Pwllheli and its railway. Building a big OO gauge layout in Oklahoma.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Greetings one and all.

 

 

Here begins the chronicling of myself and @kiwiokie's (dad) layout. The subject is Pwllheli, its station accompanying shed and goods yard, all in standard OO. The layout will be set in about 1957, but with the occasional pre-grouping visitor. 

 

Now some may be asking, why did we choose Pwllheli?

 

'Tis a long story.

 

The layout:

 

Way back in 1941 my grandfather, kiwiokie's dad was very young and living in Liverpool. Since he was an infant in a heavily bombed area, he was selected for removal to the countryside with his mother. That countryside ended up being North Wales, specifically a farm outside Aberdaron, a village on almost the very end of the Llyn peninsula. My dad later in life was often taken on vacation to this area by train, which meant going from Liverpool (Rainhill specifically) to Pwllheli. 

 

But what condition is the layout in I hear the masses cry? Well, one section of benchwork has been completed. And the main down line into the station has been powered. However, a too scale map of the location of everything has been made from the original Ordnance Survey maps. These were scanned, converted to pdf, and then scaled down to size before printing. They were then glued on top of some 1 inch insulation foam. However, we intend to take up this foam and replace it with pink 2 inch pink foam. 

 

 

Above, a my Bachmann 3f in the down platform.

 

 

Above, looking west towards the Irish Sea. 

 

 

Looking east towards Porthmadog.

 

 

Motive Power:

 

I don't remember everything we have, but here are the latest acquisitions.

 

 

Above: This fabulous Bachmann BR 9f Evening Star, which actually just arrived 2 hours ago. An important thing to note is we won't always be running prototypical trains, however they will generally be from the right era.

 

 

Above we see Evening Star and my 3f having a chat. This was during the test run of the 9f. Off the top of my head, here are some other locos.

 

1. A Bachmann 57xx

2. 4 Bachmann Collett goods.

3. 2 Bachmann GWR moguls, which will probably be sold and replaced with new ones.

4. A Bachmann BR livery LNER A4 Dominion of New Zealand.

5. 2 Hornby 4mts.

6. A smattering of Ivatt tanks.

7. 3 or 4 Bachmann counties Manors.

8. I believe we've got a Bachmann Grange lurking somewhere.

 

More to follow.

 

Douglas

Edited February 4, 2021 by Florence Locomotive Works

[J. S. Bach]

38 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Greetings one and all.

Here begins the chronicling of myself and @kiwiokie's (dad) layout. The subject is Pwllheli, its station accompanying shed and goods yard, all in standard OO. The layout will be set in about 1957, but with the occasional pre-grouping visitor.  ...snip...

More to follow.

Douglas

In other words, if I were ever to visit, my Southern Pacific SD40T-2 and SD45 would not be welcome?

[kiwiokie]

We apply pretty liberal amounts of artistic license when it comes to rolling stock so I am sure we can find a justification for how the SP engines strayed onto the Cambrian Coast line.

[J. S. Bach]

Trailing a cut of double-stacks??

 

Note that I am not era-specific; or too prototypical:

 

Or even scale-specific:

 

 

[Michael Hodgson]

9 hours ago, kiwiokie said:

We apply pretty liberal amounts of artistic license when it comes to rolling stock so I am sure we can find a justification for how the SP engines strayed onto the Cambrian Coast line.

I wonder how Barmouth bridge would have coped with that.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Huzzah.

 

2 inch foam board has been located at the local Home Depot. So this weekend the track will be taken up, along with I'll just call it the "map." Once the foam is cut to size and laid down, the map will be reglued, assuming its still in one piece, and the track will be glued down. Then droppers will then be soldered on and fed into a central power bus. Currently the transformer we're using is a rather small but nice thing made by Model Power, however once we're operating multiple trains something from Gaugemaster will probably be bought. 

 

Some video may be posted today of a 2mt tank.

 

Douglas

[kiwiokie]

On 04/02/2021 at 04:29, Michael Hodgson said:

I wonder how Barmouth bridge would have coped with that.

It was comprehensively reinforced to allow rail tour trains pulled by a streamlined A4 ;-)

[Ian Smeeton]

There are some aerial photos on the Britain from Above Website.

 

Here: https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/WAW029294

 

And others from 1934 on

 

Register to be able to zoom in, its free, and they don't dump loads of spam on you.

 

Be prepared to lose a lot of time on this site!!

 

Regards

 

Ian

[kiwiokie]

On 04/02/2021 at 04:29, Michael Hodgson said:

I wonder how Barmouth bridge would have coped with that.

Michael while I think about it the weight restriction applied to the mainline coming along the coast from Barmouth but there was an interchange with the midland region at Afon Wen well after Barmouth so presumably the weight restriction would not have applied to trains reaching Pwllheli via Afon Wen?  I have read every book I have been able to find on the Cambrian Coast line over the years but never seen this detail addressed.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening,

 

Today the passing loop for the down platform was made functional, (I don’t remember if the up has one). This now means actual operations can be done. Tomorrow the track will be cut where the two boards join, after foam acquisition. The current foam will be pealed up with a putty knife, and then the new 2 inch foam glued underneath, so as to provide something to carve the the bridge out of further down the line. After that holes for dropper wires will be drilled, and then these wires will be soldered to the central bus. 

Eventually, probably after the new section is built, our current Model Power transformer will be replaced by a Digitrax Zephyr. 
 

Plans have also been made to cut the platforms. They will be made from (unknown thickness as of now) MDF with a jigsaw, courtesy of the paper template. 
 

Douglas

[D9020 Nimbus]

15 hours ago, kiwiokie said:

Michael while I think about it the weight restriction applied to the mainline coming along the coast from Barmouth but there was an interchange with the midland region at Afon Wen well after Barmouth so presumably the weight restriction would not have applied to trains reaching Pwllheli via Afon Wen?  I have read every book I have been able to find on the Cambrian Coast line over the years but never seen this detail addressed.

There were weight restrictions on the Bangor–Afon Wen line too! (In real life, more serious than those on the Coast Line, I believe.)

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Much was done today.

 

An enormous amount of 2 inch thick foam was purchased, and bus wire connectors ordered off Amazon. The entirety of the coaching stock collection was moved into the layout garage as well. Six (average number for the Pwllheli half of the Cambrian, also platform limit) of these were formed into a probably not at all accurate Cambrian Coat Express, with motive power provided by my Bachmann GWR Manor class, Hook Norton Manor. (Below)

 

The Manor is one of three we have, and was given to me by my dad (many thanks). Having like the other engines bar the 3f not be run in 10 years, it was disassembled and lubricated. The front coupling was also removed, and tonight I intend to paint the backhead. 
 

 

 

Above we see a Ivatt 2mt tank set up for autocoach work shunting a branch train. This siding is the smaller of the two carriage sidings at Pwllheli, holding about 3 carriages and a departmental van at full capacity. The other could probably fit 10-12 coaches! 
 

 

Above we see the chassis of a brand new but 9 year old Hornby early BR livery Fowler tank. This engine had a strange whining noise and would periodically stop running. It had never been run since purchasing in around 2011-12, until a few days ago. So today I took it apart to discover a cracked pinion. Dad then mended this with some superglue, and it will probably be tested tonight. 
 

Douglas

[J. S. Bach]

On 04/02/2021 at 11:00, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 ...snip... Currently the transformer we're using is a rather small but nice thing made by Model Power, however once we're operating multiple trains something from Gaugemaster will probably be bought.  ...snip...

Douglas

Can the Gaugemaster run on 120V/60Hz?  MRC offers some great power packs made for US power specs.

 

Note: I have seen the ads for the Gaugemaster in another UK model magazine and have liked their looks  and specs.

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 ...snip... with motive power provided by my Bachmann GWR Manor class, Hook Norton Manor. (Below)

Douglas

Somewhere I have a Manor class although I do not remember which one; it is all black, though. I do intend to re-name it to Dungfield Manor at some time; if I ever find it. I thought that I had a photo of it pulling a Hornby MK1 "Queen's coach" on my friend's HO layout.

[NittenDormer]

I too regularly holidayed at Aberdaron in my childhood, it seemed such a long drive from Liverpool. Lovely bakers. Shame there was no station and Pwllheli was always damp and in the wrong direction. I remember the gradual expansion of the Ffestiniog. 

[kiwiokie]

On 06/02/2021 at 18:16, J. S. Bach said:

Can the Gaugemaster run on 120V/60Hz?  MRC offers some great power packs made for US power specs.

 

Note: I have seen the ads for the Gaugemaster in another UK model magazine and have liked their looks  and specs.

I think he got confused on the brand.  We will buy a Digitrax system as it is so well supported in the US and I don’t want to mess with isolating sections for the station and engine shed areas.  Plus as a teenager in the ‘80s dreaming up layouts the thought of being able to control individual locos on the same track was like science fiction.

[kiwiokie]

21 hours ago, NittenDormer said:

I too regularly holidayed at Aberdaron in my childhood, it seemed such a long drive from Liverpool. Lovely bakers. Shame there was no station and Pwllheli was always damp and in the wrong direction. I remember the gradual expansion of the Ffestiniog. 

 

I have fond memories of camping on the farm where my Dad lived during WWII, lying on the sun baked rocks at the beach, and delicious ice creams.  I took my Dad back there for a visit about 4 years ago.  He has lived in NZ since ‘78 and was visiting us in Tulsa so took the opportunity to hop the pond.  Stayed at the Ship Hotel and had a great time reliving those memories.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Some interesting new developments.

 

A workbench thread has been started, the main action right now is super detailing a Bachmann Manor.

 

In more layout related news the track for the combined goods yard and MPD has been laid out on the floor in the guest bedroom, and measurements will be taken at some point for the new section of benchwork. Pictures will be posted soon.

 

Douglas

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

An update on the story so far.

 

 

Rolling Stock: In the last week much has transpired within the Motive Power Department. A BR blue Hornby "Coronation" was bought, along with a BR green rebuilt Royal Scot (bought used and currently having running issues, arrived with the left hand crosshead out of its guides). A Hornby LNER O6 (8f in disguise) was also picked up and I will be re lettering and renumbering this into BR. Obviously none of these engines were permitted to work Northwest of Aberystwyth, but it's our layout so some artistic license can be had. Photos will be up later.

 

 

Layout building: The "Folder of Pwllheli" was found by me in some dark foreboding cabinet in our house, after being lost for around 8 years. This contains all the various scale calculations, drawings, maps, photographs and links to helpful websites. Its loss was a significant obstacle to progress getting done, but now its been found much can be done. 

 

 

We are currently debating how best to model the station. 

 

There are three options.

 

1. Give Pwllheli a totally different and less wooden shed looking station, maybe something Brunelian which would alleviate us having to build the entire building and huge canopy from scratch. The building would probably be ho scale from Faller, Kibri or Auhagen.

 

2. Build just the station building and buy a glass overall roof canopy which will cut the amount of scratch building in half.

 

3. Build the entire station as it was from scratch. This won't be easy, as its a wooden framed building and not terribly symmetrical. Suggestions wanted.

 

 

Power & Control: It has been decide that after we return from Santa Fe, (which will be next weekend) a Digitrax Zephyr will be bought, and a proper base for the transformer will get made, as the current one consists of some blocks of wood and 3 Hornby wagon boxes.

 

Douglas