Cwmafon

[Michael Edge]

I have been persuaded to start a topic on this layout, it's been around for a long time now but it still exists and and I have plans to improve and develop it. First of all some history, Cwmafon was originally planned in 1978 as a small fiddle yard to station layout with a colliery, in this form is was straight, about 18ft by 18in.

 

 

The fiddle yard was a traverser, hand operated originally but later powered, the station wasn't a terminus, the line was presumed to go on up the valley to Blaenavon. The colliery exchange sidings were inspired by Mountain Ash where the NCB used a former branch line running parallel to the reamining one. Place names were taken from the map, all track layouts are entirely fictitious, most of the buildings were based on real locations.

 

 

This ancient photo shows about half of the original layout, past the road bridge is the traverser at one side and the working tippler on the inside. This was in the 1980s in the York Assembly Rooms, (anyone remember the pillars?) after Cwmafon had been extended a bit.

 

 

The other end looked like this, colliery on a higher level with exchange sidings on the former line at the right. These sidings drop down quite steeply, in fact there are hardle any level sidings on the layout, quite a lot of power is required to lift a raft of full 24T wagons out - and the operators have to be very careful pushing them down. The line to Blaenavon has disappeared under the pit - two dead end sidings in fact.

The screening plant was designed to load the wagons with coal, initially on one road only but now on two. We don't use real coal though, it tends to crush to dust and jam the mechanism, the "coal" is Woodlands scenics cinder ballast.

 

More to follow.

[Joseph_Pestell]

It's quite surprising that there are not more models of the South Wales Valleys. Ideal really with compact track layouts on sloping hillsides.

 

Perhaps we will see more of them now that we have 4200 and 7200 locos to add to the 5600.

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

Marvellous to see this at last, Mike - one of my inspirations from my early days of reading the RM.  I recall the roundy roundy days....

 

Always loved working tipplers etc

[DLT]

Very nice indeed Mike, I vaguely remember it.  Looking forward to hearing/seeing more.

Cheers,

Dave.T

[Barry O]

Here... thats a young Barry O on that their photograph - is that a repayment for nagging you to do a layout thread??

[Michael Edge]

Got it in one Barry - and there are more to come.

[Barry O]

If I can find any more photographs other than this..

 

 

and the Hunslets on shed I will put them on here if that is OK?

[Michael Edge]

Cwmafon was extended into a U shape before its first exhibition appearance. This incorporated an even older section of layout (dating from 1976), the gravity marshalling yard which had formed an extension to my earlier model of Wigan Wallgate. The top end of the screens was now accessed so the empties could be hauled up and propelled down through them. Underneath the board carrying part of the spoil heap one of the Blaenavon sidings was extended round, on a fairly sharp curve as the available space in the loft was only 6ft wide. Continuing the same valleys theme the colliery railway was also modelled as a truncated line - leaves room for a future extension to another pit up the valley of course.....

The marshalling yard was LNWR in origin so it was easily transposed from South Lancashire to the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny line. This is double track between two small fiddle yards with the branch from Cwmafon joining - supposedly at Clydach, ignoring the very steep hill on the MT&A at this point.

 

 

The gravity yard at this time ended under the road bridge with a concealed flexible buffer stop arrangement. On more than one occasion spectators have been known to reach over the barriers and catch the runaway train that they thought was about to end up on the floor.

 

 

I don't have any good photos of the yard from early days, these show the present arrangement. Loco facilities are confined to an ashpit and water column, the yard looks quite full in this photo. Shunting the gravity yard (not a hump, more like the Edge Hill gridiron with a continuous gradient) is challenging to saythe least. The wagons do roll down the yard by gravity, if a little too quickly, this is one factor that can't be scaled. All of the sidings (and much of the running lines) on the layout slope to some extent, all the wagons have to be free rolling so we have to use brake vans with deliberately stiff bearings to hold the trains when left without a loco.

 

 

Falcon on the arrival road with a short fitted freight, loco is a Q kit. In the background a WD 2-8-0 departs tender first with coal empties for Cwmafon.

 

 

The main reason for building the layout was to run some of the fascinating variety of locos from the various companies. Outside Cwmafon's small loco shed (actually modelled on Branches Fork) are a Barry railway class B 0-6-2T and an Alexandra Docks 0-6-2ST, both scratch built. In the background is the NCB loco shed which is based on the one at Pontardulais.

 

 

This is one of the oldest photos of the NCB shed, of these locos only the 4wh Sentinel is still in use, Avonside 0-4-0ST "Rhiannon" and Austerity "Gwyneth" have now retired to permanent static display.

 

 

Hunslet 16" 0-6-0ST "Dafydd" was the first steam loco built for the layout, this and the RH165DE (MTK kit) are still in use.

 

 

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

I'd forgotten the gravity yard - what I always liked about this layout was how it avoided all the contemporary clichés in the MR at that time, and felt like a model of a proper working railway, not a model railway. 

 

And I fondly recall 'Falcon', a definitive Newport engine if ever there was one... didn't you have some gorgeous BSC diesels, including Big Alcos and such as well?

[Barry O]

A great layout to operate - but the gravity yard area is taxing for operators... at least you can stand a mug of coffee on the control panel!

[Michael Edge]

I'd forgotten the gravity yard - what I always liked about this layout was how it avoided all the contemporary clichés in the MR at that time, and felt like a model of a proper working railway, not a model railway. 

 

And I fondly recall 'Falcon', a definitive Newport engine if ever there was one... didn't you have some gorgeous BSC diesels, including Big Alcos and such as well?

The SCoW diesels you are thinking of belong to another layout, not mine. Our only transatlantic interloper is this EMD SW1000, an Athearn model with UK buffers added but still HO scale. It hasn't seen much use in recent years, the new Hunslets are much more reliable. I haven't done any of the Port Talbot locos because all of them are some way outside UK loading gauge, not just the Alcos but the Brush/Bagnalls as well. Cwmafon locos have to negotiate some very tight clearances in some places.

 

 

The SW1000 and a Hunslet 776hp 0-8-0 outside the steelworks loco shed.

[Andy Y]

c3c.jpg

 

This ancient photo shows 

 

Poor Barry!

[Barry O]

Andy 

 

I am not THAT old!

 

but I need to get back to that shape and size... 

 

Barry

[Arthur]

 

Is the steelworks loco shed based on a particular prototype Michael?, it certainly looks the part. It's good to see an 'extensive'', industrially themed, layout.

 

 

 

The BSC Alco mentioned is probably the one built by Hywel Thomas for his Morfa Bank layout, there a photo of it in this thread;

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/42766-an-alco-question/

[The Stationmaster]

Andy 

 

I am not THAT old!

 

but I need to get back to that shape and size... 

 

Barry

Don't we all!

[d winpenny]

Looking great

 

David

[LNER4479]

Nice layout thread; thanks for sharing.

 

Can see where the shunting 'bug' comes from and hence the link to Herculaneum Dock

[Michael Edge]

Is the steelworks loco shed based on a particular prototype Michael?, it certainly looks the part. It's good to see an 'extensive'', industrially themed, layout.

 

 

 

The BSC Alco mentioned is probably the one built by Hywel Thomas for his Morfa Bank layout, there a photo of it in this thread;

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/42766-an-alco-question/

The steelworks shed is actually based on Pwllheli - more details later.

[Barry O]

"The other end looked like this, colliery on a higher level with exchange sidings on the former line at the right. These sidings drop down quite steeply, in fact there are hardle any level sidings on the layout, quite a lot of power is required to lift a raft of full 24T wagons out - and the operators have to be very careful pushing them down. The line to Blaenavon has disappeared under the pit - two dead end sidings in fact."

 

With the original SJR Mk42 couplings used on the layout full trains did become uncoupled and ran away down the sidings - full 24T wagons are very heavy and being free running the buffer stops at the end of the sidings have been removed more than once... and you do have to pick the right loco to get these wagons out of these sidings...

Edited November 13, 2013 by Barry O

[marc smith]

The steelworks shed is actually based on Pwllheli - more details later.

Yes please

[Michael Edge]

The next development was to fill in the end of the layout. The plan below appeared in Railway Modeller, their art department made a few "creative" alterations to my plan, including a goods shed at Cwmafon.

 

 

The layout now filled the available space in my long narrow loft, the strange shape of the baseboards at the LH end are where it went out into the window. I've never been known for wasting space.

I now had a complete railway, although it is possible to run trains round on a continuous route this is not normally done apart from testing and the last half hour of some exhibitions. The lower end of the gravity yard has now appeared, with part of a rolling mill alongside. The rolling mill hides the fiddle yard representing the MT&A to Brynmawr. The steelworks traffic now had somewhere to go, previously it was just one road of the traverser and only needed one loco. The traffic pattern ran (and more or less still does, with some alterations/additions) as follows.

Passenger trains run from Newport to Blaenavon (sidings under the pit), these normally cross in Cwmafon station and there is a connecting service (LMS push-pull set) to Brynmawr. Coal empties come up from Newport to the colliery, loads down the valley. Eventually the loaded trains would arrive in one of the fiddle yards to be emptied (by hand). Local coal traffic, much of it in NCB internal user wagons runs on the colliery/steelworks system to the tippler which can take up to 21T wagons. With the completion of the circle steel wagons could run on a circuit, empties run anti clockwise, loads clockwise. the loads are mostly real steel and some of the wagons are white metal kits so once again some considerable power is need at times on the gradients. Since the steelworks is at a higher level, one road on the traverser was turned into a rather precarious looking steep ramp - it wasn't unknown for a lift of wagons to drag a light loco back down and bringing the loaded steel wagons down had to be done with care.

On the LNW side, passenger trains occasionally shuttle between fiddle yards but the operator was usually kept busy sorting traffic for different routes. One additional working now was iron ore. This arrives (most improbably) from the  Abergavenny direction with a banking engine and runs into the yard. The train is now reversed to run anti clockwise to Cwmafon, after arrival in the steelworks the loads are removed and the path reversed.

Many more reasons for traffic have been invented, including excursion trains running direct from Newport to Brynmawr (and presumably beyond), too many to detail here but every time we get the layout out some new moves are found.

All this needed a fictitious map of the area to show how the routes connect so I drew this diagram up.

 

 

In practice the Ebbw Vale branch of course joins the Newport line to complete the circle.

 

 

A few more "ancient" photos (sorry Barry) from the archives.

 

[Barry O]

and a very young "Fred" and that Australian Scotsman Mr Nuttall.. and whose that bloke in the black framed glasses??

 

York show in the Assembly rooms with pillars and non flat floor - added even more gradient to the gradients on the layout.

 

Gravity yard looks full  - and you didn't mention the way the layout is stocked - just keep adding more wagons....

[Nicktoix]

....shunt them about and the add some more. The gravity yard has lots more space yet Mr E is managing to shunt it still.

Nick

[Barry O]

any photos of knitting needles or pit operators?

[Michael Edge]

 

Two Hunslet diesels in the exchange sidings. No4 is the first industrial diesel I built, from plastikard and including an error in th eengine casing - it should be narrower in front of the cab door. Next to it is a brand new 776hp 0-8-0DH, this is a scratchbuilt one, not our kit. The locos are standing on one of the tracks of the abandoned ADR line, now used for coal wagons. The gradient is apparent, as is the one on the tracks behind the locos which goes up to the pit. At least the loaded wagons only come down this one.

 

 

An interloper on test, newly built DJH U1 Garratt leaves Cwmafon station towards Blaenavon. The signals do work (most of the time) but they are rather flimsy ones built from Ratio kits.

 

 

The GWR's one and only 350hp 0-6-0DE, newly repainted as BR 15100 on trial in Clydach yard. This is the test etch Judith Edge model.

 

 

The same loco at Cwmafon with a loaded steel train.

 

 

Another loco on trial is Taurus, seen here with coke empties from Ebbw Vale. This runs so well that one of our operators was heard to ask for a fleet of them.

 

 

Another view from the Newport end of Cwmafon, CISC Garratt arriving in the exchange yard from the steelworks. Behind the loco is the NCB loco depot with HE 16" Dafydd and I think Wee Fergie on the other road. The black coal wagon with the X on the side is one of the internal fleet.