Blog- Penlan - LNWR in South Wales. - History

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All I wanted was a Topic - that wotrked like RMWeb, but no this text put in first then ended up atthe bottom of the pile, whereas I wanted you to read it first, so I had to delete and make it the second entry so you can read it first..... Topics didn't work like this......... anway here goes.

 

So, PENLAN the layout ??“ after numerous requests, I have collected together the data that??™s distributed around RMWeb and created a specific topic for it.

 

The following is a partial extract from the Text I supplied to the RM earlier this year, and is included to show how I got here??¦. Photographs are credited to their taker where known, I have not used any from the RM as these are specifically subject to copyright.

 

My interest??™s in the LNWR in Central Wales and the MT&A lines in the period 1900 ??“ 1910 where cemented when I met Tudor Watkins, Martin Wynne and Colin Brace at the Worcester Model Railway Club in 1972 ??“ Tudor is the master of Neath & Brecon knowledge, Martin is known on this Forum and Colin is somewhere high up in Railtrack or whatever it??™s called now. We became the S&T section of the Worcester Club (Stand & Talk) preferring to work on our own layouts at home. I am a member of the Welsh Railways Research Circle and the LNWR Society, both very useful sources of prototype and modelling information. I have tried to embrace the internet as a silver surfer and have found this Forum a valuable source of inspiration and problem solving. I look with wonder at the last 10 years in the RTR market and the rise of modelling standards as shown every day on this Forum and every month in the high street magazines, standards and detail far removed from the days when I started back in the 1950??™s, some people say my standards are still some 25 years behind, so be it, it??™s my approach to the hobby. A brief word to say my other hobby is Longbridge Austin 7??™s, 1922 ??“ 1939, I??™m the International Registrar for the A7 Clubs Association.

 

PENLAN, the layout was featured in the March 1993 Railway Modeller under the name of ???Hartwell??™, and it was built by John Degg and Bill Wood of Stoke on Trent. In the early years on the exhibition circuit I supplied a lot of the rolling stock, reduced as John and Bill built up their own stock. The trackwork was built to a gauge of 18mm (EM gauge) with some tight clearances, using ply sleepers with copper rivets, rail soldered to these and then C&L cosmetic chairs glued on ??“ a process none of us wanted to be involved with again for some time. Eventually the layout was retired in 2002 after the Wigan Show and I brought it down to my home in west Cornwall for my own use. The main reason was I faced the fact that now I??™m retired, I would probably never have the time to build a layout to the standards I required, especially with my declining faculties. In 2006 local members of the EM Gauge Society decided to set up a Cornwall EMGS area group, and I found myself coerced back into active modelling again.

 

Hartwell was renamed PENLAN, reflecting the area I??™m interested in, the LNWR??™s Central Wales Line between Craven Arms and Swansea Victoria. Where??™s PENLAN? There is not a station called PENLAN on the Central Wales line, although various Penlan??™s do exist around the Swansea area. The layout??™s location is somewhere south of Pontarddulais, about 8 miles from the LNWR??™s Swansea Victoria terminus.

 

PENLAN ??“ I have made a number of changes to the layout from it??™s Hartwell days to reflect the character of the Central Wales line and my methods of operating a layout. These include a double track at one end, with an additional baseboard inserted beyond the viaduct, inspired by the view in MRJ 28 (1989) of the late David Ratcliff??™s LNWR Banbury layout, of a train coming out of a gentle slopping cutting. When I came to put in a new cross over for the double track, I found the trackwork had been laid to older standards than the current EM ones, viz. 18mm rather than 18.2mm track gauge and track centres at 42mm rather than 45mm ??“ I had wondered why my slightly over width coach running boards had been catching the ground signals. I have added sidings, the scenic board and widened three other boards. The baseboards are built from 9mm MDF board and to a standard size 3??™ long by 2??™ wide, which makes them easy to handle single handed, however the three widened boards have proved to be a pain to move about. The baseboards are aligned with pattern makers dowels, held together with over-centre clips at the front and back edges. The overall size of layout 31??™ x 2??™6???, of which 21??™ is scenic ??“ with two 3600 rotating four foot long fiddle yard boards at either end. When transporting the layout to exhibitions - pairs of baseboards are clipped face to face with protective endboards, to make up boxes..

 

On Hartwell the electric??™s, points and signals were fully interlocked, both within the hidden away control panels and position feedback from the actual point and signal motors. When I set about making some adjustments to the track layout, the existing interlocking caused a lot of headaches, so in the end I removed all the interlocking and built a new, much more accessible, control panel with a form of passive interlocking and DC sections that can be switched to any controller ??“ DCC has no attracted me yet, although it would be a god-send for the double track entry and dual lines fiddle yard, at the Down / Swansea end of the layout, I??™ve had my moments with this fiddle yard including at Cardiff Show in 2008, when seemingly all the tracks became live and trains moved due to a set of circumstances when 3 controllers were in use at the same time ??“ it had not shown up on pre-show tests before ??“ this has now been rectified. One of the considerations for the choice of a simple as possible operating system on PENLAN is that I only do a couple of exhibitions a year and ???the team??™ who live about 250 miles away from me only meet up on such occasions, thus it??™s difficult for them (and me) to be trained up ready to operate anything complicated ??“ every layout has it??™s quirks.

 

Some of Hartwell??™s ground signals have been removed and replaced with semaphore arm signals, plus some extra signals for new movements due to the revised track plan. The majority of points and signals are operated through Fulgarex motors wired for AC operation, but there are four signals operated by servo motors through the excellent MERG drivers. Cosmetic point roding has still to be installed (Sept 09). There are three handheld controllers built by me from a design of 30+ years ago. They are designated for Up line/Fiddle yard, Down line /Fiddle yard and one for the Goods Yard.

 

Hartwell??™s buildings have been moved and added to, such as the goods shed which is reduced in height by 6mm and an ???office??™ added on to give it more dimensional interest, the Goods Shed back wall also needed some attention as it had seriously bowed. The new cattle dock is based on the one at Llanwdra, the details of the LNWR style fencing was very difficult to track down, but once I had completed the cattle dock, lo and behold a photograph arrived in the post showing the details to perfection!! The glazing in most buildings is real glass ??“ 5thou microscope cover slips. I have changed the general nature of the scenery to try and reflect the area to the north west of Swansea. I have used some items from previous layouts if they fit in, such as the two arched overbridge at the Swansea (Down) end and the footbridge at the other end, these were rescued from a former layout of mine - Holywell Town. The Ratio telegraph poles are scheduled to be replaced with scratch built types more in keeping with the Victorian/Edwardian period of the layout.

 

The stone walling is part of the Merit Range now distributed by Peco, cut into short sections and hot-glued in place. This is gradually being replaced by modified timber fencing from Ratio. The Saxby & Farmer Signal Cabin was built by me in 1970 for Penlan Mk 1, an early use of Plastikard in the UK and has featured on a number of my layouts since, Hartwell??™s signal box was a scratch built LNWR type 4, which is now produced by Bachmann (Ref. 44-011 Hampton North Signal Box), after the third time of being asked if it was the ???Bachmann box??™, I thought time to change, plus in it??™s original position on the Up platform it was not a very good place to be ??“ on the inside of a curve with the main station building blocking any sight line in the down direction.

 

The rolling stock is either scratch or kit built, many of the coaches are assembled from etched zinc printers plates on privately etched chassis??™, glazing in the coaches is glass ??“ 5thou microscope cover slips. All the painting, PO hand lettering, coach and locomotive lining is done by me. Recent RTR offerings have been of such high quality that some are now used on the layout (e.g. Dapol??™s ???Berthlwyd??™ weathered wagons for instance). My LNWR stock has appeared on various layouts at exhibitions and private running sessions including the David Jenkinson??™s Long Drag layout when it was owned by the late Keith Bannister, to see 12 coach trains in full LNWR livery gliding by from an armchair with a cool drink to hand, contentment!

 

At exhibitions my main co-operator is Tudor Watkins and we feature a selection of his splendid Neath & Brecon Rly., rolling stock to give it a day out from his non-portable layout, Devynogg ??“ This layout is to be featured soon in RM.

 

Right, now to photo??™s etc. The sources are acknowledged in the titles, all are extracted from RMWeb pages.

The photos deal with PENLAN as it is now, I shall add some more pages of the mods undertaken to widen the base boards and change the scenics in due course.

 

Penlan

 

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