RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted March 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8 15 minutes ago, JZ said: Sadly all gone. Smiths and Greyhound demolished and the Traveller's and Quarryman's are private houses. B*gger!! Mike. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted March 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8 24 minutes ago, JZ said: The cars look to be 1930's, but maybe some who knows their Foden buses can date it. http://www.sct61.org.uk/index/operator/we/we1b Interesting use of a sprag. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cwmtwrch Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 25 minutes ago, JZ said: The cars look to be 1930's, but maybe some who knows their Foden buses can date it. From this you can start to get some idea of the tortuous nature of the turn to get under the railway. The bus is No. 1, carrying its original body, which dates the photo to some time between July 1949 and February 1953. The Government of the time was prioritising exports, so pre-war cars were still much in evidence. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said: http://www.sct61.org.uk/index/operator/we/we1b Interesting use of a sprag. Mike. The picture with the Anglia overtaking reminds me of my Uncle attempting Porlock Hill in his. We made it. Eventually. I wonder if the photo's were on the same trip, with the photographer beating the bus up the hill? Edited March 8 by JZ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cwmtwrch Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 36 minutes ago, JZ said: Line in the bottom left on this one. You can see the proximity of Bargoed station. It looks as though the track has been lifted. The parapet of the bridge is visible and the three pubs close to it are clear. The end wall of the Smiths Arms appears above the roof of the Travellers' Rest, but how much else is left is not very clear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cwmtwrch Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 30 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said: Interesting use of a sprag. The buses which worked up Great Ormes Head, Llandudno had the same provision, and there were probably others. The idea was to prevent the vehicle running back if the driver missed a gear change [manual boxes in those days of course...] 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8 7 hours ago, JZ said: Put the original photo through a colourization app and straightened it. Fantastic! How did you do that?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8 Love this prototype, looking forward to the layout build. I take it you've seen the Pen & Sword series on the B & M by John Hodge? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 12 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said: Fantastic! How did you do that?? Free app on my phone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 11 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said: Love this prototype, looking forward to the layout build. Let's see how the building s go first. 12 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said: I take it you've seen the Pen & Sword series on the B & M by John Hodge? I haven't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8 36 minutes ago, JZ said: Let's see how the building s go first. I haven't. Worth getting, especially the volume that covers Aberbargoed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Just now, Captain Kernow said: Worth getting, especially the volume that covers Aberbargoed. I'll give Simon a shout. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8 38 minutes ago, JZ said: Free app on my phone. But how do they do it?! How does it know which colour to use?! Your colour version looks like it was taken on Kodachrome! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8 Just now, JZ said: I'll give Simon a shout. The whole B & M system was really interesting, I think. You probably need the middle volume... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 15 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said: But how do they do it?! How does it know which colour to use?! Your colour version looks like it was taken on Kodachrome! General view seem to come out OK, but as soon as a loco is involved, it goes a bit skew whiff. The app is called colorize. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 8 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8 1 hour ago, Captain Kernow said: You probably need the middle volume... Actually, you need Volume 1, sorry about that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 9 hours ago, Captain Kernow said: Actually, you need Volume 1, sorry about that. I've ordered all three. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 9 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 9 3 hours ago, JZ said: I've ordered all three. In fact, Pen & Sword do other titles on the railways of South Wales and in particular the Welsh valleys, most penned by the late John Hodge. If you're into the railways of that area, then they're all worth collecting. The latest one, due for release in April I think, is the Vale of Neath, possibly the last book done by John Hodge before he sadly died recently. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 (edited) One railway that always interested me was the Neath & Brecon. Back in a previous life, I was a keen caver, most of which was done in the Swansea Valley. I was a member of South Wales Caving Club and our base was, still is, at Penwyllt, close to Craig -y-nos station. When I joined the, the line was still open, but rarely used, for traffic from the quarry. It could be a rather bleak place when the weather came down. Caving in those days usually involved a lot of drinking afterwards and the main pubs we used were the Ancient Briton, in Abercraf and The Prices Arms, in Colbren. Now the Price's was next to Colbren Jct and in the summer, we would often walk down the line to get there. In the winter, there would usually be someone willing to take their Land rover along the track. One rather drunken evening, someone had the bright idea to purchase an old car, put rail wheels on it and use that. A few weeks later, a clapped out Vauxhall Viva turned up, but we never did get hold of the rail wheels and the car slowly rusted away. I did build an N scale model of the station, the first layout built solely by myself. Edited March 9 by JZ addition 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 (edited) Did a bit of virtual modelling today. And I have found a Rhymney Beers sign similar to the one on the end wall of the Traveller's rest. Edited March 9 by JZ 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted March 9 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 9 (edited) 13 hours ago, JZ said: One railway that always interested me was the Neath & Brecon. Back in a previous life, I was a keen caver, most of which was done in the Swansea Valley. I was a member of South Wales Caving Club and our base was, still is, at Penwyllt, close to Craig -y-nos station. When I joined the, the line was still open, but rarely used, for traffic from the quarry. It could be a rather bleak place when the weather came down. Caving in those days usually involved a lot of drinking afterwards and the main pubs we used were the Ancient Briton, in Abercraf and The Prices Arms, in Colbren. Now the Price's was next to Colbren Jct and in the summer, we would often walk down the line to get there. In the winter, there would usually be someone willing to take their Land rover along the track. One rather drunken evening, someone had the bright idea to purchase an old car, put rail wheels on it and use that. A few weeks later, a clapped out Vauxhall Viva turned up, but we never did get hold of the rail wheels and the car slowly rusted away. I did build an N scale model of the station, the first layout built solely by myself. What a small world it is sometimes. Back in another life, early 70s, chum and I on a hillwalking trip camped in the quarry at Penwyllt, using water and the toilets in the SWCC’s cottages there, with permission. We managed Bannau Brychieniog, the Cribarth Wellington, and Fan Gyhirych over a long weekend, and beer in the Ancient Briton one evening, Tafarn y Garreg another. Tent pitched in the quarry, not the most beautiful spot in that spectacularly beautiful area but out of the wind; as you say, it can be a little bleak up there… Good to hear that the SWCC is still going strong and still based at Penwyllt. Great days and happy memories! Edited March 9 by The Johnster 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 7 hours ago, The Johnster said: What a small world it is sometimes. Back in another life, early 70s, chum and I on a hillwalking trip camped in the quarry at Penwyllt, using water and the toilets in the SWCC’s cottages there, with permission. We managed Bannau Brychieniog, the Cribarth Wellington, and Fan Gyhirych over a long weekend, and beer in the Ancient Briton one evening, Tafarn y Garreg another. Tent pitched in the quarry, not the most beautiful spot in that spectacularly beautiful area but out of the wind; as you say, it can be a little bleak up there… Good to hear that the SWCC is still going strong and still based at Penwyllt. Great days and happy memories! I had a few brick from the brickworks there. A couple are in a barbecue I built at, now, my ex wife's. But I had a couple left that were built into a barbecue at my present house. Sadly when I knocked it down for my railway shed, they split beyond help. I remember a walk a group of us did from Penwyllt to Fan Gyhirych. We started in deep snow that had fallen overnight. This then turned into thick fog and we navigated to the summit by compass. Coming down the other side, the fog cleared and we had a beautiful blue sky. As we walked back along the old railway line, the sun was setting, turning the hillsides into a lovely shade of orange. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted March 10 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 10 (edited) Sounds marvellous. Gyhirych is an underrated summit with superb views of the other mountains. I’ve also done it from the bwlch near Maen Llia on the Ystradfellte-Senni road, a very satisfying afternoon hike. Edited March 10 by The Johnster 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cwmtwrch Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 15 hours ago, JZ said: Did a bit of virtual modelling today. The Milk poster was around from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, and had a black background. Your software seems to have given the image a red cast, also shown in the 'white' letters, which really were white. With the Fernvale poster there seems to be a change in the background colour just above "Prince"; the area immediately below the name looks the same as that above. Trying to determine colours from B & W photos is very difficult to impossible, of course, but it doesn't look quite the same to as the black of the milk poster, to me anyway. I have never found a colour image of this poster, but, when I tried to reproduce it a few years ago, I did find https://brewerytrays.co.uk/cms/index.php/fernvale-brewery-co-ltd-round-alloy.html.html and https://brewerytrays.co.uk/cms/index.php/new-product-115.html, so possibly the lower part of the poster might be dark blue rather than black? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enfys_Rainbow Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Interesting thread! I saw the original photo on FB too. My wife is from Bargoed. Matt 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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