More Unfinished Business

The election - and the acute sleep deprivation which goes with it - has delayed me posting today.

In the absence of any fresh modelling activity - and with Himself just returned from volunteering on the FR - there’s nothing new to tell you, so how about some pictures of another model which still awaits final completion?

Our Backwoods Lyn made its debut at Dinas last year in naked brass and white metal but still awaits painting.

This is not a unsubtle hint to Himself because he has been prioritising other projects.

Eventually it would look something like this.

I suppose the question is whether ours is outshopped before the Heljan model appears?

On Hold

I had marked today down in the diary to get some modelling done, but a couple of things got in the way.

Firstly, a combination of the General Election and an acute staffing crisis means I'll have to spend the day in the office rather than on holiday.

Secondly, Himself made me send Glaslyn back for a photoshoot (see previous post) meaning I've lost my vital reference for Gwyrfai, which still needs the end pieces made.

It reminds me that there's another project which is on hold, which is my Van 51.

I cast the body shell parts with the intention of being able to produce it as a kit, but it has been stalled for a number of months while I wait for an etched part for the handrail to be made for me.

I'm getting to thinking that the best thing might be to pass it over to Himself who'll be able to knock up a bespoke one with his soldering iron and we can at least get one new model for Bron Hebog even if the kit never ends up going on sale.

It'll go very nicely on our Bridge Inspection Trains, so beloved of the Engineering Consultant.

When he's not helping us operate Bron Hebog he can be found organising the real trains around Porthmadog Harbour Station.

It's a good job the person who signed him off as a signalman never witnessed the chaotic state of the fiddle yards on Bron Hebog and Dduallt when he's left in charge of them....

Peckett Pics

A few days ago one of our readers asked to see more pictures of our Peckett Harrogate and so I’ve dug back through the archive to find these.

For those who don’t know the background this is a famous ‘might have been’ from the early days of the FR revival.

It was built for service at Harrogate gas works - with a much more restrictive cab profile than the one it now sports - and was brought to the FR as a potential solution to the motive power crisis in the late 1950s.

Linda and Blanche turned up a couple years later and that was that for Peckett which was sold 30 years after its arrival having never seen service.

A stripped down chassis did make some exploratory adventures up the Vale shortly before its departure, but they only confirmed its unsuitability for the line.

There was a Hollywood ending, though.

Eventually it landed up at Statfold, acquired its new name, and steamed on the FR as a gala visitor - albeit only between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Tanygrisiau.

It also did some gala runs on the Welsh Highland up to Waunfawr, and a little application of Rule 1 sees us running it on Bron Hebog and Dduallt.

The kit is by RT models, and it's a little cracker.

Perfect running is guaranteed by the Farish 08 chassis and some simple etched motion parts.

The body is made up of a big lump of a white metal casting and a nicely produced brass etch for the cab and fake frames.

With all that weight sitting above on a simple, reliable chassis, it's just about all you could ask for in a OO9 locomotive.

Himself added some extra detailing, as he always does, such as the vac and air brake pipes, which really set it off.

With no lining, aside from the letters on the saddle tank, it was probably also his favourite locomotive to paint.

(Since our model was made the loco now bears the legend 'Statfold Barn Railway' which means Himself has had a lucky escape!)

Triplets

We can’t manage a line up of four Pullman observation cars like the FR did recently at Harbour Station, but watch this space....

Himself decided a little photo call was in order after the final assembly of 152, posed in the fiddle yard with 150 (not named Gwynedd in Bron Hebog-land, and Glaslyn.

The design change to 152 with the two pillars at the front was on account of customer feedback from 150 with its single post in the middle.

It’s a convenient way of quickly telling which is which but I still can’t decide which I prefer.

Sandwiched

It's been weeks since I did any work on Gwyrfai but I managed to get a couple of hours in yesterday thanks to the need to use up annual leave before the end of the year.

For such a comparatively small part of the body shell the doors on the WHR carriages take a surprisingly long time to make.

My technique with making carriages out of styrene is to build everything up in layers.

I start with the middle of the sandwich, which in the case of this carriage is a simple oblong piece with a hole where the window in the door goes.

Rather than cutting a hole I create it, adding vertical styrene strips to a square piece, measuring and cutting them to length, and then placing a another piece along the top.

The edge where it joins the carriage is extended by 1mm to give an overlap with the main body side.

Then more strips of styrene, of various lengths and thicknesses, are added in position on top to give the depth which creates the doorway.

On these WHR carriages there is also quite a thick piece glued on its side to create the distinctive inset - this is the bit where it will connect with the back of the body side.

Finally, a third layer is added on the back which creates the window droplight and also the kick plate beneath the door.

The important thing is to keep checking at all stages that they are of identical dimensions, and to ensure they are a mirror image of each other.

The Worst Bit

The one bit of any build of a Welsh Highland carriage, or an FR ‘super saloon’ , that Himself really dislikes is making the handrails for either side of the entrance doors.

These are soldered up from brass wire any usually entail burnt fingertip and some mild bad language.

They are the very last pieces to go on the model before the glazing is fitted.

Fortunately, on an observation car there are only four of them to be made.

K Where?

The news that K1 is departing the Welsh Highland for an unspecified sojourn at Statfold got me thinking I should post a wee gallery of our 4mm scale version on Bron Hebog.

This development was not unexpected to those in the know, indeed we dropped a cheeky hint at the Greenock exhibition of what was coming down the line.

Call me a pessimist but I’m not expecting to see it steaming again on the WHR any time soon.....

K1 and the FR is a relationship which has blown hot and cold over the last 50 years, and this seems to be one of its chillier periods.

It was as purchased in what can only can be seen as a spasm of romantic optimism, was shipped off  -  with relief -  to York after a period languishing at Harbour station, and then picked up again in the 90s as a convenient curiosity to give the WHR project a veneer of heritage.

But I don’t think the FR’a heart was ever in it.

I well remember the nickname ‘K-when?’ during its protracted restoration.

Yes, I fully understand the commercial logic of concentrating on a core fleet of NGG16s, and that is is not kind to the track, but I cannot believe there is not some role for it.

Consider this season just gone where there have been all kind of exotic double headed combinations to keep the service going when a Garratt ‘goes tech’.

It’s not as if the FR doesn’t have other indulgences - I guess K1’s face just doesn’t fit.