Go Anywhere Train

It occurred to me that despite having built up a large collection of Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland 009 stock over the last 30 years or so we have very few things which we use on all three of our layouts.

One of the exceptions is this delightful little consist.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have long regarded Britomart as the FR's most charming locomotive.

It arrived on the FR in 1965, having been bought by a group of FR staff and volunteers (some of whom read this blog) which puts it right in the era for our new Minffordd layout.

What makes Britomart almost unique among our fleet is that it has never changed colour.

Indeed, I understand it is still wearing the original coat of paint, resembling Great Northern Railway of Ireland blue, which it received when it came to the FR more than sixty years ago.

Unlike our England engines, Fairlies and Ladies which have changed colour, or some other aspect of their appearance, over the years it is perfectly correct whether it is running on Minffordd, Dduallt or Bron Hebog.

The vintage twin set 11 and 12 (I insist on calling them by those numbers!) are among the handful of inter-operable carriages we have in our collection because they have worn the green and ivory livery - or variations of it - in the 1960s but also now in the 21st Century.

Our latest incarnation of Britomart - for we have had three - is one of the super little Bachmann models which has had a DCC chip, speaker and stay alive crammed into it.

Four years ago the prototype for this conversion was given a chance to stretch its legs on Bron Hebog.

Little Blue Guinea Pig

Himself and I are not known for being early adopters of new fangled technology, but we've finally caught up with everyone else in starting to glaze the spectacles in our locomotive cabs with Glue 'n Glaze.

Having never used it before Himself thought it wise to try it out on an old model where it wouldn't matter if he made a Horlicks of it.

Our old Chivers Britomart was the chosen guinea pig for this.

The results were encouraging and he's cracking on with the rest of the main running fleet.

There is a limit to the area the product can be used on and the biggest we've tried is the big plate-sized windows on Lyd.

It does seem to work better on whitemetal kits where the rim is quite deep, and for that reason we probably won't be able to do very delicate etched brass windows like those on the Fairlies or Garratts.

So far, so good, though.

Join The Cavalcade

Never let it be said that we are unafraid to jump on a bandwagon at Bron Hebog.

As the FR celebrates the 125th birthday of Hunslet 'Ladies' Linda and Blanche by inviting lots of other Loiners to come and play in the top left and corner of Wales this weekend we thought we'd get in on the act too.

My social media feeds have been full of pictures of line ups of little locomotives so Himself decided to do the same by posing all our Hunslets together.

This collection was made possible by Brian Madge, Robex, Roger Chivers and Backwoods Miniatures - and we're very grateful to them for their wonderful kits.

Small Is Beautiful

We're only a week and a half into 2018 but already we've had what I believe will be one of the highlights of the year - the announcement by Bachmann of a second series of ready-to-run 009 locomotives.

This time the subject is the iconic Quarry Hunslet - the so-called 'Alice class' small ones including the FR's Britomart.

This is phenomenal news for 4mm narrow gauge modelling.

I had heard from very good sources that this was in the offing, but I dared not believe it until I saw the confirmation which came at the weekend.

Rather strangely, you might think, this provoked intense debate on some 009-focussed social media groups.

Not because of the choice of prototype but just the fact it was happening at all, which I have to say I found very puzzling and also rather regrettable.

To me this news cannot be seen as anything other than a good thing.

How could we possibly object to 009 getting exposure and support from one of the big four beasts of the UK model railway scene?

(By which I mean, in no particular order, Hornby, Bachmann, Heljan and Peco - please don't write in.)

This is what many of us have been crying out for.

I suspect for a lot of us we hardly dared to believe it was possible.

Yet now we find that people are complaining that it is a bad thing, that it will damage 009, that it will stop people modelling.

I'm afraid I cannot follow the logic in that argument.

No one is born into this world scratch-building or constructing intricate etched brass kits.

Every single one of us started our love affair with model railways somewhere and I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that for the vast majority that began with a ready-to-run train set - and probably a OO one at that.

We have all followed our own paths and 'play with trains' in a way that makes us happy.

Some of us will have gone down a road that leads to us making our own kits or building from raw materials and others won't.

And that's all there is to it, when you boil it down.

It is a hobby for goodness sake!

As a group - as 009 modellers - to complain that we don't get any manufacturer support, and then when, at long last, we do, turn round and say it's a bad thing makes us look for all the world like a spoiled child who whines that they're hungry and then when they're presented with food turns their nose up at it.

I'm not aiming this at any individuals. Before anyone sets the comments section ablaze, this is not aimed at you.

However, being January, Burns Night will soon be upon us and I think it would be wise to take inspiration from Scotland's national poet:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us

To see oursels as ithers see us!

(If ye cannae understand that then just Google it!)

Of course, I suppose if anyone had legitimate reason to be peeved by the announcement and curse his luck it would be Himself.

Months after completing the very intricate task of painting and lining out our kit-bashed Brian Madge Britomart we could have waited and saved ourselves the bother.

But that would take the fun out of it, wouldn't it?

We're delighted about Bachmann's move and will undoubtedly be buying more than one of the new models - the variants without cabs - because both of us would like to have models of some of the other wee engines which have made guest appearances on the FR and WHR over the years, but with Brian Madges kits having become like the proverbial hen's teeth it was not looking like a realistic possibility any time soon.

Now all that has changed.

So we say thank you Bachmann!

I hope you will too.

The Faerie Queene

Our Britomart is finally complete.

The name and works plates have been fixed on and she's been reunited with that wonderful little chassis.

You only really see just how dinky the loco is when you see it lost in the middle of the expanse of Bron Hebog and sitting next to one of our NGG16's.

The project has been a slow burner but I'm really delighted with how it's turned out.

Tool Box

Here's a closer look at Britomart, one of the models which were being given a coat of varnish in the previous post.

Himself has fixed in place a couple of the finishing touches including the oil can on the back corner of the running plate and the rather natty wooden tool box which is perched on the top of the saddle tank in front of the cab.

The final job is to fix on the nameplates and the Hunslet works plates which have been etched for us by Narrow Planet and then slot in the chassis.

It's a beautiful little model and I look forward to it appearing on many special charters and 'jollies' on Bron Hebog in due course.

Black And Blue

In modelling - as in much of life, I suspect - the secret is to cheat where you can get away with it.

Which in this case is the black lines which divide up the blue panels on Britomart.

Why free paint them when you can use some nice, thick black waterslide lining?

This devious plan means that we get perfect straight edges to put the white lines up against to complete the little beastie's Great North of Ireland Railway livery.

Of course, at exhibitions, it is almost invariably identified as 'Thomas' by some of the younger visitors....

Little Blue Engine

It's been waiting for a couple of years but finally our favourite Quarry Hunslet is getting painted.

The loco is built from a Brian Madge kit and it's an absolute beauty with it's accurate outside frames and very smooth running.

Leaving aside the Double Fairlie, I think it is fair to say that these little work horses are the quintessential Welsh narrow gauge locomotives and I know I'm not alone in having a very soft spot for them.

Although it's little more than a toy in terms of the FR locomotive fleet it has got all over the system over recent years giving us plenty of opportunities to bring it out for a play on Bron Hebog.

Ironically, the real locomotive is currently stripped down and the boiler is in the process of having it's 10 year inspection.

Britomart - Almost There

Himself has been very busy putting the finishing touches to our new Britomart.

As you can see from these pictures he's sent me the wee engine is looking pretty complete now.

One of the details he has added which make this unmistakably a model of Britomart is the small wooden box which sits on top of the saddle tank just in front of the cab.

I've dreamt for over 20 years of having proper outside frames on Britomart and I think this model looks absolutely sensational and I for one can't wait to see the finished loco running on our layouts.

Funnel Find

It's amazing what you find when you rummage about enough, isn't it?

After writing a post a few days ago saying that the one bit our new Britomart was lacking was a tall, thin chimney Himself discovered that he had one all along, languishing in a box of bits in the garage.

It just so happened that around 20 years ago a fellow modeller passed on a lot of redundant 009 bits which just happened to include most of the parts of a Chivers Quarry Hunslet kit which we have been searching in vain to purchase for the last two months.

So Britomart now has her chimney, and very good it looks on her too.

Making A Spectacle

Himself has begun working on detailing Britomart's brass cab.

The most obvious new bits in the picture below are the frames for the spectacle plates which he dug out of one of his bits of odds 'n' sods that most modellers have.

You can also see how he was narrowed the back sheet and added the handrails which run the full height on both sides and added a lip to the curved profile on the upper side sheet.

Its really starting to look the part now, I think.

Britomart - Plan B

Our search for a Chivers 'Quarry Hunslet' kit having drawn a blank Himself and I have decided on an alternative course of action to complete our new Britomart.

Brian Madge - who makes the cab-less 'Alice class' kit we are using for the business end of the model - kindly offered us some basic brass front, back and side sheets of the correct profile which he had lying about, and Himself has been busy forming them into a cab.

As you can see here it looks very effective.

The plan is to use resin transfer rivets to complete the detailing and bring the naked brass to life a bit more.

Here you can see some of the detail Himself has already added to the back, such as the sliding doors to give a bit more elbow room when stoking the fire.

He has also done something about the big hole beneath the saddle tank which should really be filled by the boiler barrel.

He cut two pieces from a brass tube and soldered them under the tank, although they can't be put too far in as the motor has to pass up between them.

The other issue with using a brass cab rather than a whitemetal one as we had originally planned is that it will reduce the weight of the loco and slash  it's feeble tractive effort still further.

We may be able to recover some of this by filling in the area in between the frames where the firebox sits. It needs something there in any case because right now the our model also has daylight where there should not be daylight.

Oh, and there's the small - or should that be tall? - matter of the chimney. But I'm hoping a friendly man with a lathe might help us out with that one....

Now That's Customer Service!

It's lovely to be able to sing the praises of a trader who has provided exceptional customer service.

You may remember me blogging last week about my latest purchase - a Brian Madge kit for a cabless Quarry Hunslet - and our plans to attempt to transform it into a new model of Britomart.

I mentioned that Britomart wears a later design of frames with a flat bottom at the firebox end as opposed to the upward slope on the earlier Alice class engines.

Completely unbidden, Brian milled a replacement set of frames to the new design as well as a replacement footplate and buffer beams of the correct profile for the adopted FR engine.

And do you know the really remarkable thing?

He did this all completely free of charge.

It's some of the best service I've ever come across and Brian will definitely be getting repeat business from us in future, not just for additional Quarry Hunslets but for some of his bespoke chassis too.

What Are We Going To Do With Alice?

I've set Himself a new challenge - I don't think he's too pleased about it!

He's been presented with one of Brian Madge's new kits for the diminutive 'Quarry Hunslet'.

What's very exciting about this new entry in the 009 market is it has proper outside frames. For the last 20 years our model of Britomart has been running around on an ancient Arnold N gauge chassis with us trying to pretend that we never noticed its very obvious inside frames.

The challenge comes from the kit being designed to represent Velinheli, one of the cab-less members of the 'Alice' class, whereas Britomart not only has a cab but also a subtle difference in the outline of the frames at the rear of the loco.

Himself has been investigating whether there is any possibility of being able to simply transplant Brian's outside framed chassis into our existing Chivers body.

Unfortunately it appears not!

The only way of fitting the new chassis would be to double up with the new footplate frame mounted beneath the existing whitemetal one, which would be far too thick.

It's also doubtful whether the motor unit would fit inside the existing saddle tank without an awful lot of metal being carved away.

Understandably, Himself is reluctant to rip apart our current Britomart and start hacking away at it with no guarantee the transplant is going to be successful, so I suspect our next move will be to obtain another Chivers Quarry Hunslet and create a mongrel loco with bits taken from both the kits.

I shall keep you in touch with progress.