Stuffed And Mounted

A rite of passage for anyone of my generation - by which I mean growing up in the 70s and 80s - was attempting the Blue Peter 'makes', where kids were encouraged to recycling household objects into something useful, or as a means of faking the unobtainable / unaffordable.

They ranged from the infamous fake Thunderbirds 'Tracey Island' to the annual Advent Crown, which in hindsight must have prepared an entire population for a life of potential pyromania.

These projects were never entirely successful in my experience.

I recall when I sat and watched one of the presenters transform a used fabric softener bottle into a convincing statue of a Golden Retriever puppy.

Then I attempted it with my Mum.  

It didn't look anything like the one on the telly.....

So you'll perhaps understand why, when flicking the latest edition of Model Rail magazine, I didn't linger long at an article enticing the reader to create a diorama in a jam jar.

'Been there before....', I thought to myself.

However, I reckoned without the persuasive powers of a young boy, who brandished the same magazine under the nose of Himself and suggested - in the way only 8-year-olds can suggest things to gullible grandparents - that it would make a great wee project for him.

As if he hasn't got enough to be getting on with...

Literally within hours, when I arrived to collect the young persuader, Himself was already well on the way to fulfilling the challenge, with a wooden stand made and some redundant models selected to be sealed away in the glass chamber.

I can't remember where or when we got the loco, or what it's origins are, but it was never part of our running fleet.

Its last useful function was as a test bed for glue 'n' glaze cab spectacles, and Himself has now removed the motor for the purposes of display.

The slate waggons were apparently from our original fleet of Dundas kits, which now have very ropey axle boxes after many laps of Dduallt.

I have to admit it's a very effective little scene, and clearly a viable project with good step-by-step instructions in the mag.

From this we can learn two things.

1) I shoudn't be so cynical about these projects next time.

2) I made a tactical error 40 years ago not getting Himself to watch Blue Peter with me.....

Return From Dinas

We're about to head home from a very successful and enjoyable weekend at the Welsh Highland Super Power Great & Small event.

It was fantastic to run Bron Hebog again, chat to other NG modellers and admire their layouts, not to mention all the big little trains on the real railway outside the goods shed.

I'll be posting a full report and some pictures here soon, but in the meantime here's another one of Chris Nevard's superb shots, as featured in Model Rail magazine, for you to enjoy.

If you took any snaps of the layout over the weekend and would like to share them with us, and if you also do the Facebook thing then why not post them on our Bron Hebog page or tag us in them.

In Print Again

At your local newsagent you will find not one but two exciting opportunities to read about our layouts.

Our models of the FR and WHR are featured in a new special magazine from the publishers of Model Rail (who also happen to be the same media giant I work for) called Great British Model Railways.

It is packed with some of the very best of Chris Nevard's photography which can also be found in the current September edition of Model Rail itself which also features an article on the FR's 150th anniversary of steam celebrations and a piece I wrote about the collection of locomotive and rolling stock we are building up for Bron Hebog.

This features Garratts and the latest WHR super-sized carriages posing rather improbably on the spiral at Dduallt.

I wonder how many of their readers will spot that?

Pic Of The Week 13

Unlucky in this case because its the last of this series of fabulous Chris Nevard shots of Dduallt.

Very appropriately its a departure shot.

Taken from a high angle - indeed higher than the level of the average pair of eyes when the layout is set up on its trestles - we see Taliesin leaving the Down platform while the rear of another train is heading off on its journey around the spiral.

From this angle you can see the way the loop line arcs around the trees in the middle of the station which I always felt made it one of the most distinctive and attractive locations on the FR, if not on any heritage railway.

The Down road is no longer connected to the main line at the top end but there is a small run round which is used as a turnback for works trains, slate trains and some short formations during gala events.

I hope you've enjoyed these series of pictures. I'll be bringing them together in a gallery soon so you can find them in one place.

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.

Pic Of The Week 11

I make no apologies for another shot featuring the Earl of Merioneth.

As a child of the 80s I've always had a soft spot for it. You cannot deny that it always makes an impression on you the first time you see it, and Himself did a fantastic job scratch building the body onto a Backwoods Ministures kit for a traditional Spooner Fairlie.

It is taken from what is probably the classic view of Dduallt with trains going under and over Rhoslym Bridge.

The Earl's train, of course, is very much out of era with the condition of the locomotive by as much as 20 years.

On the line above is the permanent way diesel Harlech Castle with a short works train including the mess coach 1111 and the tool van wagon made up of a pair of BT van bodies.

Pic Of The Week 10

Light. It's funny stuff isn't it?

David Lloyd George is a chameleon-like locomotive which has a very different appearance depending upon the conditions in which you view it, and our model is much the same.

Getting the colour right was a big challenge.

Some times I'm not at all sure we succeeded, but then when I see Chris Nevard's picture I'm pretty pleased with the shade we plumped for.

I think the real locomotive's hue is best described as Heinz Tomato Soup, whereas what we ended up with on this Backwoods model is more like the Strathclyde PTE orange livery of blessed memory around the area where I live.

We were conscious when choosing the colour of the convention of painting models a shade lighter than the prototype. Some people even advocate using dark grey in place of black at all times.

However I do wonder whether DLG is the exception to this rule.

What do you think?

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 6

A very unusual shot of Taliesin at the bottom of the spiral this week.

Although the picture is shot from quite high up, compared to the others in the set taken by Chris Nevard which were mostly at rail level,  it is not a view you would normally experience viewing the layout with the naked eye because of the effect created by the wide angle lens.

It is perhaps the picture in the set which shows the layout as just that, a layout, rather than creating the illusion of reality.

The rather garish colours of this selection of vintage carriages distract the eye as well, I think.

Taliesin looks very nice, though.

Pic Of The Week 5

If you enjoyed last week's Rhoslyn Bridge moment here's another one...

This week's Nevard masterpiece captures Vale of Ffestiniog descending the spiral whilst Lyd runs in from Tan y Bwlch.

What a lovely looking machine 'The Vale' is!  So much thought, care and attention clearly went into the adaptation from the original centre cab & bonnet design of the Funkey. It will prove to be a narrow gauge classic, of that I am certain.

Pic Of The Week 4

I wonder how long before we all forget Lyd once looked like this?

This shot by Chris Nevard for Model Rail magazine shows our Backwoods Manning Wardle in charge of a Up train at the front left hand corner of the layout.

I maintain this spoof BR black livery suits her much better than the proper Southern colour scheme she wears currently.

Because she's technically a new locomotive, rather than a replica of one of the oringinal L&B engines, it is a moot point, is it not, whether there is any such thing as a 'proper' livery for her?

Pic Of The Week 3

This is a scene you are unlikely to see ever again on the FR.

I know I am not alone in mourning the removal of the passing loop - and more importantly - the signal box at Dduallt.

Yes, you can still see two trains there during gala events when one is locked in the dead end old Down platform, but you could not recreate this 'over and under' moment any more because Dduallt is now in the slap bang in the middle of the Tan y Bwlch to Tanygrisiau block section and so you can only have one train in section at a time.

What a shame it does not still have a signal box and a system with short and long section tokens like Rhiw Goch.

Pic Of The Week 2

A really delightful scene for the second of our shots by Chris Nevard, as Earl of Merioneth drifts down the spiral.

Doesn't she look fantastic with the red rods and the white rims on the wheels? Classic 1980's FR - except she's got a very Noughties set of carriages in tow.

This is not a view of the sprial you would ever get in reality, unless you brought along an off-road cherry picker, because the ground falls away to the east of the embankment.

It's one of my favourite pictures from the shoot and I think it shows off what a fantastic job Himself did on the scratch built body of 'The Square'.  He really captured the essence of this beast.

The Earl is surely up there with the Gresley A4's and Stainer's streamlined Duchesses in being 'of it's time'.

Pic Of The Week

I'm introducing a new weekly feature for the blog for 2013.

For most of the last two years regular readers have enjoyed (I hope?) the Model Of The Week posts showcasing items from our collection of locomotives and rolling stock we've built up over the last 20 years.

But for the moment the well has run dry, not because of a shortage of models but due to a lack of decent photos of the ones that haven't been featured yet.

So instead I've decided to give you a chance to take another look at the amazing pictures of our first 009 layout Dduallt taken by Chris Nevard last year in the shoot for Model Rail magazine.

It's getting on for six months since I first saw these images and they still blow me away every time.

I am amazed at the way Chris has managed to make such small and relatively crude models look so lifelike employing nothing more than innate skill in the use of a camera and lighting - and just a hint of computer wizardry on the smoke effects.  I feel very privileged indeed that we were able to have him come and train his lens on our layout - and someone else paid for it!

So let's start off with a shot of Merddin Emrys setting off north from a station stop:

I'll be posting another of the pictures next week and they will eventually all go up in a gallery on the blog.

Read All About It

Dduallt is featured in the latest issue of Model Rail magazine which hits the newsagents shelves today (Thursday).

Those with a subscription received their copies at the start of the week and I've already had some ego-boosting messages from blog readers telling me how much they enjoyed the article.

I think most of the credit for that should be laid at the feet of photographer extraordinaire - and fellow blogger - Chris Nevard.

This is one of my favourite images from the shoot he did with Dduallt earlier this year.

Picture copyright Chris Nevard / Model Rail magazine

I must confess I do not know if this picture has made it into the magazine because I haven't seen a copy yet.

I will be heading down to the newsagents today to buy my own to see which of the many stunning pictures Chris took have made it into print, and I hope some of you will be doing so too.

Perhaps as a Christmas treat (and if Chris and the team at  Model Rail let me) I will put up some of the shots which didn't get used.