Getting Gwyrfai Going

A rare Saturday night with the house to myself (sleeping children excepted) meant the chance to have a the first sustained spell of modelling in many weeks.

Sustained in this context meaning two uninterrupted hours at the desk.

This gave me enough time to produce the first layer of the body sides for the new WHR observation carr Gwyrfai

It’s been a while I last scratch built a carriage in styrene so I thought some readers might appreciate seeing the process illustrated again.

I work with a scale plan of the carriage placed under a thin sheet of glass and tape the lower part of the body shell in place above it.

Then I glue vertical window pillars in their positions, chop them all to the correct height using a ruler as a guide, and glue a cant rail into position.

On this carriage I’ve also added in bars to represent the opening windows at this stage.

These have to be cut to the most precise possible tolerances to be fixed in position with a drop of solvent on the joints.

Doing in on glass means everything stays perfectly flat but my big is to keep the pieces inside a book - as if you are pressing flowers - between sessions working on them.

This Time Next Week

We’re starting to get excited about taking Bron Hebog out on show next weekend in Greenock.

Our Gelert is ready to make its debut but it was a close run thing!

The loco has needed major surgery after the prototype chassis developed a serious issue that threatened to leave it as a static exhibit.

What went wrong is that the sleeve holding the drive gear on the leading axle became loose resulting in the motion locking up going in reverse as the quartering went out of alignment.

To fix it one crank and a wheel had to come off to enable the axle to be released so the sleeve could be relocked onto the axle.

The problem is the axle has to be reassembled complete with gear, bearings and wheels before it can be returned into the chassis and there is no way of getting it back in without cutting off the little lugs on the bottom of the chassis that hold the axle and bearings in place. Having done that the axle is popped back in, but there is now nothing to hold it in the frame! 

In the end the bearings were held in place by carefully applying a tiny bit of solder before refitting the crank and rods.

Thanks to Himself’s ingenuity it looks like it will indeed be in use next weekend.

Boiler Bits

A few more bits are appearing on 130

Himself reports that he’s been drilling holes in the top of the boiler and attaching the various fittings.

In addition the mainframe pipes and steps which appear to have been fitted in the photos to emerge from Dinas have also been attached.

This hasn’t been discussed but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was building up to a cheeky test run on Bron Hebog at the Greenock show next weekend.

The Start Of Something Posh

It’s always a very satisfying moment to make the first cut on a new model, in this case the WHR observation car Gwyrfai which entered service at the FR vintage weekend.

One of the most crucial things for getting this carriage looking right is the step in the body side where the front saloon begins.

What I did was cut two identical, plain long rectangles, then mark the bit to be cut off with a 45 degree angle at the end rather than a curve.

Once that was removed the corner was created by careful use of a round file.

Next I’ll be adding vertical strips of styrene for the window pillars.

Welsh Highland Heritage

With two weeks to go until Bron Hebog goes on show for the only time in 2019 at the exhibition in Greenock, here's an image to whet the appetite.

The two WHHR Ashbury corridor carriages are finished and ready for service, having been given a coat of varnish and reassembled.

What you see here is the rake used for Russell's historic trips to Beddgelert earlier this year, although ours seems to have ventured further north...

During the exhibition we'll also be using Gelert and the Baldwin on this set which will make a very colourful addition to the layout - especially the Rheidol brake van which we've depicted in the BR blue livery it carried for a short while.

The real one has since been repainted into a rather drab chocolate colour. (correction: maroon)

To which all I can say is: spoilsports!

Observable Progress

While my mind is turning to the next observation car build Himself has picked up the previous project which has been stalled for a while.

152 has been given a coat of paint and the fiendishly difficult glazing, with the curved section at the front end, has been made up.

To bring you up to speed if you're relatively new to reading this blog, this model of 152 has a body made up of resin cast sections from a styrene master, with a brass roof and metal pillars at the front end.

It's been given a coat of the dark plum colour and the very detailed first class interior has been painted.

Although the painting is relatively straightforward, applying the intricate Pullman lining is anything but....

Not Seiont

At last my mole has come up with the goods and I have a document which appears to be an outline plan for the new WHR observation carriage, which in turn means I have a project to work on.

The new carriage is very different in detail from the first one, Glaslyn, although very obviously sharing a family resemblance.

One thing which amused me on the drawing I have is a glimpse it offers into the politics of FR/WHR names.

The first carriage was officially named Glaslyn by no less a personage than HM Queen, who rode in it to Dinas for the ceremony with the carriage marshalled (for security reasons we presume) in the middle of the train, making a mockery of the huge curved window at the front which is the iconic feature of this generation of observation carrs.

The second one, we now know, is to be called Gwyrfai.

In the drawing I have, in the traditional Pullman name space in the middle of the bodyside, it has the words 'Not Seiont'- which is the river which flows into the Menai Strait right past the railway's northern terminus at Caernarfon.

Now, would seem a logical choice given how the Glaslyn flows into Porthmadog Harbour at the other end - or perhaps we should say the middle? - of the line.

It doesn't begin with the letter G, though.

Something tells me there's a story behind this.....