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

[corneliuslundie]

The New Year seems a good time to start this thread, even though the project has been underway for the best part of a year.

 

Sarn is a village near Kerry in Montgomeryshire. It never had a railway, but I have rewritten history a bit.

 

The origins of this layout are actually the frames for a baseboard which my son and I made about 20 years ago. It was to be a P4 4ft x 2ft shunting layout called Pixie Green (a real place), a sub off the twig that was the Mid Suffolk Light Railway. But my son left home and the frames were put away, only to resurface when we cleared the garage of our house in Harpenden to move everything to Newtown.

 

Now I have retitred, it seemed a good idea to get something running fairly quickly and in EM since that is what most of my stock is, and Sarn is local to where I now live, so why not?

 

The revised history is that when the Cambrian Railways were proposing to build the Kerry branch there was a difficult land owner near Glanmule (the branch never did actually get to Kerry, by the way). In addition, the citizens of Church Stoke, right on the English border, were trying to persuade the Cambrian (or anyone else) to put them on the railway map. So the Cambrian looked at a new route continuing further up the Mule valley and then turning left through Sarn, then parallel to what is now the main Newtown to Craven Arms road, to reach Church Stoke – but only if the residents of that metropolis stumped up some of the money. Of course, said residents promised to do so, so construction started and got some way beyond Sarn before the Cambrian realised that they would be lucky to get a fiver from Church Stoke. Construction ceased and the line was opened as far as Sarn (Goods), the track then disappearing across a road and through increasingly deep woodland until it petered out. In due course the Kerry Tramway was built for timber extraction, but linked to Sarn rather than Glanmule.

 

Because it was only ever intended as a minor wayside goods station, Sarn was not built with a passing loop, so trains have to be propelled from Abermule.

 

Progress so far is completion of the baseboard and a “fiddle yard” – actually just one line plus some room for wagons – plus laying of the track. At the moment I am in the process of connecting up the turnouts to the lever frame. This has proved to be rather fraught. I started by trying to use Mercontrol tubing but could not find a way of holding it down reliably so have used straight nickel silver wire and angle cranks, with the wire constrained by short lengths of brass tube. This has worked for two of the turnouts, but the linkage to the third had just too much slack in the many angle cranks (including needing to get the rodding below the baseboard), so a slow motion point motor has been used with my own design of actuator. The layout will be fully signalled – just one signal based on a slotted post home that used to be at Glanmule to protect a level crossing.

 

Most of the layout is wired up but I have not yet been able to connect and test all the microswitches that will switch the crossings. And I have found during testing that in places the pointwork is a little under gauge despite using EM roller gauges throughout construction. So some remedial work has been needed.

 

A close look at the board will reveal that the plain track is SMP and the pointwork is largely built with SMP sleepers and chairs, but with soldered construction where strength is needed such as at the crossings and some ply sleepers as replacements where the plastic ones have curled up during construction. So cosmetic chairs still have to be added to the soldered sections.

 

Meanwhile I have been looking through my many stock boxes (my favourite activity seems to be building, but never quite finishing, wagons!) to see what is suitable for the 1930s (obviously none of my Rhymney Railway stock). But that is for the next post.

 

Here are a couple of photos of the board before track was laid so that you can see the construction. Also one of the track before it was laid so you can see most of the layout.

 

I suspect that my progress from here on will be slower than that of ChrisN and Anotheran, so it seems appropriate to put this thread in the Railways of Wales section.

 

Jonathan David

Edited November 9, 2016 by corneliuslundie

[Quarryscapes]

Will keep an eye on this. 'Sarn City' was a layout title I looked at a while back also inspired by the Kerry branch, though I've now opted for the equally dry 'Rhewl Lane'.

 

I'll start a thread one day, 2 pieces of EM flexitrack does not a layout make just yet though! 

 

You have a nice excuse for a Cambrian Large Passenger 4-4-0, there was a stiff letter regarding it's use on the Kerry Branch. (Although I believe that during the sheep fairs anything in steam was allowed up there!)

[corneliuslundie]

In theory nothing heavier than a Dean goods was allowed, not even the Cambrian equivalent. But yes I have seen that report too. I have ordered the various parts for a Gem ex-Cambrian 2-4-0T no 1196 which is reported to have been used on the branch. I have plenty of 1930s goods stock, though have been building a selection of cattle wagons from divers parts (an advantage of Grouping and common user arrangements, though the GWR was a bit iffy about making its cattle wagons common user).

 

I decided to start this thread as much as anything to encourage myself actually to do some modelling instead of spending too much time on the computer (often on RMWeb!) My aim is to post something once a week, so I now need enough progress to have something to post..

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

Jonathan

[alanbuttler]

HI Jonathan, sounds like a nice plan.  I'd read that some of the panniers stationed at Moat Lane were used on the Kerry branch in GWR days as well.  I've fancied making a micro of Kerry station towards the end in the 1950's, inspired by the lovely images in BB's GW Steam off the beaten track.  Something for static grass applicator to get stuck into with all those overgrown lines!

[Anotheran]

Hi Jonathan,

 

Good to see the new thread! I'm looking forward to seeing progress... and a track plan

 

I suspect that my progress from here on will be slower than that of ChrisN and Anotheran, so it seems appropriate to put this thread in the Railways of Wales section.

Is that a challenge? The race to see who can be the slowest to build a railway of Wales! I think there's plenty of companies that could lay claim to that in the 1800s

 

Will follow with interest.

 

Kind regards, Neil

Edited January 8, 2015 by Anotheran

[corneliuslundie]

I have already missed my second deadline by a day!

 

As a change from working on the layout, I have been finishing one of the buildings. This will sit near the front of the layout with the front left hand corner touching the “sidescene” to block views of trains entering and leaving the fiddle yard. At an exhibition viewers will see the back and operators the front. At home, the layout will be operated from the front. So the slate hung wall (the side not shown) will face roughly west, as is common around here, and not really be visible to viewers – hence the use of preformed plastic slate sheet rather than individual paper strips as on the roof.

 

I want to indicate “Welsh Marches” with the buildings on the layout so all three will be based on local prototypes. This one is based on a cottage in Berriew which I spotted from the bus and then “screen grabbed” in Google Earth. It is not an accurate copy as I have no dimensions and no information about the back, and the side with slate hanging has horizontal timber cladding on the real building. It really is a very small house and the front door really is rather narrow.

 

Work on the layout is awaiting my either sorting out my ancient H&M Duette or finding the pair of bridge rectifiers I bought to make a new power unit, as I now need to test the wiring and point operation and switching. Since either of the above may take some time, my next mini project will be to complete a rake of cattle wagons for the layout. Hopefully next week I shall be able to show some progress. They are all kit built or RTR but need painting, lettering and weathering.

 

Edited January 9, 2015 by corneliuslundie

[alanbuttler]

Lovely, looks just like an end cottage in Llanwnog where I live. I'm looking forward to seeing this progreas Jonathan

[Enterprisingwestern]

I have already missed my second deadline by a day!

 

As a change from working on the layout, I have been finishing one of the buildings. This will sit near the front of the layout with the front left hand corner touching the “sidescene” to block views of trains entering and leaving the fiddle yard. At an exhibition viewers will see the back and operators the front. At home, the layout will be operated from the front. So the slate hung wall (the side not shown) will face roughly west, as is common around here, and not really be visible to viewers – hence the use of preformed plastic slate sheet rather than individual paper strips as on the roof.

 

I want to indicate “Welsh Marches” with the buildings on the layout so all three will be based on local prototypes. This one is based on a cottage in Berriew which I spotted from the bus and then “screen grabbed” in Google Earth. It is not an accurate copy as I have no dimensions and no information about the back, and the side with slate hanging has horizontal timber cladding on the real building. It really is a very small house and the front door really is rather narrow.

 

Work on the layout is awaiting my either sorting out my ancient H&M Duette or finding the pair of bridge rectifiers I bought to make a new power unit, as I now need to test the wiring and point operation and switching. Since either of the above may take some time, my next mini project will be to complete a rake of cattle wagons for the layout. Hopefully next week I shall be able to show some progress. They are all kit built or RTR but need painting, lettering and weathering.

 

cottage 7.JPGcottage 6.JPGcottage 5.JPG

 

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but I like the way the cottage seems to be "sloppily" built, with ill defined edges to the timbering and panels, many half timbered models are too clinical in this respect, I reckon you've captured the real thing very well.

 

Mike.

[ChrisN]

Like the cottage, it has the real feel of such cottages.

[MarkAustin]

I have already missed my second deadline by a day!

 

As a change from working on the layout, I have been finishing one of the buildings. This will sit near the front of the layout with the front left hand corner touching the “sidescene” to block views of trains entering and leaving the fiddle yard. At an exhibition viewers will see the back and operators the front. At home, the layout will be operated from the front. So the slate hung wall (the side not shown) will face roughly west, as is common around here, and not really be visible to viewers – hence the use of preformed plastic slate sheet rather than individual paper strips as on the roof.

 

I want to indicate “Welsh Marches” with the buildings on the layout so all three will be based on local prototypes. This one is based on a cottage in Berriew which I spotted from the bus and then “screen grabbed” in Google Earth. It is not an accurate copy as I have no dimensions and no information about the back, and the side with slate hanging has horizontal timber cladding on the real building. It really is a very small house and the front door really is rather narrow.

 

Work on the layout is awaiting my either sorting out my ancient H&M Duette or finding the pair of bridge rectifiers I bought to make a new power unit, as I now need to test the wiring and point operation and switching. Since either of the above may take some time, my next mini project will be to complete a rake of cattle wagons for the layout. Hopefully next week I shall be able to show some progress. They are all kit built or RTR but need painting, lettering and weathering.

 

cottage 7.JPGcottage 6.JPGcottage 5.JPG

Looking at the photographs, it appears that the half-timbering is proud of the surface. This is not usually the case (except ffor the "stockbrokers Tudor" of the inter-war years}.

 

Quick outline of half-timber construction. A wooden frame was built up, using unseasoned wood generally. The wood was coated with tar to preserve it, and the gaps filled with wattle and daub, which is a mix of clay, horse manure at brushwood. When dray and hardened this would be given a coat of limewash to seal the surface. Over time, the wood dried out and shrank. As the in-fill did not shrink, the timbers became slightly recessed into the walls. Assuming the structure was properly maintained, it would stay like that---many examples survive from the Middle Ages. Sometimes, the cottage walls were rebuilt, generally after a period of neglect leading to deterioration in the walls. This involved stripping out the in-fill, and replacing either with a similar filling to the previous or non-structural brick. In this case the new in-fill would be flush. As by this time the wood would be fully seasoned, thus it would remain. So, for half-timbered cottage-style buildings, the framing is either recessed (if original) or flush (if rebuilt).

 

Mark A

[corneliuslundie]

Thanks for the kind comments.

 

The camera is cruel - crooked chimney pot and a lack of pointing to the chimney! Now corrected.

 

Martin got me worrying so I have just done a Google Earth tour of Berriew. It is difficult to tell with the cottage I have modelled as the view is too "head on".

 

But elsewhere in Berriew there are

Houses with brick infill

Houses with wattle and daub type infill flush with the timber

Houses in brick with the black and white effect painted on

Houses which obviously have the timber stuck on afterwards

A few houses where the infill is definitely recessed compared with the timber.

 

I have also noticed locally houses where the infill bulges out noticeably.

 

And of course at Gregynog the whole thing, complete with "timber" proud of the wall surface, is moulded in concrete.

 

So Martin may we right about this cottage but there definitely are cottages in the village where the infill is recessed a little compared with the timber (not enough for the timber to be stuck on afterwards), so I am not going to change it now. In any case, I don't think my painting hand is steady enough to have just put the timbers on as paint.

 

The other thing I am not really sure about is whether a cottage like this would have been black and white in the 1930s. It could well be that the timber would have been unpainted, but that is an incredibly difficult effect to model effectively. And I very much doubt if this cottage was as smart in the 1930s as it is now. Any thoughts?

 

Jonathan

[Enterprisingwestern]

Timber was generally creosoted back in the day, so black/dark brown I reckon you'd get away with.

 

Mike.

[ChrisN]

Jonathan,

Here is a picture of Chelmsford.  I know it is the wrong place and it is tinted but it is the correct time period and the timbers appear black(ish).

[corneliuslundie]

Well, that’s my weekly schedule completely shot. My only excuse is that I had three days with no modelling at all.

 

Anyway, here is the result of the last two weeks: seven varied cattle wagons, some built in the last few months and some in the last few decades. There is also one for the Southern but it is from a rather more complex kit and is taking a long time to finish.

The little NE one is ex-NBR and the big NE one is ex-GER. The CLC one differs from the GCR version (which would also have been in NE livery of course if I had one) in that it has the fittings for an internal adjustable partition. The big GWR one is ex-Cambrian Railways and the two LMS ones are Slaters kits (Midland if I remember that far back)  – one built so long ago that it still has three link couplings on one end, from the days when I was thinking of mixing couplings.

 

I also have a shortish cattle wagon in LMS livery from one of the RTR manufacturers but it will need a lot of work to make it look anything like respectable.

 

In mitigation of my lack of progress, I have also been painting and weathering pre-Grouping wagons for my other (not-yet-started) South Wales layout. At one stage there were about 20 wagons on the workbench in various states of undress.

 

I was asked for a layout plan. I never actually drew one up. I had the board and built the pointwork to be as compact as possible and then laid it so it looked right. Here is an aerial view with annotation. As you can see, it is pretty simple. I am hoping to get to the Stafford show next Saturday and buy some full wave rectifiers to replace those which have completely disappeared. Then I can complete the power pack and test the trackwork and point motor wiring. For some reason the sides of the layout look curved. They are not so it is either my lousy photography or something odd about the camera lens.

I have also been thinking about the other two buildings and have decided on prototypes. One will be a mid-19th century double fronted brick built house which sits between the Cambrian Warehouse extension and the station here in Newtown. The other will be based on the Cambrian Railways crossing keeper’s house at the level crossing on the main road near Caersws. The latter has been quite extensively modernized and extended so I shall be looking at other relevant CR built houses to get a feel for what it would have looked like. Neither will be accurate copies, but I hope they will suggest Montgomeryshire.

[ChrisN]

Jonathan,

These look good.  I do like the way they have been weathered/aged.  Also the picture sets them off a treat.

 

Where did you get the kit of the ex-Cambrian cattle wagon?

[corneliuslundie]

The ex Cambrian wagon is a Model Wagon Company kit. They disappeared years ago. I think some of the company'sr masters ended up with 51L but the cattle wagon is not in their list. They were good kits of some interesting prototypes.

 

The weathering was by brush using rust, track colour and Southern Railway brown (the latter is quite a dark colour with a reddish tinge and in small amounts I feel it looks more like dirt than track colour).

 

What is missing of course is a standard GWR cattle wagon. I shall have to see if I can pick up a Coopercraft kit or two.

 

Jonathan

[corneliuslundie]

Not as much progress as I had hoped, in fact not much at all on Sarn.

 

As soon as I had completed the last post I realised that I hadn't painted the buffers of the wagons, so I decided to see how many of my recently completed or "in-progress" wagons had unpainted buffers. This was the result a little while later, all with gunmetal buffers.

 

 

Eventually after nearly four weeks, the body kit arrived for ex-Cambrian 1196 from Gem. An enormous box, as shown below, inside which was a much smaller plastic box, which can be seen sitting on top of the cardboard one. Inside this in turn were the two rather small tissue wrapped packages sitting on top! The other bits and pieces in front of the boxes are all part of the project. I still need some EMGS split axles and insulated frame spacers, and a motor which will be from High Level. I shall probably get another gearbox to go with it as then I can sure they are designed to go together.

 

 

Meanwhile, I got out a project which has been on-going for some time: two Mid Wales Railway timber wagons. When I got this drawing from the HMRS it was the only Cambrian drawing available of a timber wagon, though there are now some more and I hope to pick up a much more modern one tomorrow to build for Sarn. The MWR ones are really far too early for Sarn as they would have been 60 years old in the 1930s, so they may turn up eventually on Nantcwmddu. There is no lettering because no-one knows what it was and the colour is also a guess as the best information I can come by suggests that they were probably grey. In fact at that period there was probably nothing except a cast number plate anyway. In due course they will be heavily weathered to suit some hard worked wagons 30 years old. The photo for these is in the 19th century wagons thread under Pre-Grouping Modelling as I said some time ago I would put one up when they were finished.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/92171-modelling-19th-and-century-wagons-in-4mm-mwr-timber-wagons/page-2

 

I got to the Stafford show, and very good it was, but I couldn't get the bridge rectifiers I was looking for for my power pack so I shall have to resort to mail order. In the meantime no further progress on testing the track.

 

I have identified the other two houses I want to build, and hope to start them shortly. I am currently putting together an ABS kit for a GWR V16 van. Initially it will be lettered for the Rhymney Railway (which had some built for it by the GWR) to be photographed, but it will then  change identity to a GWR one as it is too modern for Cwmnantddu. I also have several other wagon kits to complete as well as a couple of pregrouping wagons. And I really must get on with that ex-LSWR cattle wagon for Sarn.

 

Thanks for looking in. See you again in a couple of weeks.

[ChrisN]

Jonathan,

I always think it is a waste of good paint to get it out for just a little painting so you have the perfect excuse for leaving those buffers until you had a reasonable number. 

 

As you know I have the same kit but with an earlier superstructure so the build will be interesting.

 

I will reply on here about your timber wagons.  I think they look really nice but how did you build them, or have I missed that somewhere.  It would seem unlikely that they would have journeyed down the coast but it is possible and I am not exactly snowed under with wagons at the moment.

 

I will try and stop side-tracking you.

[corneliuslundie]

Time for the weekly (!!!) update.

 

As promised to ChrisN on his Traeth Mawr thread, this is the start of a blow-by-blow account of building a pair of Cambrian Railways timber wagons. I do not claim to be an expert on building wagons or on the wagons of the Cambrian Railways, but I hope this thread will show that if I can do it so can you. There is no magic involved.

 

There are however some commercial components involved. After many years I have a good collection of bits and pieces waiting to be used, including various types of wagon springs, axleboxes, buffers, brakes (especially the spares from Slaters PO wagons), as well as a pretty complete set of the plastic strip available from Evergreen and most available thicknesses of plastic sheet.

 

A word of advice here. Often we want sheet that is not one of the standard sizes (5, 10, 15, 20, 40, 60, 80 thou). So keep a look out for sheet that is some way off its nominal measurement. I have some 40 thou sheet that is really about 35 thou  and some that is about 45 thou.

 

What I don’t have is much sheet or strip metal as it is not my favourite material. For this project I happened to have some 1mm square brass rod (from Eileen’s Emporium) which is more or less suitable for the stanchions, and a motely selection of brass sheet from a mixed pack I bought many years ago at an exhibition.

 

So there are the bought in components for this project:

8 pinpoint bearings (not sure of the make, as I buy them in bulk, usually from Alan Gibson)

4 pairs of 8-spoke 12.5 mm diameter wheels (Alan Gibson)

Two sets of W irons, also with some V hangers on the etches (D&S Models)

8 Attocks grease axleboxes (not sure of the source but they seemed closest to those in the drawing)

8 wagon springs (51L wagons springs, the closest I could find though they have one leaf too few)

8 buffers (51L Cambrian type)

2 brake lever/guide etches (51L type G – I can’t use anything from my spares box because these wagons have both brake levers the same end)

Washer plate etches (spares from MJT W-iron etches)

4 couplings (Sprat & Winkle)

The first photo shows these along with the brakes from some kit or another (not Slaters), which look suitable for this non-standard wheelbase.

In addition I shall use some 1mm square brass rod for the stanchions, various thicknesses of plastic sheet, some 10thou by 80 thou plastic strip and some 10 thou square plastic rod to produce the following components:

4 solebars 12in by 4 5/8 in by 14ft 2in (4 x 1½ x 56 2/3 mm)

4 buffer beams 18in by 5in by 7ft 5in (6 x 1 2/3 x 29 2/3 mm)

4 side rails 9½in by 3½in by 14ft 2in (3 1/6 x 1 1/6 x 56 2/3 mm)

2 floors 6ft 10in by 2½in by 14ft 2in (27 1/3 x 5/6 x 56 2/3 mm, made up of 1/3 mm brass sheet with 20 thou plastic sheet bonded)

Central baulks under bolsters 2ft by 6in by 6ft 10in (8 x 2 x 27 1/3 mm, but see later)

4 coupling plates 14in by 8 in (4 2/3 x 2 2/3 mm by 10 thou)

8 corner plates 2ft 3in by 9in (9 x 3 mm by 10 thou)

2 bolsters 1ft by 10in by 7ft 5in (4 x 3 1/3 x 29 2/3 mm)

In some cases two thicknesses of plastic will be laminated together.

The second photo shows these pieces cut out, along with, at the bottom of the photo, the pieces of wire and plastic needed for mounting the couplings, and some rather bent 10thou square rod. Missing are the capping strips as I shall cut these to fit rather than measure.

Tools are very basic: a cutting mat, a sharp craft knife and another with a rather blunt blade, a small saw blade, a selection of small files, a selection of small drills (0.5mm and 2mm used most often), a steel rule (mine happens to be a type rule left from working days, as it has a nice matt finish), a small, old brush for solvent, some MEK and some superglue. And good lighting.

 

I am working from a drawing obtained from the HMRS. It is dated 1901 and was produced by the Cambrian Railways, so it may represent the wagons as built – though there are plenty of cases where the shop floor didn’t follow exactly what was on the drawing, knowing full well that it wouldn’t work. As I have no photos at present I shall follow the drawing as far as possible.

The drawing claims to be 1 inch to the foot, but it is smaller than that, so one of my first jobs was to produce a scale I could measure off to find actual dimensions. I chose the overall wagon length (15ft on the prototype) and marked this distance on a line drawn on a sheet of A4 paper. I then used basic geometry to divide this into 15 1ft lengths and the first foot into four 3in distances. Anything smaller than this I will estimate by eye.

 

Next time, I will illustrate the creation of the basic shell, not at all difficult. I shall no doubt find that some of the pieces I cut out are not quite square and will have to make replacements, but that seems to be par for the course with me.

 

I have also been working on completing two other vehicles, the aforementioned ex-LSWR cattle wagon and a GWR V16 van. Both are now at the lettering stage so photos next week, along with some progress on the timber wagons. I am still waiting for some parts from the EMGS for the loco kit and have not sorted out my power supply so no testing of the layout wiring yet, but hope springs eternal.

 

Jonathan

[alanbuttler]

Hi Jonathan, it will be great to see this progress.  I've just looked through the list of Cambrian drawings on HMRS, it was a nice surprise to find a 1st floor plan of Oswestry Station.  Until now I've only found the ground floor plan which was in the National Archives.  Oswestry station building is somewhere I'd like to build once I've completed the works.

[ChrisN]

Jonathan,

What an excellent start!  I was going to ask if you wrote the instructions for Airfix kits which were always good in my opinion but then I realised how long ago it was I last built one of them.  I will follow with interest and eventually build one myself, although not sure when.

 

All the best.

[corneliuslundie]

No, Chris, I am not that old. Airfix kits were what I cut my teeth on. But I was a technical journalist for much of my career. And you need to build two as they usually carried long things such as tree trunks. Which prompts the memory that I recently saw the Kitmaster brand being used again. Now those were good kits.

 

And to Alan, yes quite a bit of Cambrian material has recently been scanned and indexed by the HMRS drawings team, though they have tens if not hundreds of thousands still to do. Until recently the only timber wagon with Cambrian connections on the list was the Mid Wales one. 

 

Jonathan

[alanbuttler]

Great, I'll have to make a trip to the HMRS museum at some point.  I'm hoping to go to the Derby show in May in the roundhouse, so maybe I could tag a visit on then.

[Donw]

Interesting project Jonathan and at least some progress. My 0 gauge Cambrian Timber wagons will be the Dragon models ones. I started one but it got packed in the move and has only just resurfaced. Mine will be in Cambrian livery.

 

If you are good with a computer create a rule in a drawing package then adjust the size so its fit to the drawing and print off.

 

Don

[corneliuslundie]

No progress on the layout yet as I am still waiting to talk to friends at model railway club about a possible option for a power supply.

 

Other things have also taken time away from modelling including an unexpected batch of things to do for the HMRS and a stomach bug which only lasted a few days but really precluded any sensible activity for that time.

 

Two vehicles for Sarn have been finished but still need weathering, though both show my repeated incompetence when it comes to van roofs. 

The cattle wagon is the mixed etched/cast kit I mentioned previously. It will have to do but I am not very happy with it. The van is an Adrian Swain (ABS) GWR V16. First, it had a few minutes of glory as its youthful Rhymney Railway self. Some of these vans were built by the GWR for the Rhymney Railway after the First World War, but of course within a few years became GWR property. This is too late for my proposed Rhymney Railway layout, but as I want a photo for an article I am writing on RR goods stock (there are none known of these vans in RR days) it got lettered up on one side as RR. After its trip to the studio it was stripped of lettering and given the number it would have carried after the Grouping – on both sides this time. I hope fame doesn’t go to its head.

 

No progress on the two Cambrian timber wagons, other than to look out the photo of similar wagons in Great Western Way, as just haven't had the enthusiasm. What I hadn’t noticed previously is that in that photo the two wagons are permanently coupled, though they seem similar to the drawing. Something to decide on before I start building though it would save four buffers.

 

Someone commented on the picture behind wagons when I photograph them. I got fed up with taking photos against a sheet of white paper, so decided to produce a miniature diorama. It is just over a foot wide, with track built from SMP sleepers and chairs. There is effectively a hinge between the “floor” and the back so it can be laid flat, and the rear supports can also be folded down, so it is easy to store and transport. The “backscene” is a photo I downloaded and printed on my A3 printer. The tree is from a different photo, cut around with scissors and simply stuck onto the backscene – as is rather too obvious in some photos. The fence, complete with some weeds at its base, is stuck in front to mask the step from 3 to 2 dimensions. I am quite pleased with it, though it is now a bit warped. I hope the photos make clear anything my words don’t. In the near future it is going to act as the site for some ballasting trials.

Other than that I have been lettering up more of the Rhymney Railway wagons I have built over the past year or so (though am having problems finding suitable transfers), and I have also made up a 5&9 Models kit for a dumb  buffered coal wagon, one of several which my son gave me for my birthday. It is a sweet little thing though unusual in having a side door on only one side, though not in very sharp focus I am afraid. This one will get Nantwcmddu Coal Company internal user livery in due course. However, it struck me that one of the other models in the range might fit nicely in the livery of the Traeth Mawr Lime, Coal and Timber Co (or whatever the local coal merchant calls his business). 5&9 Models has a website but the kits are not so readily available now as they used to be.

Thanks for your interest.

 

Jonathan