Battle Of The Bulge

Himself has been working hard to sort out the last of the baseboard joints after some issues cropped up during the show at Bressingham last month.

Eventually, after a lot of measuring, we discovered the problem was that the boards at the Porthmadog end of the layout were ever-so-slightly shorter than the ones at the Rhyd Ddu end.

Although it didn't stop the layout being put together it was having the effect of putting a  strain through the structure (which forms a large square) with the consequence that some of the boards were being pulled apart a little.

And with the tiny wheels of 009 even gap of a couple of millimetres will affect the running. 

The discrepancy probably occurred as a result of the boards being built many years afterwards in a place where there was no opportunity to erect the layout to check how it fitted together.

The fix he decided on was too add a 9mm fillet to the joint between the lower fiddle yard and where it joins the first scenic board.

This also had the effect of moving the edge of the fiddle yard out by 15mm and so the tracks had to be slewed to match and the locating dowels repositioned as well.

The effort has been worth it, though, because the board joints at the front of the layout, in the station area, have closed up nicely and it's been tested by propelling a long rake of B wagons (the stock most vulnerable to derailing) all the way from the station into the fiddle yard.

Baldwin At Beddgelert

There was something very exciting in the post while I was away on my summer holidays, something that until very recently I never thought I would see - a stunning ready-to-run 009 locomotive.

Usually there's not a lot to look forward to when you return home but this time I was full of anticipation for getting to take a look at our Bachmann Baldwin 4-6-0.

Most of Bron Hebog is set up for testing and fettling of the board joints at Himself's place at the moment so we've actually had the chance to give it a proper test and have some fun taking a few snaps.

It's been 80 years since a Baldwin was last seen at Beddgelert.

I do hope it won't be too much longer before either 778 or the pretend 590 being restored for the WHHR can play out these scenes for real.

Utterly And Ruthless

It's not usually my style but sometimes, if you're ever going to achieve your goals, there is a moment where you have to be ruthless.

For us that came a couple of weeks ago when we secured what I know to be the last pair of Backwoods 009 NGG16 kits produced.

To say that these are sought after since the business was closed down is a Garratt-sized understatement.

When, by chance, I discovered a seller who had these up for grabs it was clear to me that I had to ensure we secured them for Bron Hebog.

The layout, you see, has been a 20 year project, and we've never rushed or hurried.

We'd been merrily going along collecting the locomotive and rolling stock no faster than we were building them, so when Pete called time on Backwoods we were caught napping having only built 3 NGG16s, with only 2 of them finished as WHR examples (87 and 138).

This left us stuck in the herd chasing the finite number of unbuilt kits which very occasionally pop up for sale.

(Because, as friends of ours have discovered to their cost, you can never be sure what you're getting if you purchase one that someone else has completed....)

In this case the seller was getting out of model railways - indeed, getting out of the country - and having seen the prices that other Backwoods kits had sold for in online auctions was intending to throw these to the wolves on eBay as well.

Now, as well having a well-hidden ruthless streak I will also admit to not being too proud to beg.

I had to find a way to tie down a deal for these kits before they went on the open market, not only because there would be no limit on the price but also because of the jeopardy which goes with the timed-auction situation.

To cut a long story short, it was to my immense relief that the seller was eventually persuaded that the most fitting home for the last two Backwoods kits was for them to be completed to a high standard and run on Bron Hebog for everyone to enjoy at exhibitions, rather than gathering dust in a drawer or exploited for profit.

We still paid a very inflated price (compared to the nominal box prices for the kits) but we have no complaints - that's the reality of the market for them these days.

And can you put a price on getting the opportunity to see through a project you've put 20 years of your life into?

So what will we be doing with these two?

One of them will certainly be finished as 143 in its current green livery.

The other, depending of developments on the real railway, may be turned out as 130 which is coming towards the end of a major restoration at Dinas, or it could be that we convert our original ACR black-livered Garratt to represent it.

In which case the final kit could potentially be finished as 140 or 109, if either of them ever turn a wheel on the WHR.

Being Bee-Zee

I hope you've enjoyed the posts showing off some of my favourite models while I was away on holiday over the last few weeks.

Now I'm back I haven't wasted any time in getting on with the BZ wagon project.

I'm starting with the simpler of the two which follows the same pattern of struts as a B wagon with a small central door.

I've made the masters for the side pieces and also a first stage for the ends.

I say first stage because the ends on the BZ wagons - which fold flat to form ramps between them when they're coupled together - are not identical.

So what I've done is made an initial master with the details which are common to both ends, then I shall cast two copies of it and add the extra bits which are unique to each end, and use them as the final masters to cast from.

Brown Paper Packages

You never forget your first Pullman!

When I was first shown the design for this carriage in the early days of the WHR project I really did wonder how I was ever going to manage to copy it in miniature in styrene, especially with those oval window and door frames.

So that fact that I did, and I remain rather pleased about that, is the reason I've chosen it as the last of my favourite things for this series.

(Sound of Music fans can breath a sigh of relief now.)

Although I've now seen quite a few of these made using the Worsley Works scratch-aid kit in brass I'm still rather chuffed that mine was the first and entirely scratch built.

Wild Geese That Fly

A very important part of the fleet in the weather we've been having so far this summer is the water tank wagon.

In South Africa vehicles like these were towed behind the Garratts to extend their operating range, in Wales its role is as a strategic, mobile store of fire-fighting water in case of a lineside conflagration on one of the more remote sections of the WHR.

I puzzled for a while about how to build the tank before I discovered the diameter was pretty much a match for plastic pipe I could by at the local DIY store, and for the domed ends I adapted parts from that old faithful, the Airfix / Dapol four-wheel oil tank wagon kit.

The whole thing was mounted on one of my resin cast DZ wagon chassis.

On special occasions the wagon does get a run and performs another useful purpose as a barrier wagon between double headed NGG16s to prevent any strain on the heritage bridges on the WHR.

Schnitzel With Noodles

In this case the noodles definitely come in a tomato soup sauce!

I love everything about this model, except the colour, but I can't blame anyone except myself for that.

Himself did a fine job converting the Backwoods LT kit to look a little more like DLG, especially with the much wider cab opening.

It's just a shame it's so orange.

More DJT than DLG!