The Lonely Lowmac

I'm not the only one who's been having ideas about some one-off conversation pieces as part of the trains we run on Minffordd at exhibitions. 

As the towable Princess project has progressed so Himself has been casting wistful glances in the direction of our Lowmac wagon.

It looks rather at home in the siding against the 'quay' where the FR tracks run next to the goods shed, doesn't it.

For what historical recreation purpose could we employ one of these wagons at Minffordd in the period we model??

Because Minffordd was yard was always as much about transfers from standard to narrow gauge as about the exporting of slate on the 'big railway'.

Many of you will be ahead of me already, or course...

No, we won't be attempting to animate the scene.

And to get around the awkward questions about duplication we shall simply declare Rule 1 is in force!

Because what is the point in spending years building a layout - even an exhibition layout - if at the end of the day it's not your 'train set'?

Margot Modifications

More of the essential modifications to turn our antique Hornby Princess from a locomotive into a piece of unpowered rolling stock have been completed this weekend.

Himself has very neatly cut out out the moulded plastic coal load in the tender and fitted a fake sloping top to the water tank.

In order to do that some significant changes have been required beneath.

The most of the metal block of the Ringfield motor has had to be cut off.

We've also needed to get rid of the two large metal weights which were positioned at either end, as you can see in this before image, below.

They also had a role in securing the motor into the chassis because two long screws passed through them to clamp the two parts together.

Himself has reduced the screws in length and used washers to do the same job.

You can also see he's added a vacuum pipe - which was missing from the model as it came to us.

On the engine he tells me he's removed the pick ups from the driving wheels which removes much of the rolling resistance.

One thing's for sure, this loco will never be self-propelled ever again!

Will It Fit?

It is just possible that some of you have been waiting with baited breath - not too baited, I hope - to find out the results of the gauging trials with the Princess.

The one you see in the picture is the 'reasonably priced Pacific' I bagged from the well-known auction site a couple of weeks ago.

After being adapted to tow-only mode by the surgical removal of gears from the tender drive it was passed over to Himself for testing on Minffordd.

As you may recall, the more recent version of this model, which comes with extra details like pipework beneath the cab (and some front footsteps which were added on by a previous owner) cannot get past the platform edge on our layout.

And so to the moment of truth...

You could say it is now 'full steam ahead' on Project Princess, but of course that would be an entirely inappropriate phrase....

In The Paint Shop

After a long pause there's some progress to report on our project to build a modern day James Spooner from a Backwoods kit.

As you can see above, Himself has started the process of painting the superstructure.

It's had a coat of grey primer and the black has started to be applied.

This model has taken many years to build.

In fact it has been test running on the layouts since before we started the Minffordd project, getting a run on Bron Hebog at the final Warley show at the NEC.

It's also seen some use on Dduallt.

Some of the delay on  finishing the loco can be attributed to the long time it took to obtain some custom lining transfers.

We also spent quite a while wondering how to replicate the bells which sit between the chimneys and the domes, before eventually butchering one of the 3D printed static models (in a slightly smaller scale) which were being sold in the FR shop.

When it will actually get used is an open question.

It's the wrong era for Minffordd  (and dc-only) and there isn't any prospect of either Dduallt or Bron Hebog going out again, so it may have to wait for the Dinas project to get off the ground.

On Tow

Once I get an idea for a model I usually like to make a start on bringing it to reality.

Which is why a very reasonably-priced, antique Hornby Princess arrived on the doorstep within days of us carrying out the first gauging trials on Minffordd, pictured here on my home test track.

The tooling for this one dates back to the 1980s, so it is less sophisticated that the version I was showing in the previous post, which has since been updated again.

The model I have was from Hornby's tender drive period, which is perfect for our purposes because I need a loco which will be towed, and so the driving wheels and motion has to be able to revolve with little resistence.

The other thing this old loco has going for it is that it is already in LMS crimson lake livery, and just requires renumbering and renaming, not an entire repaint and reline.

Making it towable takes just a matter of seconds.

With the tender body removed it's simply a case of removing the clip which holds the drive gears in place on some cast pegs, and they just lift off.

Now the Ringfield tender drive is nothing but a freewheeling chassis.

There will be little more violence required, however.

Princess Margaret Rose naturally had no coal in its tender when it was moved from Pwllheli, so I need to cut out the plastic moulded coal and insert a sloping base for the top of the water tank. 

However, the motor housing, and the large metal weights, will need to be cut down to make space.

Before I get out the drill and the cutting discs and permanently disable the loco I think it would be wise to carry out one more gauging trial just to check it will fit...

Royal Train

Now we're truly time travelling with plans for another curiosity piece to run on Minffordd, depicting one of the most unlikely trains to traverse the Cambrian Coast Line.

I have surrendered to a temptation to recreate the liberation of Princess Royal class 6203 Princess Margaret Rose from captivity at the former Butlins holiday camp near Pwllheli.

After withdrawal by BR the huge Stanier pacific was bought by the famous holiday camp entrepreneur and moved to North Wales in 1963, which is bang in the middle of when we are modelling Minffordd.

Unfortunately for us, it arrived at Penychain via the former LMS line to Afon Wen, and never passed through Minffordd.

Twelve years later, however, when it was moved again, this time to Derby, the route north to Bangor had been closed and in a very bold move - given what was later to emerge about the state of Barmouth Bridge! - it was carefully towed away along the Cambrian Coast, the movement being captured in a oft-shared photo of it about to pass under the FR at Minffordd, which I have recreated above.

Of course, having happened in 1975, this is preposterous train to run our layout showing the station in 1960s condition, which is exactly why we intend to do it!

For the move the 4-6-2 loco was sandwiched between two long bogie barrier wagons, to add brake force as well as to spread the load.

Those of you who know about the locomotive's history will have already noticed that the one in the photographs above is not only the wrong engine but also in the wrong livery.

We know.

Before committing to the project I wanted to check that a enormous beast of an engine such as the Princess would fit on the layout, and for this I've used one we've already got to hand.

It does foul the platform, but only because it has been fitted with some steps in front of the bogie, and where some of the pipework hangs down beneath the cab.

If these were chopped off it  appears that it will negotiate our very tight corners successfully.

So I have taken the plunge and bought a cheap 1980's vintage, tender-drive, Hornby model in LMS livery on a well-known action site.

The intention is that I will be able easily to disengage the motor to leave us with a towable dead model.

An added benefit is that it also gives us an excuse to use our BR blue class 24 with its 'TOPS' number on the layout - because if you're going to abandon historical accuracy you might as well go big!

Bron Hebog For Sale!

If you're reading this, then the click bait has worked!

The deliberately (but only slightly) misleading title refers to a property advert which was drawn to my attention the other day.

Back at the very start of the layout project more than 25 years ago we decided that it would be underselling the scale of what we were attempting to call it merely 'Beddgelert'.

That's also been done before, which was another reason.

A former team member, who we've always referred to here as the Artistic Director, noticed on maps there was a place named 'Bron Hebog', and suggested this would work well for the layout because it described the wider area and not just the station.

Currently the property called Bron Hebog is up for sale by auction at the end of July and you can find the listing here.

©Rightmove

I can confirm we won't be making a bid, unless we win the lottery. (Which would be unlikely because we don't play...)

Looking through the listing, however, is does look like the property would be the kind of place which might have the potential to be the 'forever home' which Bron Hebog the layout needs to find.

As we've stated before, neither myself nor Himself, have the space in our homes to set it up in full, and so it seems destined to either stay packed up in its travelling storage racks, or if no other home can be found for it one day broken up.

I note the Bron Hebog property includes a pair of outbuildings.  

©Rightmove

As they exist neither has the width required for the layout but you can daydream how it might be possible to replace them with a single, wider building on the same footprint  (although I am aware planning in the national park can be a little more involved than elsewhere.

That sort of space, however, is sort of the home that Bron Hebog will need to find if it is to have a long-term future as a working layout.

Getting Closer

This is not a groundbreaking development in the world of model railways, but it is a classic case of us being late adopters.

Himself is experimenting with magnetic couplings for the intermediate connections on our carriage sets.

We use Kadees for the primary coupling to the locomotives but had kept tension locks on stock which is intended to run in fixed formations.

On a layout with a small element of gradient, there can be obvious fore and aft movement as the passenger trains move through the dip on the Cambrian line at the front of the layout, at the bottom of the photo here.

We designed it this way to help emphasise the embankment carrying the long siding in the yard, and also because in reality Minffordd is a summit and there is a steep descent towards Porthmadog.

A fixed magnetic link will eliminate this distracting movement of the carriages, and should also shorten the space the carriage sets take up in the fiddle yards by a few mm's.

It doesn't sound a lot but there is only 'fag paper' clearance sometimes when you have a full three-car rake and a locomotive on each end.

Resin Carriage Sides

Body sections for the 'replica of the replica' of carriage 24 have been cast with moderate success.

This is the first time I've attempted to cast a large piece with quite so much detail as a traditional compartment carriage with matchboarding.

The side your see here are the third and fourth attempts.

One the first the mix was not quite right and it never quite hardened properly.

The second was too brittle  - which is an issue I've had with the brand of resin I've got in stock at the moment - and it snapped while being de-molded.

On these there were a couple of small blemishes where air bubbles had become trapped and the detail was missing, but I've been able to patch it up by inserting some pieces of styrene strip.

The flash filling the windows has been roughly cut out although some detailed work with a needle file will be needed still.

Some small breaks occurred as I was removing the flash, but they were very clean and were easily bonded back together and the sides remain as strong as if they'd never happened.

They won't look as clean and neat as a fully scratch built body, but with Bron Hebog in storage and the Dinas project still on the drawing board nobody is about to scrutinise it closely any time soon.

Spoony McSpoonface

We had an unexpected new item of rolling stock to play with - The Boat!

For those who are not familiar with Festiniog Railway heritage this is, indeed, a genuine vehicle, and at special events you can still see it being used - or at least a modern replica.

The original 'Boat' was a whimsical inspection car designed by, and for, the Spooner family's use.

Mostly it gravitated down the FR line in the same was as its famous slate trains, but it also had a sail and a mast so it could travel independently along the flat 1-mile embankment known as 'The Cob' at the bottom end of the line.

This model is a 3D print which was gifted to us last week by one of our operating team at the Porthmadog show.

Himself has replaced the printed axles and wheels with metal ones so it is able to run, and fitted a coupling at the back - or should I say aft? - so it can be attached to the end of trains, which is how the real one is taken up the FR line on its rare outings.

The original vehicle met is end - the the owner damn-near did, too!- when it free-wheeled into a collision with an Up train in 1886 south of Dduallt, when Mr Spooner decided to set off down the line without the train staff which would guarantee he wasn't going to meet something coming the other way.

And, inevitably, he did!

Opportunities for 'sailing' the Boat ourselves appear to be limited, at least in public,

The replica was not built until 2005 so it has no place on Minffordd, and there's no likelihood of it ever venturing onto the Welsh Highland for it to be used on Bron Hebog.

(Aside from the fact that Bron Hebog is unlikely to appear again at an exhibition, anyway.)

But if the mood takes us to unpack Dduallt for a nostalgic running session at home it is possible the Boat may be taken for a spin.

In The Carriage Works Again

I didn't see this one coming but I've spent the last couple of weeks working on scratch building a carriage again.

What you are seeing in the picture is one side and one end of carriage 24, a replica of a North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways 'Summer Carriage' which was built at Boston Lodge almost 25 years ago.

If you've been following this blog or have come to see Bron Hebog in the years when it was going to exhibitions you might be thinking at this point, hang on, I'm sure you've got one of those already?

You're right, we do.

But now we need to make another one.

I can't say why, or at least for the moment I can't.

Our brand has always been 'doing things the hard way', and my way of tackling a carriage like 24 is no exception!

Every stick of those matchboard sides is stuck on individually. 

At a rough guess there must be around 150 of them, and that's without all the bits of door framing, the droplights and other bits of raised detailing.

It took around a fortnight to get one side done!

I'm not saying I'm getting impatient as I get older, but I'm not up for doing that twice if I don't have to.

So this time for my replica-of-a-replica I'm going to see what happens if I use this first side as a master to make a silicone mold from, and try making resin cast sides.

With so much detail it's likely that the mold will soon lose its fidelity and after a couple of castings some of the matchboard detail will become blocked.

But if I can get two good casts from it out of the initial resin pours then I hope it'll be an easier way of making the basic carriage body.

And if not I've lost two weeks - and a lot of increasingly expensive styrene strip - which I won't get back....

Minffordd Movie

Perhaps rather like an artist attempting a self-portrait, taking good pictures and videos of your own layout is surprisingly hard, in my experience.

I suspect a lot of that may because after years designing and constructing it you are simply too familiar with the subject.

Someone who is seeing it for the first time may find the viewpoints and angles which you have overlooked.

(They may also have better equipment or, quite simply, possess more talent and creativity...)

Therefore, I always welcome it when people watching our layout take photos and videos and are willing to spend the time to edit and share them.

Over the years FR volunteer Matthew Hall has produced some terrific videos of our former layouts Dduallt and Bron Hebog and I'm delighted that he has done it again for Minffordd following his visit to the show in Porthmadog at the weekend.

This is without a doubt the best footage I have yet seen of the layout.

It is a generous feature-length production of a full half-hour so grab yourself a drink, and maybe something to nibble on, then click, sit back and enjoy!

"My Grandfather Went To Work On That!"

The best part of exhibiting a layout a real place near that place is hearing the comments and stories from the people who have a connection with it.

That's one of the reasons we were so much looking forward to bringing Minffordd to Porthmadog this weekend, as well as the chance to catch up with old friends on the FR.

One of the people watching today pointed at the Wickham trolley and told us his us his grandfather from Talsarnau use to be a ganger on the Cambrian Coast Line in around the time we have modelled it and says he used to tell stories about travelling out to work sites on the trolley kept at Porthmadog.

Another visitor told us how he was once a loco fireman based at Pwllheli and recalled how tricky it was to re-start trains from Minffordd on a wet day with the tricky combination of a steep gradient and sharp curve on the line.

Someone very local, who lives right in a house right beside the FR there, was hugely complimentary about the layout, along with many current and former FR volunteers who came along, and it's comments like those which really make the years of dedication which go into to project like this worthwhile.

The second day was a lot more relaxing, with the crew well into the routine of running the layout, and we were grateful to have the assistance of some long-time acquaintances, one of whom was visiting from the other side of the world, and another who's day job is to run the real Cambrian Coast Line, so it was amusing to see if they could manage any better in model form....

Minffordd won't be on show again until the autumn, but there'll be plenty of modelling work to be getting on with, including, I hope, finally getting a DCC chip and speaker into Moelwyn once I finally discover the secrets of how it's been done before.

Keep an eye on our social media pages over the next week or so where we'll be sharing some video clips of the layout in action over the weekend.

"This Takes Me Right Back!"

That was perhaps the most gratifying compliment we heard on day 1 of the exhibition organised by the FR in Porthmadog today as we took Minffordd to the spiritual homeland for the first time, and facing its most knowledgeable audience yet.

The comment, if he will forgive me for revealing, came from the former FR track supremo Fred Howes, a man who's probably spent decades of his life in Minffordd Yard, starting in the 1960s, and if there was an acid test for whether we've captured the look and feel of the place it's his opinion which counts for most.

The show has been very well attended, so far, and there's been a terrific relaxed atmosphere.

That's probably just as well given that we are short-staffed on the operating front due to unforeseen circumstances this weekend.

The layout has performed as well as we could have hoped.  

The investment in 'frog juicers' seems to have cut back on many of the short circuit incidents which plagued the Cambrian side of the layout during the latter stages of the 3-day show in Glasgow.

The Simplex, Mary Ann, disgraced itself again, as it did in Falkirk, throwing a digital wobbly and refusing to move, while still making all the noises. (Much like the real thing, some might say.)

It had to stay parked in a siding until the end of the day when we were able to remove all the other narrow gauge locos as use the layout as a programming track to reset the chip.

The 'bulked-up' Dukedog was able to do some useful work on the Cambrian Coast Express set this time, which has given me the confidence to consider investing in a suitable headboard for future shows.

Yard shunting has not been entirely hands-free with some stubborn Kadees refusing to release or reconnect on demand at times, requiring some 'hand of God' intervention.

It would appear all the sidings at Porthmadog are full because the long road above the 'coal hole' was used to store empty gunpowder wagons for much for the day.

The 6 hours the show was open went by in a flash. 

By this time tomorrow, as I post, it'll be all packed-up again and ready to haul back up the road to Scotland.

Strathspey Is The Reel Deal

May is turning into a very busy month for us!

Ahead of taking Minffordd on the road again later this week for the show in Porthmadog we squeezed in a weekend visit to the  jewel in Scotland's heritage railway crown, the Strathspey Railway.

This was a 'bucket list' trip for Himself, another treat to mark a significant birthday and a rare opportunity for all his children and grandchildren to get together - which happens rarely as we're at opposite end of the country.

To make the occasion extra special we'd arranged to travel in the 'Directors Saloon' , which is the brand name the railway attaches to a package to hire one end of its ex-LMS inspection saloon for the round trip complete with some light refreshments and attentive service from an on-board host.

Many heritage railways across the UK are fortunate to have examples of these type of carriages and they really are the best way to travel in comfort and privacy and views all around.

And what views!

Leaving aside the FR and WHR - natuarally - the Strathspey Railway most boast the most expansive and impressive views on any heritage railway in the UK, with the a stunning vista towards the Cairngorm mountains as the train runs through open country towards the current terminus at Broomhill.

This small station comes with such an idyllic back drop it's not surprising its often been used for shooting scenes in TV dramas, most notably disguised as 'Glenbogle' in the worldwide hit 'Monarch of the Glen.'

More recently the line's immaculately-presented middle station, Boat of Garten, features in the UK version of 'The Traitors'

As many of our blog readers will know there is also an FR connection here, because Boat of Garten is where the legendary GM Allan Garraway retired to, playing a role consolidating and developing the Strathspey Railway, an entertaining (and challenging) visitors to his home with operating sessions on his O gauge railway.

What impressed me most on our visit to the Strathspey, aside from the immaculate presentation and the stunning scenery, was the faultless customer service, friendliness and professionalism from everyone involved in running the railway.

During the layover at Aviemore, before departure, the loco crew on Ivatt class 2 46464 seemed happy to invite passengers who showed an interest to climb into the cab, answer their questions and chat.

In our saloon the staff could not have been more attentive and helpful, keeping tea and coffee flowing, explaining what to expect from the journey and offering some historical context, as not forgetting the the more pragmatic details like where to find the private toilet compartment!

When it transpired there was a surplus of sandwiches left over from the party in the other saloon (who'd booked the afternoon tea package) they were brought through to our half of the carriage as an unexpected bonus!

Small touches, but they leave such a marvellous impression.

For a visitor experience it could not be faulted. And for an enthusiast who is wondering if it is worth what is likely to be a round tip of several hundred miles from most of the UK population, the answer is most definitely yes!

Where else - apart from our dear Boston Lodge Works - are you likely to see an historic engine shed like the one at Aviemore, which is nearing its 130th anniversary and still performing its original function?

Historic Environment Scotland list it as: "The finest surviving locomotive shed in Scotland".

I don't think there is anyone who would disagree with that.

Rolling Along

How you're going to get your layout in and out of a show venue is not always high on the list of considerations when its designed.

In our experience it's one of those thing you adapt and improvise as you go along.

Over the years we've progressed from purely manual handing, deploying a squad of operators to lift and carry boards over long distances, and even up and down flights of stairs, to investing in a heavy-duty barrow to wheel sections of layout into the venue.

But with Minffordd being transported by car, instead of a hired van, we've found it's a struggle to find space for the barrow in a situation where every square inch is prisoner.

As so often a potential solution emerged out of a chance conversation at the weekend.

Chewing over the logistics of getting the layout into the venue at Porthmadog next weekend we wondered whether it would be worth investing in a small skate trolley, which would be easier to fit in one of the cars.

Which is when Himself had another of his brainwaves.

About ten years ago he made a small folding 'train set' board for my son.

In typical Himself fashion it was built on a robust 2x1 frame and he had fitted casters so it could be easily slid into the space beneath his bed when it wasn't being played with.

What if - he wondered - we removed those casters and attached them directly to one of the boards which hold the two main sections of Minffordd together for transport?

It rolls around well enough in the garage at home, I'm told.

Now there are two big tests.

How well will it work to push it in and out of a venue, across a tarmac car pack and whatever steps and bumps there are in the way.

And with the whole package now being another 7cm longer will it still fit in the back of my car?

Too Posh To Shunt

Himself has been continuing to search for more sneaky ways to improve the performance of the Bachmann 'Dukedog', searching for every last place we can hide a precious few grammes of extra weight.

He's fixed a very thin piece of lead sheet in the cab roof, although it's not visible unless you look for it.

It hasn't made a dramatic difference but every little helps.....

We've also removed the weights from all the standard gauge carriages.  

The Mk1s were already done, and it can just about haul three of them in the Down (Pwllheli) direction only - the tight curve into the fiddle yard going the other way gives too much friction.

We've also discovered why it struggles to push anything up the slope into the yard.

It's not the the steepness of the gradient so much as the effect of the change of gradient.

The Dukedog has a relatively long frame and when it reaches the point where the slope kicks in it tips the smokebox end down onto the front bogie, which in turn lifts the rear driving wheels just enough that they begin to lose traction.

So as far as our Cambrian fleet in concerned 'the Earl' is the loco which is 'too posh to shunt', which all sounds like something the Rev. Awdry could have made a story out of.

Packing For Porthmadog

We still have the best part of a fortnight to go but today the plan is to break down Minffordd  and get it all packed away ready for the trip to the show in Porthmadog.

Over the weekend we did a last bit of test running to check a few of the adjustments which have been made since Glasgow, one of which was an overdue reset of the decoder on the green 24 to cure its tendency to unpredictable rates of acceleration, which made attempting to shunt wagons into the yard a challenge.

The show, at Y Ganolfan, just across the harbour from the FR station, looks like it will be a terrific event.  Link here.

The organisers look to have pulled together a remarkable collection of layouts of locations along the FR, or ones which have been inspired by it.

There's a few I'm particularly looking forward to seeing, and I hope the owners won't mind that I've lifted some photos from their social media.

Tan y Bwlch by Nigel Smith has captured the feel of everyone's favourite FR station perfectly.

In a larger scale, Rhiw Goch, from James and Peter Hoyle, is another exquisitely faithful representation of a real life location on the line.

And Charles Insely's Bangor looks like it oozes atmosphere, and I've been watching his Bachmann Fairlie kit bashes with interest as he documented the project, so it will be fascinating to see them close up.

Proceeds from the show will be split between the fundraising appeals to overhaul Blanche and to build a replica of the Spooner bogie ballast wagon, so that's an extra incentive to come along to the show if you are able to.