Identical Twin

I've been neglecting the blog a little while I was away on holiday in Wales with Himself and The Trainee.

If you follow the Bron Hebog and Minffordd page on Facebook then you'll have been able to follow the narrow gauge adventures we were getting up to, with many photos and video snippets.

One of the missions to be accomplished during our stay in Porthmadog was the collection of a model from the shop at Harbour Station which I hinted about a few weeks ago on these pages.

Many of our readers guessed the intention with the Lowmac wagon is to replicate the arrival of Linda on the FR in 1962, on hire, to help with an acute motive power shortage.

A notable part of the story is that she made the journey by rail from Port Penrhyn, via Afon Wen, and was transhipped from standard to narrow gauge in Minffordd Yard exactly as Spooner would have intended.

There's a chance you're already one step ahead of me here and thinking; 'Hang on!  Haven't they already got a Linda?'

Yes, you're quite correct.

Linda in FR green with her 'fat England tender' is part of our core loco fleet for the mainline passenger services along the back of the scene.

So what's the excuse?

There's none.  

It's just a pure indulgence. 

And we're not apologising for it. 

A model railway is supposed to be fun!

There are some adaptations which need to be made before it goes into service (sort of).

Linda was propped up on the Lowmac with sleepers, and secured with chains, so we're doing our best to replicate that with some chunky styrene strips.

These have got some extra bits which will connect with the underside of the Bachmann loco to help ensure it doesn't topple off the wagon while being transported around the layout.

And we also need to find something for that most vital PQR embellishment - a bucket to sit in front of the smokebox!

Sisters

I’ve not had a chance to do any modelling this week, so for today’s update here are a few more pictures from last month in Greenock.

Linda and Blanche spent most of the weekend coupled together hauling FR sets.

Both these locos are built from Backwoods kits which were not without their faults.

The tender for Blanche, as supplied, was too short and the domes too small, both of which we found work arounds for.

We finished our Linda in the midnight blue livery she wore in the 90s for the sake of being different, but it would be nice to one day get another in traditional FR green or even PQR black.

I’m sure before too long someone will come up with an RTR model of them, don’t you reckon?

Hidden Treasures

The recent transfer of two of my a favourite FR locomotives to a shed at the furthest reaches of the railway reminds me that we also have a collection of out of service engines which rarely see the light of day.

In our case they are hiding in plain sight on a shelf in Himself's study.

The most notable of this 'heritage collection' is our original model of Earl of Merioneth which was 'kit-bashed' around a white metal Langley Double Fairlie, and its diesel-locomotive chassis with its absurdly small wheels.

It was retired from service more than 20 years ago when it was replaced by our current machine which was adapted from a Backwoods Miniatures kit.

We also have two old Ladies in this retirement home for old engines, both of them from the Dundas white metal kits.

Linda was also relegated by the appearance of a Backwooods kit, but she still makes a fine model with her Ibertren chassis adapted with outside fly cranks and the conical chimney she acquired in the 1980s during an experiment with gas producer coal firing.

The end of service for Blanche was more abrupt after she failed in the middle of an exhibition with a detached fly crank and has never been properly repaired and now sits with her one of her false outside frames missing.

Lyn And Linda

Test running continues as we count down the days until Dduallt goes on show in Greenock next weekend.

When I popped in the other day and took a peek into the railway cave I noticed a very distinctive, golden shape in the lower fiddle yard.

Our Backwoods Lyn made its debut at the Superpower event on Bron Hebog last month, but that's a very different sort of layout - as is the WHR a very different sort of railway.

So the big question - to which I honestly do not know the answer - is will Lyn get around Dduallt?

Will it squeeze through Rhoslyn Cutting (beneath the bridge which carries the spiral) or will it get stuck?

All vote now!

(Of course, the real locomotive wouldn't get through Garnedd Tunnel, but Rule Number 1 applies.)

Join The Cavalcade

Never let it be said that we are unafraid to jump on a bandwagon at Bron Hebog.

As the FR celebrates the 125th birthday of Hunslet 'Ladies' Linda and Blanche by inviting lots of other Loiners to come and play in the top left and corner of Wales this weekend we thought we'd get in on the act too.

My social media feeds have been full of pictures of line ups of little locomotives so Himself decided to do the same by posing all our Hunslets together.

This collection was made possible by Brian Madge, Robex, Roger Chivers and Backwoods Miniatures - and we're very grateful to them for their wonderful kits.

Finding Faults

Himself is plugging away at the snagging list prior to taking Bron Hebog to Bressingham for Narrow Gauge East this summer.

The problem is that in trying to sort one issue you discover others.

So it was when he set up one half of the fiddle yards to try and sort an electrical niggle on the 'cab control' wiring and found that a number of the indicator LEDs on the Rhyd Ddu end panel had failed.

So he's had to open all that up to replace them.

Quite why they've failed is a mystery.

The ones in the control panel on Dduallt have lasted for more than 20 years, but after just two years in the west of Scotland climate these have gone pop!

Is there a connection?

Anyway, I thought you might also like to see a snap of the loco he's been using for testing duties.

Our original Dundas Linda, which had major surgery to its Ibertren chassis to fit it with cranks and outside frames (and a heart transplant with a Mashima motor) is still going strong.

A Chink Of Light

I finally got around to taking 150 over to Himself's place yesterday to check if the alterations I made to the bogie pivot bolts did the trick - in other words that I runs through Rhoslyn Cutting without scraping the sides.

The good news is that there is now clear daylight along the right hand side. Phew!

We took it for a test run all around the layout.

The only issue we identified is that there's still a slight issue with the bogies having enough clearance around the tightest curve - Dragon - where the spiral exits into the fiddle yard.

Himself will take a look and make some final alterations to fix that before it goes to be painted.

That won't be far away - it's really just the underframe which needs to be finished now.

Horrible History

I know I bang on on this blog about the 1980's and the tin cars, etc, but I make no apology for doing so again.

It seems sometimes like the FR treats the era as its dirty little secret and I'd like to see it getting a little more acknowledgement from a heritage perspective.

Once Earl of Merioneth is out of traffic, and all but one of the 'tin cars' sent off to their new homes, there will be very little to represent a very considerable chunk of the FR's history to be seen on the rails.

(Although I suppose you could argue the very railway itself - the Deviation - is enough of a reminder of the 1970's and '80's)

When we first built Dduallt we set it in 1988 which was the last year the passing loop was in use and also the transition in carriage liveries from plain red to the two tone livery which persists to this day.

So feeling, as I do at the moment, that this era is a little under-appreciated I got our red set out for a play the other day to create some authentic 1980's scenes.

We should the grateful that at least Linda and Blanche are currently wearing the classic FR lined green livery but I would like to start a lobby to get some carriages in Cherry Red before it's too late.

As a start maybe 110, the prototype tin car, could be put back into this livery - and with authentic bus seats if there are any still around - and also the original Barn 104 while it survives in its early 1980's rebuild condition.

A case could also be made for 116 and 123 (ex-101) although they've both had their window positions altered in recent years and been reclassified.

I'm all too aware that mid 1980's was not the FR's finest hour from a presentational perspective, and fully appreciate why the Garrawegian diktats on locomotive and carriage liveries had to be relaxed to make the railway more attractive to the punters.

But consider this.

We have half of our unique and splendid Victorian carriages dressed up in drab 1930's liveries to represent the Colonel Stephens era which was surely the FR's nadir - if you  ignore the period of closure, that is.

If that can be celebrated then why not the 1970's and 80's?

Probably because too many people lived through it and still think it was only yesterday.

Well it wasn't!

Ladies At Dduallt

With no modelling done this week myself - and no confirmation of whether Himself made it as far as the modelling room with his sticks  - I have precious little to blog  about.

Time, perhaps, for one last video clip from Super Power?

Meanwhile At Dduallt

Again, not too much modelling to report today.

I have managed to cast a batch of FR bogie sides for Narrow Planet to sell and I have liberated the incomplete farmhouse from its box to remind myself what remains to be done.

So in the meantime, until I have something of substance to report here's another video, of Dduallt this time.

Pic Of The Week 9

For my 500th post I can think of nothing better than one of the best pictures of our layouts I have ever seen.

Chris Nevard took this exquisite shot of the Ladies Linda and Blanche in the woods at the back of the sprial on Dduallt.

It shows off the stunning Backwoods kits and the lovely painting and lining job by Himself perfectly.

Indeed, I am given to understand that this shot was considered as a possible cover image for Model Rail when Dduallt was featured back in December, but a standard gauge, 00 subject was chosen instead.

Pic Of The Week 8

This is one of the pictures which was selected for use in Model Rail in December last year and no wonder because it's a cracker.

Once again Chris Nevard has lit the scene beautifully to really show off the fantastic paint jobs
Himself did on our Backwoods Miniatures 'Ladies' which are in themselves superb models, improved further by a lovely pair of bespoke brass domes turned for us by Chris Veitch.

Another Backwoods masterpiece, Taliesin, is crossing Rhoslyn Bridge heading for Blaenau in this shot.

Midnight Oil Burner

A truly sumptuous pun to introduce a few snaps of our new Linda.

A pun? Well..

1) The 'first lady' of the FR has been finished in her short-lived Midnight Blue livery

2) Himself truly did burn the midnight oil to get this finished in time for Chris Nevard's photo shoot with Dduallt last week for Model Rail magazine.

and

3) Linda is, of course, an oil burner (Much to the distress of the present day accountants at the FR, it must be said.)

Here we see the Backwoods beauty with the lining all complete, sporting her name and works plates and with a model crew.

In fact the crew is probably the most unauthentic bit of this model. Most of the occasions when I've seen Linda running her cab and tender footplates have been packed out.

I know the livery choice is a little controversial, but do you like it?

Midnight Express

Here's the answer to all the questions we've been getting about what colour our new Linda will be turned out in.

Our Backwoods Penrhyn lady was liberated from the paint shop for the Railex weekend for some more running-in turns on Bron Hebog, seen here paired with sister, Blanche.

Linda wore this midnight blue livery through most of the 1990's, before being put back into lined Penrhyn black, and our model shows her in the short period when she was reunited with her proper chimney.

As the pictures clearly show, the paint job is not finished. There is more lining to go on and the model is yet to be varnished, which is why it is so ridiculously shiny.

As well as double-heading with Blanche we also recreated a recent WHR scene when Linda had to be paired with Criccieth Castle as emergency substitutes for a failed Garratt.

Naked Lady

Now there's a title to light up the search engine results!

Well sorry to disappoint any new visitors but there's nothing more erotic to see here than an un-painted Penrhyn engine. (I suppose a few people might find that a turn on?)

Our Backwoods Miniatures kit of Linda made an appearance on Bron Hebog at Sparsholt. Here she is on a running-in turn with Merddin Emrys..

If you click on the pictures to magnify them you'll get a better view of the 'Roman helmet' dome that was turned for us by Chris Veitch.

This is the big give away for the period in which our Linda is being modelled. There was a very short window in the mid-90's when she ran in the midnight blue livery with her original chimney back. Prior to that she was running about with a dreadful Lempor conical contraption.

In this picture below, where she is doubling up with older sister, Blanche, you can see the adaptions Himself has made to the tender for the oil and additional water tanks.

Himself has made noises about getting on the the paint job after an orgy of scenic work on the layout over the winter (apologies for yet another sex pun!) so Linda may be looking a little bit more colourful when we take Bron Hebog to Railex at the end of next month.

Dome From Home

Linda's bespoke 'roman helmet' dome has been delivered, hot off the lathe.

Here are some shots of the lady trying her new hat for size.



From above you can see how Chris has added the safety valve detail.



And for comparison here is Linda posed with older sister Blanche to show the difference in their profiles.



True FR anoraks, of course, would be able to reel off a list of sisterly differences. I can think of three obvious ones straight away.

Any advances on three?

What Did The Romans Ever Do For Linda?

Not a lot for her looks, that's for certain.

During one of Linda's FR overhauls - in the mid-80's I believe - her safety valves were moved from their position inside the cab onto the top of her big, shiny dome, which was given a little upward extension, which some people refer to as a 'Roman Helmet'.

You can see it here in this mid-90's shot of Linda leaving Tanygrisiau.



This is all relevant to Bron Hebog because Himself is in the process of building a Backwoods Miniatures 'Linda' to replace our ageing Dundas / Ibertren model.

Our intention is to finish the loco in the Midnight Blue livery as in the picture above.

If you look back through previous posts - or indeed if you've been reading this for a while - you'll see how we had to call in outside assistance to turn up a new dome for our Backwoods 'Blanche' because the one supplied with the kit is a little undersize.

Our friendly man-with-a-lathe, Chris Veitch, also volunteered to take on the tricky task of turning up a dome for Linda complete with her helmet, and here is a glimpse of how he's getting on.



It still needs something to represent the actual safety valves in there but I for one thing it looks terrific.



The helmet, incidentally, is now history, with Linda's safety valves returned to their original position during her most recent overhaul and her dome restored to its proper dimensions.