Weather Update

We've tried a lot of new things as part of the Minffordd project, such as moving to DCC control and sound, and smaller code track.

It's also the first time we've tried weathering on any of our rolling stock, having always kept anything we bought - or made - looking 'box fresh'.

But like with any new skill you have to practice and develop, but that's a scary prospect when you're dealing with the very latest high-spec models (at high-spec prices!)

So just like with the more ambitious DCC projects I decided it would be best to invest in paying an expert to do it, and having been enormously impressed by the images I saw on his Facebook page I asked Tom Foster to quote for the job.

This morning I was very excited to receive the studio portraits of the what he's done with the locos, and I'm absolutely delighted!

What's great about Tom's service is you can specify precisely how you'd like the model to look.

For the locos I sent away I asked for our Dapol 'Bradley Manor' to look as if the lads at Aberystwyth shed had given it a really thorough going over with some oily rags.

Yes, I know when they did this the locos weren't working the 'coast section' to Pwllheli, but I'm citing Rule 1!

The others I said I wanted to look a lot more like they'd been worked hard without much attention from the cleaners.

The Collett Goods is Himself's favourite - and in nearly every picture I've seen of them at work on the Cambrian they look a lot like this.

This is now getting a very old tooling, dating from the Mainline days at the start of the 1980s, but I remember it being pretty cutting edge back then.

And in my opinion when it's given a really proper finish like this I still think it holds up really well, and the re-engineered Bachmann version we have runs as well as anything else on DCC.

The other two models are bang up to date.

The Dapol 43XX Mogul runs like a peach  (I know, fruit doesn't run...) but it did look unnaturally spotless and shiny out of the box.

I think the dirty look here really shows off the quality of the model so much better.

The same goes for the Hornby Standard 2 2-6-0 MT which is a terrific performer on the layout, but again was too clean for you to suspend your disbelief.

I'm so looking forward to being able to run these on Minffordd at our exhibitions in the autumn, I really do believe they'll lift the whole layout.

Thanks Tom!

Replica Roofing

It's been quite a few weeks since I've done any work on the NWNGR replica replacement carriage.

A couple of nights ago while half the household were out for the night taking in some of the action at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow I ran out of excuses and put in a couple of hours.

I drilled the holes in the chassis where the bogie will go and then tackled the roof skin.

As I described in detail in this article this is a two-stage process which involves fixing some supporting lengthways ribs before stretching a styrene skin over the top and bonding it firmly at each side so it doesn't spring free.

This is one of those jobs that you want to do in one session which is probably why I've been putting it off for a while.

And perhaps because of the nice summer weather we've this year the motivation to hide away at the workbench and do some scratch building has been a little lacking,

There's a reason why we tend to think of railway modelling as an autumn and winter activity.

Moelwyn Returns!

I'm delighted to be able to report that Moelwyn has returned unscathed from its 800-mile round trip in the post.

Our vintage Meridian-kit model of the FR's venerable Baldwin Tractor has undergone a surgical operation for a motor transplant and a digital 'pacemaker'.

In other words it's now DCC sound fitted.

The operation was carried out by our respected surgeon, Sven, at Tramfabriek, and I cannot speak highly enough about the speed and quality of service we've received.

The Mashima motor which it was fitted with, and which filled all the space under the bonnet, has been replaced with a very small coreless motor, which has left room for the Zimo sound chip and a stay alive pack.

This has historical precedent in that the real Moelwyn had its original petrol engine replaced with a Gardner diesel when the FR was being revived to make it a more economical and useful machine.

The speaker has been lodged underneath the cab roof and is only really visible if you look at the model from below, which few people at an exhibition are likely to do.

The Royal Mail should also get a shout out for safely and swiftly getting Moelwyn there and back.

I did fork out for their premium Special Delivery service but in my view it was worth every penny when dealing with a genuinely priceless model.

Keep an eye on our social media channels and I'll soon be posting a clip of it in action so you can see and hear it in action.

Your first opportunity to see it live will be at the Ayr MRG exhibition in Troon (Ayrshire, Scotland) on 19th / 20th September.

Upgrade Or Replace?

I've been swithering for many months about the best way of getting a 45XX Small Prairie tank for the Minffordd fleet.

First World problems, and all that, I know...

Although outshone in the popular imagination by the Manors, Duekdogs and Collett Goods, they saw a lot of use at the northern end of the Coast line, working from Pwllheli and Portmadoc sheds, and often entrusted with the Cambrian Coast Express.

Right now pre-orders are being taken for a brand new version of these go-anywhere ex-GWR branch line engines from Rapido.

If it's anything like the Highland Railway 'Jones Goods' I already have it will be a superb runner, and you can buy it pre-fitted with DCC sound.

However, I already have a 45XX.

It's one the Bachmann ones which probably date back the best part of 20 years.

It's so ancient - I use the word advisedly - that it doesn't have a DCC socket, but it's a relatively simple project to hard wire a chip and fit a speaker and stay alive.

This was bought second hand a couple of years ago for around £60 if my memory is correct, and it runs perfectly quietly and smoothly.

It's also been factory weathered in truly filthy condition.

Yes, it lacks subtlety, but if I were to chose to go down the Rapido route as well as paying around £250 for a sound fitted example I'd probably want to send it away to get it weathered professionally.

For around half this outlay I could buy and chip and speaker etc for the Bachmann model and for less than half that outlay we'd have ourselves a Prairie, and we could probably get it running for the next exhibition in September.

So there's quite a lot to weigh up.

How much of an improvement over the Bachmann version will the new Rapido one be?

If it's better is it 50% more £ better?

In my position what would you choose?

Count Binface And The Toy Trains

I never expected model railways and politics to collide in such a media spotlight, but here we are, and it's happening in, of all places, Clacton.

Many years ago, before anyone beyond private school alumni and city traders had heard of Nigel Farage, I was starting my career in journalism in that corner of Essex.

And like all well-trained reporters I do my research on the candidates in a by-election.

This unscheduled contest looks very much like it will be, in Essex - sorry, essence - a head-to-head between the aforementioned Mr Farage - by now much better known - and what until now has been considered an amusing fringe candidate known as Count Binface.

Except this time the Count would appear to be in with a 50/50 chance of getting elected to the mother of parliaments.

And this has what to do with our own spoof layout feature, a model of former Vale of Rhiedol brake van 2 in BR blue?

Well, my research shows that in previous elections he's stood in one of Count Binface's manifesto pledges as been to 'Nationalise Model Railways (and Adele)'.

And in election after election he insists that he stands by his previous manifestos.

So now that our dear hobby is at the centre of the political debate in the UK the question is what legislation would you like to see brought forward to reform railway modelling?

A legal requirement for all manufacturers to offer a no-frills, low-cost version of every new model?

A maximum RRP for a non-powered model like a carriage or wagon?

In the wake of the KR Models saga perhaps some greater protection around crowdfunding, or pre-orders?

A law to force a return to proper British TT standards?   (I put that in for our Engineering Consultant - it's a bit of a soapbox issue for him....)

Let's be hearing your suggestions!

Mute Moelwyn No More - Hopefully

I am not one of life's gamblers.  

If you needed to stick a label on me it would definitely be the one marked 'Risk Averse'.

So you can probably imagine it was a 'moment' to entrust our precious Moelwyn to the care of our elite posties for a 400 mile trip across the UK to see a man who's kindly offered to help convert it for DCC operation with sound for use on Minffordd.

Were it a model one could buy off-the-shelf then if anything unfortunate happened one could simply curse one's luck and dip into the piggy bank for a replacement.

Sadly, it's not the case with a kit built loco such as our trusty Baldwin Gas Mechanical.

This excellent kit has been in production from time to time over the years, but I reckon I've seen more Backwoods Garratts come up for sale that one of these - and that's saying something!

So it really was a leap of faith to hand that parcel over!

I'm pleased to say it has arrived, safety, and on time  (well done, Royal Mail!) and I'm told it will be going into the workshop imminently.

The challenge with this model is not simply wiring in a chip and speaker - first it will be necessary to make room for them.

At the moment all that space under the bonnet is taken up with a (superb) Mashima motor.

The idea is to replace that with something much, much smaller.  Probably in the shape of a shiny coreless cylinder, which will buy some space for the digital gubbins.

How much space is the question which will only be answered when work starts.

It may be that other places will have to be found to hide the speaker or stay alive as much out of sight as is possible.

However, for now, it's just good to know that we're taking action on something we've wanted to make happen for quite a while now.

I look forward to being able to post progress updates soon.

Royal Renumbering

If you'd wondered about the lack of posts in the last fortnight I hope you assumed (correctly) that I was on a summer holiday - rather than having another hissy fit and ceasing blogging.

While I was away there some bits and pieces being done which I can update you on.

One of those was putting the finishing touches to our new tow-around Princess.

This Hornby antique, now without a motor in its tender or any driving wheel pick ups, has undergone an identity downgrade from next-in-line to the throne to 'the spare'.

What was once 6201 Princess Elizabeth is now the slightly scandalous youngster sister 6203 Princess Margaret Rose.

Some etched brass nameplates are the only other investment we've needed to make for this cheap layout novelty - other than finding the old model on eBay.

The renumbering was easy enough to accomplish because we have a stack of sheets of LMS presfix transfers because they were the best source of the large number 3's which the FR decorated its carriage doors with from the 1950s through to the 1980s.

Hopefully the Princess making its slow, regal journey around Minffordd, recreating its escape from Butlins, will make an entertaining talking point when we next show the layout this autumn.

Minffordd's First Show In England

I did mention a while back that there would be an exhibition date for Minffordd in England later this year, and that it would hopefully be convenient for the greatest number of people.

Now the embargo has been lifted we're at liberty to say where and when.

We're very pleased to have been invited to bring the layout along to this year's National Festival of British Railway Modelling at the NEC in Birmingham in November.

This show fills the time and place vacated by the legendary Warley show where we had many happy days exhibiting Dduallt and Bron Hebog over the years.

We hope this will please many of you who've wanted to see the layout but said it's been too far to come to our previous appearances in Scotland and Wales.

Model Railway Miser Tips

My company is in the process of moving out of offices we've occupied for more than 40 years.

It means decades of paperwork is being slung out, and with it a lot of storage devices which are increasingly a thing of the past - the humble box file.

There are many uses which can be found for these for the railway modeller who has an urge to recycle.

For example, slice up a redundant shoe box and you can transform you old box file into a cheap & cheerful stock box perfect for storing up to half a dozen OO carriages.

Another one is performing a useful function to keep my stock of styrene sheet neat and tidy.

And not a penny spent!

The Secret Can Be Told

If you've been reading this blog over the last couple of months you may recall I have started work on building a second model of the NWNGR replica carriage 24.

I never did say why, and that was quite deliberate. Because I was keeping a secret.

A few months ago Himself and I were approached by a director of the FR Company - the world's oldest independent railway company, as I'm sure you know - and told about a plan to present a gift to the outgoing chairman, Dr John Prideaux, featuring 4mm / 009 models of some of the heritage rolling stock he has played a major role in restoring / recreating.

The snag was while it was simple to buy models of Welsh Pony and the 'Curly Roofed Van' there was no readily available model of 24.

Could we make another to be part of the presentation?

We said we'd be delighted to help, of course, but there was no way we'd be able to turn it round in a matter of a few weeks.

However, as lifetime supporters of the railway, we felt we should assist in any way we could, so I suggested that as it was such a special request, for someone who's given so much to the FR for many years, we could donate our own model of 24 as part of the gift.

It's not as if we're likely to need it to run on Bron Hebog again, and the Dinas project is likely to be a couple of years away.

Dr Prideaux was presented with the models, in a lovely display box, at a dinner in his honour earlier this week, and I gather he was delighted with them.

So that's lovely.

And I suppose it shows that volunteering for the railway can come in many forms.

In the meantime I've made a wee bit more progress on the replacement which I've cast in resin from my own styrene masters.

The sides and ends have been bonded into a box and I've cut out the pieces for the chassis and the false ceiling.

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.