mike morley

A small selection of images from today's 7mm show in Carmarthen.

 

Come on, you tease.  Give us some more!

Chris

What are the instructions with the Shirescenes carriage like?

I bought a Shirescenes farmers cart kit a few months ago and the instructions that came with it are the most unbelievably appalling things I've ever had the misfortune to behold.  I have since learned from others that they are typical of their carts and wagons range, which makes me rather wary of tackling any of their carriages.

I've got one of these getting close to the top of the "to do" list so it's good to see one under construction..

I've always fancied a go at both split-chassis construction and CSB suspension and the moment I took it out of the box I thought it was an ideal candidate for both, but I'm a bit wary of taking two leaps into the unknown at the same time.  What do you reckon?

That's good enough for me!  Thank you

I make no apologies for reviving an old thread, because one this useful deserves being given a bump to bring it to the attention of those who might not have seen it before.

The question I've got that prompted the revival is to ask what others do when trying to apply static grass when in close proximity to things like backscenes, bridge abutments, retaining walls and the like because I've found I simply cannot get the applicator close enough to where I want it to go to do a good job. 

So far, the best results I've had have involved chucking a generous pinch of "grass" at the glue then waving the charged applicator as close to the scene of the action as I can get it in the hope of getting the threads to stand on end  The results have, at best, been no more than okay, and never good enough to get away without introducing some kind of scenic break (a fence, a bush, a clump of weeds or undergrowth) between them and the areas where the applicator could be wielded the way the manufacturer intended.

I've just noticed that this August Bank Holiday's Corris show is billed as being at The Plas in Mach, rather than its usual venue at the school next to Corris station.

An admittedly very quick trawl through here finds no other mention of this so I'm not sure if this is news or yet another case of me being a bit fick. 

I now click "post" fully expecting to be told that the venue changed last year, when I couldnt go . . .

Edited to add that I've snce had a deeper trawl but still have found no other mention of the change of venue.

Cherry Orchard Farm, Penallt, on the climb out of the Wye Valley opposite Redbrook.  I'm not sure if that green is paint or algae!  A combination of both, possibly.

In "Behind the Steam" Bill Morgan gives a graphic description of having to fire a Bulldog on a bitterly cold winter night hauling a passenger train tender-first from Whitland to Neyland, a distance he mentions is 27 miles. This would have been in the early 20's.

Most of my childhood was spent on the footbridge at Southall and something that needs to be added to your stocklist is Class 08 number D3972. In the early/mid 60's the Brentford branch was the sole preserve of D3972 - I never saw anything else go there. Usual train length was 6 or so vehicles (almost always vans, always fitted, all very shabby) and although longer trains were fairly common I dont recall seeing any longer than about ten vehicles.

By then the shed itself was mostly used for stabling DMU's although the odd loco (usually a Hymek or a Class 22, which in those days were called North British) came or went. Strangely, I never saw D3972 visit the shed itself.

Go for belt and braces construction. This is one area where old-fashioned two-by-one, or even three-by-one timber framing is better than currently trendy plywood or MDF because it will come in for rougher treatment than "normal" baseboards.

If you have a choice, I would also advise a hinged flap rather than a complete lift-out section. A hinged flap can get dropped (hence the need for belt and braces construction) but it cannot get dropped onto the floor, which a lift out section can.

Finally, rig up a microswitch or something that cuts power to the track approaching the flap when it is raised so a train cannot inadvertantly be driven into a yawning chasm.

I've got two of the Kemilway/Peter K Cambrian carriage kits so am only too well aware of the shortcomings of their underpinnings.

Having tackled what is provided by the kit and failed, my advice would be to invest in one of Brassmasters Cleminson kits. That's what I did and am extremely impressed by the results, although I have to admit that when I first opened the packet I was a bit baffled and didnt quite believe it was going to work until I put it on the track.

Trust me, it does - far better than you could ever believe.

The Cambrian carriages call for minimum wheelbase (don't worry that the "correct" wheelbase doesnt quite tie up with what is offered by the Brassmasters kit. The dimensional accuracy of the Kemilway/Peter K kit isnt spot on and the discrepancy isnt the least bit apparent) and in EM gauge the result will negotiate two-foot radius bends with ease. In 00 I should think eighteen inch radius curves are possible.

Didn't someone do a 'Thomas being scrapped' cameo which caused some upset ? I never saw it but it sounds like an excellent idea.

'Twas built by Andy Cundick, creator of Talyllyn Road, Llanfairish and assorted County Donegal layouts.

At a two-day show a few years ago Andy arrrived on Sunday morning to find the cameo gone and at first assumed someone had pinched it. Then he noticed Chris Awdry being photographed with it on a nearby layout . . .

Thank you!

Did it come direct from the LNWR/LMS or via the S&M? In other words, has anyone any idea how it ended up at Cyfronydd?

Thanks to Flyingsignalman for reminding me of this.

I have heard that the grounded guards van at Cyfronydd on the Welshpool and Llanfair has Shropshire and Montgomeryshire ancestry, but have never seen anything to back the claim up.

Can anyone confirm or deny?

The lane beyond the gate is the one through the Happy Valley (The Aberdovey by-pass?) It's a couple of miles from its eastern, Cwrt end at the foot of the series of tight, steep hairpin bends

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I've just been through the rest of the pictures in the Flickr site you link to above. Every single picture is both stunning and an inspiration to any modeller with an interest in the railways of the Forest. Upper Lydbrook, in particular, is particularly inspiring, although I must admit that the very name means the Strip-and-at-it colliery has considerable interest (who says model railways can't be sexy?)

As the Captain says, a superb photo of a scene that is unrecognisable today. The forest has encrouched so completely that a footpath struggles to follow the route the train is descending and without the photograph it would be difficult to believe that one, let alone three tracks were once there.

 

I came across Serridge Junction.

 

A compressed version of this with the addition of a halt style platform with the required decrepitude of disuse, makes it a serious contender for a future layout.

 

If you get hold of a copy of the Barry Norman/Wild Swan book on Landscape Modelling, Serridge Junction is featured amongst the layout plans at the back of the book. He even suggests the addition of a passenger platform!

The only thing the plan doesnt do is make it clear just how steeply the line to Lydbrook climbs away from the junction.

Beware of the poor gear-meshing with the Arnold 0-4-0 chassis. Mine had the same problem and it ended up with one of the gears shedding a tooth. Replacements are, of course, impossible to obtain.

Brian Houghton, a maths teacher at Feltham Comprehensive from the very late 60's, through the 70's and very possibly beyond kindled my interest in the Forest of Dean.

He and his wife Hilary used to take groups of interested pupils away on walking trips during the school holidays. The first I went on was to the Lake District (Cumbria didnt exist in those days - it was still Cumberland, Westmorland and bits of Lancashire). The second was a long weekend (possibly Easter) based in Chepstow and everywhere we went we found ourselves walking through idyllic surroundings - usually very green tunnels of trees - along what were easily identifiable as disused railway lines. The high point of the weekend was unexpectedly emerging from the trees to find ourselves on a shelf high above the River Wye. A train used to run along here, I thought as I gazed at the scene in wonderment.

If Brian and/or Hilary come across this as a result of Googling themselves I'd like to thank them for some of the seeds they sowed all those years ago. I'm still useless at maths, but that might well be because I was never actually in Brian's class!

One that never ceases to make my hackles rise;

The word "exciting" used to promote anything, no matter how mundane or dull.

My daughter works in marketing and I have promised her I will write her out of my will if ever I catch her using the word.

I'm a postman! Half past five was a bit of a lie-in!

Not numbered?

First class. Congrats.

Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review issue 83 (which came out about 6 months ago) included a revue of the GW Models rivet press and wasnt particularly impressed (pun unavoidable) with it.

That prompted me to look further afield. Everyone who has had contact with the beast praises the NorthWest Shortlines press to the skies but it is astronomically expensive.

Further Googling found the Micromark version, which as far as I can tell is exactly the same as the NorthWest Shortlines press but half the price.

Mine arrived yesterday. I havent yet had a chance to use it but initial examination is encouraging.