Our old Blanche is back together and has had a little test run with her sister on the Bron Hebog fiddle yard.
She still needs her fly cranks painted red but it’s great to see the old girl in action again after 8 years inactivity.
Showing posts with label Parkside Dundas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parkside Dundas. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Sunday, 10 July 2016
Don't Forget The Bogies
There I was thinking I was almost done with 117 and ready to hand it over to Himself to knock up a brass roof and solder up some of the pesky Superbarn handrails (he hates it when I make him do those) when I realised I hadn't made up the bogies yet.
These days all my new FR carriages are being built with our own design of authentic FR carriage bogies using a fold-up brass base (produced for us by Narrow Planet) and some detail castings which I turn out to glue on top.
'Top Hat' bearings are soldered into the frame to hold the Parkside Dundas wheelsets and they run like a dream.
These pictures show the bogies folded and soldered (top) and then with the castings pushed on and glued into place (below).
The final stage, which is not shown here, is to add a section of 80" styrene on top of the stretcher so they can swivel beneath the chassis properly, but equally you could to this by putting a deeper pivot on the chassis.
These days all my new FR carriages are being built with our own design of authentic FR carriage bogies using a fold-up brass base (produced for us by Narrow Planet) and some detail castings which I turn out to glue on top.
'Top Hat' bearings are soldered into the frame to hold the Parkside Dundas wheelsets and they run like a dream.
These pictures show the bogies folded and soldered (top) and then with the castings pushed on and glued into place (below).
The final stage, which is not shown here, is to add a section of 80" styrene on top of the stretcher so they can swivel beneath the chassis properly, but equally you could to this by putting a deeper pivot on the chassis.
Saturday, 9 April 2016
In The Beginning
While I was searching through Himself's collection of slides a few days ago, looking for pictures of Earl of Merioneth, I came across some images that I forgot we took of the early stages of construction of Dduallt.
At a guess I would date these pictures as 1992, so pretty much a quarter of a century ago.
As you can see, by this stage he had finished creating the trackbed, which was a very precise operation with the gradient on the spiral, and the track had be wired up and was being tested.
The rolling stock is worthy of note.
This was in the early days of my scratch building carriages in styrene so some of the trains are formed of very weighty white metal GEM kits and the brass Langley bowsiders.
It was also the era before the Backwoods Miniatures kits came along and so our Fairlies tottered along with tiny wheels from an adapted Bachmann diesel chassis sitting beneath a white metal Langley body kit.
The model of the Earl was a fine kit-bashing effort by Himself with the tanks formed from styrene and the smokeboxes and chimneys sourced from Parkside Dundas kits for Linda and Blanche.
The Earl is still with us - sitting on a shelf in Himself's study - but Merddin was donated as a gift to an FR luminary. I think of it now and then and hope it is being well cared for.
At a guess I would date these pictures as 1992, so pretty much a quarter of a century ago.
As you can see, by this stage he had finished creating the trackbed, which was a very precise operation with the gradient on the spiral, and the track had be wired up and was being tested.
The rolling stock is worthy of note.
This was in the early days of my scratch building carriages in styrene so some of the trains are formed of very weighty white metal GEM kits and the brass Langley bowsiders.
It was also the era before the Backwoods Miniatures kits came along and so our Fairlies tottered along with tiny wheels from an adapted Bachmann diesel chassis sitting beneath a white metal Langley body kit.
The model of the Earl was a fine kit-bashing effort by Himself with the tanks formed from styrene and the smokeboxes and chimneys sourced from Parkside Dundas kits for Linda and Blanche.
The Earl is still with us - sitting on a shelf in Himself's study - but Merddin was donated as a gift to an FR luminary. I think of it now and then and hope it is being well cared for.
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Test Etches Arrive
Time to crack on with another of those project which we seem to have spent years talking about but not actually getting anywhere with.
This week the first test etches arrived from Narrow Planet for our modern FR carriage bogies.
The plan is that just like with the SAR wagon bogies we will insert brass bearing cups and cast a resin piece to glue on top with the axle box and suspension details.
Until now we've been adapting Parkside Dundas Vale of Rheidol bogies and adding some styrene extensions to bulk them up a bit.
The picture shows that there won't be that much difference in the overall length of the bogies but the wheelbase of the brass one is clearly much longer.
This week the first test etches arrived from Narrow Planet for our modern FR carriage bogies.
The plan is that just like with the SAR wagon bogies we will insert brass bearing cups and cast a resin piece to glue on top with the axle box and suspension details.
Until now we've been adapting Parkside Dundas Vale of Rheidol bogies and adding some styrene extensions to bulk them up a bit.
The picture shows that there won't be that much difference in the overall length of the bogies but the wheelbase of the brass one is clearly much longer.
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
10 Plus 10
Over the years we've acquired a number of duplicates in our carriage fleet.
Mostly it's on account of the FR rebuilding the original or changing it in some significant way or my scratch building techniques improving to such a degree that it was vaguely embarrassing to have carriages I built over 20 years ago running around on the layout.
In the case of Number 10 - no, never Van 2 around here! - it's a combination of both of the above plus a third factor: the failure of the original.
In this case it's just one of the plastic bogies from the Parkside Dundas kit which has given up the ghost, and they're easily replaceable, but it provided a very good excuse to do something I've been meaning to do for a number of years now which is built a second kit and finish it in the livery the vehicle is currently running around in, with the red stripe along the bottom of the bodysides and on the ends.
So to this end Himself has been making up another Dundas kit and adding extra details such as the gutter downpipes and the truss rods beneath the frame as well as the vac pipes.
I hope this might spur us on to creating a fuller Col Stephens set to run on Bron Hebog where we're rather short of Heritage train formations - I'm already thinking about new models of carriage 16 and 20 in the green and red livery, making use of the Worsley Works scratch-aid kits.
Mostly it's on account of the FR rebuilding the original or changing it in some significant way or my scratch building techniques improving to such a degree that it was vaguely embarrassing to have carriages I built over 20 years ago running around on the layout.
In the case of Number 10 - no, never Van 2 around here! - it's a combination of both of the above plus a third factor: the failure of the original.
In this case it's just one of the plastic bogies from the Parkside Dundas kit which has given up the ghost, and they're easily replaceable, but it provided a very good excuse to do something I've been meaning to do for a number of years now which is built a second kit and finish it in the livery the vehicle is currently running around in, with the red stripe along the bottom of the bodysides and on the ends.
So to this end Himself has been making up another Dundas kit and adding extra details such as the gutter downpipes and the truss rods beneath the frame as well as the vac pipes.
I hope this might spur us on to creating a fuller Col Stephens set to run on Bron Hebog where we're rather short of Heritage train formations - I'm already thinking about new models of carriage 16 and 20 in the green and red livery, making use of the Worsley Works scratch-aid kits.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Pic Of The Week 12
It's downhill all the way as we approach the end of this series of pictures from Chris Nevard's shoot for Model Rail magazine.
This one shows our gravity train descending the spiral.
In a still shot like this it's much easier to spot where the motive power comes from than it is when the waggons are running on the layout.
They are a mix of Parkside Dundas 2 ton and 3 ton kits.
The loads were made the hard way with hundreds of small pieces of rectangular styrene glued together in neat blocks to fit inside the waggons.
This is an authentic scene because on very special occasions gravity trains are run from the summit of the Deviation route behind the power station at Tanygrisiau.
The Bron Hebog team were honoured to be invited to ride one of the trains from Dduallt down to Porthmadog a number of years ago.
It was a fantastic experience, and the journey up behind Palmerston was wonderfully authentic and atmospheric as well.
If you too love the unique spectacle of the FR's gravity trains then please consider making a contribution to the FR Society's Waggon Tracks appeal to provide covered accommodation for these these humble Victorian relics so they can continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.
This one shows our gravity train descending the spiral.
In a still shot like this it's much easier to spot where the motive power comes from than it is when the waggons are running on the layout.
They are a mix of Parkside Dundas 2 ton and 3 ton kits.
The loads were made the hard way with hundreds of small pieces of rectangular styrene glued together in neat blocks to fit inside the waggons.
This is an authentic scene because on very special occasions gravity trains are run from the summit of the Deviation route behind the power station at Tanygrisiau.
The Bron Hebog team were honoured to be invited to ride one of the trains from Dduallt down to Porthmadog a number of years ago.
It was a fantastic experience, and the journey up behind Palmerston was wonderfully authentic and atmospheric as well.
If you too love the unique spectacle of the FR's gravity trains then please consider making a contribution to the FR Society's Waggon Tracks appeal to provide covered accommodation for these these humble Victorian relics so they can continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
MOTW - Carriage 10
A very straightforward Model Of The Week this time, one of our few which is straight 'out of the packet'.
Our model of Carriage 10 (yes, I know it's called Van 2 these days, but this is a model of it as number 10) is built from one of the excellent Parkside Dundas kits.
It shows the carriage running as it was when it was restored to traffic in 1991 with an all over green livery.
Today it has very natty brick red colour on the ends and the framing along the bottom, and I am intending to get my hands on a second kit to represent it in this condition to run on Bron Hebog, leaving this original one to be used on Dduallt.
For those who don't know the background, this carriage started off as one of three 'curly roof vans' but was rebuilt in the 1920's with a conventional profile and two passenger compartments squeezed into part of the old luggage space.
What would make a very interesting model of this van is of it in the beaten-up condition, with half its doors missing and flaking paintwork, from the mid-1950's when it was used on early clearance trains along the line, before its wooden frame finally cried 'enough' and it was placed in store for three decades waiting for the FR's heritage revival.
Our model of Carriage 10 (yes, I know it's called Van 2 these days, but this is a model of it as number 10) is built from one of the excellent Parkside Dundas kits.
It shows the carriage running as it was when it was restored to traffic in 1991 with an all over green livery.
Today it has very natty brick red colour on the ends and the framing along the bottom, and I am intending to get my hands on a second kit to represent it in this condition to run on Bron Hebog, leaving this original one to be used on Dduallt.
For those who don't know the background, this carriage started off as one of three 'curly roof vans' but was rebuilt in the 1920's with a conventional profile and two passenger compartments squeezed into part of the old luggage space.
What would make a very interesting model of this van is of it in the beaten-up condition, with half its doors missing and flaking paintwork, from the mid-1950's when it was used on early clearance trains along the line, before its wooden frame finally cried 'enough' and it was placed in store for three decades waiting for the FR's heritage revival.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
MOTW - Van 2
We have another player in the popular FR game of musical numbers this week.
This attractive example of a Mk3 quarrymen's carriage turned brake van is very much a period piece now showing the van in the orange livery it wore through much of the 1990's and wearing the number 2.
This is how it was known for around 40 years after the preservationists takeover until the fleet of heritage vehicles was re-numbered in the mid-90's, a state of affairs that still leaves many of us - me included - confused.
What I grew up calling Van 2 - and have this model of - is now known as Van 6.
Carriage 6 - a first class 'bug box' - is now carriage number 2.
And carriage number 10 is now Van 2.
(I hope you're remembering all this because I certainly struggle to.)
As for the history of the van / carriage, it is said to have been converted in 1908, when the bodyshell was cut back at one end the the balcony added on.
Between the two world wars it was also fitted with air brakes and used on the WHR.
In the early years of the FR revival it was often pressed into passenger service as part of the famous 'Flying Flea' set of four wheeled carriages, with room for 6 people.
Our model was adapted - in much the same style as the prototype - from a Parkside Dundas plastic kit for one of the Mk 3 Quarrymen's, with windows cut into the ends and a balcony rail added in brass.
Van 6 is once more running around in green livery and I may well find myself making another model in this condition at some point in the future.
This attractive example of a Mk3 quarrymen's carriage turned brake van is very much a period piece now showing the van in the orange livery it wore through much of the 1990's and wearing the number 2.
This is how it was known for around 40 years after the preservationists takeover until the fleet of heritage vehicles was re-numbered in the mid-90's, a state of affairs that still leaves many of us - me included - confused.
What I grew up calling Van 2 - and have this model of - is now known as Van 6.
Carriage 6 - a first class 'bug box' - is now carriage number 2.
And carriage number 10 is now Van 2.
(I hope you're remembering all this because I certainly struggle to.)
As for the history of the van / carriage, it is said to have been converted in 1908, when the bodyshell was cut back at one end the the balcony added on.
Between the two world wars it was also fitted with air brakes and used on the WHR.
In the early years of the FR revival it was often pressed into passenger service as part of the famous 'Flying Flea' set of four wheeled carriages, with room for 6 people.
Our model was adapted - in much the same style as the prototype - from a Parkside Dundas plastic kit for one of the Mk 3 Quarrymen's, with windows cut into the ends and a balcony rail added in brass.
Van 6 is once more running around in green livery and I may well find myself making another model in this condition at some point in the future.
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