Painting The First Bridge

Himself has been lured away again for a spell of 12 inches to the foot modelling, which partly explains why in recent days this blog has been filled with waffle rather than posts about actual progress.

The cause this time has been the repair and repainting of Tan y Bwlch footbridge.

(Some might say the real footbridge but we'd never stray into controversies like that on here, oh no, not us....)

It's one of the few remaining monuments from a frantic period of development on the FR when function mattered far more than form.

Form is rather expensive, though, and there weren't so many people with deep pockets or agencies with funds to distribute in the late '60s and early '70s.

That said, it is interesting to note that the construction of this bridge - which was felt to be necessary when a more formal island platform was created after the reopening to Dduallt - did receive some corporate sponsorship from, of all people, the owners of the John Player tobacco brand.

That may seem hard to imagine to some people these days.

Pedants may take issue with me calling it the first bridge in the title, because properly speaking it was the second footbridge on the site, but it is the first, and the only one, to allow access to the platform.

(Steady now....)

As a child of the '70s It is also the only way I have ever known Tan y Bwlch station.

Incidentally, the person in the foreground holding the drill - in what could be construed as a mildly threatening manner - is none other than my mother.

No wonder Himself always does as he's told!

Same Again, Please

I have to confess that I haven't started work on 2047 yet, so you'll have to make do with a picture of what it's hopefully going to look something like.

This is 2046 posed at the very back of the layout where the line plunges into Beddgelert Forest.

These WHR saloons have always been scratch built out of styrene, rather than cast in resin, mainly because their construction has been rather sporadic and I've never been sure that it's worth the time and expense of making a master and moulds.

I also am going to have to dig back through my file of drawings to find the one I used to make the last one, otherwise it will be a literal case of back to the drawing board!

Black And Grey

It's not been all about casting this week, I've been doing a few more bits on the wagon kits I've been building for a customer.

While I'm waiting on the wheels arriving I put a coat of paint on the roofs of the two brake vans.

They're still not fixed in place because I've still got to make and secure the glazing to go inside, but you get a good impression of what they're going to look like when they're finished.

The foot boards have also been painted black now as well.

Once these are off the workbench, and the current batch of kits I've been casting sent off to Narrow Planet, I can get cracking on another project of my own which I think will have to be the Welsh Highland saloon 2047 - I'm in danger of falling behind the Boston Lodge carriage works again....

Sticky Stuff

The story of my modelling week so far is the boring reality of commerce.

Enough of my wagon kits were sold at ExpoNG a couple of weeks ago that I need to replenish the stocks at Narrow Planet.

It's a nice problem to have, I suppose.

I find the best way to tackle it is to try and blitz it over a couple of days.

If you get into a good rhythm, and the atmospheric conditions in the house are conducive, I find I can complete a casting cycle every every half hour or so.

Most of the designs need two sets of each casting per wagon so if I'm going really well I can knock out one an hour if everything's going smoothly.

Factor a full time job and family life into the equation, however, and I regard it as good progress if I can get a set of bits for two wagons made each day.

How you 3D printing people must shake your heads and laugh at the labour-intensiveness of it all!

Slide Bars

Himself has been working on fitting the new cylinders, slidebars and crossheads to the Minitrains chassis on our Robex Lilla.

He told me there were a few adaptations required, but then we never had time for him to actually explain to me what they were, so you'll just have to look at the pretty pictures instead.

I've yet to see it run but from what Himself tells me it is sensationally back-heavy which is obvious from the position of the motor which is positioned vertically in the cab area,

Fortunately for us there is a lot of space inside the saddle tank, and even the smokebox which can be stuffed with weight, which as well as stopping it doing wheelies every time it moves should also do wonders for its tractive effort.

Yellow Lines

It's only a few brush strokes but the bits of the SAR wagons which are picked out in yellow make all the difference to how they look.

The most challenging bit is the stripes on the end of the brake van.

It takes quite a while to mask it off, and then inevitably there is some touching up to be done afterwards.

(The photographs are still cruel, though.)

Primed But Not Ready To Go

The weather conditions have, at last, materialised to allow me to spray the SAR wagons I'm building for a client; dry, mild, calm and low humidity.

Being calm and dry is most important because the models have to survive the journey to and from the nice warm house to the garage, to be sprayed, and back into the house again to dry.

If it is windy at all then there is a serious risk of them being blown off the tray that I'm carrying them on.

The problem with the rain is obvious.

There are some details to be picked out in yellow, such as the brake wheels and the handrails as well as the stripes on each end of the guards van, but that's about all I can do at the moment until the new supplies of wheels turn up.

In the meantime I need to get casting again because I've received a request to replenish the stocks of kits at Narrow Planet.