yellow, bit quite at home. The glazing in the windows and the driver really give it a feel of realism, and I can't wait to give it a proper run over the weekend. With it nearly completed, the Dyfrdwy Tramway now has three locos and three distinct eras, post Great War (Andrew Barclay steam), post WW2 (Simplex 40S) and preservation in the 1990s (G-series). More soon... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 On my walk up to the quarry at Moel Fferna today I stumbled upon a few things that I'm now planning to recreate for my own Dyfrdwy Tramway in 7/8ths scale... The first item, and somewhat easier project, is this frame, that I think could possibly be from one of the 2ft gauge wagons used within the quarry itself... both slab wagons and waste wagons used a similar chassis according to photos, the wheels would have been outside of the frame, I need to study some more photos to see whether to build a waste or slab wagon, and in 7/8ths 32mm gauge it might end up too narrow to be feasible for a slab wagon. We'll see... The other discovery was of this rather poorly rendered view of the Ruston they quarry purchased in 1938. The order number is listed in the Oakwood Press book 'The Industrial Tramways of the Vale of Llangollen', but there were no other details. This photograph shows it to be a 11/13hp variant, the smallest Ruston produced. I've got a drawing for a 10hp which was a very similar size, so will use this as a basis of building a model next year. There is also this rather lovely photo of the Bedford lorry, lettered up for the quarry. This machine would have had quite a job to get to the quarry, the last stretch of the road is very broken, and little more than a farm track. I've enquired with PDF models to see if it would be possible to print some of their 16mm lorry in 7/8ths scale. Once home, I dug out my Ruston book which was the source of this photo, to confirm the type of Ruston in the photo above, as well as providing some drawings for the 10hp model. More soon... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted January 10, 2019 Author Share Posted January 10, 2019 Over Christmas the John Lewis 'surfer van' was brought to my attention. There aren't many road vehicles available in 1/14 unless you count the massive trucks that Tamiya market, so the idea of a relatively cheap vehicle for the Dyfrdwy Tramway was worth investigating... After digging about the internet I found the T2 had a 'pick up' version - much more suitable for the tramway and slate company, so a purchase was made and the back end duly hack-sawed off! The van is beginning to look promising, and will work nicely on the line when finished. I need to scrathcbuild a new cab back, and deck, as well as some drop sides. I think I'll do a crate of Slate for it as well. More soon... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 This afternoon the Dyfrdwy Tramway experienced it's first snow. When I look outside, it feels like the railway has always been there, but actually it was only laid at Easter... So although not in steam, I rushed out with the Andrew Barclay to pose on the line for some wintry photos - although I'm sure we'll see more snow this year! It started even heavier whilst I was snapping, so I accidentally placed the loco facing downhill. Oh well! The partial snow coverage actually gives the scene are more wintry feel than I had imagined. Anyway, it dig get a little whiter, but has all melted now as the weather turned to more sleet than snow, although we may get some more overnight. More soon... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Corbs Posted January 25, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 25, 2019 Looks fantastic James. That loco's shade of green is rather nice too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 Looks fantastic James. That loco's shade of green is rather nice too. Thanks! It's Mid Chrome Green. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 The kids are off this week, so it's been an excuse for use to run some more trains, and test out my daughter's wagons... The Barclay was steamed - and is seen here on the wharf along with the inspection saloon. The owner and manager keen to see how the line was settling into the new year as spring approaches. You can also see the VW Transporter drop side, newly arrived (yet to be finished). You might also notice the wall of rocks behind the train has dissappeared. I decided that these were a little distracting, so they've been repurposed elsewhere in the garden and I'll build up the ground behind with a stone retaining wall and some earth. My daughter's wagons here in the slate mill siding, as the Barclay passed on the line to the slab quarry. These wagons are both simply Model Earth budget range, assembled as per the instructions and painted and weathered by her... Back on the wharf and the slate wagons, empty, are about to head up the line... ...seen here running past the gate onto the steep climb up to the mill. Finally, a shot of the Wharf, the oil tank is back outside, now labelled up with 'gas oil' (red diesel). You can see the start of the retaining wall on the right. I've got some oak dowel to use to finish the fencing off towards the mill, and some thicker diameter to use as telegraph/power poles - one or two will be placed on the wharf once I've worked out the detail of what is needed on their tops! More soon... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 You'll get all the attention and limelight with this great thread, now i've packed it all in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 Beautiful blue skies today in the Dee Valley so I took an hour off this afternoon from customer commissions to 'play trains' in the garden... The Barclay's first run through the new gateway at the slab mill and she passed through with enough space to walk past, as I had hoped, and looked superb. This part of the tramway is very photogenic in the late afternoon sun, so I took a few photos whilst the locomotive gently simmered. I'm planning on adding a few more scenic details in this area during the spring, which will help to frame the view, as well as giving some 'scale' to the surrounding and scenery. More soon... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 James, That top photo in particular is absolutely superb. It oozes so much atmosphere. Highly impressive stuff Cannot wait to see more. David 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 This is very, very good! Why is it that out-of-scale plants don't look out-of-scale in 7/8", when they very much do in 16mm? Perhaps we'll never know. Kevin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 Thanks Kevin, 7/8ths is just SO much bigger than 16mm, I suspect that has a lot to do with it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted April 11, 2019 Author Share Posted April 11, 2019 My Alan Keep K40 project has reached the last stretch - and is now painted and weathered... Although a personal project for the Dyfrdwy Tramway, my 7/8ths scale garden railway, it has been a test bed for a few future projects. It features sound, using an ITT products sound card - and it utilise an Essel Engineering chassis. Construction followed my now tried and tested laser cut styrene body, acrylic chassis overlays combined with 3D printed details (buffer blocks, axle boxes, filler lid) with etched metal (bonnet panels and works plates) and scratch built styrene parts. The figure is from Model Earth - the cab is detailed, although sparse, as the prototype is a modern diesel locomotive, from what little I can gather just features a sort of control panel and one handle. I have weathered with enamels, and tried to represent a well used but relatively new locomotive. A few spots of rust, but generally in good nick. I'm really chuffed with two bits in particular, the worn metal on the door around the door handle and where the drivers boots have scuffed the inside of the door - and the patchy 'green' algae growth on the roof and bonnet. It's spurred me on to make some progress with the winter's rolling stock projects - as well as a few James Hilton Custom Model Railways commissions. More soon... 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted April 13, 2019 Author Share Posted April 13, 2019 This is what it's all about, having some fun! Two of my children enjoying playing with the sound fitted Alan Keef, taking turns carefully driving up and down the line, a little bit of shunting and opening and closing the gates on the tramway for each other whilst I just kept a watchful eye over proceedings. Not all kids want to make trains, although one of my other daughters has a real eye for that, her wagons have featured on here before, but the youngest pair most enjoy playing. That's probably what I enjoy the most too... Finally, a lovely photo of the railway's current internal combustion power, all described in more detail here on the blog if you search. L-R Motor Rail G-series, Alan Keen K40 and Motor Rails Simplex 40S. More soon... 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 On 11/04/2019 at 19:54, James Hilton said: My Alan Keep K40 project has reached the last stretch - and is now painted and weathered... Although a personal project for the Dyfrdwy Tramway, my 7/8ths scale garden railway, it has been a test bed for a few future projects. It features sound, using an ITT products sound card - and it utilise an Essel Engineering chassis. Construction followed my now tried and tested laser cut styrene body, acrylic chassis overlays combined with 3D printed details (buffer blocks, axle boxes, filler lid) with etched metal (bonnet panels and works plates) and scratch built styrene parts. The figure is from Model Earth - the cab is detailed, although sparse, as the prototype is a modern diesel locomotive, from what little I can gather just features a sort of control panel and one handle. I have weathered with enamels, and tried to represent a well used but relatively new locomotive. A few spots of rust, but generally in good nick. I'm really chuffed with two bits in particular, the worn metal on the door around the door handle and where the drivers boots have scuffed the inside of the door - and the patchy 'green' algae growth on the roof and bonnet. It's spurred me on to make some progress with the winter's rolling stock projects - as well as a few James Hilton Custom Model Railways commissions. More soon... James, the Keef diesel looks absolutely superb what fantastic stuff. Just to put it into context, how big is the loco? I'm not really familiar with the scale so I am a little unsure as to how large the 'little' critter actually is! Sorry for asking such a basic and silly question. Really pleased to see the kids enjoying the railway.... it's obviously a real family affair 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 Thanks! Indeed, a family affair when possible. 7/8ths is a lovely hands on size, chunky and real presence. The Keef is 9cm wide, 15cm to top of cab and just over 20cm long over the buffers. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_tyne Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 On 16/04/2019 at 20:29, James Hilton said: Thanks! Indeed, a family affair when possible. 7/8ths is a lovely hands on size, chunky and real presence. The Keef is 9cm wide, 15cm to top of cab and just over 20cm long over the buffers. James, Thanks very much that really puts things in perspective. Chunky indeed! It must be a lovely size to work with and must feel so substantial and robust. The Keef looks stunning Cheers, David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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