So, what's next?

One of the great things about model railways as a pastime is that you are often eagerly anticipating the future - the next item of rolling stock you want to buy or build, the next exhibition, or dreaming up plans for a new layout.

That's where we find ourselves in 2026, excited about taking Minffordd out for a first full year of exhibitions - check out the diary page - and also turning our minds to what we could do with our collection of Welsh Highland stock.

Bron Hebog is effectively mothballed since its potentially final outing to Manchester just before Christmas, but we have a magnificent collection of exquisite Backwoods Garratts and nowhere to display them or run them.

It would be shame if they just stayed in a stock box never to be admired again.

So we're developing a plan for a smaller, more manageable, more easily-transportable, but still authentic WHR-themed layout.

We were looking for a location and design which can fulfil a number of criteria. 

* It needs to be as compact as possible, however...

* We need to be able to run full-length WHR service trains  

* We want it to be an accurate model of a real location

* It needs to have genuine scenic breaks - nothing too contrived.

On a line as wild and open as the WHR is for much of its run is the presence of natural scenic breaks, such as over bridges or tunnels, was going to narrow down the possibilities.

For a while I had mused about the possibilities of doing something based on Aberglaslyn where there is a very short stretch of open line between two of the tunnels.

It would be a very simple run-past layout, with the train completely dominated by the scenery.

However, the ratio between scenic layout and fiddle yard to hold those full-length trains would be very unfavourable, and it might end up being just as much of a headache to transport as Bron Hebog.

It also might be a little bit too simple to hold interest at an exhibition?  Once you've seen one Garratt pass through with a long train of carriages you've seen them all, haven't you?

And so my mind turned to places along the route where there are overbridges within quick succession, and one of those, I realised, was Dinas South Yard.

This location has the advantage that it is not just plain single track.  

It includes the locomotive shed and the head shunt, so you can have more of your stock out on display as well as running a wide range of trains not limited to run-of-the-mill passenger services but also engineering and gala specials.

Not only can trains run past the scene but you can have light engines shunting on and off shed, or fiddle about with unusual wagonry in the head shunt.

At the southern end of the scene is one of the classic NGWGR arched bridges which look almost like some kind of mouse hole in a skirting board for the Garratts to squeeze through, which would look really good.

The formation here is on a curve, so it would not be a regular rectangular layout, either.

Our model railway club in Greenock showed us the way with a very creative baseboard design for the OO layout Inches set in wild country on the Lanarkshire / Ayrshire border by having the layout arranged in a hexagon shape with three of the boards scenic and the other three a space where storage loops fanned out.

I though this might work well for Dinas as a 2/4 arrangement and printing out a scale plan of the site showed it would fit with very little tweaking of the track bed required.

The idea has met an enthusiastic reception at the club so I'm hopeful this is a project which may progress later this year.

Crest Quest

Yet again patience has paid off.

Long term readers may recall that over a year or so ago we discovered a transfer maker (Precision Decals) who produced the most exquisite 4mm scale FR garter crests for us.

They were far superior to what was already available in terms of colour, detail and definition and I raved about them here on the blog.

I asked the owner if he would consider designing and producing an example of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland crest, which adorns the modern WHR stock for us.

He said he would but warned it was an incredibly complex design which would take a lot of time and effort to produce the art work for, time which would probably never be repaid given the relatively limited NG modelling market.

It has taken a long while but he has been as good as his word and I received a wonderful surprise a couple of days ago when I opened my inbox to see a message saying they were now available, not only in 4mm scale but also in 7mm and in three versions.

There is the standard English lettering, the Welsh version (below) and a third, longer Welsh version which I have only seen used in marketing materials and not on rolling stock - although, as always, I am open to correction.

For more details take a look at the Precision Labels site and if you can't find immediately locate the FR and WHR transfers then there is also information there on how to contact the company.

We're thrilled that these transfers have been produced and are very grateful to Precision Decals and hope that other NG modellers will also reward him with their custom.

Cab Ride

I had a wonderful surprise lined up for me at the Welsh Highland Super Power event a fortnight ago. Himself had arranged a footplate pass for me all the way from Dinas to Porthmadog on the Saturday afternoon.

I had yet to travel on any part of the WHR south of Rhyd Ddu, even though it's been reopened for a few years now, so to do so for the first time in the cab of one of the mighty NGG16's was an incredible privilege.

Our loco for the trip was 87.

I had previously travelled in the cab of Garratt 143 to Waunfawr when it was oil fired but being on board one of these giants running on coal was a new experience.

The crew certainly need a lot more room to work to feed that fire and I soon discovered that the best method for keeping out of the way of Steve's swinging shovel was to stand right in the doorway half in, half out, enjoying a fantastic forward view along the boiler in the process.

It had been wet all day in that corner of North Wales and - not unexpectedly - she was a little light-footed for much of the climb out of Dinas towards Tryfan Junction. The addition of sanding gear on these machines can only achieve so much it seems.

Although I had been told in advance I was surprised how rough the Garratts are to ride on for a large articulated machine, especially compared to a Double Fairlie on which I have also be fortunate enough to travel. At one point when the rear unit joined in a particularly enthusiastic bout of slipping you could feel the whole engine pogo-ing up and down beneath your feet.

As it was a special event there was an untypically intensive service on the line and we passed K1 heading north on a demonstration freight at Waunfawr.

One of my favourite parts of the journey was the sinuous section from Bryn Gloch to Plas y Nant where you could look out of the cab and see the front and rear of the engine bending this way and that.

At Rhyd Ddu we passed 138 heading north with the final train of the day in that direction and where we took water.

Carrying on south we were soon breasting the summit at Pitt's Head and the fireman, Steve, told me to keep a close eye on the gauge glass showing the water level in the boiler. It was quite remarkable to watch it drop at least an inch or so within a split second  as 87 pointed her nose down the slope towards Beddgelert.

Naturally this was a very interesting part of the journey for me, my first chance to travel around the S bends above Beddgelert that we have spent so long studying and attempting to recreate in miniature.

Where the tracks come closest in the centre of the S the height differential is very apparent...

Cutting Mawr was immensely impressive..

And the big 180 degree bend on the embankment is too..

Until finally we rolled into Beddgelert station.

Looking through the cab window it is hard to believe that the Garratt is going to fit through Goat Tunnel.

The pass of Aberglaslyn is the most famous section of the WHR with good reason - it is a truly spectacular section of railway line - and travelling through the long tunnel on board 87 is an experience I will remember for a very long time, although I can only wonder what it must be like on the uphill climb.

On the Cross Town Link through the streets of Porthmadog my admiration of the crew rose even further.

I was struck all through the two hour journey how closely they have to work together to watch the line ahead. It's hard enough to see the road with the big fat boiler and water tank in they way on a straight stretch of line, but the bends are completely blind and they truly have to act as each other's eyes.

Nowhere was this more apparent that when we approached the first tramway section across Snowdon Street.

I spotted a gang of teenagers hanging around the crossing and sensed trouble.

Sure enough, as we steamed nearer the crossing they began playing 'chicken' running across the road in front of the locomotive. The line here is on a curve and as they played silly beggers they were momentarily completely out of view of both the driver and firemen, hidden by that great big water tank at the front.

I could feel the anxiety this must have caused our driver, Aled, at this moment. Steam engines, even narrow gauge ones, take a while to stop and there comes a point of no return where the driver is committed to taking his train over the crossing and is left to hope that some idiot kid doesn't choose to attempt one final dart in front of his engine.

No wonder he leaned out of the cab and gave them a piece of his mind as we passed.

After a pause to start the crossing lights we rolled across Britannia Bridge and onto The Cob and the connection with the FR.

It is a somewhat surreal moment as the NGG16 appears to drive down the Queen's Highway.

After being pulled back into the platform we were soon unhooked and charged light engine across The Cob to Boston Lodge Works. I don't mind admitting that the burst of acceleration after we cleared the last point had me rocking on my heels into the cab backsheet. Quite nippy these Garratts...

While I left the engine here and prepared to repair to the pub there was plenty of work left for the crew to put 87 to bed.

Steve had a hard job clearing out the fire which was an almost solid bed of clinker. It was a good job it was the last trip of the day because he reckoned there would have been no chance of making it up the hill if 87 had needed to take another train to Caernarfon.

Before wrapping up this rather lengthy post I must express my thanks to my driver Aled Lloyd and fireman Steve Holland for being such excellent company and allowing me to share their engine for a truly unforgettable trip.

Diolch yn fawr.

And heartfelt thanks too to Himself for arranging this wonderful surprise for me just days before my 40th birthday.

Garratts Great And Small

Four weeks from now Bron Hebog will be getting its next outing on 'home territory' as it were.

We're very exciting about having the layout on display at Dinas for the WHR Great And Small event from 6th - 8th September.

For the last few months the FR / WHR has been promoting the event on its Facebook page with this merged image of the real number 87 its first grey livery on the S bend at Beddgelert with a snap I took of our pair of NGG16's on the layout.

Looks rather good, don't you think?

I hope some readers may be able to come along to the show and if you do please say hello and let us know what you think of the blog.