MOTW - 116

In my jet-lagged state I've somehow managed to get a little behind with the Model Of The Week feature, so I suppose technically this should really be titled 'Model Of The Fortnight'

With me currently building a model of carriage 116 this week's post is a bit of a 'Blue Peter' job - here's one I made earlier...



The real 116 has been through a number of rebuilds in it's near 40-year career on the FR, and so have my model versions.

This is the 2nd one I made which shows 116 in the condition it ran between 1982 and 2007. During this time it had a first class compartment at the Portmadog end with a distinctive wider window and a smaller pane, with no opening, dividing it from the open third class saloon.

After the latest rebuild it is now a completely third class saloon, with six windows spaced evenly along the bodyside and better quality seats and fittings.

My first model of 116 was only the second carriage I ever scratchbuilt, and I still think it was a pretty good effort. The problem with it was I didn't have access to a drawing when I made it. I based it on the known dimensions of a 'Barn' saloon and worked out the window positions for myself. Unfortunately at the time I didn't realise 116 was almost a foot longer. Oops.

I have built a 3rd version of 116, in its current condition, which is languishing in the ever-growing line of carriages waited to be painted by Himself.

Now, Where Was I?

It's always tough getting back into the groove after a holiday, isn't it? Especially when you've been away for best part of a month as I have.

I have, though, dragged myself back to the workbench and continued with my latest contract carriages.

Here's the state of play with the model of rebuilt '70's prototype 116.



Strip has been added to represent the bus-style sliding windows and the doors, which are ever so slightly recessed on this carraige, were made up by bonding a layer of styrene behind the main section of bodyside.

The ends were made up in the usual way. These were nice a quick to do because they are flush metal panels, and it was glued up into the box shape you see here and a floor and underframe added.

Later this week I hope to get the roof done and bring buffet carr 114 up to same point.

After these two are finished there's a 4mm NWNGR 'Gladstone Carr' to make and then some really big challenges. New clients have asked me to make some 7mm FR and WHR stock. They're going to seem really huge to work on after a lifetime in 009!

In Print

The story of the build of our ballast wagons (both the South African and Romanian types) is featured in the latest edition of the excellent Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review.





Roy Link's quarterly magazine is always a fascinating read and this time as well as my ramblings about how I bodged up a few ballast wagons Chris Walker has a piece on two stunning 16mm L&B Manning Wardles and Dennis Harrison has another of his very enjoyable articles about a chassis-graft on one of his scrath built 6mm Towy Valley Railway Sharp Stewart tanks.

If you've not come across Roy's magazines before they're not available in high street newsagents but you can subscribe or buy back issues on his website.

Trend Setting

It's not often that a replica ends up altering the original but it's happening on the WHR right now.

The quote below is taken from Barrie Hughes' website..

The Tuesday Gang North spent the 2/8/11 completing the recovery of gateposts from Bron Hebog level crossing (Cwmcloch Top crossing).

I can now reveal the inside story of how our layout has inspired the renaming of a location on the real railway.

My sources tell me that the safety inspectors, who must be obeyed, were uncomfortable with having two level crossings called Cwmcloch. (This is the point on the S bend north of Beddgelert where the railway crosses a lane twice in the space of a few dozen yards on the road.)



The inspectors were concerned about possible problems identifying the correct location in the event of an incident on either of the crossings.

It was at this point someone remembered our layout and suggested calling the upper crossing Bron Hebog. And the name has stuck.

All of us on the team, Myself, Himself, our Artistic Director and The Guru are rather chuffed.

On The Other Side Of The World

It’s time to confess. I’ve been kidding you on for the last four weeks. Thanks to the wonders of automatic advancecd posting I’ve been able to create the illusion that it’s been business as usual at Bron Hebog when, in fact, I’ve been on the other side of the world, in New Zealand, for the best part of the last month.

(For my sister-in-law’s wedding, as it happens)

So if you’ll forgive my indulgence I thought I would share with you some of the things of railway interest I came across during my travels around the South Island.

I know I have some Kiwis among the readers of this blog so I apologise in advance for any errors or ignorance. Corrections or additions are very welcome in the comments section below.

There is some relevance to all this as NZ trains are Narrow Gauge in that they run on 3’6” ‘Cape Gauge'.

The best train spotting on the trip was when we stayed a night in Arthur’s Pass, a small settlement high in the southern alps where both road and rail climb to over 3000ft to cross the spectacular mountain range that forms the spine of the island.

There is a station and passing loop here.



The Midland Railway is without doubt among the world’s greatest train journeys, and there is a neat link to the WHR here.

The line between Christchurch (on the east coast) and Greymouth (on the west) was finally completed in 1923, the same year as the WHR. Its main function remains to carry coal trains from the west coast mines to the east coast port of Lyttelton.



And what a journey!

Just before reaching Arthur’s Pass (on the loaded eastbound journey) the trains pass through the Otira Tunnel. It is over 5 miles long with a gradient of 1 in 33 and climbs 820ft. From day one the line though the tunnel was electrified, as it would have been impossible to operate with steam. The wires were removed in 1997 and diesels work through the tunnel which has been fitted with doors on the lower portal which close behind the train to help the ventilation fans remove the fumes.

As you might expect, trains need to be assisted for such an extreme incline, and I watched in wonder as a loaded train arrived at Arthur's headed by 5 locomotives. The 3 pilot engines were then detached leaving the remaining 2 to take the train on to Lyttelton.

From what I observed it seems these three ‘bankers’ shuttle between Otira and Arthur’s day and night, attaching to the front of the next downhill train or returning to the bottom light engine(s).

There is also a daily passenger service on the line – the Tranz Scenic- which makes one return journey from Christchurch to Greymouth.



Among the pleasant discoveries on our trip was this immaculately kept former signal box in Greymouth which looks uncannily like an old GWR box, don’t you think?



We saw some preserved steam on our trip too. This 0-6-0 tank ‘Kaitangata’ at the ‘Shantytown’ village museum was built close to home by Sharp Stewart & Co in Glasgow in 1896. For those who know about these things it’s an improved F Class tank.



I also looked in on another steam site.

The ‘Kingston Flyer’ is an 8 and half mile line near the adventure tourism mecca Queenstown. It ran into financial trouble and has been closed for the last two years but just today it’s being reported the line has been bought by New Zealand businessman David Bryce who plans to have the train back in operation by late October.

Expecting everything to be locked away in sheds I was very surprised to find these lovely wooden carriages stabled on an open siding near to the station building.



The line’s two pacific steam locos were stored in a fenced-off yard, again open to the elements.

Waiting For The Paintbrush

Here’s a shot of six months work lined up on the cutting matt. Or perhaps more accurately, six months work on my own models – you could at least double it if you included the carriages I’ve been churning out for clients.



In the picture is the WHR Service Carr 2011, FR 3rd class ‘top end’ Obs 123, and Barn saloons 105 & 106. They are about to be transported south to join the ever-lengthening queue for carriages waiting to be finished off and painted by Himself.

MOTW - B Wagons

Our subjects this week are a little less glamorous, but as the years go by are becoming ever more essential to the smooth running of the F&WHR system – the B wagons.



Eight of these were imported from South Africa at the start of the WHR project along with various other wagons. They didn’t see much use during the construction phase because some of the other types – the low-sided DZ’s and flat DZ’s – were more practical for those purposes.

After being overhauled by a volunteer team and repainted into SAR livery two of them were employed as bike carrying wagons, marshaled at the Porthmadog end of the WHR carriage rakes. The drop-down doors were modified into ramps and cycle racks were placed at each end of the wagons. For the 2011 season they have been relieved of these duties as passengers’ bikes are instead being stowed in the guards’ area of the Service Carrs.

As oil prices soared in recent years the FR began a converting some its fleet of steam locomotives back to burning coal and some of the other the B wagons, as the biggest load carriers on the system, are used to ferry coal from the storage area in Minffordd Yard to Boston Lodge and the re-fuelling area at Harbour Station.

They’re also being increasingly employed as general utility wagons. Due to its severe gradients the WHR rule book specifies that all trains must be fully fitted. Although the FR has a large fleet of wagons they are almost all unfitted. A couple of weekends ago Himself was riding in a B wagon on the‘Greasers Express’ when volunteers oil and fettle all the point mechanisms on the F&WHR system.

Our models are built using Worsley Works kits as the basis of the bodyshell to which we have added brass angle to complete the detailing.



Himself made the racks for the bike wagon from styrene strip while the ramp adaptations were made from brass and the luggage and bike symbols knocked up on the home PC from photographs of the signs on the actual wagons.